LOGINI had been Miranda's prisoner for three days when Richard walked through the door.Not dead. Not even wounded. Just alive."Hello, Flora." He looked exhausted. Haunted. But very much breathing."You are supposed to be dead. I watched you die—""You watched someone die. My body double. A man I hired six months ago for exactly this contingency." Richard moved closer to my hospital bed. The restraints bit into my wrists as I tried to pull away. "I needed Miranda to believe I was dead. To think she had won. So she would get sloppy.""This is another trick—""No trick. Just desperation." He pulled up a chair. Sat heavily. "Everything Miranda told you about Damien—about Thomas Kane pretending to be him—it is true. I verified it. DNA. Dental records. Damien Cross died in the warehouse explosion two months ago. You have been living with an imposter since."The words cut deeper hearing them twice. "Why are you here?""Because I need your help. And you need mine." Richard's voice cracked. "Mira
Miranda's men closed in like wolves sensing blood."On your knees. Both of you." She gestured casually. Like we were inconveniences, not people. "Hands behind your heads."I knelt. Richard hesitated."Do it," I hissed. "We need to buy time—""Time for what? Your backup is not coming. Damien stayed with Hope. Arnold is monitoring from three miles away. Cassidy is securing perimeters." Miranda walked closer. "You came alone because I knew you would. Maternal guilt is so predictable.""My mother is dead. You lied—""Of course I lied. But you still came. That is what matters." She pulled out a syringe. "This will keep you compliant. Alive. Useful. Just conscious enough to provide biometric access when I need it."Richard moved suddenly. Grabbed a guard's weapon. Fired twice.Not at Miranda's men.At me.Pain exploded through my shoulder. My leg. I hit the concrete hard."FLORA!" Damien's voice in my earpiece. He had been listening the entire time.Richard stood over me. Gun steady. Expres
We had been hiding in a cabin in Colorado for six days when Richard found us.Not dead. Not gone. Very much alive."That is impossible." I stared at the security feed Cassidy pulled up. Richard Ashford walking toward our cabin. Alone. Unarmed. Hands raised. "I stabbed him. Watched him bleed. He was dead—""Apparently not dead enough." Damien grabbed his rifle. "Everyone out the back. Now.""Wait." I studied the footage. Richard looked different. Thinner. Haunted. Nothing like the polished monster who had terrorized me. "He is not attacking. He is surrendering.""It is a trick—""Maybe. But he is alone. No backup. No weapons visible." I made a decision. "I am going out there.""Flora, no—""If Richard wanted us dead, he would have brought an army. He wants something else." I checked my concealed weapon. "Stay inside. Cover me. If he moves wrong, shoot him."I stepped onto the porch. Richard stopped twenty feet away."Flora." His voice cracked. "Thank you for not shooting me immediately
We arrived at the warehouse with ten minutes to spare.Victor's men were everywhere. Rooftops. Exits. Every strategic position. We were walking into a kill box."Last chance to run," Damien said. His hand gripped mine so tightly it hurt."We are past running." I kissed Hope's forehead. She slept peacefully in her carrier, unaware her mother was about to trade everything for her survival. "Cassidy, you take her. The moment things go wrong—and they will—you drive. You do not stop. You do not look back.""Flora—""Promise me. Hope lives. No matter what."Cassidy's eyes were wet. "I promise."Arnold checked his weapon one last time. "For what it is worth—I am sorry. I never meant for any of this—""Save it. You can apologize to Sarah when we get her out."If we got her out.We walked toward the warehouse entrance. Three of Victor's men frisked us. Took our weapons. All of them."Mr. Kane is waiting inside. Alone. No backup. No tricks."The warehouse was empty except for a single chair in
We drove for twelve hours straight before Damien finally pulled over at a roadside motel."This is a mistake." Arnold scanned the parking lot. "Stopping makes us vulnerable. We should keep moving—""I can barely see straight. Another hour and I will crash us into a ditch." Damien killed the engine. "We rest for four hours. Then we keep running.""From a dead man." I stared at the phone. At Victor's message. "Except he is not dead. He never was.""Bull shot him three times," Arnold said. "Center mass. I saw the body—""You saw a body. Not necessarily Victor's body." I pulled up old photos on my phone. Victor Kane before the warehouse. And the man we had been fighting. "Look at the jaw structure. The eyes. They are different.""Plastic surgery—""Or a replacement. Like Elizabeth used. Victor has been dead for months. Someone has been using his identity. Building an army. Waiting for the right moment to reveal himself.""Then who sent that message?" Damien asked."The real Victor. The on
The café where everything started looked exactly the same.Small. Intimate. The place where I had run from my engagement party and met Damien. Where my old life ended and this nightmare began.Now it would end here too."Thermal shows twelve inside," Sarah reported from the surveillance van two blocks away. "Elizabeth. Your father. Ten security. Standard formation.""Hope stays with you," I told Sarah. "If this goes wrong—""I will raise her. Teach her who her parents really were. Warriors. Not victims." Sarah checked her weapon. "But it will not go wrong. We have superior firepower. Superior training. Superior position.""Elizabeth is not stupid. She knows we would not come alone.""Let her know. Arrogance makes people sloppy." Sarah handed me an earpiece. "You go in first. Alone. Like she demanded. We wait for your signal. Then we move."Damien grabbed my arm. He was standing now. Barely. Propped against the van. "I should go with you—""You can barely walk. You will get us both kil







