Daniel grabbed Sophie and pulled her behind the kitchen wall.
"Stay down."
Footsteps approached.
Three men entered through the back door.
Daniel moved quickly.
He wasn't the tired mechanic anymore.
He was the man from the photograph.
The first attacker rushed forward.
Daniel redirected him.
The second came from behind.
Daniel turned.
A short struggle.
The attacker fell.
The third man raised a weapon.
Daniel knocked it aside.
A shot exploded into the ceiling.
Sophie screamed.
Daniel froze for half a second.
Then he moved.
He drove the attacker backward and disarmed him.
Silence.
Daniel looked at Sophie.
She was crying.
"Dad..."
"I'm here."
She ran into his arms.
Daniel held her tightly.
"I'm sorry."
"I thought you were going to die."
"I won't."
"You don't know that."
Daniel couldn't answer.
Because she was right.
Then headlights appeared outside.
More vehicles.
Elena entered through the front door.
"We have to go."
Daniel looked at the attackers.
"How many?"
"At least eight."
He nodded.
"Then we don't fight them here."
They escaped through the back.
They drove for forty minutes.
Finally they reached an abandoned warehouse.
Elena handed Daniel a small drive.
"This is what they're after."
Daniel stared.
"What is it?"
"The original archive."
He looked at her.
"You said you didn't have it."
"I didn't."
"Then where did you get it?"
Elena smiled sadly.
"Your old commander kept a copy."
Daniel stared at the drive.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Grant Cole had spent twenty years looking for this.
The evidence could destroy him.
But there was something else.
The archive contained information about a larger operation.
Politicians.
Corporations.
Police officers.
People who had spent decades protecting one another.
Daniel looked at Sophie.
"This ends tonight."
Elena shook her head.
"You don't have to do this."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Because if I keep running, they'll keep coming."
He looked at his daughter.
"And I won't spend the rest of her life looking over my shoulder."
Sophie stepped forward.
"Dad."
He turned.
She hugged him.
"Come back."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I will."
She whispered:
"Promise."
"I promise."
Daniel left the warehouse with Elena.
They drove toward the city.
Toward Grant Cole.
Toward the past.
Toward the final confrontation.
The Man Behind the Mask
Grant Cole waited inside an unfinished skyscraper.
Thirty floors above the city, the building was nothing but concrete floors, exposed wiring, and glass windows.
Rain struck the windows.
Daniel entered alone.
Grant stood near the edge.
"You came."
Daniel looked around.
"Where's my daughter?"
"Safe."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"If you've touched her—"
"I haven't."
Grant smiled.
"You've always been predictable."
Daniel walked forward.
"Give me the drive."
"Do you have it?"
"No."
Grant laughed.
"Still lying."
Daniel stopped.
"You destroyed lives."
"So did you."
"I followed orders."
"So did I."
Daniel looked at him.
"You weren't a soldier."
"No."
Grant turned.
"I was smarter."
"You were a criminal."
"I was a businessman."
"You killed people."
Grant shrugged.
"People die."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"That's why you never understood me."
"Understand you?"
Grant laughed.
"You were always violent."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
He stepped closer.
"I was disciplined."
Grant looked confused.
Daniel continued.
"There's a difference."
The lights suddenly turned on.
Men appeared around the room.
Six.
Then eight.
Daniel looked at them.
Grant smiled.
"You can't beat all of us."
Daniel looked at the floor.
Then at the exits.
He knew he couldn't fight eight men indefinitely.
But he didn't need to.
The first man attacked.
Daniel moved.
The second followed.
Daniel used the environment.
Concrete pillars.
Railings.
Doorways.
He didn't fight harder.