"You've trained."
Marcus stopped.
"Everyone trains."
"Not like that."
Marcus turned.
"Mr. Cross, you challenged me because you thought I was weak."
Adrian looked embarrassed.
"I was wrong."
"Yes."
"I apologize."
Marcus nodded.
"Good."
Adrian expected more.
There wasn't any.
Marcus walked away.
But Adrian did not know something.
The attacker had left a message.
Written on the inside of his glove were three words:
FIND THE DAUGHTER.
Marcus moved Sophie to a friend's house.
He didn't explain everything.
Children didn't need to know about ghosts from their father's past.
But he told her the truth that mattered.
"Someone dangerous may try to find us."
Sophie looked frightened.
"Did you do something bad?"
Marcus knelt.
"No."
"Then why are they angry?"
"Because sometimes people are afraid of things they don't understand."
She hugged him.
Marcus closed his eyes.
For the first time in years, he allowed himself to feel the fear.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of failing.
That night, Marcus returned to the Meridian Grand.
He knew the attackers would come there.
He was right.
At 2:13 a.m., three men entered through the underground garage.
Marcus watched them from the security room.
One carried a rifle.
One carried a knife.
One carried a tablet.
Marcus turned off the cameras.
Then he waited.
The first man entered the maintenance corridor.
Marcus stepped behind him.
A hand over the mouth.
A controlled strike.
The man collapsed.
The second entered.
Marcus disarmed him.
The third ran.
Marcus chased him.
They reached the basement.
The man turned.
"Ghost Six!"
Marcus stopped.
"Tell me who sent you."
"You know."
"No."
"The Meridian project."
Marcus's expression changed.
The Meridian project had been officially abandoned.
But Marcus remembered it.
Years earlier, a private military contractor had developed a surveillance program capable of tracking former special operators.
Marcus had helped expose it.
The project had supposedly been destroyed.
Apparently, it hadn't.
The man smiled.
"They've been watching you for years."
Marcus felt his blood run cold.
"Why now?"
"Because your daughter has the same genetic marker."
Marcus stared.
"What?"
The man laughed.
"You don't even know what your wife was involved in."
Marcus hit him.
The man collapsed.
Marcus stood frozen.
His wife's name was Anna.
She had died six years ago from a sudden illness.
Or so Marcus had believed.
Now someone was telling him Anna had been connected to the Meridian project.
The next morning, Adrian found Marcus sitting alone.
"I heard."
Marcus looked up.
"About what?"
"Three men were arrested."
Marcus said nothing.
Adrian sat opposite him.
"I know what it's like to have everyone think they know you."
Marcus almost laughed.
"You don't know anything about me."
"You're right."
Adrian paused.
"But I want to help."
Marcus studied him.
"Why?"
"Because I was arrogant."
Marcus waited.
"And because you saved my people."
Marcus shook his head.
"You don't owe me."
"Maybe not."
Adrian stood.
"But I owe myself the chance to become better."
For the first time, Marcus saw something genuine in the man.
Not pride.
Not ego.
Humility.
Marcus nodded.
"Then stay out of my way."