Chapter 12 - THE GIRL IN THE DARKJulian ran.
He didn't think.
He didn't calculate.
He simply ran.
The kidnapper dragged Evie toward a black SUV.
Evie fought desperately.
“Daddy!”
Julian reached them.
He tackled the man.
They crashed onto the concrete.
Evie crawled away.
“Run!”
She ran toward Marcus.
The kidnapper pulled a knife.
Julian fought him barehanded.
The man swung.
Julian blocked.
A second attacker emerged.
Marcus fired into the air.
“DROP IT!”
The men fled.
One disappeared into the darkness.
The other was captured.
Julian grabbed Evie.
She was shaking violently.
“I'm sorry.”
He held her.
“I should have kept you somewhere safer.”
Evie buried her face against him.
“You saved me.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“No, sweetheart.”
He kissed her forehead.
“You saved me.”
Later, police questioned the captured attacker.
He refused to speak.
Until Marcus placed a photograph of Richard Vale in front of him.
The man laughed.
“Vale doesn't need to talk to you.”
“Where is he?”
“Somewhere you can't reach.”
“What does he want?”
The man smiled.
“The Mercer child.”
Julian walked into the room.
“You're wrong.”
The man looked at him.
Julian leaned forward.
“She isn't Mercer property.”
The man laughed.
“She is the key.”
Julian stared.
“To what?”
The man whispered:
“Project Mercury.”
Then he bit down.
Within seconds, he was dead.
Julian stepped back.
Marcus stared at the body.
“He was carrying cyanide.”
Julian's stomach turned.
This wasn't a criminal operation.
It was an organization.
Disciplined.
Patient.
And willing to die.
That night, Julian returned to the safe house.
Evie was sleeping beside Elena.
He watched them through the doorway.
For the first time, they looked like a family.
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But he knew the truth.
The war had only begun.
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