Part 4: "The Girl They Wanted Alive... Until She Remembered Everything"
Part 4: "The Girl They Wanted Alive... Until She Remembered Everything"
The first armored SUV smashed through the front gate.
Steel twisted.
Iron exploded across the driveway.
The alarms that protected Holden Cross's estate screamed into the afternoon sky.
Every guard reached for his weapon.
Holden stepped in front of Anna without thinking.
"Take her downstairs."
"No."
The voice came from behind him.
Anna stood frozen, clutching Phantom's collar.
"I'm not leaving Roman."
Phantom positioned himself directly in front of the little girl.
His entire body became rigid.
The low growl returning to his throat sounded like thunder rolling through the stone courtyard.
Six black SUVs surrounded the mansion.
Nearly twenty armed men stepped out.
Military boots.
Black tactical uniforms.
No insignias.
Only a silver raven stitched onto each shoulder.
Holden recognized it instantly.
Blackridge.
They were supposed to have disappeared years ago.
Instead...
They had simply gone underground.
One man stepped forward.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Cold blue eyes.
He smiled as though this were a business meeting.
"Mr. Cross."
Holden didn't answer.
"You've been protecting something that belongs to us."
He looked directly at Anna.
"The girl."
Michael whispered beside Holden.
"Boss..."
"Our perimeter won't hold long."
Holden already knew.
These weren't street criminals.
They moved like former special forces.
Professional.
Disciplined.
Expensive.
The gray-haired man raised both hands peacefully.
"We don't want a fight."
"We only want the child."
Anna buried her face against Phantom.
"I'm not going."
The stranger sighed.
"I hoped she wouldn't remember."
Holden narrowed his eyes.
"Remember what?"
The man smiled.
"Ask her."
He looked directly at Anna.
"What did your father hide?"
Anna didn't answer.
She was shaking.
Then...
Very softly...
She whispered,
"I don't know."
The man's smile disappeared.
"You will."
Without warning—
A sniper round shattered a marble pillar beside Holden's head.
CRACK!
Stone exploded everywhere.
"DOWN!"
Gunfire erupted.
The courtyard became chaos.
Holden's guards returned fire while Michael grabbed Anna.
But before anyone could move—
Phantom attacked.
The Cane Corso launched himself like a missile.
One hundred and thirty pounds of muscle crashed into the nearest attacker.
The man hit the ground screaming.
Another raised his rifle.
Too slow.
Phantom tore the weapon away before knocking him unconscious.
Within seconds...
Three trained mercenaries were already down.
Even Holden's own security team stared in disbelief.
Michael pulled Anna toward the underground panic room.
Suddenly—
Anna stopped running.
She stared toward the burning fountain.
Her breathing changed.
She blinked rapidly.
Then grabbed her head.
"It hurts..."
Holden turned.
"Anna?"
"My daddy..."
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"The red book..."
"The lighthouse..."
"The number..."
Everyone froze.
The Blackridge commander took one step forward.
"That's it."
"Keep talking."
Anna opened her eyes.
For the first time...
They weren't frightened.
They were confused.
"I've seen you before."
The gray-haired man's expression changed.
"You were in our house."
"You argued with Daddy."
"You had blood..."
Suddenly—
She screamed.
A memory crashed back into her.
"My daddy didn't die in the war!"
Her voice echoed across the courtyard.
"They killed him!"
Silence.
Even the gunfire seemed to stop.
Anna pointed directly at the gray-haired man.
"You shot him!"
The commander's face drained of color.
Holden felt every hair on his neck rise.
It wasn't imagination.
It wasn't childhood confusion.
She remembered.
The commander slowly lowered his weapon.
Then laughed.
"So..."
"It finally came back."
He looked at Holden.
"Now you understand why she can't stay alive."
Holden stepped in front of Anna.
"No."
The man shrugged.
"Then everyone here dies."
He lifted a small remote control.
Michael's eyes widened.
"Boss..."
"My signal scanner..."
"They've planted explosives."
"All around the estate."
The commander smiled.
"I was never here for the girl."
"I was here..."
"To erase everyone protecting her."
Then Anna whispered one final sentence that made Holden's blood freeze.
"My daddy hid it..."
"I remember where."
The commander's smile vanished.
"Where?"
Anna slowly looked at Holden.
Then at Phantom.
Finally she whispered...
"Inside Roman's old collar."
Every eye turned toward the massive Cane Corso.
Because around Phantom's neck...
Still fastened after all these years...
Was the same thick leather collar Captain Roman Mercer had placed on him himself.
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And whatever was hidden inside it...
People were willing to kill an entire estate to get it.
