A Single Dad Rushed Into a Burning Jet to Save the CEO — Then a Marine General Saw His Face and Went Pale
Chapter 4
Caleb Voss had once been Daniel’s closest friend.
He had also been the man Daniel trusted most.
Until the final operation.
The mission had been designed to extract an intelligence asset from a remote compound.
Daniel’s team was ambushed.
The helicopter carrying them crashed.
Daniel survived.
Caleb disappeared.
His body was never found.
The military assumed he had been killed.
Daniel had too.
Now there was a photograph of Caleb at Victoria’s airport.
Alive.
Jonathan looked at Daniel.
“You’ve seen him before?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Victoria stared.
“Where?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Near my house.”
Her expression changed.
“You were being watched?”
“I thought so.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
“I didn’t know who to trust.”
Jonathan became frustrated.
“Daniel.”
“I had Lily.”
“That is exactly why you should have come to me.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Last time I trusted the system, my wife died.”
Jonathan became silent.
The investigator interrupted.
“We traced Caleb’s movements.”
“Where?”
“Your company headquarters.”
Victoria froze.
“My company?”
“He entered through a service entrance four days ago.”
“What was he doing?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What’s your current security structure?”
Victoria frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Caleb doesn’t work alone.”
She understood.
“Internal access.”
“Yes.”
He walked to the table.
“Who handles executive transportation?”
“My security director.”
“Name?”
“Marcus Hale.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Family?”
“No relation.”
“How long?”
“Five years.”
“Any military background?”
“Former Army.”
Jonathan looked at Daniel.
“Check him.”
They did.
Marcus had served in intelligence.
His records were partially sealed.
That alone wasn’t suspicious.
What mattered was his connection to a private contractor.
The same contractor had been linked to Caleb’s recent activities.
Victoria stood.
“Marcus has been handling every detail of my travel.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then he knows everything.”
She became pale.
The assassination attempt suddenly made sense.
Someone knew where she would be.
When she would travel.
Which aircraft.
Which security team.
Every movement.
It was an insider.
Jonathan ordered Marcus’s immediate detention.
But Marcus was gone.
His office was empty.
His phone was off.
His apartment was abandoned.
The investigator found one thing.
A message on his desk.
The old soldier is awake.
Daniel stared at it.
Jonathan looked at him.
“This is about you.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the message.
“It’s about what I know.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“What do you know?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your company is sitting on something someone is willing to kill for.”
She frowned.
“Money?”
“No.”
“Technology?”
“Maybe.”
“Then what?”
Daniel looked toward the investigators.
“Data.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
Hale Meridian had recently acquired a biotech company working on a medical system with military applications.
The acquisition had been controversial.
Several governments wanted the technology.
Victoria had refused to sell.
Someone might be trying to force her to hand it over.
Daniel understood the pattern.
This wasn’t about her wealth.
She was carrying something far more valuable.
