Ethan Blackwood sat at the edge of his bed, staring at the fresh bandages wrapped around his arm. The wound throbbed a reminder of how close they had come to
.
He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his unkempt hair. The safe house was quiet, too quiet. After two days of debriefings, stitches, and restless sleep, he still couldn t shake the
.
They had won.
A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.
Izzy stood in the doorway, dressed in loose sweats, her arm still in a sling. Her dark eyes were unreadable.
You re awake, she said.
Barely, Ethan muttered. What s up?
She hesitated, then stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
Sarah just got word from her FBI contacts. Izzy took a slow breath. Kane s body wasn t found in the wreckage.
Ethan wasn t surprised. Of course it wasn t.
He s out there, Ethan. Her voice dropped to a whisper. And you know he s not done.
Ethan clenched his jaw. No. He s not.
Victor Kane stood before a massive digital screen, the city s lights glowing through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him.
On the screen, lines of
scrolled rapidly. A new algorithm an evolution of his original project.
A masked woman sat at a sleek desk, typing furiously. The data is intact. We can rebuild.
Kane smirked. No. We can improve.
He turned to the other figure in the room the
who had met him on the jet two days earlier.
I assume your people are ready? Kane asked.
The man nodded. Everything is in place. We begin the trials immediately.
Kane swirled his glass of scotch. Then let s remind the world who truly controls it.
Back at the safe house, Ethan and Sarah sat across from each other, coffee steaming between them.
I checked all channels, Sarah said. Interpol, CIA, MI6 no one has a trace of Kane. It s like he vanished.
He didn t vanish, Ethan said darkly. He s regrouping.
Sarah s phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen and
.
What? Ethan asked.
Wordlessly, she turned the screen toward him.
It was an
.
No sender. No traceable source. Just
:
Ethan s blood ran cold.
Kane was back.
And this time, he wasn t just playing defense.