The Last Contract

CHAPTER FOUR - NO WAY OUT

The office door burst open.

Three masked operatives stormed inside in perfect formation, rifles raised.

Ghost was already moving.

Bang!

The first bullet struck the lead operative squarely in the shoulder, sending him crashing into the second.

Ghost didn't wait to see if they were dead.

"Move!" he barked.

He shoved Sophia toward the far wall while Victor grabbed the flash drive from the desk.

More gunfire erupted.

The mahogany shelves splintered.

Glass exploded.

Portraits crashed to the floor.

"They're trying to pin us down," Ghost said, reloading with practiced speed.

Victor looked at him.

"There are more coming."

"How many?"

Victor's face turned grim.

"I don't know... but I know the organisation."

A grenade rolled across the polished floor.

Ghost's eyes widened.

"Down!"

He tackled Sophia to the ground as the explosion ripped through the office.

The blast threw Victor against the wall.

Smoke swallowed the room.

Fire alarms screamed throughout the mansion.

Ghost coughed, forcing himself back to his feet.

His ears rang.

His vision blurred.

But years of training took over.

He found Sophia first.

She was shaken but alive.

Then Victor.

Blood trickled from a cut above his forehead, but he was conscious.

"I've had better evenings," Victor muttered.

Ghost almost smiled.

Almost.

"They'll flood the room in seconds," Ghost said.

"There has to be another exit."

Victor pointed toward the massive bookshelf.

"Push it."

Ghost frowned.

"A bookshelf?"

"Trust me."

Ghost drove his shoulder into it.

At first, nothing happened.

Then...

A heavy click echoed through the room.

The entire shelf slid sideways, revealing a narrow concrete staircase hidden behind it.

Sophia stared.

"I've lived here for twelve years..."

"I never knew this existed."

Victor gave a tired smile.

"Some secrets keep you alive."

Ghost led the way down, pistol raised.

The passage was dark, cold and silent.

Behind them, the office filled with shouting.

"They've escaped!"

"Find them!"

Torchlights swept across the hidden doorway.

"They're in the tunnel!"

Ghost turned to Victor.

"Where does this lead?"

Victor hesitated.

"Somewhere I prayed I'd never have to use."

The tunnel stretched on for what felt like forever.

Water dripped from the ceiling.

The only sound was their hurried footsteps.

Then Ghost stopped.

"What is it?" Sophia whispered.

He raised a hand for silence.

Footsteps.

Not behind them.

Ahead of them.

Ghost slowly aimed his pistol into the darkness.

A single figure emerged.

Dressed in black.

Face hidden.

Weapon lowered.

The stranger looked directly at Ghost.

Then spoke the last words Ghost ever expected to hear.

"Hello, Adrian."

"You don't remember me..."

"But I remember you."

Ghost's face drained of colour.

That voice.

It belonged to someone who was supposed to be dead.

The tunnel echoed with the sound of approaching footsteps.

Ghost raised his pistol.

"Behind me," he ordered.

Sophia helped Victor to his feet as they slowly backed away.

The darkness ahead came alive.

One...

Three...

Five...

Then dozens of red laser sights appeared, dancing across the tunnel walls before settling on Ghost's chest.

"They knew about the tunnel," Victor muttered.

Ghost's eyes scanned every corner.

"No..."

"They built the trap."

A distorted voice echoed through hidden speakers.

"Adrian Kane."

"You've exceeded your usefulness."

"Stand down."

Ghost answered with a single gunshot.

The bullet struck the nearest operative in the throat.

Chaos erupted.

The tunnel exploded with gunfire.

Ghost fired with frightening precision, forcing the attackers to take cover behind the concrete pillars.

"Run!" he shouted.

Victor grabbed Sophia's hand.

"Keep moving!"

They sprinted deeper into the tunnel as bullets ricocheted around them.

Ghost covered every step, never allowing the operatives to close the distance.

One by one, they fell.

But there were too many.

A bullet grazed Ghost's shoulder.

Another tore through his side.

Still he fought.

Still he refused to retreat.

The tunnel suddenly widened into an underground loading chamber.

An old steel door stood at the far end.

Victor smiled weakly.

"We're close."

Before anyone could move...

A sniper's shot cracked through the chamber.

Victor staggered.

His body froze.

A dark stain spread across his white shirt.

"Dad!"

Sophia screamed as he collapsed.

Ghost instantly returned fire, forcing the sniper to retreat, then rushed to Victor's side.

Victor's breathing became shallow.

Blood pooled beneath him.

Ghost pressed both hands against the wound.

"Stay with me."

Victor smiled faintly.

"I was never getting out of this alive."

"No."

"You don't get to die."

Victor looked at Ghost with surprising calm.

"They'll never stop hunting you."

Ghost remained silent.

"They created you..."

"...and now they want to erase every trace they ever existed."

Victor reached inside his jacket with trembling fingers.

Instead of a weapon...

He pulled out an old brass key.

He pressed it into Ghost's bloodstained hand.

"Go to Blackridge."

Ghost frowned.

"Blackridge?"

"North of Raven's Peak..."

"...Cabin Seventeen."

"There is a basement beneath the fireplace."

"You'll find everything there."

Ghost tightened his grip on the key.

"What is it?"

"The truth."

"The names..."

"The files..."

"The man who gave the order to murder your family."

Ghost's breathing stopped.

"My..."

"...family?"

Victor nodded weakly.

"You were never an orphan, Adrian."

"They made you one."

Ghost stared at him, unable to speak.

Victor slowly turned to Sophia.

Tears streamed down her face.

"My little girl..."

"I'm so sorry."

"You deserved a better father."

Sophia shook her head desperately.

"No... please don't leave me."

Victor gently wiped away her tears.

"You've always been the best part of my life."

His trembling hand found Ghost's arm.

"Adrian..."

Ghost met his eyes.

"I have no right to ask anything of you."

"But I'm asking anyway."

"Protect her."

"Not because she's my daughter..."

"But because she'll be next."

Ghost looked at Sophia.

She was broken.

Terrified.

Alone.

Victor drew one final breath.

"One last promise..."

Ghost closed his hand around Victor's.

"You have my word."

A faint smile crossed Victor's face.

"Thank..."

His voice faded.

His hand slipped from Ghost's grasp.

Silence.

Sophia let out a cry that echoed through the chamber as she clung to her father's lifeless body.

Ghost slowly closed Victor's eyes.

Then he stood.

The grief in his expression disappeared, replaced by something colder.

Something far more dangerous.

He picked up Victor's pistol.

Checked the magazine.

Loaded his final magazine into his own weapon.

Then looked toward the tunnel where the operatives were closing in.

His voice was calm.

"They wanted Ghost."

He glanced at Sophia.

"They're about to meet him."

The chamber fell silent.

Then Adrian Kane stepped forward alone.

And the hunt truly began.