Chapter 109 Protocol Terminus
They left separately.
Geoffrey first. Lily.Then Ariella, five minutes later with the folder carefully tucked in her bag.
She was three blocks from the café when a man stepped out of an alley.
“Mrs. Frost.”
She knew that voice.
Turned slowly.
It was David Park. The “CIA” operative who’d helped them three years ago. Who’d installed surveillance and disappeared right before Elena was taken.
He looked older, Thinner, Like the last three years had been as hard on him as they’d been on everyone else.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, hands visibly empty. “I’m here to warn you.”
“Why would I believe anything you say?”
“Because I saved your daughter’s life three years ago and it cost me everything.” His voice was steady. “I worked for the network, Deep cover. Twenty years. But when Victoria ordered me to help kidnap a six-month-old…” He stopped. “I couldn’t. So I warned Marcus instead. Told him where to find Rebecca, How to stop Dr. Chen. And then I ran because the network doesn’t forgive defectors.”
“You’re telling me this, why?”
“Because they know about Geoffrey Hale. They know you met with him. They have someone inside your protection detail reporting every move.” He stepped closer. Ariella tensed. “The board vote? They’re planning to kill every member who might vote against them. Before the anniversary. Before the seventy-two hours even start. Sarah Brennan. Marcus Chen. Geoffrey Hale. You and Aiden too if they can manage it.”
“When?”
“I don’t know but Soon. They’re moving assets. Hiring contractors. This is an endgame for them…lose the vote and everything I helped you expose three years ago becomes legally prosecutable forever. They’ll burn it all down before they let that happen.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing. I’m telling you because…” He looked away. Looked back. “Because I have a daughter too. Twelve now. She thinks I’m dead, that I died in a car accident three years ago. My wife remarried. My daughter calls another man Dad. And that’s…that’s better than her knowing what I really am. What I did.” His voice broke. “But at least I can make sure your daughter doesn’t grow up the way mine did. Without a father because he made choices that destroyed him.”
“They’ll kill you for warning us.”
“Probably.” He smiled slightly. “But I’ve been dead for three years anyway. This just makes it official.”
He turned to leave.
“David…” Ariella didn’t know what to say. “Thank you. For Elena, For this, For…”
“Don’t thank me. I’m the reason half of this happened in the first place.” He looked at her one more time. “Protect your family, Mrs. Frost. Trust nobody. And remember…in seventy-two hours, everything changes. Make sure you’re ready.”
He walked away, And Disappeared into the city.
Ariella stood on the sidewalk, bag clutched against her chest, in realization that in six weeks the network was planning their assassinations.
And they were running out of time to figure out who to trust.
She pulled out her phone and Called Aiden.
“We need a family meeting,” she said. “Now. Just us. No agents. No protection detail. Nobody.”
“What happened?”
“Everything. I’ll explain when I get home.”
She hung up and Started walking.
Behind her, someone watched from a parked car, took a photo, and Sent it with a message: Hale contact confirmed. Activating Protocol Terminus.
The reply came instantly: Proceed. No survivors.
The car pulled away.
And in six different cities, contractors received encrypted messages.
Five names.
Five targets.
Forty-eight hours to eliminate them all.
The war was accelerating.
And the Frosts had just run out of time.