21 Three faint knocks from inside a coffin revealed a secret that nearly went six feet underground.

Chaos reigned inside the dark warehouse. The remaining mercenaries panicked, firing blindly toward the sound of Adrian’s voice. Muzzle flashes illuminated the shadowy room in sudden, violent bursts.

Adrian moved like a phantom between the metal shipping crates. Taking advantage of the mercenaries' confusion, he closed the distance on the second guard, grabbing the man from behind in a rear-naked chokehold while using his body as a shield against incoming gunfire. The guard went limp in seconds, and Adrian stripped him of his automatic rifle and spare magazines.

"Vance!" Adrian's voice boomed from the shadows. "It's over! The state police have been notified! You have nowhere to run!"

"You're bluffing, Salim!" Vance shouted back, his voice edged with growing panic. He clicked on a high-powered tactical flashlight, sweeping the beam frantically across the room. "You don't have time to call anyone! You care too much about this brat!"

The flashlight beam flickered past the chair where Payson was tied—and Vance realized with a shock that the chair was empty.

While the guards were distracted by the gunfight, Payson had managed to slip his small wrists out of the loosely tied ropes and crawl behind a stack of wooden pallets.

"Find him!" Vance screamed at his last two men. "Find the boy!"

One of the mercenaries rushed toward the pallets where Payson was hiding. But before he could reach the child, Adrian emerged from behind a container, striking the man with the butt of his rifle. The mercenary collapsed to the floor, out cold.

The last guard turned his weapon toward Adrian, but Adrian was faster. A burst of gunfire neutralized the threat, leaving only Captain Vance standing.

Vance dropped his flashlight, backing away toward the edge of the pier where a speedboat was tethered. "Stay back, Adrian! We were partners once!"

"You betrayed everything we stood for, Richard," Adrian said, stepping into the dim moonlight filtering through the broken skylights, his rifle trained squarely on Vance's chest. "You sold out my family for money."

"You don't understand how deep this goes!" Vance stammered, his hands shaking as he raised them in surrender. "Julian Sherrill isn't the top of the food chain! There are people above him—politicians, judges! If I didn't help them, they would have killed my family too!"

"That's no excuse," Adrian said coldly.

From behind him, a small voice broke the tension. "Dad..."