Daniel’s tires screeched as he pulled to a stop. The engine revved as his hands tightened on the steering wheel. He was just far enough away from the hangar that he could feel the mental activity going on inside, and he wanted nothing more than to drive straight through, turning anyone stupid enough to be in the path of his vehicle into roadkill. But he couldn’t risk hurting Claire. The fact that those bastards even had the audacity to lay a hand on his woman caused his entire body to ignite in flames. He was angry. He was pissed off. He was so overcome with fury that it made every inch of him tremble with unspent rage. Daniel wanted whoever was responsible for this entire fiasco to suffer like no other human being had suffered. He wanted retribution for a life spent on the run. For destroying his family and taking his brother from him. For even daring to drag Claire Lanh into any of it! His foot hit the gas pedal, firing up the engine as he wrestled with his emotions and common sense. Before he could do anything brash, a familiar black car pulled up along side him. He was vaguely aware of his uncle climbing out of his vehicle and bravely walking around to the drivers side. With the press of a button the window dropped and In Ho leaned down to give him an even look.

    “Got your plan in order?”

    “Murder everyone.”

    “I’ll take that as a no,” he sighed. In Ho looked from his nephew to the hangar. Barring that they were even still alive, their brothers were somewhere inside. He had just as much hatred for Chang and his men, and just as much to lose. But he was also aware that they lacked the manpower and resources needed to truly be a threat to Paragon. They had money, more than the law should allow, but they’d always chose to run instead of dragging unsuspecting people into their fight. And now, they were paying for their decision. They were completely alone in this. But he wasn’t so narcissistic as to believe that he had any real say so in the situation, either. Daniel had the brains. Daniel had the power. And as always he would do whatever he had to make sure the boy was successful. “You know, we just may not make it out of this alive. There’s a good chance that we could lose this.”

    “We?” he asked without looking at him. Daniel kept his eyes trained on the hangar and his mind on Claire. Chang’s men were but black dots against a silver background. They were nothing and Claire Lanh, the woman he’d held in his arms just the night before, meant everything. He’d gotten her into this. He’d drug her kicking and screaming out of her simple life and into the diseased, maggot infested cesspool he called his own. Every single step of the way he’d been a nuisance, a pain in her and just about everyone else's. The very least he could do was get her out of there. Before the unthinkable happened. This was no longer about him. All that mattered was the safety of the woman he loved.

    “You still don’t trust me, do you, son?” In Ho asked as he cut the engine. He stepped back as Daniel climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him. Even though he didn’t voice it, the pain and regret he felt was written all over his face. The boy looked dead inside; hopeless and remorseful.

    “Not a chance.”    

    “Me either, kid,” he admitted. “But let me at least try to help before you run in there and end my entire lineage by getting yourself killed.” 

    “Why didn’t you ever have children?” Daniel asked, watching him pull an extremely thin laptop from the folds of his trench coat. In Ho opened the computer and placed it on the hood of the car, booting it with a single keystroke. 

    “I can’t. Your poor aunt, who doesn’t know anything about this, by the way, was always patient with me and my infertility. So when your father told me he needed somewhere to hide you I jumped at the chance to give her something she’d never had.”

    “A permanent pain in the ?”

    “A son,” In Ho said, turning his eyes to the computer. The security system on the hangar was rudimentary and took him literally seconds to infiltrate. He hacked into the surveillance system with practiced ease and took remote control of every camera in the building. He brought up the image feed and turned the device to show Daniel. 

    “Since when did you get cool?” he asked. In Ho chuckled.

    “It’s about time you noticed.”

    “So why not just hack their financial accounts and drain these s? More money for you and you put an end to their reign of terror forever.” 

    “What part of government backing do you not understand? I’m good, Daniel, but I do this for fun, not for profit. And especially not against the Republic of Korea.”

    “Right,” he said, turning his attention to the computer screen. The feed was live, showing them precisely where everyone inside the hangar was located. He could see his father in a small office on the left of the building. Two men in lab coats a man in black armed with a rifle surrounded him. Forty to fifty armed men in military fatigues stood in the main building and there were at least six other members of Paragon in a room to the back. But Claire was nowhere to be found. 

    “What the hell are they wearing on their heads?” he asked. In Ho Shrugged. 

    “I’m not sure. Common sense would say they have something to do with Chang’s research. Has he turned them into super soldiers? Mindless slaves?”

    “A better question would be where the hell is Claire?”

    “She has to be in there. Maybe there’s a blindspot. A room they don’t keep monitored? A storage closet or something that was recently built?” 

    “Perhaps. Regardless, even if I can’t see her I’ll need to be careful not to hurt her. Those assault rifles will be a problem. And so will those planes. What if they try to take off before I can stop them?”

    “Sounds like you have a plan formulating?”

    “Somewhat,” he admitted then glanced up at him. “Phone the tower. Call in a bomb threat and get the police here. That’ll give me enough time to grab Claire and use them as an exit strategy.” In Ho nodded in agreement. 

    “I’m on it. There’s just…one more thing I have to tell you before you walk in there,” he said. Daniel arched a brow at him.    

    “If you fix your mouth to tell me you love me…”

    “It’s about your brother, Daniel. Jung In is alive.” His words hung heavy on the air between them and he stood watching, waiting on his nephew to react and flip out. “I’m sorry for lying to you. I just thought you should know before you stumbled upon something you weren’t prepared for,” he said. Daniel didn’t speak for several long seconds, but the nerve in his jaw jumped so rapidly he briefly wondered if it would explode. After what felt like an eternity, he looked him dead in the eye.

    “Hold t