Chapter 2 - The Call to the Ghosts

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"Arthur Vance. Brian Vance. Scott Vance," I answered.
The line fell silent for three seconds. In the background, I could hear the faint, rhythmic hum of high-level decryption servers and tactical radio relays.
"The real estate family in Westchester?" Marcus asked. "Logan, you took an honorable discharge six years ago. You swore you'd never touch tactical intelligence or field assets again. You promised Sarah on her deathbed before you married Christine."
"They held my eight-year-old son down on a concrete driveway, Marcus," I said, my voice dropping so low it barely registered above a whisper, yet vibrating with lethal clarity. "Brian held his arms. Scott held his legs. Arthur slammed his skull against the asphalt. And Christine stood in the parlor and watched."
A sharp, metallic click echoed across the line—the sound of a veteran intelligence operative setting down a coffee mug and engaging a level-four command terminal.
"Give me ten minutes, Logan," Marcus 'Ghost' Lawson replied, his tone shifting instantly from old comrade to mission director. "I’m spooling up the satellite recon over the Vance estate. I'm deploying Apex Task Unit Three out of Fort Dix. We will establish an active tactical umbrella over St. Jude’s Pediatric ICU."
"Nobody touches my son while he sleeps," I commanded.
"Two Tier-One close-protection operators will be at Room 314 within eight minutes dressed as hospital security," Marcus confirmed. "Logan... what is your directive regarding the family?"
"I want everything," I said. "Every offshore account, every encrypted server, every building permit bribe, every text message sent in the last seventy-two hours. I want to know why three grown men thought beating a child was their only way out."
"Initiating complete cyber interdiction now," Marcus said. "Meet me at the secure safehouse in White Plains in one hour."
I hung up, slipped the satellite phone into my jacket, and walked back into Room 314.
Jake was watching the door. The moment he saw my shadow cross the threshold, the tension in his small shoulders eased.
"Are you going away, Dad?" he asked quietly.
I pulled the vinyl chair right up against the edge of his mattress, took his small hand in both of mine, and brought it to my lips.
"I'm not going anywhere until my friends arrive to guard your room, buddy," I whispered. "And when I step out, I’m going to make sure that no one—not Grandpa, not your uncles, not anyone—will ever frighten you again."
Jake smiled faintly, his eyelids heavy with pediatric pain medication. "Grandpa said you were just a guy who fixes broken computers."
I brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead, looking at the dark purple contusions on his temple.
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"Grandpa was wrong, Jake," I said softly. "Daddy used to catch monsters."
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