“Report,” Mark barked when his phone rang.

“Unsuccessful,” John replied. “Ten down. The two leads have reported back. No pursuit identified.”

“Shit!” Mark growled, barely containing the anger in his tone. “How the hell, did Black overcome seven of our men? And for that matter, how did that runt of a teen dispatch three?”

“Unknown, sir. The leaders were not on premises during the initial attacks. We will attempt event reconstruction after the Order leaves the exercise studio and the dorm room. But by then, all evidence will have been scrubbed so our efforts will not be satisfactory.”

“Find out what you can and call me back,” Mark snapped, ending his call.

“Daddy?” a little voice asked.

Mark whipped around to find Liz standing in the doorway to his home office. Her hair was mussed from sleep and she held her stuffed dog under her arm. Mark schooled his features. He didn’t want to scare her. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Are you angry, Daddy?” she asked. “I heard you yelling. Did Mommy do something to make you mad again?”

Mark pulled Liz into his lap to give her a reassuring hug. “Oh, no, sweetheart. There is nothing wrong. I received a message from work I didn’t like. Do you want me to tuck you in again? It’s too early for you to get up for school,” he told her. He felt her nod in agreement.

“Okay, big girl. You know you are getting too heavy for me to carry, right? Do I need to put bricks on your head to keep you small forever?”

“Dad!” she said as she giggled at the joke.

Mark stood and carried Liz to her room. After tucking her in, he returned to his desk. Grabbing a pad of paper, Mark scratched out some notes on how to do damage control on this failed mission. He needed to figure out how to contain this news and spin it in his favor before the board heard about it. He had written down a few ideas when the gravity of the situation registered.

Black was still alive!

Wild-eyed, Mark glanced around the room as if Adam Black were about to burst from the shadows like the infamous boogeyman of his childhood. Mark wiped his clammy hands on his slacks before clenching them into tight fists. What was he going to do? If Adam Black knew who was behind the attempt on his life, Mark’s own would be on the line… Again.

It took the family dog huffing at his feet to shake the panic that held his mind frozen. He spent the next hour before Liz had to wake, figuring out which operatives were in the St. Louis area and available for a surveillance operation. Black had to be stopped before he figured out what happened.