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Chapter 169 – Liam's POV
I read the message again as I sat behind my desk, the late afternoon sun casting a faint orange hue across the city skyline.
"Code Red. They found her."
Two short sentences. Just that. No names, no sender. But I didn't need one. The encryption, the wording, the time it came through—everything about it screamed one thing: urgent.
I leaned back in my chair, my mind racing as I processed what this could mean. It had been years since we last had to issue a Code Red. In the assassin world, those words weren't just dramatic. They were deadly serious.
I opened the hidden drawer under my desk and pulled out a sleek black device no one in the corporate world would suspect I carried. I entered the code—four digits. The birth year of the first person I ever killed. A name I never forgot.
The device blinked green, unlocking access to my private channel. Only my most trusted agents had clearance here. I scanned the message again—this time, I saw the digital signature.
Raven.
If she sent it, it meant it was real.
I pushed away from the desk and stood, running a hand through my hair. Just hours ago, I was laughing over lunch with Hope. It felt like a different lifetime now. She'd looked so happy—beaming from her latest acting success. I hated that I had to keep this part of me hidden from her.
From everyone.
But secrets were what kept people like me alive.
When my father retired and handed me the reins of Blackwood Enterprises, I had to choose: let go of my past, or integrate it into a new identity. I chose the latter. No one suspected that beneath the polished CEO mask, Liam Blackwood—the heir to a billion-dollar legacy—was also the silent leader of The Order, one of America's most feared and untraceable assassin networks.
Most members never even met me in person.
Only Raven, Shadow, and Kingpin knew my face.
And if Raven had sent this message...
Someone was in danger.
She was in danger.
I strode to the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the shadows creep across the concrete jungle. My mind flashed back to her. The woman we'd once failed to protect. The girl who vanished without a trace, whose betrayal had shattered one of our own and ignited years of internal division.
But if she was alive...
Why now?
Why resurface?
My phone vibrated again.
Incoming call: Raven.
I answered with a clipped, "Talk."
"I have eyes on her. But so do they," Raven said without preamble. "She's in New York. Midtown. She's using a new alias. But the facial recognition was a match. Ninety-nine percent."
"What about the client?" I asked.
There was a pause.
"We don't know yet. But this is planned. Coordinated. Someone wants her silenced. Permanently."
My grip on the phone tightened.
"Tell Shadow to tail her discreetly. No engagement unless absolutely necessary. I want full surveillance—cell taps, financials, flight logs. She doesn't disappear again."
"Understood," Raven replied. "And Liam... be careful. If she talks... she could expose all of us."
I ended the call without replying.
The stakes were higher than I'd anticipated.
I went back to the desk and activated the second security layer. A holographic screen emerged, displaying the most sensitive database in my possession—The Order's ledger. Every mission. Every target. Every operative. All logged under encrypted codes and aliases.
I searched her codename: Valkyrie.
Access: RED.
Status: DECEASED.
"Guess you're not so dead after all," I muttered under my breath.
Years ago, she'd been one of us. Trained by the best, skilled beyond belief. She was the kind of assassin legends were written about. Until she betrayed us. Or so we thought. The mission had gone sideways. Kingpin nearly died. She vanished, presumed dead.
But now, not only was she alive—someone was hunting her.
And I needed to find out why.
I couldn't afford a leak. Not with the government tightening its grip on underground networks. Not with The Order's international alliances hanging by a thread.
I closed the ledger, wiped the system, and changed into my darker set of clothes—ones that didn't belong in a boardroom. Then I pressed a button under the desk. A wall panel slid open, revealing a hidden armory. Pistols. Blades. Comms.
I selected a Glock 19, my favorite combat knife, and clipped on a tracker earpiece.
Tonight, Liam Blackwood wouldn't be the CEO.
He would be something far older. Far darker.
The ghost in the shadows.
The hunter.
But before I could move, my phone buzzed one more time. This time, it was a private message from Hope.
"Heading out to dinner with a friend. Might stop by your place later if you're home. Love you."
I stared at her words for a long moment. She had no idea what kind of man her brother truly was.
No idea of the blood on my hands.
I typed a reply:
"Be safe. Let me know when you're back. Love you too."
Then I locked the phone and tucked it away.
One life in the light.
One life in the dark.
And both of them—now colliding.
I turned toward the exit, my voice low but firm as I activated my comms.
"Shadow. Meet me at the old warehouse. We've got a ghost to hunt."