Chapter 6 - Blood on the Riviera
The atmosphere inside the VIP suite on *The Leviathan* became instantly suffocating. Six automatic rifles were trained directly at Marcus and Liam Carter. Baron Vance stood at the center of his mercenaries, holding a silver glass of champagne, looking thoroughly delighted by his trap.
"Drop the briefcase, Marcus," Vance ordered, taking a slow sip. "You've played your hand well, but this is my ship, my domain, and my rules."
Marcus slowly set the steel briefcase down on the table, keeping his body positioned squarely in front of Liam. "Let the boy go, Vance. Your quarrel is with me. He has nothing to do with Project Aegis."
"Oh, but he has everything to do with you," Vance purred, his eyes gleaming with malice. "And hurting you through him is far more satisfying than simply shooting you in the chest. Men like you don't break when you bleed them, Marcus. You break when you watch your legacy burn."
Liam’s mind raced. He looked around the room, assessing the layout. To their left was the shattered glass balcony leading to the open Mediterranean Sea forty feet below. To their right was the reinforced door blocked by six mercenaries.
"Dad," Liam whispered softly, barely moving his lips. "The signal jammer in my jacket..."
Marcus gave an imperceptible nod.
"Vance," Marcus spoke up loudly, drawing every guard's attention. "If you kill us, the encryption key inside that briefcase automatically wipes itself within sixty seconds. You'll have the hardware, but you'll never access the launch codes for the Aegis satellite network."
Vance chuckled coldly. "A bluff. My tech team can crack any local drive in three hours."
"Try three minutes," Liam shouted, and suddenly slammed his hand into his pocket, activating a high-frequency tactical flash-bang device he had hidden in his suit lining.
*BANG!*
A blinding white light and a deafening 130-decibel soundwave exploded inside the enclosed VIP suite.
The mercenaries screamed in pain, clutching their eyes and ears as total disorientation swept through them. Vance dropped his champagne glass, stumbling backward while cursing loudly.
"Jump!" Marcus roared, grabbing Liam by his collar.
Together, father and son hurled themselves backward through the shattered glass balcony frame, diving straight into the black night air.
For three agonizing seconds, they free-fell through the sky before crashing into the freezing, dark waters of the Mediterranean Harbor.
*SPLASH!*
The cold water hit Liam like a physical impact, shocking his lungs. He kicked furiously against the current, pushing himself up toward the surface. He broke through the water, gasping for air, and immediately spotted his father swimming toward him through the waves.
Above them, automatic gunfire erupted from the deck of *The Leviathan*, bullets spraying into the water like hail, creating tiny white splashes around them.
"This way!" Marcus yelled over the roar of the boat engines and gunfire.
A high-speed tactical speedboat, painted matte black with silenced engines, came cutting through the harbor mist, idling right beside them. At the wheel was Knox, Marcus's most trusted former special forces operative and head of security.
"Get in! Get in!" Knox barked, extending a heavy gloved hand to haul Liam out of the water, followed immediately by Marcus.
Liam collapsed onto the deck of the boat, gasping for air, clutching the waterproof leather pouch containing the Aegis drive that Marcus had secured to his waist before jumping.
Knox slammed the throttles forward. The twin 400-horsepower engines roared to life, propelling the black boat across the water at fifty knots, cutting through the waves and leaving the chaotic lights of *The Leviathan* far behind.
Vance stood on the upper deck of his yacht, watching the speedboat vanish into the darkness. His face was twisted with absolute rage.
"Find them!" Vance screamed at his chief of security. "Put out an international red notice! Call our contacts in the CIA and Interpol! Tell them Marcus Carter is a rogue terrorist carrying a nuclear-level cyber weapon! I want them hunted down like dogs!"
Meanwhile, aboard the fleeing speedboat, Liam sat up against the hull, wiping salt water from his eyes. He looked at his father, who was checking his weapons and securing their satellite uplink.
"We got the drive back," Liam said, holding up the black casing. "We won, right?"
Marcus looked at his son with a heavy, solemn expression. "We saved the key, Liam. But Vance just launched his counter-attack. Look at the news feeds."
Liam pulled up his phone. Across every major global news network—CNN, BBC, Fox News—breaking headlines were flashing in bright red text:
*BREAKING NEWS: FORMER CEO MARCUS CARTER ALIVE AND WANTED FOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND STOLEN WEAPONS TECH.*
"He turned the entire world against us," Liam said softly, realizing the terrifying scope of Vance's power.
"He thinks he did," Marcus said, his eyes burning with unbreakable resolve. "He thinks framing us will force us into hiding. But he forgot one thing."
"What's that?" Liam asked.
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"A hunted lion is at its most dangerous when it stops running," Marcus answered grimly. "We're going to London. It's time to dismantle the Obsidian Group from the inside out."
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