SHE TRIED TO DESTROY HIS BABY IN THE SHADOWS, BUT THE RED LIGHT IN THE CEILING RECORDED HER SINS—AND HER BILLIONAIRE HUSBAND’S VENGEANCE WAS UNFORGIVING!

*BANG!*

A magnesium-fueled blinding flash detonated with the fury of a dying sun, accompanied by an ear-shattering, high-frequency sonic burst.

Sarah screamed, clutching her eyes as the searing white light burned directly into her retinas.

In that fraction of a second, Julian’s training took over. He dropped his shoulder, drove his body forward like an armor-piercing projectile, and slammed directly into Alistair Sterling. The impact sent the neurosurgeon flying backward across the polished floor, the diagnostic tablet tumbling from his hands and skidding across the slick tiles.

*CLATTER!*

Julian didn't hesitate. Before Alistair could recover his breath, Julian swung his MP7 around on its tactical sling, leveled the muzzle, and fired a three-round burst directly into the tablet lying on the floor.

*RAT-TAT-TAT!*

The screen exploded into a shower of sparks, shattered liquid crystal, and smoking circuitry. The signal link to Lily was severed!

"NO!" Alistair shrieked, scrambling across the floor like a wounded crab, blood leaking from his nose where Julian’s shoulder had shattered his face. "The synchronization sequence is broken! The pods are destabilizing!"

"You touch my daughter again, and I’ll feed you to the incinerators," Julian roared, advancing on Alistair with the smoking barrel of his submachine gun.

Suddenly, the heavy blast doors at the rear of the chamber were kicked open. Four private security mercenaries clad in black combat armor and assault rifles poured into the room, their weapons raising.

"KILL HIM!" Sarah shrieked from the floor, blinking through tears of blood, her vision half-blinded by the flare. "Tear him to pieces!"

Julian dove behind the reinforced steel base of Cryo-Pod 04 just as a barrage of 5.56mm rounds tore through the air, chewing through the concrete pillars and shattering the outer pressure glass of the empty tanks.

*PSSSSSSSHHHHH!*

Super-chilled liquid nitrogen erupted from the ruptured cooling conduits, creating a blinding, roaring wall of sub-zero fog that enveloped the entire circular chamber within seconds. The temperature plummeted instantaneously toward minus-forty degrees.

Julian crouched low in the white fog, pulling his night-vision tactical goggles over his eyes. The world shifted into glowing shades of green and thermal orange. Through the swirling clouds of nitrogen, the mercenaries moved like clumsy, lumbering heat signatures, shivering violently as the frost began coating their gear.

"He's behind Pod Four! Flank him!" a mercenary shouted.

Julian didn't wait to be flanked. He vaulted onto the top of the steel manifold, using the dense fog as camouflage, and dropped down behind the lead shooter.

*CRACK.*

With a single, brutal twist of his combat boots and the buttstock of the MP7, Julian neutralized the first guard before the man could turn. He caught the falling assault rifle, spun on his heel, and fired a double-tap into the chest plates of the second operative emerging through the mist. Both rounds penetrated, dropping the man instantly.

"Sarah! The lower escape dock! Run!" Alistair’s frantic voice cut through the hiss of escaping gas.

Julian swung his weapon toward the voice, but the third mercenary charged him with a combat knife, tackling Julian against the glass cylinder of Pod 07. The impact rattled Julian’s teeth, knocking his MP7 from his grip.

The mercenary drove the blade toward Julian’s throat. Julian caught the man’s wrists with iron hands, his muscles straining against the descending steel. The blade hovered an inch above his jugular.

Through the fog, Julian saw the face inside Pod 07, frozen behind the frost-covered glass. It was an elderly Asian diplomat reported dead six months ago. These sick bastards were running an underground market of stolen minds.

Julian headbutted the mercenary with shattering force. The guard recoiled, dazed. Julian seized the opening, drove his knee upward into the man’s groin, followed by an open-palm strike to the throat. The mercenary choked on his own airway and collapsed into the nitrogen mist.

Julian grabbed the dropped pistol, swept the room, and stepped through the fog toward the control dais.

Sarah and Alistair were gone. An emergency hatch leading to the subterranean docks on the Hudson River stood wide open, its warning sirens flashing amber.

Julian raised his radio comm. The jammer had burned out. "Marcus! Come in, Marcus! Do you read me?"

Static hissed, followed by the urgent, booming voice of Marcus: "Julian! We have visual on the facility! Our strike team is three minutes out!"

"Forget the facility!" Julian shouted, sprinting toward the exit. "Seal the Hudson River waterways! Sarah and Alistair are escaping via the boat slips! And check on Lily! Confirm the safe room status in Vermont NOW!"