Chapter 77: Chapter 76: Someone Is Watching
The medical room felt completely frozen.
Julius kept his head peeked around Harrison’s massive shoulder, his eyes wide as he stared at the two men.
Daniel and Marcus were still deeply locked in their kiss, completely lost in their own world.
Harrison stood perfectly still on the bottom step.
His face was a mask of pure shock, his usual dark, serious eyes blinking in total confusion.
He let out a loud, sharp cough to break the silence.
The sound cut through the room like a gunshot.
Marcus froze instantly.
His eyes snapped open, and he shoved Daniel away with so much force that Daniel groaned as his back hit the pillows of the medical bed.
Marcus scrambled backward, his face turning a deep, bright red that went all the way down his neck to his collar.
He quickly pulled his wrinkled jacket straight, his hands shaking as he tried to look professional.
"B-Boss!" Marcus choked out, his voice cracking completely. He refused to look anywhere near Daniel. "We... it is not what you think. I was just... he was injured, and I was checking his—"
"Save it, Marcus," Harrison interrupted, his voice dropping into its usual deep, flat rumble. He stepped fully into the room, though his eyes still lingered on Daniel with a look of utter disbelief. "I do not have the time or the energy for whatever this is right now."
Daniel, despite the sharp pain in his bandaged shoulder, let out a low, breathless chuckle.
He leaned back against his pillow, completely unbothered about being caught by his boss.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at Harrison. "You timed that perfectly, boss. As always."
Julius finally stepped out from behind Harrison.
The heavy atmosphere of the room made him feel incredibly awkward.
He cleared his throat softly, looking between Marcus, who looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole, and Daniel, who looked incredibly smug.
Julius leaned slightly toward Harrison, keeping his voice low so only Harrison could hear. "Harrison... did you know about this?"
Harrison didn’t look at Julius.
He kept his eyes locked on the two men in front of him, his jaw clenching. "It is a very long story, Julius. One I do not wish to discuss right now."
"So you did know?" Julius whispered, a small smile teasing the corner of his lips despite the terrifying message on his phone.
"Later," Harrison muttered back, his tone ending the discussion.
He stepped closer to Daniel’s medical bed, his expression instantly changing from awkward confusion to deadly serious business.
The playful mood in the room vanished in a split second. "Something much more important has come up. We have a massive problem."
Marcus immediately snapped out of his embarrassment.
His professional bodyguard training took over, and his posture went completely rigid. "What happened, boss? Did the perimeter sensors catch something outside the safe house?"
"No," Harrison said, pulling Julius’s phone out of his pocket.
He did not hand it over; instead, he held it up so both Daniel and Marcus could see the glowing screen. "This message was sent to Julius’s personal phone just a few minutes ago. Our secure location has been compromised."
Daniel leaned forward, his dark eyes narrowing as he read the short, threatening lines.
The lazy smile completely disappeared from his face. "Alpha? They called him alpha. And they know about the drive."
"They know everything," Julius said, his voice trembling a bit as the fear came rushing back.
He wrapped his arms around his middle, feeling incredibly exposed. "They knew we went to the cottage. They knew the drive wasn’t there. And they know exactly where we are hiding right now. Who could have sent this?"
Marcus stepped closer, his anger from earlier completely gone, replaced by deep focus.
"The number is completely masked, boss. It is routed through a dozen ghost servers. It would take my tech team days to even find the continent this text came from. Whoever this is, they have military-grade encryption software. It matches the gear the mercenaries were using at the lake."
"So the person who sent this text is the one controlling the mercenaries," Daniel deduced, his voice a low rumble.
He looked up at Harrison. "Arthur does not have this kind of technical power, boss. He is rich, but he uses local street thugs and crooked cops. He doesn’t hire high-end shadow mercenaries who can track our secure lines."
"I know," Harrison said, his voice dark and cold.
He took the phone back and slipped it into his pocket. "That means there is a third player in this game. Someone who has been watching us from the shadows, waiting for us to find my father’s drive."
Julius felt a heavy weight press down on his chest.
He looked at Harrison, his eyes filled with guilt. "Harrison, the text says to find the drive before they do, or we lose everything. But we checked the secret compartment under the pantry. The box was empty. There is no drive. How can we find something that doesn’t exist?"
Harrison turned to Julius, his hand instantly coming down to rest on Julius’s shoulder.
The heavy warmth of his palm immediately grounded Julius, stopping his racing thoughts.
"Think, Julius," Harrison said softly, his dark eyes staring intensely into Julius’s. "Your father was a master of finance and security. He did not build a hidden trapdoor and a steel box just to leave it completely empty for Arthur to find. If the box was empty, it means the drive was never there in the first place."
"He told you the pantry because he knew people might listen to your conversations," Daniel chimed in from the bed, his face serious.
"If your father knew he was in danger, he would have set up a false trail. He wanted anyone searching his properties to go straight to the cottage, trip the traps, and find nothing."
"Then where is the real drive?" Marcus asked, looking between Harrison and Julius.
"If it’s not at the cottage, and it’s not at any of the main properties, where would a man like Julius’s father hide something that could destroy the world?"
Julius looked between them, his mind spinning. "The cottage was just a loud distraction to pull everyone away from the real hiding spot. Your right about that, I’m sure of it."
Just then, the door at the top of the stairs creaked open, and Anna stepped into the room.
She was wearing her vest, her expression focused as she walked down the steps to get her next command from Harrison.
"Boss, the perimeter teams are placed, but we need to—" Anna stopped mid-sentence, noticing the heavy, tense atmosphere in the room.
Her eyes darted from Marcus’s bright red face to Harrison’s dark expression. "What is going on? Did something happen?"
Harrison didn’t waste any words.
He pulled the phone back out and held it toward her. "Read this. Julius just received it."
Anna stepped forward and scanned the glowing screen.
Her eyes widened, and a look of pure shock washed over her face.
She took a small step back, her hand flying to her mouth. "Oh my god... how did they get this number? This line is fully encrypted. Harrison, if they know about the alpha label and the safe house, we are completely exposed."
"We are," Harrison said grimly, his voice echoing with absolute authority as he began to dispatch his team.
He turned his eyes fully onto Daniel, who was still resting on the medical bed. "Daniel, you are staying right here."
"You are my eyes and security. You know the dark networks of this city better than anyone. I need you down here, listening for any chatter about mercenaries or a hidden drive. If anyone in the dark web so much as whispers Julius’s name, I want to know about it instantly. Stay underground and handle your part well."
Daniel’s expression hardened into complete seriousness.
He gave a firm nod. "Understood, boss. I’ll look into everything from here."
Harrison then turned to the rest of the group, his face completely rigid.
"Marcus, Anna, Julius — we are leaving right now. We are heading straight back to the main office downtown. We have the best high-end tech servers there. We need to find out exactly who is hovering around us and tracking our movements before they make their next move."
"The cars are already prepped in the garage," Marcus said, his voice entirely professional now as he avoided looking at Daniel.
"Good. Move out," Harrison ordered.
Anna nodded quickly, her initial shock hiding behind a cold, professional look as she turned to follow Marcus up the stairs.
Harrison grabbed Julius’s hand, his massive fingers wrapping securely around Julius’s smaller ones.
He pulled Julius toward the steps, his pace fast and heavy.
Julius squeezed Harrison’s hand back tightly, his heart hammering against his ribs.
They were leaving the safety of this place and walking straight back into the lion’s den to hunt down a ghost.
