Chapter 17 - Securing The Estate Against An Invisible Adversary
Mark realized that the threat to his daughter was far greater than a simple domestic abuse case or a stolen college fund.
He spent the next three days transforming his suburban mansion into an untouchable fortress, hiring a private team of former Navy SEALs.
High-definition thermal cameras, perimeter laser sensors, and reinforced steel storm shutters were installed throughout the property.
Lily was thriving once again, her health fully restored, her laughter echoing through the halls as she played with her new golden retriever.
"Daddy, are we going to stay in this big house forever?" Lily asked one evening as they sat on the back terrace eating ice cream.
"We're going to stay right here, sweetie, and nobody is ever going to scare you again," Mark promised, stroking her blonde pigtails.
At nine o'clock that evening, as Mark was putting Lily to bed upstairs, his satellite phone chimed with an encrypted text message.
The message contained a high-resolution photograph taken from the woods outside his perimeter fence, showing Mark standing on the terrace.
May you like
Attached to the photograph was a short, sinister message: “You caught my mid-level operative, Mark, but the patent still belongs to me.”
***
