Page 73 of Hardline Torque

Ethan’s grip tightened on the phone.Somewhere behind him, a crayon clattered to the floor.

“Niko?”he said, voice carefully neutral.

“Yeah, they took him,” Kael continued.“They had a private aircraft waiting and off-grid routing.We need to follow without being seen, and we do not have time for Hogan to get here and fly for us.”

Ethan’s gaze drifted back toward the living room.His daughter had switched colors again, humming softly to herself, oblivious to the way the world had just tilted.

“How long ago did they leave?”Ethan asked.

“Four hours and change,” Kael said.

Ethan exhaled slowly, every instinct he’d spent years suppressing snapping back into place.

“I’ll need transponder spoofing, passive tracking, and a clean tail,” he said, already running through the checklist.“You’ll need eyes in air traffic control, not just feeds.And I’m not flying blind.”

“We’ll get you everything you need,” Kael said.

Ethan opened his eyes.“I have access to the plane we’re going to need.I’ll be wheels up in thirty minutes.”

“We have a plane, we can—” Kael started, but Ethan cut him off.

“No, I said the plane we are going to need.I’ll be with you in less than two hours, be on the tarmac, loaded with what you need, and have a flight plan lodged.

Kael didn’t thank him.

He didn’t need to.

Ethan ended the call and stood there for a moment longer, hand resting on the counter, grounding himself.Then he turned back into the living room.

His daughter looked up again.“Daddy, are you going bye-bye?”

He crossed the space in two strides and knelt in front of her, brushing a smudge of blue from her cheek.“Yeah, bug,” he said softly.“I have to help a friend.I’m going to let Aunty Lucy know that I have to go, and she’ll look after you, okay?”

She considered that, then nodded with solemn acceptance.“Okay.Bring him home.”

Ethan swallowed.

“I will,” he promised.

He rose, heading upstairs for his flight bag, and true to his words, just under thirty minutes later, Ghost was wheels up.

And somewhere in the sky ahead of him, Niko was counting on him to follow.

The End

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