The ambulance swayed and jerked around another corner, sending Jack's shoulder into the cold metal wall. His father's lessons flickered through his mind like an old film reel - watching Dad demonstrate how to spot emergency exits, tracking marbles rolled across their kitchen floor, memorizing faces in the crowd at baseball games.
"Pattern recognition flowed through your father's veins," Mei-Lin murmured, her eyes meeting his. "It flows through yours too."
Jack's eyes drifted over his mother's equipment, catching the military serial numbers etched into the steel, the reinforced cables, the advanced display interfaces. "Regular hospitals don't carry this gear."
Mei-Lin's phone vibrated against her designer suit. Her eyes narrowed at the screen. "Count them for me."
Jack's eyelids dropped, conjuring the rear window's view. "One black SUV, hanging back half a mile. Keeps showing up every few minutes, like clockwork. Two more weaving through traffic - can't make out the models, but they're moving together, like a dance."
"And if you were leading this dance?"
His father's gravelly voice surfaced in his mind: Never take the straight road when they expect you to run.
"Let them think they're pushing us where they want," Jack said, his fingers drumming against his knee. "Play into their game."
Mei-Lin's cane cracked against the floor - tap-tap-tap - and somewhere in the ambulance, something beeped in response. Her lips curled upward. "Thomas said that once, years ago."
She leaned in, her silk suit rustling. "Remember this - they see a lost boy who stumbled into wealth. That's our shield."
The monitors beeped steadily beside his mother's still form, anchoring him as his reality crumbled and reformed. "My father - when did he join you?"
"Join implies hierarchy." Mei-Lin's obsidian eyes caught the fluorescent light. "We were equals."
Trees blurred past the window as city blocks faded behind them. Dad's words whispered in his ear: The land tells stories, Jackie. Learn to read them all.
"These people tailing us," Jack said, his voice hardening. "The ones who took my father. Tell me everything."
"Your father was more than a soldier." Mei-Lin's fingers traced the jade pendant at her throat. "In our world, he was The Dark Wolf of GSS - Global Shield Securities. A ghost that kept the balance."
Jack's chest tightened. The nickname stirred something - a half-remembered conversation through his bedroom wall, his father's voice mixing with unfamiliar ones late at night.
"There are organizations that see chaos as opportunity," Mei-Lin continued. "The Crimson Hand is the most ambitious. They've spent decades trying to destabilize the established order - my order. But your father..." A rare smile touched her lips. "He was their nightmare."
The ambulance curved onto a mountain road. Jack caught glimpses of the valley below through breaks in the trees. "But he worked at the factory. I saw him come home covered in grease and metal shavings."
"The best covers are built on truth. Thomas did work there - three days a week. The other four..." Mei-Lin's eyes darkened. "He protected everything I built. Everything that keeps the worst predators in check."
"The accident." Jack's voice cracked. "That wasn't an accident."
"No." Mei-Lin's knuckles whitened around her cane. "The Crimson Hand finally traced him through a compromised operative. They rigged the machinery. But Thomas..." She drew a sharp breath. "He realized the trap too late to save himself, but in time to ensure no other workers were caught in it."
Jack's throat burned. Even at the end, his father had protected others. The "games" took on new meaning - not just survival skills, but a legacy passed down in stolen moments.
"They believe killing me will create the power vacuum they need," Mei-Lin said. "With your father gone, they thought GSS was vulnerable. But then you appeared at the mansion."
"What do I have to do with any of this?"
"You have your father's gift. The way you move, how you read situations, your instincts during the attack - it's all there. The Dark Wolf's son, emerging right when they're planning their biggest move." Her voice hardened. "They'll try to eliminate you before you can grow into your potential."
The ambulance's radio crackled. A voice reported movement on parallel roads.
"They're trying to herd us," Jack muttered, his father's lessons surfacing. "Force us onto a predictable path."
"Indeed." Mei-Lin tapped her cane twice against the floor. The ambulance smoothly changed lanes. "Your father left you more than just training, Jack. He left you a choice. You can walk away from this life - I'll ensure your mother's safety regardless. Or..."
"Or I can finish what he started." Jack watched the pursuing vehicles in the side mirror, seeing them with new clarity. "Help protect what he died defending."
"It won't be easy. The training will break you down to build you stronger. The secrets will weigh heavy."
Jack looked at his mother's peaceful face, then back to the jade pendant at Mei-Lin's throat. "When do we start?"
Mei-Lin's smile turned razor-sharp. "We already have. Lesson one: sometimes the best defense is to spring the trap - on your terms."
She raised her cane, and the ambulance accelerated toward what looked like a dead end.
The ambulance jerked to a halt at the cliff's edge, gravel crunching under its tires. Jack's heart hammered against his ribs as Mei-Lin rose with fluid grace, her cane clicking against the metal floor.
"I guess it's my time to act." She pushed open the rear doors, the mountain air rushing in.
A low rumble filled the valley. Jack's jaw dropped as black helicopters emerged from behind the ridgeline, their rotors cutting through the dawn light. Military vehicles materialized from hidden mountain paths, their engines growling in harmony. The ground trembled as tanks rolled into position, their turrets swiveling toward the approaching threats.
Motorcycles roared up the switchbacks, their riders clad in black leather adorned with dragon insignias. They formed a blockade across the narrow road, trapping the pursuing vehicles between walls of steel and muscle.
The pursuing SUVs screeched to a halt. Jack watched through the ambulance window as their doors flew open, men in tactical gear spilling out with weapons raised. Their faces shifted from confidence to confusion to fear as they realized their situation.
Mei-Lin raised her hand, her silk sleeve falling back to reveal an intricate dragon tattoo. The gesture carried the weight of absolute authority. Jack remembered his father's words: True power isn't in the punch - it's in the presence.
The air crackled with tension. Jack could see the enemy forces realizing their fatal mistake. They'd followed what they thought was prey, only to find themselves surrounded by predators who'd been lying in wait.
His eyes darted between the forces assembled. Private military contractors in state-of-the-art combat gear. Traditional gang members with ancient symbols mixed with modern weapons. High-tech drones hovering silently overhead. All moving in perfect coordination, as if they'd rehearsed this trap a thousand times.
Mei-Lin turned back to Jack, her obsidian eyes glinting with satisfaction. The morning sun caught her jade pendant, sending green light dancing across her face. Her smile carried decades of power and secrets.
"Welcome to your new world."
She raised her hand again, and the valley erupted in gunfire and explosions. Jack watched in stunned silence as the carefully orchestrated chaos unfolded. This wasn't just revenge - it was a message written in blood and fire. A declaration that the Dark Wolf's legacy lived on, and his son now stood with the dragon.
Through the ambulance window, Jack saw his childhood dissolve in the smoke. The simple life he'd known, the clear lines between right and wrong - all of it vanishing like morning mist. In its place stood a world of shadows and power, of ancient codes and modern warfare.
His father's training suddenly felt like the first pages of a much longer book. One written in his blood, waiting to be finished.
The last echoes of gunfire faded into the mountain air. Mei-Lin's army began to disappear as smoothly as they'd appeared, leaving no trace of the battle that had just unfolded.
Jack looked at his sleeping mother, then back to Mei-Lin. He understood now - this was more than protection. This was inheritance.
The sun broke fully over the mountain ridge, casting long shadows across the valley floor. A new day was dawning, and with it, Jack's real education was about to begin.