Guarded Truth (Steel Hearts #2)
Chapter 1 Target Acquired
The Gala Incident
The ballroom of the Voss Foundation shimmered beneath crystal chandeliers, their warm light reflecting from polished marble floors and towering glass windows overlooking the city skyline.
Elegant music drifted through the air while waiters carrying silver trays moved effortlessly between guests dressed in designer gowns and tailored tuxedos.
Laughter mixed with quiet conversations about charity projects, business ventures, and the remarkable success of the Frank Rivera Automotive Training Foundation.
Exactly one year had passed since Rivera Auto had become more than a neighborhood garage.
What had once been a small family business was now the heart of a thriving apprenticeship program that had already changed hundreds of lives.
Tonight’s gala celebrated that achievement, bringing together business leaders, community members, government officials, and supporters from across the country.
Elias Kane stood near the entrance to the ballroom, appearing no different from any other man wearing a perfectly fitted black suit. Most guests never gave him a second glance. That was exactly how he preferred it.
His attention wasn’t on the decorations or the speeches being prepared at the front of the room. It rested on every entrance, every exit, every unfamiliar face, and every tiny movement that didn’t belong.
Years in Special Forces had trained him to notice details other people overlooked.
Years leading Aegis Security had taught him those details often saved lives.
His earpiece crackled softly.
“North entrance secure.”
Eli touched the small communication device hidden behind his ear.
“Copy.”
Another voice followed.
“Kitchen corridor clear.”
He acknowledged the report without shifting his expression.
Everything appeared normal.
Almost.
His eyes drifted toward a waiter carrying champagne through the crowd.
The young man moved confidently enough, but something was wrong.
The identification badge clipped to his jacket carried the correct logo but the wrong security stripe. The foundation had switched to blue credentials for service staff earlier that afternoon after a delivery issue. This badge still displayed yesterday’s green stripe.
Most people would never notice.
Eli noticed immediately.
He quietly spoke into his microphone.
“Team Three. Verify catering employee near the east bar. No confrontation unless necessary.”
“Understood.”
Without drawing attention, two security officers casually changed direction toward the waiter.
Eli continued scanning the ballroom.
Alex Voss stood near the stage speaking with donors, one arm resting comfortably around Jax Rivera’s waist. Their happiness hadn’t faded during the past year.
If anything, it had grown stronger. Watching them laugh together reminded Eli why Aegis had accepted responsibility for every major Voss event.
Alex and Jax had become more than clients.
They had become family.
His phone vibrated silently inside his jacket.
One notification.
Camera 14 Offline.
His eyes narrowed.
Camera 14 covered the restricted executive hallway leading toward the private conference suites.
A second later, the screen returned to normal.
Offline for only four seconds.
Four seconds were enough.
“Evelyn,” Eli spoke quietly.
“I’m looking.”
Alex’s executive assistant answered immediately through the secure channel.
“I saw it.”
“Maintenance?”
“No scheduled work.”
Eli’s instincts sharpened.
Coincidence rarely arrived alone.
He started toward the executive hallway.
Halfway there, another detail caught his attention.
A man carrying a professional camera walked confidently past a velvet rope separating public areas from restricted access.
Messy blond hair.
Navy blazer.
Messenger bag.
Press credentials.
Finn Harlow.
Eli recognized the name before the face.
Award-winning investigative journalist.
Persistent.
Brilliant.
Annoyingly fearless.
The kind of reporter who kept asking questions long after everyone else accepted official statements.
Finn paused near an open doorway.
Instead of photographing guests, he angled his camera toward a conference room at the end of the corridor.
Eli followed his line of sight.
Inside the room, a senior executive from Titan Shield International quietly met with two city officials.
The meeting wasn’t listed on tonight’s schedule.
Interesting.
Finn raised his camera.
The shutter clicked several times.
Eli crossed the hallway in long, silent strides.
“Mr. Harlow.”
Finn glanced over one shoulder but didn’t lower the camera.
“If you’re here to compliment my photography, thank you.”
“That area is restricted.”
“So is most of this building.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Finn finally turned around completely.
Up close, his green eyes carried equal amounts of intelligence and mischief.
“I was invited.”
“Not to this hallway.”
Finn smiled.
“Funny.”
“I don’t remember seeing a sign.”
Eli stepped closer.
“There wasn’t supposed to be one.”
Their eyes locked.
Neither man looked away.
Finn folded his arms loosely.
“You’re Elias Kane.”
“Eli.”
“Head of Aegis Security.”
“I’ve read about you.”
“I imagine you have.”
“They say you’re impossible to surprise.”
“I usually am.”
Finn’s smile widened.
“I’ll keep trying.”
Eli ignored the comment.
“What did you record?”
“People talking.”
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Mr. Harlow—"
“Finn.”
“I prefer names over titles.”
Eli remained expressionless.
“Delete the footage.”
Finn shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“My job is asking questions powerful people don’t want answered.”
“My job,” Eli replied calmly, “is making sure people stay alive long enough to answer them.”
Finn studied him carefully.
“That’s an interesting way of saying you’re protecting billionaires.”
“I’m protecting everyone in this building.”
“Even the men meeting secretly down the hall?”
Eli didn’t answer.
Finn noticed.
“So there is something worth hiding.”
“There are situations you don’t understand.”
“Then explain them.”
“I can’t.”
“Convenient.”
“No.”
“Necessary.”
The silence stretched between them.
Finn lifted his camera slightly.
“If those executives are doing nothing wrong, why does this conversation make you nervous?”
“I’m not nervous.”
“No?”
“You’ve been watching every exit since I arrived.”
Eli almost smiled.
Almost.
“You notice more than most people.”
“It’s literally my profession.”
“And mine.”
Finn leaned against the wall.
“Here’s the difference.”
“I expose secrets.”
“I stop people from dying because of them.”
Before Finn could reply, Eli’s earpiece crackled sharply.
“Boss.”
The voice sounded tense.
“Unknown individual approaching the main stage.”
Eli’s attention shifted instantly.
“Description.”
“Male.”
“Dark suit.”
“No credential visible.”
Everything happened at once.
The waiter with the counterfeit badge suddenly abandoned his tray.
The unidentified guest near the stage reached inside his jacket.
Several ballroom cameras flickered again.
Eli’s instincts took over.
“Lock the exits.”
“Protect Alex.”
He was already moving before finishing the sentence.
Guests looked around in confusion as Aegis personnel quietly repositioned themselves.
Alex had just accepted a microphone from the event host when the unidentified man pushed through the crowd.
His hand emerged holding a compact drone controller instead of a weapon.
A small drone hidden among the lighting fixtures suddenly activated, flying directly toward the stage.
“Eagle One!”
Eli shouted.
One of his agents launched an electronic jammer.
The drone lost control, crashing harmlessly into a decorative banner before reaching Alex.
At the same moment, another security officer tackled the controller’s operator.
The ballroom erupted into frightened voices.
Guests ducked.
Reporters raised cameras.
Within seconds, Aegis had formed a protective circle around Alex and Jax while directing attendees toward secure exits.
The crisis ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
No one had been hurt.
But someone had tested their defenses.
Eli immediately began scanning the room again.
The fake waiter had disappeared.
So had the Titan Shield executive.
His gaze stopped on Finn.
Instead of running away, the journalist stood frozen near the hallway, camera still recording.
He had instinctively captured everything.
Not just the attempted attack.
The executive leaving the conference room moments before.
The fake waiter disappearing through a service exit.
The malfunctioning cameras.
Pieces of a puzzle nobody else had seen.
Their eyes met across the crowded ballroom.
For one brief second, Finn looked less like an argumentative reporter and more like someone realizing he had accidentally witnessed something dangerous.
Then the spell broke.
He lowered the camera, turned, and disappeared into the panicked crowd before anyone could stop him.
Eli didn’t chase him.
He watched the journalist vanish through the ballroom doors.
His instincts, sharpened by decades of experience, whispered the same warning they always had before everything went wrong.
Finn Harlow hadn’t just uncovered a story.
He had unknowingly become a target.
The Last Source
Finn Harlow had attended enough charity galas to know that the real stories rarely happened beneath crystal chandeliers.
They happened afterward.
Long after the speeches ended, the expensive cars disappeared, and the cameras stopped pointing at smiling donors.
He left the Voss Foundation with more questions than answers.
The confrontation with Elias Kane replayed in his mind as he crossed the nearly empty parking garage beneath the hotel. The head of Aegis Security wasn’t like the corporate bodyguards Finn had encountered before. Most relied on intimidation and expensive suits to keep journalists away.
Eli hadn’t raised his voice once.
He hadn’t threatened him.
He had simply looked like a man carrying the weight of a responsibility nobody else understood.
That bothered Finn more than he cared to admit.
He climbed into his aging hatchback, tossed his camera bag onto the passenger seat, and plugged a small memory card into his laptop before starting the engine.