The Man Behind the Wheel
By Nathaniel Theos
Chapter One: An Ordinary Saturday
Dominic Kane was forty-nine, carried more weight around his middle than he cared to admit, and, according to his daughters, looked like a man who considered walking to the refrigerator an endurance sport.
“Dad, your belly is getting bigger,” Cassandra announced from the back seat.
Dominic glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Getting?”
Alice giggled. “I think it stopped getting bigger and just became big.”
“Thank you, Alice. Your kindness will be remembered when Christmas comes.”
Abby leaned forward between the seats. “Mom says you’re supposed to be exercising.”
“Mom says many things.”
“She says you bought running shoes six months ago.”
“I did.”
“And you haven’t worn them.”
“That’s not true. I wore them home from the store.”
The three girls dissolved into laughter, and Dominic smiled. He loved Saturdays like this. No schedules, no emergencies, no one demanding he solve problems that ordinary people considered impossible. Just three thirteen-year-old daughters, an afternoon of shopping, and the possibility of hot chocolate before they headed home.
Calgary’s downtown towers rose around them, reflecting the crisp October sunshine. Traffic moved steadily through the streets, and the trees along the sidewalks had turned brilliant shades of yellow and orange.
The triplets had been born a minute apart, but Dominic had never understood why people assumed that made them identical in personality. Abby was the quiet observer who noticed things other people missed, especially when someone was hurting. Alice was the artist, the dreamer, the girl who could fill an entire sketchbook with people she’d seen for only a few seconds. Cassandra approached life as though the universe had been assembled incorrectly and she had been personally appointed to identify every flaw.
All three were exceptionally intelligent and painfully shy around strangers. At home, however, they were capable of talking Dominic into exhaustion.
“Dad,” Alice said, “can we get hot chocolate?”
“Didn’t we just have lunch?”
“That was an hour ago.”
“An entire hour? How have you survived?”
“Dad!”
“All right. Hot chocolate.”
“With whipped cream?” Abby asked.
“Are you trying to bankrupt me?”
“Yes,” Cassandra answered.
Dominic sighed. “I should have bought a dog.”
“You have three daughters,” Cassandra replied.
“Exactly. A dog would have been cheaper.”
They laughed again. Dominic glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Elena would be expecting them home within a couple of hours.
At thirty-six, Elena possessed a patience Dominic admired and frequently relied upon. She wasn’t the girls’ biological mother, but she had earned the title Mom through years of showing up, listening, comforting, and loving them. The girls adored her. Dominic did too.
Their life wasn’t perfect, but it was good. And to his daughters, he was wonderfully ordinary. He drove a dump truck, liked comfortable chairs, occasionally fell asleep halfway through movies, and had a growing belly and a collection of terrible jokes. Nothing about him suggested danger. Nothing about him suggested the truth.
Dominic checked his rearview mirror. A black Chevrolet Tahoe sat two vehicles behind him. He barely reacted. Large SUVs were common in Calgary, but he’d seen that particular Tahoe before, outside the restaurant and again near the shopping district.
He checked the passenger-side mirror. A dark Ford Explorer moved through traffic behind them, and Dominic felt a familiar pressure form beneath his ribs. He’d seen that vehicle too.
Coincidence.
He wanted it to be.
He made a casual turn. The Tahoe followed, while the Explorer continued straight. Dominic waited, and two blocks later, the Explorer appeared ahead.
His stomach tightened. He knew the pattern. One vehicle maintained contact while the other moved into position to intercept. He had seen it in Prague, Istanbul, and Mexico City, but never in Calgary. Never with his daughters in the vehicle.
He checked the Tahoe again. Its driver maintained a careful distance. Too careful. Dominic made another turn, and the Tahoe followed. Ahead, the Explorer slowed.
No. Not today.
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
“Dad?” Abby’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course.”
“You look funny.”
“I’ve looked funny for forty-nine years.”
Normally, that would have earned a laugh. This time, Abby remained silent. She had noticed something in his expression, something she’d never seen before.
Dominic looked ahead. The Explorer was slowing, and the Tahoe was closing. A cold certainty settled over him.
They found me.
Then came the thought that nearly stopped his heart.
They found my girls.
“Girls,” he said quietly, “I want you to check your seat belts.”
Cassandra looked up. “They’re on.”
“Check them again.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
Something in his voice silenced them. Three seat belts clicked as the girls adjusted their shoulder straps. Dominic checked his mirrors. The Tahoe had moved closer.
He took a slow breath. “Girls, I need you to listen very carefully.”
Alice leaned forward. “Dad?”
“Whatever happens next, I need you to trust me.”
Cassandra stared at him. “What’s happening?”
Dominic gripped the wheel. “Something I hoped would never happen.”
Then he accelerated.
Chapter Two: The Wrong Men Followed the Wrong Father
The SUV surged forward, and Alice screamed.
“DAD!”
Dominic moved into the next lane, slipping through a narrowing gap between two vehicles. A horn blared, and the Tahoe accelerated behind them.
“Dad, slow down!” Abby cried.
“Everyone stay against your seats.”
“What are you doing?” Cassandra demanded.
Dominic took a sharp turn, pressing the girls sideways against their restraints. Alice began crying.
“Dad! Please stop!”
He glanced in the mirror. Her face had gone white, and Abby had reached across the rear seat to take her hand. Cassandra was gripping the door handle.
Dominic felt something inside him tear. He had driven through hostile territory with wounded intelligence officers bleeding in his back seat. He had escaped armed roadblocks and navigated cities whose streets he barely knew while men with automatic weapons tried to kill his passengers.
He had never been afraid like this, because these weren’t trained agents behind him. They were his daughters, his little girls, and someone had decided they were acceptable targets.
You sons of bitches.
The thought came with such force that he almost spoke it aloud. He forced his attention back to the road. The Tahoe was gaining.
Dominic made another turn, using Calgary’s downtown one-way streets to change direction while keeping enough speed to prevent the pursuing vehicle from closing. The Explorer appeared at the next intersection and accelerated toward them.
Dominic recognized the driver’s intention and braked sharply. The Explorer swept across the intersection ahead of them, missing the front bumper by only a few metres.
Alice screamed again, and Abby began crying. Cassandra stared at her father. He hadn’t simply reacted. He’d anticipated the other driver’s move.
“Dad,” she whispered, “how did you know?”
Dominic didn’t answer. He pressed the hands-free button on his steering wheel.
“Call Office.”
The vehicle’s speakers chimed. “Calling Office.”
A moment later, a woman’s voice filled the cabin. “Operations.”
“Dominic Kane. Emergency protocol. Family compromised. Three minors aboard. Two confirmed pursuit vehicles.”
There was a pause. “Dominic, confirm family compromised.”
“Confirmed. They’re with me.”
“Location?”
“Downtown Calgary. Mobile. Pursuit active.”
“Stand by.”
“Negative. I need extraction immediately.”
The girls stared at the dashboard. Abby looked at Cassandra, who turned toward Dominic.
“Dad,” Cassandra said, “who is that?”
Dominic was watching his mirrors. “My office.”
“Your dump truck office?”
“Not exactly.”
The woman returned. “Dominic, we have a secure location available. Parkade Seven, lower level. Access will be prepared.”
“Get Elena there.”
“Already contacting her.”
“Tell her the girls are with me.”
“Understood.”
The Tahoe closed again, and Dominic accelerated.
“Dominic,” Operations continued, “we have another situation.”
“I’m listening.”
“Three personnel require immediate extraction. Their original transportation has been compromised.”
Dominic felt his jaw tighten. Of course. The operation. Sokolov. This wasn’t random. They had identified him because of the intelligence operation already underway.
“Are the three personnel mobile?”
“Affirmative.”
“Send them to the parkade.”
“Dominic, your priority is family extraction.”
“I know exactly what my priority is.”
He checked the mirror. Alice was sobbing into Abby’s shoulder.
His voice hardened. “I’ll bring you three passengers and leave with three.”
“Copy.”
Cassandra leaned forward. “What does that mean?”
“Sit back, sweetheart.”
“Dad, what does that mean?”
“Cassandra!”
He hadn’t meant to shout, and she recoiled. The sight wounded him more than he expected.
“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I need you to sit back and stay buckled in.”
The Tahoe moved closer. Dominic adjusted his speed, allowing it to approach just enough to make its driver believe he was losing control. Then he changed direction through an opening the other driver couldn’t use. The Tahoe overshot the turn.
For a few seconds, they were alone.
Alice was struggling to breathe between sobs. “Dad, please. I want Mom.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“I want Mom!”
“We’re going to her.”
“Are those men going to hurt us?”
Dominic swallowed. “No one’s touching you if I can help it.”
Cassandra looked behind them. The Tahoe had reappeared.
“Dad, they’re back.”
“I see them.”
Abby spoke so quietly he almost missed it. “Are we going to die?”
The question struck him like a physical blow. He wanted to say no, to promise that everything would be fine, that he would take them home and they would laugh about this someday. But he knew what was happening, knew the men pursuing them, and knew what those men were capable of.
He looked at Abby in the mirror. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe.”
Her lower lip trembled. “That’s not what I asked.”
“I know.”
For a moment, the only sounds were the engine and Alice crying.
Dominic felt his anger rising again. They found my daughters.
He had spent years keeping his professional identity separated from his civilian life. Different records, different routines, different worlds. Someone had breached that separation. Someone had given Sokolov the one thing Dominic could never afford to lose.
His family.
“Operations,” he said.
“Go ahead.”
“When this is over, I want to know how they found us.”
“Understood.”
“No. I don’t think you do.” His voice dropped. “They found my children.”
There was silence on the line before the woman answered softly.
“We’re going to get them safe, Dominic.”
He wanted to believe her. He had to.
“Parkade access?” he asked.
“Ready in four minutes.”
Dominic checked his mirror. Four minutes, with three terrified girls and men who wanted them dead.
He pressed the accelerator.
Chapter Three: The Secret Parkade
By the time Dominic approached the parkade, Alice had stopped screaming. That frightened him almost as much as the screaming had. She sat rigidly against her seat, tears running silently down her cheeks. Abby kept one arm around her, while Cassandra had gone pale and quiet.
Dominic knew that kind of silence. Shock. He’d seen it in people rescued from war zones, but he had never imagined seeing it in his daughters.
“Girls,” he said gently, “we’re almost there.”
“Where?” Cassandra asked.
“Somewhere safe.”
“Home?”
“No, sweetheart.”
Alice began crying again. “I want to go home.”
“I know.”
“Please, Dad.”
He glanced in the mirror. “I know, baby.”
The word slipped out before he could stop it. Alice hadn’t liked being called baby for years. This time she didn’t object.
Operations spoke through the speakers. “Dominic, Elena is on site.”
He closed his eyes for the briefest moment. Thank God.
“Copy.”
“Access confirmed. Proceed.”
Dominic turned toward the parkade entrance. Cassandra stared ahead.
“Dad, that’s a parking garage.”
“Yes.”
“We’re going underground?”
“Yes.”
“They’ll trap us!”
“Cassandra, trust me.”
“How can we?”
The words struck harder than she intended, but he couldn’t blame her. For thirteen years, he’d taught his daughters to tell the truth, keep their promises, and trust their family. Now they were discovering that their father had lied about something enormous.
He approached a service entrance marked for authorized vehicles. The barrier lifted, and Dominic drove through. The entrance closed behind them as concrete walls surrounded the SUV and it descended into the restricted lower levels.
The sudden absence of traffic noise made the girls’ breathing painfully audible. Alice sniffled, Abby whispered something to her, and Cassandra stared at the descending ramp.
Dominic followed the final turn.
And there she was.
Elena.
Thirty-six years old, dark-haired, dressed in jeans and a jacket, she stood beside a secure doorway with two people Dominic recognized from Operations.
She was trying to appear calm, but he knew her too well. Her face was pale, and her hands were clenched. The moment she saw the SUV, she moved toward it.
Dominic stopped. “Girls, out. Straight to Mom.”
Nobody moved.
“Girls!”
Alice began fumbling with her seat belt. Her hands were shaking too badly to release it.
“I can’t!”
Elena opened the rear door. “Sweetheart, look at me.”
“Mom!”
Alice reached for her. Elena leaned into the vehicle and released the buckle.
“I’ve got you. Come here.”
Alice practically fell into her arms. Abby scrambled out after her, but Cassandra remained seated, staring at Dominic.
“Dad, what is happening?”
He looked back at her. There was so much he wanted to say. That he loved her, that he was sorry, that none of this was supposed to happen. That he would trade every mission he’d ever completed for the chance to make this afternoon ordinary again.
Instead, he said, “Go with Mom.”
“But—”
“Please, Cassandra.”
Her eyes filled. “You’re not coming?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
He couldn’t answer. Elena appeared beside her door.
“Come on, sweetheart.”
Cassandra finally climbed out, and Elena gathered all three girls against her. They clung to her desperately.
Dominic watched them. His daughters were safe, at least for the moment. He wanted to get out, wrap his arms around them, feel their hearts beating, and reassure himself that they were alive. He wanted to tell Alice he was sorry for frightening her, tell Abby that her father had been scared too, and explain everything to Cassandra.
Instead, he remained behind the wheel because the danger wasn’t over.
Elena approached his window. “How bad?”
Dominic looked at the girls. “Sokolov.”
Elena’s expression changed. She understood immediately.
“He found them?”
Dominic nodded, his hands tightening around the steering wheel.
“He found our girls, Elena.” The anger in his voice surprised even him. “Some bastard gave him our family.”
Elena reached through the window and took his hand.
“They’re with me now.”
“Keep them safe.”
“I will.”
He looked toward the secure doorway. “Don’t take them home. Not yet.”
“I know.”
Their eyes met. For a moment, the professional calm disappeared. He was simply a frightened father looking at the woman he loved.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Elena shook her head. “Not now.”
“I brought this to you.”
“Dominic.” Her voice was firm. “You come back to us.”
He tried to smile. “That’s the plan.”
She leaned through the window and kissed him. It was brief and desperate. Then she stepped away.
Behind her, Abby broke from the group.
“Dad!”
Dominic lowered his window farther as she ran toward him.
“Are you coming back?”
He looked at his beautiful, frightened daughter. He wanted to promise. God, how he wanted to promise.
“I’m going to try my hardest, sweetheart.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. All three of you.”
Elena gently took Abby’s hand. A secure door opened behind them, and three men emerged, moving quickly.
Dominic recognized the urgency in their movements.
His next passengers had arrived.
Chapter Four: Three Out, Three In
The first agent reached the SUV before Elena had guided the girls through the secure doorway. He was in his early thirties, wearing civilian clothes and carrying a compact equipment bag. The second man was older, with blood staining the sleeve of his jacket, while the third appeared exhausted.
“Dominic Kane?” the first asked.
“Get in.”
The man opened the front passenger door, and the other two climbed into the rear, exactly where Abby, Alice, and Cassandra had been sitting moments earlier.
Dominic glanced into the mirror. Alice’s seat belt was still twisted, and a small damp patch remained on the upholstery where she’d been crying.
He stared at it for half a second, then looked away.
The first agent began speaking. “We have the intelligence package. Sokolov’s network has been compromised, but his people—”
“Seat belts.”
The agent blinked. “What?”
“Seat belts.”
“We don’t have time—”
Dominic turned toward him. “My vehicle. My rules.”
The agent hesitated, then fastened his belt. The two men in the back followed.
“Good,” Dominic said.
He looked toward the secure doorway. Elena was standing with the girls. Alice was buried against her side, Abby had both hands over her mouth, and Cassandra was staring directly at him.
Dominic raised one hand, and the girls waved back.
For a terrible moment, he wondered whether that would be the last time he ever saw them. His chest tightened, but he forced the thought away.
Operations came through the speakers. “Dominic, three passengers confirmed?”
“Confirmed.”
“Family secure?”
He watched Elena guide the girls through the doorway. The door closed behind them.
“Confirmed.”
“Your route is compromised. Multiple hostile vehicles remain active.”
Dominic checked his mirrors. “Understood.”
The agent beside him glanced at the dashboard.
“What’s the plan?”
Dominic shifted into drive. “Get you gentlemen out of Calgary.”
“And if they stop us?”
Dominic looked toward the exit ramp. “They won’t.”
The agent studied him. “You sound awfully confident.”
Dominic thought of Alice crying, Abby’s trembling hands, and Cassandra’s frightened eyes. He wasn’t confident. He was furious, and he had three very good reasons to survive.
“Hold on,” he said.
The SUV accelerated into the tunnel. Behind him, the secure door remained closed. His daughters were safe.
Now he needed to make certain they stayed that way.
Chapter Five: The Driver Everyone Wants
The SUV emerged from the parkade into afternoon traffic. Dominic immediately spotted the black Tahoe waiting near the next intersection. Its driver saw him, and Dominic recognized the moment of recognition.
“Operations,” he said, “I’ve reacquired one of our friends.”
“Confirmed. Additional hostiles moving toward your position.”
“Excellent.”
The agent beside him looked over. “Excellent?”
Dominic checked his mirrors. “They’re following me instead of my family.”
He accelerated. The Tahoe pulled into traffic, and a second SUV appeared behind it.
Dominic moved through downtown, making rapid changes of direction while maintaining control of the vehicle. The agents braced themselves, and the injured man in the rear grunted as the SUV took a hard corner.
“Easy!”
“Working on it,” Dominic replied.
“You call this easy?”
“No. I call this Saturday.”
The front passenger glanced at him. “Who exactly are you?”
“Your driver.”
“I gathered that.”
“Then we’re making progress.”
A helicopter appeared above the buildings, its shadow moving across the road. Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Operations, airborne surveillance confirmed.”
“We see it.”
“Any friendly aircraft?”
“Negative.”
“Of course not.”
The helicopter moved overhead, and the Tahoe accelerated. Dominic changed lanes, narrowly avoiding a delivery van. The driver leaned on his horn.
“Sorry!” Dominic muttered.
The agent beside him stared. “You just apologized to a delivery driver?”
“He wasn’t involved in this.”
The SUV swept through another intersection. Behind them, the Tahoe attempted to follow the same line, but its driver misjudged the distance. Metal struck metal, and a sharp crash echoed between the buildings.
Dominic didn’t look back. He’d heard enough to know the Tahoe had clipped another vehicle.
“That’s one,” the rear passenger said.
Dominic shook his head. “Don’t count them. Just stay buckled.”
He followed the downtown road network toward the northeast, using the one-way avenues to frustrate the pursuit. The helicopter continued tracking them, and the second hostile SUV appeared in his mirror.
“Persistent little bastards,” Dominic muttered.
The front passenger was gripping the dashboard.
“Where did you learn to drive like this?”
“Dump trucks.”
The agent looked at him. “Seriously?”
“Very seriously.”
“That’s impossible.”
Dominic glanced at him. “Have you ever tried backing a fully loaded dump truck into a narrow construction site while three men in orange vests give you conflicting directions?”
The agent stared. “No.”
“Then don’t judge.”
The injured man in the rear laughed, a short, nervous sound. Then the helicopter descended lower, and Dominic’s expression changed.
“Operations, they’re getting aggressive.”
“We’re tracking their movements.”
“Wonderful. Any chance you’d like to do something about them?”
“We’re coordinating.”
“Coordinate faster.”
He turned onto another street. A black sedan emerged ahead, moving across the lane in an attempt to block him.
Dominic braked. The SUV lurched, throwing the agents forward against their restraints.
The sedan stopped across the road. Dominic reversed sharply, turned the wheel, and redirected the SUV through an opening behind them.
The sedan’s doors opened, and men emerged. Dominic didn’t wait to see what they were carrying. He accelerated away.
The agent beside him was breathing heavily.
“Holy hell.”
Dominic glanced at him. “You all right?”
“No!”
“Fair enough.”
He checked his mirrors. The helicopter remained overhead, its rotors now clearly audible.
His jaw tightened.
You found my family.
The thought returned with such force that he felt his hands trembling against the steering wheel. He imagined Sokolov sitting somewhere comfortable, issuing orders to men who had no idea what they’d done to three innocent girls.
He wanted to find him, drag him from whatever luxurious office he occupied, and make him understand what it felt like to hear a child begging for her life.
For one dangerous moment, Dominic considered turning toward the pursuing vehicles. Not to escape, but to confront them.
Then he remembered Abby asking whether they were going to die.
His anger faltered.
They need you alive.
He exhaled slowly and deliberately.
“Operations,” he said, “I need a clear exit.”
“Stand by.”
“I’m getting tired of those two words.”
The front passenger looked at him. “You okay?”
Dominic kept his eyes on the road. “No.”
The honesty surprised the agent.
“My daughters were in this vehicle fifteen minutes ago,” Dominic continued.
The man said nothing.
“They’re thirteen. Three little girls who thought their father drove a dump truck.”
The agent looked away.
Dominic’s voice hardened. “Whoever compromised my family is going to answer for it.”
Operations interrupted. “Dominic, we have a developing situation ahead. Multiple vehicles are moving to intercept.”
He checked the road. Traffic was thickening, and the helicopter shifted position. A dark SUV appeared ahead, followed by another.
Dominic recognized the formation. They were trying to close the available routes.
The front passenger saw it too. “Oh, hell.”
Dominic studied the road, his mind calculating distance, speed, vehicle position, and available space. He could still hear Alice crying.
Dad, please.
He tightened his grip.
“Gentlemen,” he said quietly, “this is going to get unpleasant.”
The injured agent groaned. “It’s already unpleasant.”
Dominic gave a humourless smile. “Then you’ll appreciate the consistency.”
He accelerated.
Chapter Six: No One Gets Left Behind
The first impact came from behind. A hostile vehicle struck the SUV’s rear quarter panel with a deafening crash. Metal crumpled, and the vehicle lurched sideways.
Dominic fought the steering wheel.
“Hold on!”
The front passenger shouted something Dominic couldn’t hear.
The second impact came moments later when the SUV struck the edge of a concrete barrier. Glass shattered, a warning light illuminated on the dashboard, and the vehicle shuddered.
Dominic corrected its direction and continued forward.
The steering felt wrong. Not catastrophic, but wrong. He knew immediately that the damage had affected the vehicle’s handling.
The injured agent cried out.
“I’m hit!”
Dominic glanced into the mirror. The man’s face had gone pale.
“Can you move?”
“Yes.”
“Stay seated.”
The helicopter remained overhead.
Operations spoke. “Dominic, we have a secure extraction location available outside the city.”
“Send it.”
“Your vehicle appears damaged.”
“Very observant.”
“Can you continue?”
Dominic checked the steering response. The SUV pulled slightly to one side, and he adjusted.
“Yes.”
The front passenger looked at him. “Are you sure?”
“No.”
The agent stared.
Dominic gave him a brief glance. “But we’re continuing.”
They moved away from the densest downtown traffic, and the road opened. For a moment, Dominic thought they might have broken free. Then another hostile vehicle appeared behind them.
He felt exhausted, not physically but emotionally. He had spent the afternoon fighting a battle he had never imagined having to fight.
He could still see his daughters. Alice crying, Abby trembling, and Cassandra staring at him as though he’d become a stranger.
He had frightened them, lied to them, and worst of all, his secret life had placed them in danger.
I brought this to them.
His chest tightened as he thought of Elena, her face at the parkade and the way she’d held his hand.
You come back to us.
He swallowed.
“I intend to,” he whispered.
“What?” the front passenger asked.
“Nothing.”
The pursuing vehicle accelerated. Dominic studied the road ahead. A broad curve approached, and traffic was light.
The damaged SUV responded sluggishly as he adjusted its direction. The hostile vehicle closed.
Dominic knew he had one opportunity to create enough separation to escape.
He waited as the pursuer moved closer.
Then Dominic made his move.
The SUV swept through the curve, the damaged steering fighting him. For a moment, the vehicle began to slide.
The agents shouted.
Dominic corrected, and the tires gripped.
Behind them, the pursuing driver attempted to match the manoeuvre. He failed. The hostile SUV left the roadway, struck a barrier, and spun to a stop.
Dominic continued.
Nobody spoke.
The helicopter remained visible for another minute before turning away. Operations confirmed that the immediate pursuit had broken off.
Dominic didn’t celebrate. He simply drove.
Twenty minutes later, he reached a secure facility outside Calgary. The three agents were transferred to waiting personnel, and medical staff attended to the injured man.
The front passenger paused beside Dominic’s door.
“I’ve heard stories about you.”
Dominic stared ahead. “Most of them are exaggerated.”
“I don’t think so.”
The man extended his hand. “You saved our lives.”
Dominic shook it. “Glad I could help.”
The agent hesitated.
“Your daughters. Are they safe?”
Dominic looked at him. “I don’t know.”
Operations had confirmed they were secure, but safe? After what they’d experienced, he wasn’t sure he understood the word anymore.
A security officer approached.
“Mr. Kane, we have transportation ready.”
Dominic nodded. “Take me to my family.”
He climbed out of the damaged SUV. For the first time all afternoon, he wasn’t holding a steering wheel.
His hands began trembling.
He stared at them, then sat on the edge of the vehicle’s seat and lowered his head.
He had been terrified. Not nervous or concerned, but terrified. Now that he no longer needed to control the vehicle, the fear came rushing back.
He covered his face.
For several moments, Dominic Kane, the driver everyone wanted, sat alone beside a damaged SUV and cried.
Chapter Seven: The Man They Call Dad
Elena heard the vehicle arrive before anyone knocked. She rose from the couch, and the girls looked up.
All three had been sitting together beneath a blanket. Alice was holding a tissue, Abby had barely spoken since the parkade, and Cassandra had spent the last hour asking questions Elena couldn’t fully answer.
“Mom?” Abby whispered.
Elena moved toward the window. A familiar figure stepped from the vehicle outside, and her breath caught.
“It’s Dad.”
The girls were on their feet before she’d finished speaking.
Dominic barely made it through the doorway before Alice reached him.
“DAD!”
She threw herself against him so hard he stumbled, but he caught her. Abby wrapped her arms around his waist, and Cassandra collided with them a moment later.
Dominic held all three tightly, desperately, burying his face in Alice’s hair.
“I’m here,” he whispered.
Alice was sobbing. “You came back!”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
Abby was crying against his chest, and Cassandra’s hands gripped the back of his jacket. For several minutes, nobody moved.
Then Elena joined them. Dominic looked at her, and she touched his face.
“You’re hurt.”
“Just a few scratches.”
She kissed him. He closed his eyes, feeling something resembling peace for the first time that afternoon.
Eventually, they moved to the couch. The girls refused to sit anywhere except beside him. Alice held his hand, Abby leaned against his shoulder, and Cassandra sat directly in front of him.
Then the questions began.
“Dad,” Cassandra said, “what do you actually do?”
Dominic looked at Elena. She nodded.
He took a breath. “I work for an intelligence organization.”
Cassandra stared. “The CIA?”
“Yes.”
Alice’s eyes widened. “Like in the movies?”
“Not exactly.”
“Do you shoot people?”
“No, sweetheart.”
“Then what do you do?”
Dominic considered his answer. “I drive.”
Cassandra blinked. “You drive?”
“Yes.”
“For the CIA?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him for several seconds.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Dominic almost smiled. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
He explained what he could. Sometimes people working in dangerous places needed help getting out, and his job was to bring them to safety. He had spent years keeping his professional life separate from his family, but someone had discovered his identity.
Cassandra listened without interrupting, then asked the question he’d been dreading.
“So you’ve been lying to us?”
Dominic looked at her. “Yes.”
The answer seemed to surprise her.
“You admit it?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought keeping you from knowing would keep you safe.”
Abby looked up. “But we weren’t safe.”
Dominic felt the words settle into him.
“No,” he said quietly. “Today, you weren’t.”
Alice squeezed his hand. “Were those men going to kill us?”
Elena looked away, and Dominic swallowed.
“I don’t know what they intended, sweetheart.”
“Were you scared?”
He nodded. “More scared than I’ve ever been.”
“But you didn’t look scared.”
“I was trying very hard not to show it.”
Alice leaned against him. “I thought we were going to die.”
Dominic wrapped his arm around her. “I know.”
“I thought you were going to crash.”
“I know.”
“I was so scared, Dad.”
His eyes filled. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Cassandra looked down at her hands.
“Can they find us again?”
Dominic exchanged a glance with Elena. It would have been easy to lie, to tell them everything was over and that they were safe forever. But he had already lied enough.
“People are working very hard to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said. “And Mom and I are going to make some changes.”
“What changes?” Abby asked.
“We’ll talk about them together.”
Cassandra studied him. “You promise?”
Dominic met her eyes. “I promise to tell you the truth about what affects our family.”
She considered that, then nodded.
It wasn’t forgiveness, not yet, but it was a beginning.
They sat together as the evening settled outside. Eventually, Alice stopped crying, and Abby began talking about how frightened she’d been when the black SUV appeared behind them.
Cassandra wanted to know how Dominic had managed to control their vehicle through the turns. He explained some of the basics, nothing classified or dramatic, just enough to satisfy her curiosity.
For a while, they were almost an ordinary family again.
Then Cassandra looked at him.
“Dad?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“When we’re sixteen, will you teach us to drive like that?”
Dominic stared at her. “Absolutely not.”
Alice lifted her head. “Seventeen?”
“No.”
Abby smiled faintly. “Eighteen?”
“Definitely not.”
Cassandra folded her arms. “But if you’re really that good, wouldn’t we be safer learning from you?”
Dominic opened his mouth, closed it, and looked at Elena.
She was smiling.
“Don’t look at me,” she said. “They’re your daughters.”
He sighed. “God help the driving instructors.”
The girls laughed. It wasn’t the carefree laughter from lunch, not quite. There was still fear beneath it, along with questions, uncertainty, and a great deal of healing ahead.
But it was laughter.
Dominic settled deeper into the couch. Alice rested her head against his chest, Abby curled beside him, Cassandra leaned against his shoulder, and Elena slipped her hand into his.
Outside, the world continued.
Somewhere, Viktor Sokolov was still free. Somewhere, people were asking questions about how Dominic Kane’s family had been exposed. And somewhere, another intelligence operation would eventually need a driver.
But not tonight.
Tonight, Dominic had nowhere to go, no one to extract, and no impossible escape to perform.
He was simply a forty-nine-year-old father sitting on a couch with the four people he loved most in the world.
His daughters had discovered the man behind the wheel, and he had discovered something about himself.
He could survive a hundred dangerous missions, escape men who wanted him dead, and drive through chaos to bring strangers home alive.
But none of those accomplishments mattered as much as the three girls resting safely against him.
Dominic kissed the top of Alice’s head, then Abby’s, then Cassandra’s.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time all day, he allowed himself to relax.
The End.
AUTHORSHIP & AI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Man Behind the Wheel is presented under the pen name Nathaniel Theos. The author provided the original story concept, central characters, creative direction, setting, major plot decisions, and emotional vision. The author used artificial intelligence as a collaborative tool to develop story ideas, assist with drafting and expansion, conduct developmental, line, and paragraph editing, and create the cover artwork. The author directed the creative process and approved the final presentation.
