Chapter 12 - Race Against Sunrise
The dashboard clock glowed a menacing 3:42 AM. They were driving fast along the winding coastal highway, the heavy rain finally easing into a dense, clinging fog. In the back seat, Maisie had stirred briefly from the commotion, but Liam had climbed into the rear to hold her close, humming a quiet lullaby until her small fingers uncurled and she fell back into a peaceful sleep.
Dr. Bennett’s private estate appeared through the mist twenty minutes later. The elderly physician was already waiting at the open garage doors, dressed in surgical scrubs, having received Liam’s urgent call. Without asking unnecessary questions, Bennett and his private nurse transferred Sophie onto a mobile gurney, wheeling her directly into the pristine, state-of-the-art medical suite in the basement.
""The bullet passed through the oblique muscle without hitting the femoral artery or intestines,"" Dr. Bennett reported thirty minutes later, wiping his hands on a towel. ""She lost a significant amount of blood, but she will survive. I’ve administered broad-spectrum antibiotics and fluids. She’s stable.""
Liam let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding for hours. He turned to Clara, who was sitting at a glass table in the study, her laptop open, connected to an encrypted satellite phone. ""Can you reverse the transfer with that key?""
""I’m trying,"" Clara said, her fingers flying across the keyboard. ""The Cayman server requires three layers of authentication. Sophie had the master key, but the final transfer authorization requires a retinal scan or a voice passphrase registered to Julian Vance himself.""
Liam looked at the screen. The countdown timer on the screen read 01:45:12. In less than two hours, four million dollars would vanish into untraceable shell accounts, leaving Liam bankrupt and powerless to fight the legal onslaught the Vance family was preparing.
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""He won't give the passphrase willingly,"" Liam muttered, staring at the timer.
""Then we don't ask him willingly,"" Clara said, turning the laptop screen toward Liam. A live tracking map popped up, showing a flashing red pin. ""Julian Vance thinks his hitman succeeded. He’s currently at his private hangar at the executive airfield, preparing to board his private jet to Zurich.""
