Chapter 4 - Blind Negotiations
When emergency red backup lights flickered to life seconds later, the scene had shifted violently. Julian was gone, dragged across the floor by one of the masked gunmen toward the lead sedan. Eleanor had been caught at the foot of the fire stairs, a gloved hand wrapped tightly around her mouth while another figure held a silenced barrel beneath her chin.
Victor stood alone in the red haze, his bodyguards having followed his strict protocol to protect Clara at all costs. Facing him was a man in an immaculate gray overcoat, stepping over the broken glass with an insolent ease.
""Good evening, Victor,"" the man in gray drawled, lowering his mask to reveal the scarred, familiar face of Marcus Ravenwood. ""It’s been twenty years since you banished my father from the board. Fitting that your own family sold you back to me.""
Victor did not raise his fists or draw a weapon. He smoothed the dark lapels of his three-piece vest and gave a dry, humorless chuckle. ""Marcus. Your father was a thief, and you are a scavenger relying on a cowardly son-in-law and a vain old woman.""
May you like
Marcus tilted his head. ""Perhaps. But Julian gave us the biological authentication codes. As we speak, Clara's vehicle is being rerouted. She will never make it to your hospital.""
Victor's phone buzzed sharply in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a real-time tracking ping: Clara's SUV had just veered off the hospital route into an industrial dead zone.
