Chapter 14 - The Final Threat
The silence that fell over the balcony was suffocating. Catherine instinctively backed toward the bedroom where Leo was sleeping soundly in his mahogany crib.
""Intercepted how?"" Julian demanded, his voice dropping into the dangerous baritone that commanded boardrooms. ""She was under federal custody with an armed escort!""
""A coordinated hit on the highway,"" Thomas explained, handing Julian a tablet displaying live security feeds of a burning police van on Route 9. ""Three armored vehicles, heavy military-grade weapons, no casualties among the transport guards—they were neutralized with stun grenades and precision smoke. It was an extraction. A private mercenary group funded through an untraceable Swiss account.""
""Victoria,"" Catherine whispered, her voice shaking with sudden dread. ""Victoria told you her family had private fleets, private security...""
""Victoria is currently in federal custody without bail,"" Julian said, his mind racing through the tactical possibilities. ""She doesn't have the operational freedom to coordinate this. This was prepared months in advance. Eleanor had a contingency plan in case the merger collapsed.""
Julian turned to Thomas. ""Lock down the entire estate. Bring the perimeter security to Level Four. No one enters or leaves without my personal retinal scan. Prepare the helicopter on the south lawn. If the perimeter is breached, Catherine and Leo are evacuated to the offshore compound immediately.""
""Understood, sir,"" Thomas said, disappearing down the corridor.
Julian walked over to the crib and picked up Leo, holding the small, warm body securely against his chest. He looked at Catherine, whose face was pale with terror. ""We leave tonight. We don't wait for them to come to us.""
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""Where can we possibly go that she can't find us?"" Catherine asked, despair creeping into her voice. ""She has billions hidden away, Julian! She will hunt us until the day she dies!""
""She won't hunt us,"" Julian said, his eyes turning cold as black ice. ""Because I'm not running. I'm going to finish this.""
