Chapter 8 - The Shadow Enforcer
The terrible sound of Julian’s final moments hung in the cold air of the vault. Ava sat motionless, her hand frozen over the recorder, the agonizing reality washing over her like acid. Julian hadn't just crashed; he had been hunted down on that lonely highway. And the name he spoke wasn't a nameless hitman.
""Marcus,"" Ava whispered, turning to face Christian, who stood in the doorway with an expression of profound sorrow. ""He said Marcus. Christian... who is Marcus?""
Christian’s jaw twitched, his hand unconsciously clenching into a fist. ""Marcus Vance. My estranged older brother.""
Ava felt the room tilt beneath her. ""Your... brother?""
""Marcus was Eleanor’s head of private security for nearly a decade,"" Christian said, his voice flat with repressed fury. ""He was dishonorably discharged from military intelligence years ago. Eleanor found him, fed his habits, and used him as her personal attack dog. When Julian started looking into the missing foundation funds, Marcus realized that exposing Eleanor would also expose him for laundering money through front companies across the border.""
Christian walked over to the desk, resting both hands on the metal surface. ""Julian came to me because he knew I was trying to put Marcus in prison. We set a trap to catch them both. But Eleanor moved faster than we anticipated. Marcus tampered with Julian's car at the country club, and when the crash failed to kill Julian instantly, Marcus made sure Julian never crawled out of the wreckage.""
""Then the man I saw outside the hospital room..."" Ava said, her heart leaping into her throat. ""The man in the motorcycle jacket...""
May you like
Christian’s eyes widened with sudden, chilling clarity. He spun around toward Maya, who was stationed by the hangar's surveillance monitors. ""Maya, lock the main perimeter gate now!""
Before Maya could reach the console, the sound of screeching tires echoed outside the hangar, followed by the deafening sound of a shotgun blast obliterating the power transformer outside. The lights in the vault plunged into total darkness.
