Chapter 4 - An Empty Penthouse
Julian sprinted through the penthouse foyer, Marcus and four armed operators trailing right behind him. The steel double doors had been forced open with hydraulic jacks, the hinges torn clean out of the concrete frame.
Inside, the home was completely devastated. Antique vases were smashed across the floor, furniture overturned, and the panoramic windows had been spiderwebbed by stray bullet impacts. In the hallway leading to the master suite, two private security guards lay motionless in pools of blood.
Julian lunged into the bedroom, his heart hammering against his ribs like a sledgehammer.
"Elena!" he roared.
The room was deserted. The IV drip stood knocked over, saline pooling on the Persian rug. On the nightstand beside Elena’s unmade bed rested a single black envelope, pinned to the wood with an ornate silver folding knife.
Julian snatched the knife, tearing open the paper with shaking fingers. Inside was a single polaroid photograph. Elena sat bound to a cold steel folding chair in what appeared to be an abandoned industrial warehouse, tape over her mouth, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. A gloved hand in the background held a silver revolver pointed directly at her pregnant belly.
Below the photograph, scrawled in black marker, was a single sentence: Return the Cayman shares to Sofia within two hours, or you will bury two coffins.
"Check every private airstrip and shipping container facility within twenty miles," Julian said, his voice unnaturally calm, though the tremor in his hands betrayed the primal fury tearing him apart from within.
"Julian," Marcus cautioned, scanning the room. "This isn't a random hit team. Look at the tactical breach markers on the door frame. These men are ex-special forces. Professional contractors hired through black-market syndicates."
"I don't care if they are angels sent from heaven," Julian whispered, turning around to face Marcus with eyes burning like dead stars. "Get my father's old contacts on the line. The ones we promised never to call again."
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Marcus paused, swallowed hard, and nodded. "The Kovac syndicate?"
"Tell Viktor that Julian Sterling has a debt he wants paid," Julian commanded. "And tell him to bring every weapon he has in the state."
