Chapter 10 - The Iron Shield
""Lily!"" Julian roared.
He abandoned the aircraft stairs instantly, sprinting back across the slick asphalt with every ounce of power left in his body. The freight truck was moving at terrifying speed, its reinforced steel bumper aimed directly at the passenger side of his SUV where his daughter sat.
The driver had no intention of shooting or negotiating; Arthur Vance had clearly hired a contingency crew with orders to obliterate everyone on the tarmac if the getaway failed.
Marcus saw it too late. He emptied his rifle magazine into the truck's windshield, but the heavy ballistic glass only spider-webbed, failing to penetrate the reinforced cabin. Marcus was forced to dive out of the way as the massive vehicle roared past.
Inside the SUV, Clara was screaming, throwing her body over Lily to shield her. Lily, however, pressed her small face against the glass, her eyes locked onto Julian as he closed the distance.
Julian didn't have time to pull them out. There were only seconds left.
Thinking with savage speed, Julian dove into the driver's seat of the nearest idling luxury sedan that Arthur’s men had left behind. He threw the transmission into gear, floored the pedal, and slammed the heavy sedan directly into the side of the charging freight truck just twenty feet before it reached the family SUV.
The collision was catastrophic. Metal shrieked and twisted into horrifying shapes as the sedan’s frame crumpled beneath the truck’s massive axle. The impact forced the truck off course, sending it skidding across the wet tarmac, rolling twice before crashing into an empty fuel depot in a deafening eruption of sparks and twisted iron.
Julian’s sedan spun uncontrollably, striking a concrete boundary wall before coming to an absolute stop.
Smoke poured from the crumpled hood. The windshield was shattered into a million opaque crystals. Inside, Julian hung limply against the deployed airbag, his forehead bleeding heavily, his vision fading into a hazy blur of flashing red and blue lights.
In the distance, the wail of approaching sirens broke through the storm—state police, federal agents, and emergency medical teams descending on the airfield.
Through the cracked glass, Julian saw the door of his SUV open. Clara carried Lily out onto the tarmac.
The little girl slipped from Clara’s arms, her scuffed shoes splashing through the shallow puddles as she ran toward the smoking wreckage of the sedan.
May you like
""Daddy!"" she cried out.
Julian tried to move his arm, tried to tell her he was okay, but the world went completely black before he could utter a single word.
