Chapter 14 - The Architect of Ruin
Julian felt every drop of blood in his body turn to ice, but his voice remained steely and cold. ""You stay away from my children, Cross. If you step within a mile of them, I will tear down everything you have spent a decade hiding.""
A soft, mocking chuckle echoed through the receiver. ""You misunderstand, Julian. I don't need to step within a mile of them. While you were boarding your private jet to Zurich, chasing ghosts Clara left behind, who do you think was watching the perimeter of your little safehouse in the Berkshires?""
Julian’s breath caught. He lunged toward the vault door, slamming his hand against the emergency exit button. ""Marcus!"" he shouted into his earpiece, but static was the only response. The signal was dead inside the subterranean vault.
""Clara was a clever woman,"" Dominic Cross continued, his voice smooth and devoid of human warmth. ""She ran across the ocean, changed her name, and married a respectable Sinclair to hide under your family's shield. But blood always answers to blood. Did you really think a few private security guards could stop an extraction team that has toppled governments?""
The heavy titanium vault doors of Bankhaus Hauer slowly ground open, and Julian sprinted past the startled bank director, racing up the marble steps into the cold Zurich drizzle. He pulled up his satellite tracking software on his phone.
The Berkshire safehouse transponders were blinking red. The security perimeter had been breached six minutes ago.
""Listen to me carefully, Cross,"" Julian hissed, jumping into his waiting town car and shouting at the driver to floor it to the airfield. ""Lily knows nothing about you. She is my daughter. She carries Clara’s heart. You touch a hair on her head, and there is no hole on this earth deep enough to hide you from me.""
""Then you better hurry back to the states, Julian,"" Dominic said softly. ""I left a little present for you on your study desk. Let's see if you can arrive before the fire consumes what Clara left behind.""
The call went dead.
Julian dialed the private emergency relay to the Berkshires. After five agonizing rings, a strained, wheezing voice answered.
""Julian..."" It was Marcus, coughing heavily through smoke and pain. ""They hit us with flash-bangs and tear gas... Heavy tactical unit... They breached the lower floor...""
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""Marcus! Where are the children?!"" Julian screamed, his knuckles bleeding as he slammed his fist into the car’s leather seat.
""Leo... Leo got her out the back window into the woods..."" Marcus gasped out. ""I'm pursuing... but Dominic's men have thermal scopes... Julian, you have to hurry!""
