Chapter 4 - The Impact
The screech of burning rubber and tearing metal shattered the silence. Julian threw his body over Maya, pinning her securely against the leather seat as the sedan spun ninety degrees across the slick asphalt. Claire let out a muffled gasp, bracing her palms against the divider window.
“Hang on!” the driver barked, wrestling with the steering wheel as the second vehicle—a heavily tinted, unmarked truck—rammed them again, pushing them dangerously close to the steel guardrails that overlooked the sea.
Through the smoked glass, Julian caught sight of the driver in the pursuing vehicle. It was Marcus, the chief of security Victoria had hired three months after Elena’s funeral. Marcus’s face was completely devoid of emotion, his hands steady on the wheel as he aligned the front bumper to spin them into the abyss.
“He’s not trying to stop us,” Claire gasped, clutching her arm. “He’s executing the contingency. If Maya dies, the inheritance reverts entirely to the surviving spouse once the ceremony is filed!”
“The ceremony wasn't completed!” Julian roared.
“It doesn't matter to the probate judge if Victoria presents a forged certificate with your forged signature!”
The car’s rear tire blew with a deafening pop. The sedan tilted sharply, grinding metal against the guardrail with a shower of orange sparks. Maya woke up screaming, her hands tangling into Julian’s lapels.
“Dad! Dad!”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart, I’ve got you,” Julian chanted, his mind racing through tactical options. He looked ahead. Half a mile down the winding descent, a public tunnel cut through the mountain rock. “Driver! The maintenance exit inside the tunnel! Can you make it?”
“We’re on three wheels, Mr. Sterling!” the driver yelled back, blood trickling down his temple. “I’ll give you thirty seconds inside the dark!”
The heavy sedan groaned under another bone-jarring slam from the SUV. The tunnel mouth swallowed them into sudden fluorescent gloom. With a final, agonizing lurch, the driver slammed the emergency brake directly across the narrow service alcove, wedging the car horizontally across the passage to block pursuit.
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“Get out!” Claire commanded, shoving an iron keycard into Julian’s palm. “Take the service ladder down to the train depot! I’ll draw them off!”
Julian scooped Maya into his arms, kicked the damaged door open, and ran into the damp shadows of the emergency shaft just as gunshots cracked behind them.
