Chapter 7 - The Hunt
Julian was running.
The manual override on the safe room had failed—Arthur had changed the codes a week ago. When he heard the shotgun blast and the subsequent screaming from the main office, Julian realized the hit had failed. The blonde man was down. The billionaire was alive.
Panic, cold and absolute, gripped his chest. He needed to get out of the Sterling Spire, get to his private jet, and disappear to a non-extradition country before Arthur’s wrath came down upon him.
He sprinted down the executive spiral staircase, his expensive shoes slipping on the marble steps. He reached floor forty-eight, plunging into the maze of cubicles and glass-walled conference rooms.
"Julian!"
Arthur's voice boomed down the stairwell, echoing like the voice of an angry god.
Julian scrambled behind a cluster of desks, clutching the fire axe. He was sweating profusely. He could hear Arthur's heavy footsteps descending the stairs.
"You can't hide in my building, Julian!" Arthur called out, his voice moving closer. "I designed this spire. I know every shadow. I know every exit."
Julian bit his lip, creeping toward the freight elevator. If he could manually pry the doors open and climb down the elevator cables, he might make it to the parking garage.
"You were my protégé," Arthur's voice drifted through the darkness. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere. "I taught you everything. I trusted you with the keys to the kingdom. And you betrayed me for a payout from Phalanx Pharma."
"You wouldn't share the power!" Julian screamed back into the dark, unable to help himself. "You were never going to step down! You were going to die in that chair, and I was going to be your lapdog forever!"
"I was grooming you to lead, you fool!" Arthur’s voice was suddenly much closer.
Julian swung the fire axe blindly over a cubicle wall. It bit deeply into a computer monitor, sending sparks flying.
Suddenly, a heavy hand grabbed Julian by the collar and hurled him violently backward. Julian crashed through a glass partition, landing hard on his back on the carpeted floor. The axe spun out of his grip.
Arthur stood over him. The billionaire's tailored vest was ruined, his face was smeared with soot, and he held the heavy revolver pointed directly at Julian's face.
"It's over," Arthur breathed heavily.
Julian scrambled backward like a crab, his hands raised in surrender. "Arthur, please. Please! We can fix this. I'll testify against Phalanx. I'll give you all their internal emails. I'll destroy them for you! Just let me walk away!"
Arthur looked down at the pathetic, sniveling man. He realized in that moment that wealth and ambition without morality created nothing but monsters. He had spent his life surrounded by vipers, thinking he was the snake charmer.
"You don't get to walk away," Arthur said coldly.
Footsteps echoed down the hall. Vance appeared from the stairwell, holding the zip-tied assassin by the collar of his suit.
"Police are breaching the ground floor lobby," Vance reported. "SWAT is coming up the stairs. The lockdown is lifting."
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Arthur didn't lower his gun until Vance stepped forward and hauled Julian to his feet, securing his hands behind his back with heavy plastic cuffs.
"You're going to prison for the rest of your natural life, Julian," Arthur said. "And I am going to buy Phalanx Pharma, dismantle it piece by piece, and sell it for scrap."
