Chapter 10 - The Ransom Call
They were loading the armored utility truck in the underground garage of the lodge when Marcus Kane came sprinting down the concrete stairs, his face pale beneath his scar, his secure tablet gripped tightly in his gloved hand.
“Boss! We have a critical situation!” Marcus yelled, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. “It’s about the medical wing!”
Clara’s heart stopped dead in her chest. She dropped the laptop bag she was carrying and bolted toward Marcus, her fingers digging into his forearm. “What happened? Is Leo okay? Tell me he’s okay!”
Marcus looked at Julian first, his eyes filled with grim rage, before turning to Clara.
“Ten minutes ago, a heavily armed tactical unit breached the estate’s eastern perimeter using Thorne Global internal security codes,” Marcus said rapidly. “They bypassed our early warning sensors completely. They disabled the medical staff with paralytic gas and evacuated the wing.”
“No,” Clara whispered, her knees buckling beneath her as the room began to spin. “No, no, no! He needs his dialysis! He can’t survive without his machinery!”
Julian caught her around the waist before she could hit the floor, pulling her back against his chest, his powerful arms locking around her like a fortress of steel and warmth.
“Who took him, Marcus?” Julian asked, his voice deceptively calm, the deadly quiet before an apocalyptic storm.
“It was Damian’s personal security detail,” Marcus replied, holding up the tablet to display a high-resolution surveillance image captured by a hidden backup camera in the woods.
The image showed three men in winter camo loading Leo’s stretcher into the back of a unmarked medical transport van, while Damian Thorne stood by the open doors, looking directly up at the hidden camera with a cold, triumphant smirk.
A moment later, Julian’s secure wrist comms beeped with an incoming audio transmission.
“Let’s make a simple trade, brother,” Damian’s voice crackled through the small speaker. “The master encryption drive and Miss Vance in exchange for her brother’s pathetic life. You have four hours to meet me at the abandoned harbor warehouse on Pier 42 in Brooklyn. If you’re late, or if I see a single tactical sniper on those roofs, I turn off the boy’s life support systems.”
The transmission ended, leaving only the cold hum of the underground garage’s ventilation fans.
Clara turned in Julian’s arms, her hands grabbing the front of his shirt, her face pale and streaked with fresh tears. Her analytical mind was completely shattered by terror for her brother.
“We have to give him the drive, Julian,” she sobbed, her voice breaking. “Please! He’ll kill Leo! We have to give him whatever he wants!”
May you like
Julian stared down at her, his jaw set like granite, his eyes reflecting a terrifying, lethal determination that she had never seen in a human being before.
“We are going to Pier 42, Clara,” Julian said, his voice ringing with absolute, unshakeable authority. “We are going to give him the drive. And then I am going to kill my brother with my own bare hands.”
