Chapter 16 - THE DESPERATE GAMBIT
Julian had slipped away from the gala the moment Cross turned pale.
Consumed by panic, Julian realized that his last remaining leverage had evaporated into thin air.
He knew the federal indictment would name him as the primary signatory on the contraband shipping manifests.
In his frenzied mind, there was only one way to escape the country: cash and bearer bonds.
He remembered the reinforced vault in the private study of the Sterling family manor.
He had lived in that house for eight years, watching my father’s old safe behind the mahogany paneling.
Julian managed to bypass the perimeter fence through an abandoned drainage gate he had memorized years ago.
The manor was dead silent when he slipped through the terrace conservatory doors.
He carried a crowbar and an electronic hacking kit he had bought from an underworld fence.
"She thinks she's untouchable," Julian muttered frantically, his shoes squeaking against the polished parquet floor.
He reached the library and yanked down the false paneling, exposing the heavy steel vault door.
He began entering the old security codes my father had supposedly used decades ago.
On the third failed attempt, a soft click resonated from the ceiling above him.
Suddenly, high-intensity halogen floodlights washed over the library, blinding him in white brilliance.
The solid oak doors of the study slid shut with the heavy mechanical thump of reinforced magnetic locks.
Julian dropped the crowbar in terror as the security siren began to wail.
The flat-screen monitor embedded in the wall flickered to life.
My face appeared on the high-definition screen, watching him from my executive vehicle twenty miles away.
"Looking for a severance package, Julian?" I asked calmly through the speaker.
Julian threw himself against the reinforced oak doors, pounding them with bloody fists.
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"Let me out, Clara! Let me out!" he shrieked.
"The local precinct and the federal marshals are already entering the driveway," I said, closing the video feed.
