Chapter 19: The Hunt Begins
Chapter 19: The Hunt Begins
The hospital room was now a classified federal crime scene.
Baby Hope had been moved to a high-security, unmarked room in the basement level under the personal guard of Sergeant Reyes and four trusted SWAT officers.
Arthur stood in the hallway, staring at the silver ring the dead assassin had been wearing. It was identical to the one he had seen on James’s desk years ago—the Vance family seal. But this one had a small modification on the inside band. Three letters engraved: J.V.
"Julian," Arthur said, the name tasting like ash in his mouth.
Thomas walked out of the room, holding his bruised side. "Julian was always the shadow behind Eleanor. James knew it. That's why he built the archive in the chapel crypt."
"We need to strike before he realizes this hit failed," Arthur said, checking the clip of his Glock 19. "He's sitting in the Vance Tower right now, thinking he’s untouchable behind his lawyers and his security teams."
"Arthur, you can't just storm a corporate headquarters," Reyes said, stepping out of the elevator. "I’ve got a warrant being signed by a federal judge as we speak, but it takes time. The bureaucracy is—"
"Julian doesn't care about your warrants, Angela," Arthur snapped. "He just tried to execute a newborn child in her mother’s arms. If I wait for a judge to sign a piece of paper, Julian will find another way to finish this."
He turned to his brother. "Thomas, stay here. If anyone comes within ten feet of Sarah or that baby who isn't wearing a police badge, you don't ask questions. You shoot."
Thomas nodded, his face deadly serious. "Go. Finish it for James."
Thirty minutes later, a heavy downpour washed over downtown Chicago.
The black glass facade of the Vance Tower looked like a monolith rising into the storm clouds. Arthur didn't use the front entrance. He drove his truck straight through the underground parking garage’s security gate, shattering the wooden barrier into splinters.
The security guard in the booth shouted into his radio, but Arthur was already out of the truck.
He didn't wear a mask. He didn't care who saw his face. He walked past the subterranean elevator bank and took the private executive lift, inserting the master keycard he had taken from Richard Collins’s desk days prior.
The elevator shot upward, the floors clicking by at dizzying speed.
40... 42... 45...
The doors chimed open on the 50th floor.
The reception area was dark, the staff already sent home due to the corporate crisis. But the light in the corner office was burning bright.
Arthur walked through the glass double doors, his heavy boots echoing on the marble floor. He pushed open the door to Julian Vance’s private sanctuary.
Julian was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, a glass of scotch in his right hand, watching the rain strike the glass. He didn't look surprised to see Arthur.
"You're late, Arthur," Julian said smoothly, turning around. "I expected you twenty minutes ago."
"The nurse is dead, Julian," Arthur said, his gun raised, aimed directly at Julian’s chest. "The baby is safe. It's over."
Julian smiled, taking a slow sip of his drink. He walked back to his desk and casually tossed a small, black remote control onto the leather blotter.
"Is it?" Julian asked softly. "You think this is a corporate takeover? A simple matter of greed?"
Arthur didn't lower the weapon. "You killed James. You poisoned him slowly, just like Richard said before you took him."
"James was weak!" Julian shouted, his calm facade finally cracking, revealing the monster underneath. "He wanted to give billions to charity! To orphans! To a girl who didn't even know what the Vance name meant! I built the logistics network that made this family a superpower. I am not letting a nameless infant inherit my life’s work."
"You aren't inheriting anything," Arthur said, his finger tightening on the trigger. "You're going to a maximum-security cell. Or you're leaving this office in a body bag. Choose."
Julian laughed—a low, terrifying sound that made the hairs on Arthur's neck stand up.
"I always liked you, Arthur. Reliable. Dangerous. But you always lacked imagination." Julian pointed to the remote control on the desk. "That doesn't connect to a bomb. It connects to an encrypted server. If my heart rate goes above one hundred beats per minute, or if I press this button... a file is sent to every major news outlet in the Western hemisphere."
Arthur frowned, his instincts screaming. "What file?"
Julian leaned over the desk, his eyes burning with a twisted, triumphant light.
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"The real identity of Sarah Collins," Julian whispered. "You think James married her son to her out of love? You think she’s just an innocent girl from Ohio?" Julian shook his head. "James hid her because of what her biological father did to this family twenty years ago. If the world finds out who she really is... the police won't be protecting her, Arthur. They'll be arresting her as an accessory to the greatest corporate massacre in US history."
To be continued...
