Chapter 9 - The Judas Kiss
Julian looked down at his wrist. The screen of his Apple Watch was flashing red with an emergency notification from his private bank. He tapped the screen, his face draining of color.
“What is it?” Elena asked, stepping closer to him.
“My accounts,” Julian said, his voice tight. “They’re frozen. All of them. Checking, offshore, the corporate black cards.”
Victoria quickly pulled out her own phone. She tried to log into the Sterling Enterprises secure portal. Access Denied.
“He’s locked me out,” Victoria hissed, throwing her phone onto the table. “Arthur has initiated a hostile takeover protocol. He’s telling the board I’ve suffered a mental breakdown after the wedding fiasco and am unfit to lead. Without our money, we have no resources. No private security. No jets.”
“He’s trying to starve us out,” Julian realized. “If we can’t buy our way out of the city, he knows we’re trapped in the grid.”
“It’s worse than that,” Cole said, staring intently at Julian’s wrist. “Julian, take the watch off. Now.”
Julian frowned. “What?”
“Take it off and throw it on the floor!” Cole yelled, pulling a heavy wrench from his duffel bag.
Startled, Julian unclasped the watch and dropped it. Cole immediately smashed the wrench down onto the device, shattering the glass and destroying the internal components.
“Hey!” Julian yelled. “That was my only comms device!”
“Arthur froze your accounts,” Cole said, breathing heavily. “Which means his cyber team is actively tracking your pings. The moment you opened that bank notification, you established a two-way connection to the cellular tower. They triangulated your position.”
Elena felt a cold sweat break out across her neck. “Are you saying they know where we are?”
“They know we’re within a three-mile radius of this shipping yard,” Cole said, slamming his laptop shut and shoving it into his bag. “And Arthur won’t send the police. He’ll send his private contractors. We have less than five minutes before this place is swarming with men carrying assault rifles.”
“We need to upload the drive,” Victoria said frantically. “If we get the files to the press—”
“There’s no time!” Cole shouted. “We have to move, now!”
He grabbed the duffel bag and tossed the keys to Julian. “You drive. I’ll ride shotgun. We need to hit the highway and lose them in the storm.”
They bolted out of the shipping container and into the pouring rain. The vintage Mustang sat waiting in the mud. Julian slid into the driver's seat, his hands gripping the wheel. He hadn't driven a manual transmission in years, but muscle memory kicked in. He turned the key, and the engine roared to life.
Elena and Victoria scrambled into the back. Victoria grabbed Elena’s hand, holding it in a vice-like grip. Elena didn't pull away. In the face of death, the complicated mess of their past didn't matter. They were just two women trying to survive.
As Julian threw the car into first gear and slammed the gas, a blinding spotlight cut through the heavy rain, illuminating the interior of the Mustang.
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Three black, armored SUVs had just rolled into the shipping yard, blocking the only exit ramp.
“Hold on!” Julian screamed.
