Chapter 12 - The Ghost Protocol
We sprinted violently down forty flights of concrete emergency stairs, our lungs burning with intense, fiery exhaustion.
The blaring fire alarms echoed deafeningly through the narrow stairwell, masking the heavy, frantic footsteps of the assassins pursuing us.
We burst through the heavy steel doors into the subterranean parking garage, hiding desperately behind a massive concrete support pillar.
I pulled out my encrypted mobile server pad, my fingers flying rapidly across the glowing digital screen to access my new fifty-million-dollar offshore trust.
I needed to instantly wire emergency funds to secure a heavily armored transport and a fortified underground safehouse.
A massive, glowing red error message completely overtook my screen.
The entire fifty-million-dollar trust had been aggressively frozen, completely locked behind a highly complex, multi-tiered military firewall.
My biological father had intentionally baited me with the massive fortune, only to brutally sever my resources the moment I proved myself capable of surviving.
He was actively testing my absolute limits, forcing me to fight his elite army with nothing but my bare hands and my intellect.
Vanessa hacked into the local police dispatch frequencies using a stolen tactical radio, her face turning incredibly grim as she listened to the encrypted chatter.
She looked up at me with sheer, unadulterated horror in her dark eyes.
Julian was completely gone.
The federal holding facility where Julian had been securely locked away was brutally raided an hour ago by a team of professional ghosts.
All security footage was completely wiped, the federal agents were entirely neutralized without lethal force, and Julian’s criminal records were entirely erased from every global database.
My biological father had officially bailed out my psychotic ex-husband to use him as a highly motivated, vicious attack dog against me.
We stole a dusty, unassuming maintenance van from the underground garage and sped recklessly out into the chaotic city streets.
We needed to secure my sister, Lily, immediately before Julian’s newfound shadow army could locate her FBI safehouse.
We drove dangerously through the heavy morning traffic, breaking every single traffic law to reach the federal safehouse located on the dangerous outskirts of the city.
When we finally arrived, the heavy iron gates of the secure compound were completely blown off their massive hinges.
I jumped out of the moving van before it even fully stopped, my heart pounding violently in my chest.
The front door of the safehouse was kicked completely open, and the four federal agents assigned to protect my sister were lying unconscious on the front lawn.
I sprinted wildly into the silent house, screaming Lily’s name at the absolute top of my lungs.
The living room was completely empty, except for a single, pristine black envelope resting perfectly in the center of the coffee table.
May you like
I tore the envelope open with violently trembling hands.
Inside was a single first-class plane ticket to Venice, Italy, and a handwritten note that read: "Bring the gold coin to the Masquerade of Shadows tonight, or your sister burns."
