Chapter 4 - The General's Command
The tactical operators instantly raised their heavy ballistic shields, creating an impenetrable wall around me and my brothers.
Lily was crying hysterically, her tiny hands clawing helplessly at Julian's thick forearm.
"Mommy!" she shrieked, terrified by the cold metal pressed against her temple.
"I am right here, baby!" I cried out, my voice breaking with pure agony.
Julian backed up slightly, making sure his body was completely covered by my daughter's frame.
"I want a helicopter on the front lawn in exactly five minutes!" Julian demanded.
"And I want all of my frozen bank accounts completely restored, or the girl dies!"
Marcus pushed his way through the wall of tactical shields, completely ignoring the gun pointed in his direction.
He stood at the bottom of the stairs, standing tall and projecting the absolute authority of a man who commanded entire armies.
"You are making a fatal miscalculation, Julian," Marcus said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
"I don't care about your military ranks!" Julian shouted back, his hand shaking violently.
"Look at your hand, Julian," Marcus instructed smoothly.
Julian blinked, briefly glancing down at the heavy military-grade pistol he had stolen.
"That weapon requires a thumbprint biometric unlock to disengage the safety," Marcus revealed.
"You are currently holding a three-pound piece of useless metal against my niece's head."
Julian's eyes widened in sudden panic, and he desperately squeezed the trigger to test the bluff.
The gun remained completely dead and silent.
In that microscopic fraction of a second of Julian's distraction, a shadow detached itself from the ceiling above the landing.
Silas had secretly deployed his best underworld assassin through the HVAC vents while Marcus kept Julian talking.
The assassin dropped silently behind Julian and struck him in the back of the neck with the butt of a tactical knife.
Julian's eyes rolled back in his head, and his body instantly went completely limp.
The heavy, useless gun clattered loudly down the wooden stairs.
I broke free from Silas's grip and sprinted up the stairs faster than I ever had in my life.
I snatched Lily from the falling man's grasp and collapsed onto the landing, burying my face in her hair.
"I've got you, sweetheart," I sobbed, rocking her trembling body back and forth.
The operators rushed up the stairs, placing heavy zip ties around Julian's wrists and ankles.
Arthur walked up the stairs slowly, looking down at the unconscious man with absolute disgust.
"Take him to the extraction vehicles," Arthur ordered the men.
But as the operators lifted Julian off the floor, a loud, piercing electronic beep echoed from his wrist.
Leo looked down at his monitoring tablet, and the color instantly vanished from his face.
"Marcus, we have a massive problem," Leo shouted from the foyer.
"Julian's heart rate monitor just triggered an automated dead-man switch on a localized encrypted network."
Marcus drew his sidearm and looked toward the shattered front doors.
"What did he just activate, Leo?" Marcus demanded.
May you like
Leo looked up, his eyes filled with genuine dread.
"He just transmitted our exact GPS coordinates to the syndicate that hired Serena."
