Chapter 14 - The desperate flight
Julian’s driver slammed his foot onto the accelerator, sending the heavy black car fishtailing wildly through the mud before finding traction on the paved highway. I held Lila tightly against my chest, her entire body shaking uncontrollably from the freezing rain and pure terror. "How did Victor find us so quickly?" I demanded, staring furiously at the back of Julian’s head. "Arthur's money is heavily tracked. The moment you and Lila inherited the estate and started spending it, Victor’s financial analysts flagged the accounts," Julian explained coldly. He tossed a heavy, encrypted tablet into my lap. "Arthur did not just leave you money, Rowan. He left you the master ledger of Victor’s entire criminal empire." I stared at the dark screen of the tablet, slowly realizing the absolute magnitude of the danger we were in. We were not just running from a greedy step-mother anymore; we were running from a ruthless international warlord.
"Victor does not care about the money," Julian continued, checking the ammunition magazine of his pistol. "He is dying of a rare genetic blood disease, and he desperately needs a biological donor to survive." My stomach dropped completely to the floor. "He wants Lila's bone marrow," I whispered in absolute horror. Julian nodded grimly. "He knows you are too old to be a viable match, but a healthy fourteen-year-old granddaughter is his perfect salvation." "I will die before I let him touch her," I hissed, my maternal instincts flaring into a blinding rage. "That is exactly what he is counting on," Julian replied. Suddenly, the back window of our town car shattered completely as a high-caliber bullet ripped through the glass, burying itself securely into the leather headrest inches from Lila’s face. I screamed, pulling her down flat onto the floorboards. Two massive black SUVs were tailgating us at over ninety miles an hour, their high beams blinding our driver in the rearview mirrors. "Hold on tightly!" Julian shouted. He leaned entirely out of the shattered back window, aiming his silver pistol into the freezing rain, and began firing relentlessly at the pursuing vehicles.
