Chapter 7 - The Empty Blanket
I tore the thermal blanket away, searching frantically beneath the medical equipment and pillows.
Lily was still lying safely on the stretcher, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths.
The missing bear had simply fallen to the floor during the chaos of administering the antidote.
I let out a ragged gasp of relief, picking up the small plush toy and tucking it securely under her arm.
The sudden burst of panic had nearly broken my mind, but the reality of Julian’s escape quickly set back in.
Mr. Sterling approached the ambulance, holding a shattered tablet device he had recovered from Julian’s study.
He explained that Julian hadn’t just transferred the loan money to an offshore account.
He had set up an automated transfer protocol that would distribute the funds across dozens of untraceable crypto wallets at midnight.
We had less than forty minutes to locate Julian and recover the master security token to cancel the transaction.
My father immediately ordered his lead security agent to track the GPS signal in the stolen armored SUV.
The agent pulled up a digital map, showing a blinking red dot speeding toward the abandoned commercial docks on the edge of the city.
Julian was planning to board a smuggling vessel to flee the country completely undetected.
I knew I could not sit quietly in the ambulance while the man who poisoned my daughter escaped justice.
I kissed Lily’s forehead, leaving her in the protective care of my father and the paramedics.
I climbed into the passenger seat of a black pursuit vehicle, riding alongside the lead security agent.
We tore out of the estate, our tires screaming against the asphalt as we raced toward the dark harbor.
The docks were a sprawling maze of rusted shipping containers and massive, silent cranes.
We found my father’s armored SUV abandoned near the edge of a deep-water pier, the driver’s door left wide open.
I stepped out of the car, the salty ocean wind whipping my hair across my bruised face.
Standing at the very end of the pier, illuminated by the harsh spotlight of a waiting cargo ship, was Julian.
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He was holding the security token high in the air, his face twisted into a mask of pure desperation.
And standing right beside him, pointing a gun directly at Julian’s head, was Agnes.
