Chapter 10: Captive and Unbowed
Back inside the farmhouse, Julian struggled fiercely against the two agents, but sheer numbers and professional training eventually prevailed. One agent pinned his arms behind his back with agonizing pressure, while the other delivered a sharp blow to his stomach, driving the air from his lungs and dropping him to his knees on the splintered floorboards.
Julian coughed violently, gasping for breath as he glared up from the floor, his face bruised and smeared with dust.
""You're making a massive mistake,"" Julian wheezed, his voice raw. ""When the federal authorities see the audit logs, my mother won't be able to buy her way out of this.""
""Mrs. Vance doesn't care about audits, Mr. Vance,"" the lead agent replied coldly, straightening his jacket and wiping dust from his lapel. ""She cares about family order. Now, where is the woman and the boy?""
Julian let out a harsh, bitter laugh, blood trickling from a small cut on his lower lip. ""Go look outside. You'll find nothing.""
The agent’s radio crackled to life with a burst of static. ""Base-one to team-alpha. We searched the perimeter. Found no sign of them heading toward the vehicles. They must be hiding in the immediate timber.""
""Sweep the woods,"" the lead agent ordered into his radio transmitter. ""Find them. Use thermal scanners if you have to. Mrs. Vance wants them in the vehicle within ten minutes.""
Julian lunged upward in a desperate attempt to tackle the agent toward the broken window, but a swift strike to the back of his head sent him crashing back down into darkness, his consciousness fading as the room spun violently out of focus.
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When Julian slowly opened his eyes minutes later, he was zip-tied securely to a heavy wooden pillar in the center of the living room. The agents were gone, fanning out into the woods to hunt down Clara and Leo. Through the broken front window, he could see the silhouette of the black sedans idling in the driveway, their exhaust pipes puffing white clouds into the crisp autumn air.
He strained against the heavy nylon bindings biting into his wrists, anger surging through his veins like molten lava. He had to warn Clara. He had to break free before the search party closed the net around the creek.
