Chapter 13
The hallway erupted into sudden, blinding white light and a deafening shockwave that rattled the antique picture frames on the walls. Agent Miller shrieked, stumbling backward as the concussive force knocked the shotgun from her hands. The weapon clattered loudly against the wooden floor, sliding out of reach.
Julian moved with terrifying speed. In a fraction of a second, he lunged forward, sweeping Miller’s legs out from under her and pinning her hard against the floor with his knee pressed firmly into her spine.
"Don't move!" Julian barked, retrieving her dropped radio and kicking it across the landing.
Elena scrambled up from the floor, her white satin gown dusted with plaster and soot. Her breathing was ragged, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she looked down at the corrupt federal agent writhing beneath Julian's grip.
"Who else is in on this?" Elena demanded, her voice sharp with a newly forged fury that completely replaced her fear. "How deep does this corruption go?"
Agent Miller spat a mouthful of dust onto the floor, glaring up at them with unyielding malice. "You're too late," she laughed hysterically, her voice echoing over the wailing police sirens outside. "The transfer order was signed at noon. The entire corporate account has already been wiped clean and transferred to a Swiss holding bank. Even if you kill me, Mark wins!"
Julian pressed down harder on her spine, cutting off her laughter, but his face darkened. He knew she wasn't bluffing; corporate accounts of that magnitude could be drained with a single digital authorization code if the primary servers were accessed from an external terminal.
"We need to get to the master study," Julian said, grabbing Elena’s hand and pulling her toward the opposite end of the corridor. "The physical override switch for the corporate mainframe is located in our father’s old office. It’s the only way to freeze the transfer before it clears."
"Your father’s study is locked, Julian! Only Mark had the biometric key!" Elena protested as they sprinted down the carpeted hallway, leaving the incapacitated agent behind.
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"Mark had the biometric key to the safe," Julian replied grimly as he kicked open a heavy mahogany door at the end of the hall. "I have the manual override code our father gave me the day before he died."
They tumbled into the sprawling, dust-filled study, slamming the heavy door behind them and throwing the deadbolt just as heavy boots pounded on the hallway floor outside.
