Chapter 14 - The Final Stand
The car door on the driver's side was yanked open violently, and a security guard pointed a heavy flashlight directly into the driver’s eyes. "Shut off the engine! Step out of the vehicle with your hands where we can see them!"
Julian didn't wait. He pushed his own door open and stepped out onto the damp asphalt, standing tall between the armed guards and the back seat where Maya lay struggling for breath. The cold night wind whipped his dark hair around his face, but his stance was completely unyielding.
"Step aside," Julian commanded, his voice carrying the absolute, chilling authority of a man who had commanded boardrooms of global conglomerates for twenty years.
The lead guard hesitated for a fraction of a second, recognizing the man who had owned them all just hours ago. But he quickly recovered, raising his badge and stepping closer. "Mr. Vance, under orders from Marcus Vance, this vehicle is impounded. The passenger must be returned to the estate immediately for medical reassessment."
"She is having a cardiac event," Julian lied with icy precision, his eyes locking onto the guard with a terrifying intensity. "If you delay her transport to the airstrip by one more minute, you are legally accessories to manslaughter, and I will personally spend every remaining dollar I own ensuring you spend the rest of your lives in a federal penitentiary."
The guard faltered, looking back uncertainly toward their SUVs as the flashing red and blue lights of an actual state trooper cruiser suddenly crested the hill behind them, its siren wailing into the night.
"Sir, we have local law enforcement approaching," another guard whispered urgently, grabbing his colleague's sleeve.
Julian didn't blink. He raised his encrypted satellite phone, which was still connected to the federal transport authority on speaker. “Mr. Vance, federal clearance is confirmed. The medical jet is fueled and waiting on runway four. Do you require armed escort upon arrival?”
The guard stared at Julian, realized the monumental legal and physical risk of pushing the confrontation further, and slowly lowered his flashlight. He took a half-step back, waving his hand toward his team. "Clear the road. Let them pass."
Julian didn't wait for them to move twice. He climbed back into the sedan, slammed the door, and nodded to the driver. "Step on it."
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The sedan surged forward, sweeping past the paralyzed guards and roaring down the mountain toward the lights of the private airfield gleaming in the valley below.
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