Chapter 8 - The Price of Treason
The phone line went dead before Julian could reply. The digital clock on the dashboard read 8:42 PM. The docks were fifteen minutes away in good weather, but in this downpour, it was a death race.
"We can't go there," Clara panicked, grabbing Julian’s headrest. "It's an ambush! Marcus won't let any of us walk away! He's in too deep with Arthur’s creditors!"
Julian ignored her, his mind calculating with the precision of a seasoned engineer. He reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a backup burner phone and a small, heavy black automatic pistol he kept locked away for emergencies. He slid the magazine out, checked the spring, and slapped it back in with a sharp metallic click.
"Clara, the USB drive Lily brought. What's on it besides my financial records?" Julian asked without turning his head.
"The facility coordinates," Clara replied, trembling. "The surveillance logs, the medical transcripts, and the override codes to the offshore accounts Arthur used to fund Marcus's offshore dummy corporations."
Julian pulled the car into a secluded, dimly lit alley behind an abandoned textile warehouse two miles from the docks. He put the car in park and turned completely around to face the back seat.
"Lily," Julian said gently. "Do you trust me?"
The little girl nodded slowly, clutching her mother’s brass locket tightly against her chest. "Mom said if you had this locket, you would never let anyone hurt me."
"I won't," Julian vowed. He turned to Clara, his expression turning to stone. "You wanted redemption, Clara? You're going to earn it. You're walking into the docks with an empty envelope. You're going to keep Marcus talking. I'm going in through the water."
"He'll kill me!" Clara cried out.
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"He'll kill all of us if you don't," Julian said coldly. "And right now, you're the only card Marcus thinks he still holds."
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