Chapter 14
The shrill ringing of the old rotary phone echoed off the stone walls of the cabin, cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife. Julian stared at the vintage apparatus on the side table as if it were a venomous snake, his hand still resting on the tactical laptop where the federal data upload was currently sitting at ninety-eight percent.
"Don't answer it," Clara said, her voice tight with alarm as she stepped closer to Julian. "No one outside of this room knows we're here. If the phone is ringing, it means they've tracked the satellite uplink."
Julian didn't blink. He watched the progress bar on the screen tick up to ninety-nine percent.
Ring.
The sound was relentless, jarring against the serene pine forest outside.
"The upload is at one hundred percent," Julian said, his voice cold and steady as a success notification flashed green across the tactical screen. "The federal prosecutor's office just received the entire encrypted package. Marcus's reign is over."
"Then let it ring," Clara urged, grabbing his arm. "We need to pack up and move deeper into the woods before they pinpoint our coordinates."
Before Julian could respond, the ringing stopped abruptly, replaced by a clicking sound as the answering machine built into the base of the phone kicked on. A moment later, Marcus Vance's smooth, cultured voice filled the cabin through the speakerphone.
"I wouldn't bother running, cousin," Marcus's voice drawled smoothly, sounding entirely too calm for a man whose crimes had just been broadcast to the federal government. "You're trapped in a national park surrounded by federal jurisdiction, and my contacts in the regional field office have already revoked your passport. You have two choices: surrender the ring and the girl, or spend the rest of your life in a maximum-security federal penitentiary while I raise your daughter as my own."
Julian stepped toward the phone, his hand clenching into a tight fist, the black rose tattoo stretching across his skin. He reached down, grabbed the heavy rotary receiver, and ripped the cord right out of the wall, silencing Marcus's voice forever.
He turned back to Clara, his chest heaving with controlled fury. "He thinks he's already won."
"He doesn't know about this cabin," Clara reminded him, though her own voice trembled slightly. "And he doesn't know that the federal grand jury already has the files."
"He knows we're vulnerable," Julian said, walking over to the sofa where little Lily was slowly waking up, rubbing her eyes against the dim light. He scooped the toddler into his arms, kissing her forehead gently. "We need to get to the Canadian border before his tactical teams reach the property line."
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Clara nodded, pulling her beige cardigan tight around her shoulders. She reached down to pull off Elena's platinum ring from her finger, holding it out to J
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