Chapter 59 - The Fall of Julian
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Julian reached the door of the heavy SUV, throwing the hard drive onto the passenger seat. He turned to climb in, but I was already there.
I tackled him with blinding momentum, slamming his body against the armored door of the vehicle. The heavy impact knocked the pistol from his hand, sending it clattering across the ice.
Julian roared in anger, driving a vicious elbow into my ribcage. The blow sent a shockwave of agony through my chest, but I held on, grabbing the lapels of his expensive coat and driving my knee brutally into his stomach.
He doubled over, gasping for air. I spun him around, throwing him against the hood of the SUV, and drew my combat knife.
"It's over, Julian," I panted, pressing the edge of the cold steel against his throat. The sounds of the firefight behind us began to die down as Audrey eliminated the last of his men.
Julian looked up at me, his lip bleeding, his chest heaving. But there was no fear in his eyes. Only a sickening, condescending amusement.
"You think you've won, Elena?" Julian laughed, a wet, ragged sound. "You think stopping me stops the Viper?"
"You're the head of the syndicate," I snarled, pressing the blade deeper until a single bead of blood appeared on his skin. "Without you, and without the ledger, the organization starves."
"You naive little girl," Julian whispered, leaning closer to the blade. "I am not the head of the Viper. I am just the treasurer. The real head of the syndicate... the one who built the Vanguard, the one who orchestrated this entire game... they wanted me to test you. To see if you were ready."
I froze, the knife trembling in my hand. "What are you talking about?"
Julian smiled, a horrific, bloody grin. "The ledger is useless to me. It always was. The encryption was never a password. It’s a genetic lock, Elena. The hard drive is a beacon."
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Inside the SUV, the small hard drive on the passenger seat suddenly illuminated. A piercing, high-frequency signal began to emit from the device, echoing off the mountains.
"They aren't coming for the money," Julian whispered, his eyes wide with fanatical devotion. "They are coming for you."
