Chapter 13 - The Digital Bullet
Julian looked completely different than the man who had supposedly died fifteen years ago.
His face was lined with deep scars, and his eyes held absolutely no warmth.
Vincent slowly raised his hands, stepping defensively in front of his bleeding father.
Julian smiled a terrible, hollow smile.
He thanked Vincent for gathering the family together in one convenient place.
Julian demanded the digital hard drive that Leo had stolen.
Vincent lied smoothly, claiming the drive had been destroyed in the shipyard explosion.
Julian laughed and shook his head, pulling out a remote detonator.
He revealed that he had wired Carmine's entire penthouse with military explosives.
He gave Vincent exactly sixty seconds to produce the drive, or the building would fall.
Vincent's mind raced as he calculated the distance between himself and his brother.
Suddenly, the penthouse emergency fire alarms triggered with a deafening screech.
Thick smoke instantly flooded the room from the ventilation system.
Leah had hacked into the building's mainframe from the SUV downstairs using Leo's tablet.
Vincent used the distraction to dive forward and tackle Julian to the marble floor.
The rifle fired blindly into the ceiling, shattering the massive crystal chandelier.
Vincent landed a brutal punch across his brother's scarred jaw.
He hoisted his wounded father over his shoulder and ran for the service stairwell.
Julian screamed in rage as Vincent kicked the heavy fire doors shut behind them.
Vincent carried Carmine down four flights of stairs to a secondary extraction point.
They piled into the SUV where Leah was frantically typing on the digital tablet.
She looked up with wide, terrified eyes as Vincent sped away into the night.
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She told Vincent she had just decrypted the final folder on the hard drive.
Julian was not just a mob boss, he had purchased the loyalty of the city's entire police department.
