Chapter 18 - Stripping the Crown
The library plunged into absolute darkness.
Leah gasped as her phone screen switched to a slow, unstable cellular connection.
The download bar crawled painfully from ninety-one to ninety-two percent.
Vincent handed Leah his tactical flashlight and moved toward the shattered front entrance.
Outside, a convoy of black SUVs surrounded the library with their high beams blazing.
Julian stepped out of the lead vehicle, holding a megaphone to his mouth.
He announced that the building was completely surrounded by heavily armed men.
He promised to let Leah and the girl walk away if Vincent surrendered himself immediately.
Vincent looked back at Leah, who shook her head frantically in the dim light.
She whispered that the transfer was at ninety-eight percent and needed just one more minute.
Vincent knew he had to buy them that time, no matter the cost to himself.
He dropped his heavy weapons on the floor and slowly stepped out the front doors with his hands raised.
Julian smiled triumphantly and ordered two men to grab his brother.
They forced Vincent to his knees on the wet pavement, pressing a gun to the back of his head.
Julian walked up and looked down at Vincent with absolute contempt.
He raised his own gun to deliver the final, fatal shot.
Suddenly, the encrypted phones of every single mercenary in the courtyard began to blare with emergency alerts.
Julian looked at his own phone in shock as his offshore banking accounts flashed zero balances.
May you like
Leah stepped out of the library doors, holding up the phone with a defiant glare.
She announced that Julian was officially completely bankrupt.
