Chapter 7 - The Master Stroke
Marco rushed to the console, his eyes fixing on the silver briefcase. He flipped the latches open. Inside lay three glass ampoules of glowing blue fluid labeled with the Zurich pharmaceutical seal—the antidote.
"Too easy, Marco," Julian’s voice whispered from a small radio receiver on the desk.
Marco froze. He glanced at the computer monitor.
On the screen, three heavy tactical trucks were smashing through the front wrought-iron gates of the Benadetti mansion. Masked gunmen were pouring out onto the estate lawn, engaging the perimeter guards in a massive, chaotic firefight.
"Did you really think I believed you'd come here alone?" Julian’s voice laughed dryly over the radio. "You brought your best soldiers to the docks, Marco. You left your house guarded by second-tier muscle. My strike team is inside your mansion right now. They don't want the estate. They want the girl."
Marco felt his heart stop. "If you lay a finger on her—"
"I’m not going to kill her, Marco," Julian interrupted coldly. "I’m going to take her. I’m going to administer the antidote myself, raise her in an undisclosed location across the globe, and teach her to hate your name. She will grow up believing that the great Marco Benadetti abandoned her to die."
The countdown timer on the console suddenly blinked down to zero. A loud electronic click echoed from beneath the floorboards.
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"And to make sure you don't follow us," Julian added, "enjoy the fire."
A massive explosion ripped through the lower levels of the refinery, tearing the steel support beams apart. The floor beneath Marco’s feet buckled violence, throwing him backward as a wall of orange fire erupted through the elevator shaft.
