Chapter 25 - The Fall of Eleanor's Last Lie
Before I could process Alexander's warning, the red light on my desk terminal began flashing violently. Marcus lunged for the phone, putting it on speaker.
"Mrs. Ross!" Captain Miller’s frantic voice exploded from the receiver. "We have an emergency at the Metropolitan Correctional Center! Eleanor Vance... she just suffered a massive cardiac episode during her preliminary federal arraignment!"
I grabbed the receiver. "Is she dead?"
"No, ma'am! The medical transport is en route to Northwestern Memorial under armed federal guard. But that’s not all—Julian Vance just broke out of his court-mandated rehab clinic in Wisconsin! He had outside help. Two armed men took out the security detail at the gate twenty minutes ago!"
I slammed the receiver down, my eyes locking onto Alexander. "You said you intercepted her assets! You said she had no moves left!"
Alexander didn't look surprised. His expression hardened into pure, predatory calculation. "Julian didn't break out to save his mother. He broke out because someone offered him a lifeline. The consortium."
He turned to his operative. "Henri. Mobilize the Eurocopter. Tell the tactical team at the airfield to secure the perimeter around the Ross residence in Gold Coast."
"Wait!" I snapped, my heart roaring in my ears. "My children are not at the Gold Coast house! I moved them three days ago when the media started camping out at the gates!"
Alexander froze, turning back to me, an eyebrow arched in sharp surprise. "Where are they?"
A fierce, vindictive pride surged through my veins. "You thought you knew everything about me from your dossiers in Geneva, didn't you? You thought I was predictable." I stepped right into his space, my chin lifted. "I moved them to an unlisted brownstone in Lincoln Park under Marcus’s mother’s maiden name. Even Julian’s private investigators spent the last forty-eight hours chasing decoy vans around Oak Brook."
For the first time since he had stepped out of the elevator, the cold, impenetrable mask on Alexander Vance’s face shattered.
He stared at me, genuinely stunned. Then, a slow, low chuckle resonated in his chest—a sound that was both entirely terrifying and undeniably magnetic.
"Formidable," Alexander murmured, shaking his head. "Julian truly had no idea what he threw away."
His smile vanished instantly, replaced by lethal gravity. "Marcus, take your car and drive to Northwestern Memorial. Ensure Eleanor does not speak to any foreign consuls. If a German or Swiss attache attempts to enter her room, have the federal marshals detain them under the Patriot Act."
Marcus looked at me for confirmation. I gave him a curt nod. "Go, Marcus. Use every contact we have in the Governor's office. Nobody touches Eleanor until we know who funded Julian's extraction."
Marcus grabbed his coat and ran toward the service elevator.
Alexander turned toward the balcony access, unbuttoning his suit jacket to reveal an ultra-compact submachine gun holstered in custom leather beneath his left shoulder.
"Evelyn," he said, holding his hand out toward me. "The Lincoln Park brownstone is no longer safe. Julian knows about Marcus’s family properties—it was documented in the 2018 corporate retainer files. If Julian has the consortium behind him, they are already on their way there."
The world seemed to spin. "My babies," I choked out, the ice in my veins turning to pure fire.
"We fly," Alexander commanded, his hand firm, waiting. "And tonight, we end this bloodline war once and for all."
I looked at his outstretched hand. I didn't trust him. He was a Vance, cut from the same ruthless cloth that had tried to consume me for five years. But he was their father, his army was already in the sky, and right now, he was the only weapon deadly enough to tear through whatever Julian had unleashed.
I placed my hand in his. His fingers closed tightly around mine—unyielding, unbreakable.
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"Let's go kill a jackal," I said.
***
