Chapter 8 - The Price of Silence
The room fell into a suffocating, deadly silence as Marcus held his aim steady.
Arthur squeezed his eyes shut in silent agony, unable to scream as he anticipated the gunshot.
Julian glared into Marcus's cold eyes, refusing to flinch or show fear.
"Do it then," Julian spat through his teeth. "Execute me just like you betrayed my father!"
Marcus pulled the trigger without hesitation.
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Two suppressed shots echoed through the small room, but Julian felt no pain.
Behind Marcus, two of the heavy tactical guards suddenly collapsed to the floor, twitching as taser darts hit their vests.
The third guard spun around in shock, but Marcus delivered a brutal kick to his jaw, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Julian stared in complete shock as Marcus lowered his weapon and kicked the guards' rifles away.
"What... what are you doing?" Julian stammered, completely bewildered by the sudden turnaround.
"I've been loyal to your father for twenty years, Julian," Marcus said rapidly, kneeling beside Arthur.
"Did you really think I would sell him out to a snake like Maria?" Marcus asked with a razor-sharp smirk.
"You played along with her..." Julian realized, his mind racing to connect the pieces.
"I had to make her believe I was on her side so she wouldn't execute Arthur immediately," Marcus explained, checking Arthur's pulse.
"She injected him with a heavy paralyzing agent," Julian said urgently. "He can't move or speak!"
"We have less than five minutes before her main force realizes these guards aren't responding," Marcus warned.
Marcus grabbed Arthur under his arms while Julian grabbed his father's legs.
Together, they lifted Arthur's limp body and moved toward the hidden service elevator at the end of the hall.
"Where are we taking him?" Julian asked, his lungs burning from the exertion.
"To my safehouse outside the city limits," Marcus replied as the elevator doors opened.
"We have an emergency medical team waiting there to flush the poison out of his system," Marcus added.
Suddenly, the elevator lights flickered wildly and plunged into complete pitch darkness.
The heavy elevator cage ground to a sudden, violent halt between floors with a screech of torn metal.
Through the elevator speaker overhead, Maria's cold, mocking laughter cut through the darkness.
"Did you really think you were smarter than me, Marcus?" Maria's voice purred triumphantly over the intercom.
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"I tapped your encrypted phone three days ago," she revealed with a cruel sneer.
"And now, all three of you are trapped in a steel coffin fifty feet underground!"
