Chapter 6 - Julian's Shadow
Before we could process Toby's words, the sound of breaking glass echoed from the living room window facing the fire escape.
"Get down!" Jonah roared, throwing his body over Toby and me just as a brick shattered the pane, landing with a heavy crash on the carpet, followed by the hiss of a smoke canister.
Acrid gray smoke billowed through the apartment, stinging our eyes and scorching our throats. Jonah grabbed my arm with one hand and Toby's shirt with the other, hauling us toward the back exit that led into the alleyway.
"They're already here," Jonah coughed, pushing us through the service door into the cold autumn air.
As we hit the damp asphalt of the alley, a tall figure in a tailored wool coat stepped out from behind the dumpster, flanked by two burly men in leather jackets. Julian Vance.
Julian looked like Jonah’s aristocratic twin, but where Jonah’s features had been hardened by resilience and grit, Julian was all polished cruelty. A smug, vicious grin spread across his face as he held a silver revolver loosely at his side.
"Well, look at the happy little family," Julian sneered, tilting his head. "Three years in the pen didn't make you any smarter, did it, cousin? You should have run to Mexico the second they unhooked your chains."
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"Let them go, Julian," Jonah said, stepping directly in front of me and Toby, shielding us with his broad shoulders. "You have the foundation. You stole the two million and let me take the fall. Why are you still hunting them?"
"Because your little charity girl is holding the only thing that connects my offshore accounts to the state attorney general's office," Julian replied, his smile vanishing into a venomous scowl. "Hand over the flash drive, Clara. Or I’ll put a bullet through your brother’s knee, and we can watch how long it takes you to change your mind."
