Chapter 4 - THE DESPERATE ESCAPEJulian didn't wait for the handcuffs to click.
In a moment of pure panic, he shoved the federal agent backward into the podium, sending the heavy wooden structure crashing down. The crowd screamed as Julian jumped off the side of the stage, shoving guests out of his way as he sprinted toward the service exit behind the kitchen doors.
"Julian! Wait for me!" Chloe shrieked, tripping over the heavy train of her crimson dress as she tried to follow him, only to be intercepted immediately by a female officer.
"Don't move!" the officer commanded, forcing Chloe down onto a dining table, pinning her arms behind her back.
I didn't run after Julian. I didn't need to.
I pulled out my phone and tapped a single green button on a custom app interface.
"Where is he going?" Arthur asked, standing beside me as security guards sprinted toward the service corridor.
"He thinks his valet parked his Aston Martin at the VIP entrance," I said, watching a small blue dot move rapidly across a digital layout of the hotel on my screen. "He took my car keys two weeks ago to make sure I couldn't leave that beach. He didn't realize I had a secondary immobilizer installed on all executive fleet vehicles three days ago."
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Through the heavy double doors of the ballroom, we heard the sound of screeching tires, followed by a loud, metallic CLANG, and then the roar of an engine dying abruptly.
Julian had made it to the driveway, gotten into his car, and tried to speed off—only for the remote engine kill-switch to engage right as he hit the security gate, locking him inside the vehicle automatically as local police cruisers blocked him from every side.
