Chapter 8 - Midnight on the Cliff"Pull over, Julian!" the head of security shouted through an external bullhorn speaker, his voice cutting through the roar of the storm. "Madam Vance wants the key returned to the estate! You won't make it to Zurich!"
"Your mother..." Julian growled through gritted teeth, his muscles straining as he fought to keep the SUV on the road. "She didn't surrender to the police. She sent her private squad to intercept us!"
"She's trying to cover her own tracks before the vault evidence leaks!" I shouted, a cold fury rising in my chest. "She doesn't care about justice! She just wants to protect herself!"
The armored truck rammed us a third time, with devastating force.
Our SUV lost traction on the slick road, spinning wildly out of control, smashing through the metal guardrail, and coming to a violent stop, hanging precariously over the edge of a two-hundred-foot ravine.
Rocks and debris tumbled into the abyss below. The SUV rocked terrifyingly on the edge of the cliff.
"Don't move!" Julian whispered, holding his breath as the car tilted forward. "Any sudden weight shift will send us over."
The driver's door of the armored truck opened. The head of security stepped out into the pouring rain, holding an automatic weapon, accompanied by three armed men. They slowly approached our teetering vehicle.
"Hand over the briefcase and the key, Liana," the man commanded, standing ten feet away on the solid tarmac. "Your mother promised you full immunity if you hand over the drives. She just wants the murder files destroyed."
"She killed your father, Julian!" I whispered fiercely to Julian. "I won't let her get away with it!"
"Liana, listen to me," Julian whispered, his hand slowly sliding toward the emergency brake lever. "When I release the brake, the car is going to slide backward into the embankment. I need you to jump out the passenger door the second it hits the dirt."
"What about you?!"
"I'll be right behind you. On three."
"Julian..."
"One..."
The security chief raised his gun. "Last chance, Liana!"
"Two..."
I gripped the door handle, my heart pounding like a war drum in my chest.
"THREE!"
Julian yanked the emergency brake. The rear tires caught traction for a fraction of a second, forcing the SUV to swing sideways and slam violently into the rocky hillside instead of slipping down the cliff.
"JUMP!" Julian roared.
I threw the passenger door open, diving headfirst onto the muddy, rain-drenched grass, rolling down the embankment as gunfire shattered the night.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Sparks flew off the SUV's frame. Julian threw himself out of the driver's side, pulling a hidden sidearm from his ankle holster, firing three rapid shots through the rain.
Two of the guards dropped.
Julian scrambled through the mud, grabbing my arm and hauling me behind a massive granite boulder near the treeline.
"Are you hit?!" he asked frantically, hands scanning my body for injuries.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" I gasped, wiped mud from my face. "The key... I still have the key!"
"Good," Julian panted, reloading his sidearm with his last remaining magazine. "Because we have a one-mile hike down this mountain to the private train station. If we make that train, we're in Zurich in ten minutes."
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"They'll follow us into the woods!" I said, looking back at the headlights cutting through the heavy rain.
"Let them try," Julian said, his eyes blazing with fierce determination. "This ends tonight, Liana. I'm taking you to the vault."
