Chapter 10 - Cornered Animal
By late autumn, Julian’s world had been completely stripped down to nothing.
However, due to a procedural clerical error during his transport between facilities, Julian’s secondary bail hearing was temporarily granted under strict electronic ankle monitoring, funded by a dark-money loan shark who wanted Julian free long enough to recover his funds.
Julian didn't care about the loan shark. He didn't care about his mother. He had descended into pure, unadulterated madness.
Audrey did this to me, he repeated over and over in his mind as he sat in a cheap motel room. She stole my life. She took my money. She took my freedom. She has to pay.
On a rainy Friday night, Julian used a pair of heavy wire cutters provided by his underground contacts to snap the electronic tracking band off his ankle.
Ignoring the blaring alarm on his phone, he threw on a dark hoodie, grabbed a heavy steel crowbar from the motel storage shed, and drove an unregistered rust-bucket sedan toward Audrey’s townhouse.
The street was dark and slick with rain.
Julian parked two blocks away and crept through the back alleyway, slipping past the side fence. He knew the layout of the property by heart. He knew which window latch was weak.
She thinks she’s safe because she won, Julian thought, his eyes wild with malice as he approached the kitchen French doors. She thinks her father protected her. I'm going to make her sign the confession tonight, or neither of us leaves this house.
He wedged the crowbar into the door frame and levered it with all his weight.
CRACK!
The wood splintered. Julian kicked the door open, stepping into the dark kitchen, rain dripping from his hood onto the hardwood floor.
"Audrey!" Julian screamed into the quiet house, his voice echoing with unhinged fury. "Audrey, come down here! It's over!"
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He stalked into the dark living room, raising the crowbar high in his hand. "Do you hear me, you ungrateful bitch?! You ruined my life! Now come out and face me!"
Suddenly, the floodlights snapped on.
