Chapter 23 - Soaring across the Atlantic Ocean toward an uncharted European destination brings a determined brother closer to the ultimate truth about his lost sibling today.
The private Gulfstream jet cut through the stratosphere high above the vast blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
Julian sat at the leather-lined mahogany table inside the cabin, reviewing the intelligence dossier repeatedly.
The alpine monastery in the photograph was located in a remote mountain valley in northern Austria.
According to deep-cover federal intelligence files, the monastery served as a neutral sanctuary for defectors.
If Luca had survived the syndicate's purge all those years ago, that ancient sanctuary was where he fled.
Julian touched the prominent wolf tattoo on his right forearm, feeling a strange surge of intuitive certainty.
His brother was alive; every instinct in his blood screamed that the long nightmare was nearing its resolution.
The pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom cabin speakers announcing their impending descent into Vienna.
"Prepare for landing in twenty minutes, Mr. Sterling; weather in the Austrian Alps is clear and cold," the pilot reported.
Julian secured his tactical gear, strapping his encrypted satellite phone securely into his inner vest pocket.
The sleek jet touched down smoothly on the snowy tarmac of a private airfield outside Salzburg.
A rented all-terrain vehicle awaited him at the private hangar, fully fueled for the mountain drive.
Julian climbed into the driver's seat, punching the GPS coordinates of the alpine monastery into the navigation screen.
The vehicle surged forward into the winding mountain roads surrounded by towering snow-capped peaks.
Pine forests blurred past his window as he drove higher into the freezing alpine wilderness.
The air grew thinner, the landscape wilder, and the anticipation in his chest reached an unbearable fever pitch.
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He was finally going to find out what happened to the brother who sacrificed everything for freedom.
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