Chapter 8
Carter Biomedical’s headquarters went into lockdown within minutes.
Police surrounded the building.
Employees were evacuated.
Nobody knew exactly what Ethan intended.
That made it worse.
The company manufactured diagnostic equipment.
Most of the facility was offices and assembly areas.
But one restricted laboratory stored industrial chemicals used in component testing.
Nothing that should ever be in the hands of a desperate man.
I called our head of security.
“Where is Ethan’s access?”
“Revoked from the network.”
“Physical access?”
“His executive badge was disabled.”
“Can he bypass it?”
A pause.
“He helped approve the building’s security system.”
My stomach sank.
“Assume he can.”
Federal agents took over parts of the response because of the corporate fraud case.
Police negotiators called Ethan’s phones.
Nothing.
Then one employee made a discovery.
A black sedan was parked two blocks away.
Registered to Ethan.
Empty.
Security cameras showed him entering a neighboring parking garage on foot.
But none showed him leaving.
There was an underground maintenance tunnel connecting that garage to our building.
Most employees didn’t know it existed.
Ethan did.
We had used it during construction.
“He’s already inside,” I said.
Harper nodded.
“Likely.”
I wanted to go there.
Everyone told me no.
For once, I didn’t argue.
Lily needed a father more than my company needed a hero.
I went to Rachel’s house instead.
Lily was drawing at the kitchen table.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“Daddy!”
I picked her up.
She touched my face.
“Are the bad people gone?”
“Not all of them.”
“Vanessa?”
“She can’t hurt you right now.”
“Is she in timeout?”
Rachel looked away to hide a smile.
“A very serious timeout.”
Lily considered that.
“Good.”
Then she pointed at her drawing.
Three people holding hands.
Me.
Lily.
And Sarah.
Sarah had wings.
My throat tightened.
“That’s Mommy.”
“I see.”
“She watches us.”
I hugged her.
“I hope so.”
For ten minutes, I let myself be only her father.
No police.
No company.
No Ethan.
Then my phone rang.
Harper.
“We found him.”
I stepped into the hallway.
“Where?”
“Inside your headquarters.”
My heart tightened.
“Is anyone else with him?”
“One security guard is unaccounted for.”
“Hostage?”
“We think so.”
“What does Ethan want?”
“You.”
I looked back through the doorway at Lily.
“No.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“He called?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He’ll release the guard if you speak to him.”
“On the phone?”
“Initially.”
“Initially?”
Harper sighed.
“He wants you to come inside.”
“No.”
“I agree.”
“But?”
“But we need to keep him talking.”
Five minutes later, I was on a secure call with Ethan.
His voice sounded calm.
That scared me more than shouting would have.
“Daniel.”
“Ethan.”
“You’ve had a busy week.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“Vanessa did.”
“You were with her.”
“She made choices.”
“So did you.”
He laughed.
“Still judging everyone.”
“What do you want?”
“What was always mine.”
“The company?”
“Recognition.”
I nearly laughed.
“You killed Sarah for recognition?”
Silence.
“Vanessa talked.”
“Vanessa always talked too much.”
“So it’s true.”
“I didn’t kill Sarah.”
“You paid someone to chase her.”
“I solved a problem.”
My hand shook.
I forced myself to remain calm.
“She was a person.”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“She discovered you were stealing.”
“I was building.”
“With my father’s money.”
“Your father was weak.”
“And you?”
“I kept Carter Biomedical alive.”
“You robbed it.”
“I took what I earned.”
“Then why hide it?”
He went silent.
I heard another voice in the background.
A man.
Probably the security guard.
“Let him go.”
“When you come here.”
“No.”
“Then maybe he dies because you’re afraid.”
I closed my eyes.
Manipulation.
Same strategy as Vanessa.
Make me responsible for their choices.
“No, Ethan. If you hurt him, that is your decision.”
He became quiet.
“You’ve changed.”
“No. I finally understand you.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Your father.”
I frowned.
“What about him?”
“He promised me partnership.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Of course not. Daniel always got everything.”
His voice cracked for the first time.
“The company. The house. His name.”
“You worked for him.”
“I saved him.”
“From what?”
“From bankruptcy.”
I knew the company had struggled during the recession.
But Dad never mentioned Ethan saving anything.
“He needed cash,” Ethan said. “I found it.”
“By stealing?”
“By moving money where it needed to go.”
“With Charles.”
“Charles understood business.”
“Charles murdered my father.”
Silence.
Interesting.
Maybe Ethan didn’t like that word.
“Murdered,” I repeated.
“Your father was dying anyway.”
My stomach turned.
“No.”
“He had a bad heart.”
“So you helped it stop?”
“I didn’t.”
“But you knew.”
A pause.
“Didn’t you ever wonder why your father became so suspicious?”
“Because he learned you were a thief.”
“He became paranoid.”
“He recorded you.”
Silence.
This time I smiled.
“You didn’t know?”
“What recording?”
“Dad left evidence.”
Ethan’s breathing changed.
Good.
“Where?”
“With police.”
“You’re lying.”
“Ask Charles.”
Silence.
Then Ethan screamed away from the phone.
Something crashed.
Harper whispered through my earpiece.
“Keep going.”
I said, “It’s over.”
“No.”
“Charles is in custody.”
“He’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“He already tried to run.”
“That means nothing.”
“Vanessa is cooperating.”
“She knows nothing.”
“She knew about Sarah.”
“She knew what I told her.”
“And my father.”
“Daniel.”
“You lost.”
“No!”
His voice exploded.
“You lost the moment Sarah started digging.”
I felt tears in my eyes but kept going.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you do?”
“I told Marcus to scare her.”
“Marcus who?”
Silence.
Harper’s eyes sharpened.
A name.
Finally.
“Who is Marcus?”
Ethan realized his mistake.
“Come here and I’ll tell you.”
“No.”
“Then the guard dies.”
A gunshot exploded through the phone.
I flinched.
Shouting erupted around Harper.
“Ethan!”
The call disconnected.
My stomach dropped.
“Was that the guard?”
Harper pressed his radio.
Nobody knew.
For three horrible minutes, we waited.
Then the tactical commander reported.
The gunshot had been fired into a wall.
The guard was alive.
Ethan had moved him.
Police had thermal cameras watching part of the floor.
Two heat signatures entered the executive conference room.
One sat.
One paced.
Harper’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
“What?”
“Ethan just sent you an email.”
I opened it.
One attachment.
A scanned contract.
My father’s signature.
A promise granting Ethan fifteen percent ownership of Carter Biomedical upon completion of a financing restructuring.
I stared.
“Is it real?”
Melissa, on another call, received the document.
She examined it remotely.
“Maybe.”
My stomach tightened.
“Could Dad really have promised him shares?”
“Possibly.”
Ethan called again.
“You see it?”
“Yes.”
“You stole my future.”
“I didn’t know this existed.”
“Convenient.”
“If it’s legitimate, why didn’t you sue?”
He laughed bitterly.
“Your father destroyed the original.”
“Then how do you have this?”
“I kept a copy.”
“Why steal millions if you had a claim?”
Silence.
There it was.
Because it didn’t fit.
Either the agreement was fake.
Or Ethan knew it was unenforceable.
Or the truth was more complicated.
Then Ethan said, “Your father told me he’d rather burn the company than give me a piece.”
I looked at Harper.
Burn.
The word stuck.
I remembered Vanessa.
If he couldn’t own Carter Biomedical, nobody would.
“Ethan, what have you done?”
He laughed.
“You should have come inside.”
An alarm began screaming through the phone.
In the background, a computerized voice announced:
CHEMICAL FIRE DETECTED.
Harper stood.
Police radios exploded with activity.
Black smoke appeared on the building’s rooftop camera.
“Ethan!”
He whispered one final sentence.
May you like
“Now you get to watch your inheritance disappear.”
The call ended.
