Chapter 11 - THE PRICE OF THE MEDAL
Vaughn demanded that Ethan meet him alone.
In exchange, he promised to return the medal and the original convoy recording.
Federal agents immediately rejected the terms.
Ethan did not.
“I will go.”
Maya looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because my family helped create this.”
“You think becoming a hostage will repair it?”
“It may give them time to arrest him.”
Agent Brooks shook her head.
“Vaughn knows we will track you.”
“He expects a trap.”
Ethan turned toward Maya.
“He asked for me because he believes I know where my father stored the final Cross files.”
“Do you?”
Ethan hesitated.
Maya saw the answer.
“You lied again.”
“My father gave me a key before he died.”
“To what?”
“A private vault beneath Sterling Tower.”
“What is inside?”
“I never opened it.”
“Why not?”
“Because he told me opening it would destroy our family.”
Maya’s voice became quiet.
“And that was enough to stop you.”
“Yes.”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
The vault might contain the evidence Evelyn mentioned.
Vaughn knew about it.
The medal could be the second key.
Agent Brooks designed a controlled exchange.
Ethan would carry a tracking device.
Agents would surround the location.
Maya was ordered to remain at the hospital.
She refused.
“I am not walking into the meeting.”
“But I will be nearby.”
Vaughn selected an abandoned railway station outside Dallas.
Rain covered the empty platforms.
Ethan stood beneath the broken clock at midnight.
A black SUV arrived.
Senator Vaughn stepped out holding the medal.
He looked older than he had at the banquet.
Blood stained one sleeve.
“You brought the key?” he asked.
Ethan held up the small brass object his father had given him.
“Where is the video?”
“Inside the vault.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“You lied.”
“No.”
Vaughn smiled.
“I said I knew where it was.”
He raised Maya’s medal.
“This opens the first lock.”
“Your key opens the second.”
“Why ask me to come alone?”
“Because Amelia would never trust a Sterling.”
Vaughn looked toward the dark windows.
“But she might follow one.”
Searchlights exploded across the station.
Agents moved from both sides.
Vaughn seized Ethan and pressed a gun against his neck.
Maya watched from the command vehicle.
Agent Brooks ordered her to stay inside.
Then Vaughn shouted toward the cameras.
“Bring me Amelia Cross.”
“Or her husband dies.”
Maya opened the vehicle door.
Vance caught her arm.
“You owe Ethan nothing.”
Maya looked toward the platform.
May you like
“No.”
“But I will not let Vaughn decide who I become.”
