Chapter 9 - Ethan Signed Everything
Thomas laughed over the speaker.
“Good.”
Ethan signed the final page.
Sarah looked furious.
But she did not stop him.
Because Ethan was not signing his real name.
Years earlier, his father had taught him a defensive corporate trick.
Every Blackwood executive maintained a duress signature.
A nearly identical signature containing one altered stroke.
Any major agreement bearing that mark triggered automatic fraud review.
Thomas did not know.
Rebecca did.
Ethan slid the papers into the scanner Thomas had activated remotely.
“Done.”
Seconds later, Thomas’s voice returned.
“Move away from the desk.”
Ethan obeyed.
A hidden door opened at the end of the corridor.
Thomas stepped out.
A gun pressed against Amelia’s side.
Lily stood behind them.
Amelia looked exhausted but conscious.
“Daddy.”
Ethan forced himself not to move.
Thomas smiled.
“Your daughter learns quickly.”
“Let them go.”
“Not yet.”
“You have what you wanted.”
“I have paper.”
“I need access.”
Thomas demanded Ethan’s biometric authentication for the Blackwood master treasury system.
Ethan almost smiled.
“You really think I can transfer billions from a hospital basement?”
“You can authorize the emergency corporate key.”
That part was true.
A Blackwood executive could authenticate emergency access from any secure device.
Thomas produced a tablet.
“Thumb.”
Ethan stepped closer.
Sarah and police remained hidden beyond the corner.
Thomas had positioned himself carefully.
Amelia between him and any shooter.
Lily behind a steel cabinet.
Ethan touched the sensor.
ACCESS DENIED.
Thomas frowned.
“Again.”
Ethan did.
ACCESS DENIED.
Thomas looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Then Ethan’s phone buzzed.
Rebecca’s message.
DURESS SIGNATURE ACCEPTED.
ALL EXECUTIVE ACCESS FROZEN.
Ethan looked at Thomas.
“You wanted seventy-two hours.”
“You just gave yourself zero.”
Thomas’s face changed.
He pressed the gun harder against Amelia.
“You think that matters?”
“Yes.”
“Because now every director knows you tried to force my resignation.”
Thomas looked toward the ceiling camera.
Red light blinking.
Sarah had restored surveillance.
Everything was recording.
Thomas realized it.
His composure finally cracked.
He grabbed Amelia.
Lily screamed.
Ethan moved.
Thomas fired.
The bullet struck a metal cabinet.
Police surged around the corner.
Amelia dropped.
Lily crawled behind the desk.
Thomas ran through the hidden doorway.
Ethan went after him.
Sarah shouted:
“Stay with your family!”
Ethan stopped.
That choice saved everything.
Instead of chasing Thomas, he turned toward Amelia and Lily.
Because seven years earlier, everyone had chosen power over them.
He would not.
Police chased Thomas.
Ethan pulled Amelia close.
Lily climbed into his arms.
Then Sarah’s radio crackled.
“Suspect moving toward boiler access.”
Another voice answered.
“He has explosives.”
Ethan looked up.
Thomas was not trying to escape.
He was trying to destroy the hospital’s underground archive.
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And according to Amelia, that archive contained the original records of the fire.
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