Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Boardroom Door
Olivia called 911 while Ethan grabbed his keys.
“You're staying here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Someone tried to kill you.”
“And Madison may be in danger because she helped me.”
“You walking into danger won't help her.”
Olivia stared at him.
“You walked into mine.”
That ended the argument.
Police reached Madison's apartment first.
The door had been forced open.
Furniture was overturned.
Madison was gone.
Her phone lay smashed beside the kitchen island.
But there was no blood.
Detective Lena Brooks met Olivia and Ethan downstairs.
“This looks like an abduction.”
Olivia felt sick.
“Because of me.”
Ethan glanced at her.
“Because of whoever did this.”
Brooks asked about Victor Lang.
Olivia explained their history.
Victor had joined Hart Tech when the company consisted of Olivia, two engineers and borrowed office space.
He had been loyal.
Patient.
Protective.
Almost family.
But the company had recently developed a cybersecurity platform called Sentinel.
Sentinel could detect sophisticated intrusions against power grids, hospitals and financial networks.
Its government contracts could be worth billions.
Victor had pushed to sell the division.
Olivia refused.
“Who wanted to buy it?” Brooks asked.
“A private investment group called Meridian Crest.”
Ethan frowned.
“Who owns Meridian?”
“That's complicated.”
“Meaning?”
“Shell companies.”
Brooks made a note.
The next morning, Hart Tech held its emergency board meeting.
Olivia attended remotely from Ethan's kitchen.
Victor appeared on screen.
“Olivia, thank God.”
She studied his face.
Concern.
Warmth.
Exactly what she would have expected.
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“The police questioned me.”
“I heard.”
Victor looked wounded.
“You don't believe I had anything to do with this?”
“I don't know what I believe.”
“We built this company together.”
“Yes.”
“And now some security guard whispers conspiracy theories and suddenly I'm a suspect?”
Ethan, standing out of camera range, raised an eyebrow.
Olivia ignored him.
The board voted.
By a narrow margin, they temporarily transferred operational authority to Victor until Olivia received medical clearance.
The moment the meeting ended, Ethan said, “He wanted to know where you were.”
“He was concerned.”
“He asked three times.”
Olivia hadn't noticed.
Ethan had.
That afternoon, Grace came home from school holding an envelope.
“A man gave me this.”
Ethan froze.
“What man?”
“He said he worked with Olivia.”
Olivia grabbed the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Madison sat tied to a chair.
Written across the bottom:
SIGN SENTINEL OVER TO MERIDIAN CREST. MIDNIGHT TOMORROW. COME ALONE.
Ethan's face became frighteningly calm.
“He approached my daughter.”
Olivia had never heard him sound like that.
The threat had changed everything.
Detective Brooks organized surveillance.
Olivia agreed to cooperate.
But at 11:40 the next night, she discovered Ethan pulling on his old military jacket.
“Where are you going?”
“To find Madison.”
“The police said—”
“The address in the photograph is fake.”
“How do you know?”
Ethan showed her the image.
Behind Madison was a faded red emergency sign.
“The manufacturer stopped making that model twelve years ago. St. Haven had them in the old rehabilitation wing before it closed.”
Olivia stared.
“You think she's inside the hospital?”
“I think somebody wants us looking somewhere else.”
They entered the abandoned wing at 12:17.
Ethan moved silently.
Olivia followed.
A faint sound came from behind a locked door.
Ethan forced it open.
Madison was inside.
Alive.
Terrified.
“Olivia?”
She began crying.
Ethan cut the restraints.
Then footsteps sounded in the corridor.
They weren't alone.
Ethan pushed both women behind him.
A man appeared.
It was not Victor.
It was St. Haven's hospital director.
Dr. Malcolm Pierce.
He held a gun.
Olivia stared.
“Why?”
Pierce smiled sadly.
“Because Sentinel was never supposed to remain yours.”
Then another voice came from behind him.
“Put the gun down, Malcolm.”
May you like
Victor Lang stepped from the shadows.
And pointed his own gun directly at Pierce.
