Chapter 7 - A Threat in the NightThe thunderstorm returned on Sunday night, hitting the glass windows of the penthouse with a rhythmic, heavy violence that felt like an echo of the night Sadie had arrived.
It was 11:30 p.m. The apartment was dark, except for the dim nightlights in the hallway. Ethan was standing by the glass window in his study, a glass of scotch untouched in his hand, watching the lightning flash across the St. Louis Arch. The pressure of the upcoming trial was mounting. Vanguard’s legal team had filed sixteen separate motions over the weekend, trying to force Ethan to disclose his personal tax records and corporate emails to the family court, attempting to create a media circus that would force him to settle.
Suddenly, a soft, scraping sound from the living room broke the silence.
Ethan set his glass down instantly. His body moved on pure instinct—the survival training he had taken years ago when he first became a high-profile target for corporate espionage. He slipped his hand into his desk drawer, gripping the heavy tactical flashlight he kept there, and moved silently through the darkened hallway.
The living room was quiet, but the heavy glass door leading to the private rooftop terrace was open an inch, the wind howling through the gap, spraying rainwater onto the hardwood floor.
A shadow moved near the white crib.
Ethan didn't shout. He lunged across the room with the explosive speed of a man protecting his own blood. He caught the intruder by the shoulder, slamming him hard against the brick pillar that supported the ceiling. The man let out a sharp, choked gasp as Ethan rammed the heavy aluminum flashlight against his throat, pinning him in place.
Lightning flashed through the window, illuminating the intruder’s face.
It was Derek Voss.
He was soaking wet, his eyes wide and manic, a heavy crowbar slipping from his hand and clattering against the floor.
“Get off me, Cole!” Derek choked out, his hands clawing at Ethan’s grip. “I came for my kid! You can’t keep her here! She’s mine!”
“How did you get up here, Derek?” Ethan hissed, his voice raw with a terrifying, primal rage. He pressed the flashlight harder against the man’s windpipe until Derek’s eyes started to roll back. “The service elevator requires a biometric key. Who gave you the access code?”
“Vanguard…” Derek wheezed, his face turning dark under the pressure. “They… they have people in your building security, you idiot. They told me to just grab the baby tonight. If the baby disappears, the custody case drops, and we settle out of court. Let me go!”
From the hallway entrance, a sharp, terrified cry broke through the room.
“Ethan!”
Ethan glanced back. Sadie was standing in the doorway, her arms wrapped tightly around a crying baby Emma, her eyes wide with a horrific, familiar terror as she watched her biological father struggle against the man who had promised to keep them safe.
Derek saw her too. “Sadie! Sadie, tell him to let me go! Tell him I’m your dad!”
“You’re not my dad,” Sadie whispered, her voice shaking but her eyes suddenly turning hard as flint. She stepped back into the shadow of the hallway, shielding Emma’s face with her hand. “You’re the monster that made Mama cry.”
The words seemed to break something inside Ethan. He looked back at Derek, his expression turning from rage to a cold, clinical disgust. He pulled Derek away from the pillar and threw him forcefully onto the floor, kicking the crowbar out of reach.
“You’re done, Derek,” Ethan said, pulling out his phone and hitting the direct line to the police chief. “You just committed aggravated burglary, attempted kidnapping of a ward of the court, and corporate espionage in a high-security residential zone. Vanguard isn't going to save you from this. Their lawyers won't even answer your calls by tomorrow morning because you just turned a civil custody dispute into a class-A felony.”
May you like
The sound of police sirens began to wail in the distance, cutting through the sound of the storm as they converged on the ColeCare Tower. Derek lay on the wet floor, his fingers covering his face, weeping with the pathetic, empty realization that his golden ticket had just turned into a prison sentence.
Ethan didn't look at him again. He walked over to the hallway, dropping to his knees in front of Sadie and Emma. He wrapped his large arms around both girls, pulling them close against his chest as Sadie finally let out the tears she had been holding back for six weeks, her small hands clutching his dark sweater like he was the only solid thing left in the world.
