Chapter 6 - Code Pink
Claire stared at Ethan as if he had lost his mind. ""Taking him back? Ethan, there are security guards at every entrance. Richard Sterling owns this city’s politicians!""
""He doesn't own me anymore,"" Ethan said fiercely, wiping the tears from her cheeks with the cuff of his ruined shirt. ""For years, I let my father and Richard dictate every step of my life. I let them drive you away. I will not let them steal my son.""
Ethan moved quickly to the door, peering through the small glass window. Two security guards were stationed at the end of the hallway, conversing with Richard Sterling’s bodyguards near the elevators. Direct confrontation was suicide.
""Can you walk?"" Ethan asked, turning back to Claire.
""I have to,"" she said through gritted teeth, swinging her legs over the side of the hospital bed. She gasped, grabbing her abdomen as pain shot through her, but she forced herself to stand upright. Her determination burned through the tears in her eyes. ""Tell me what to do.""
""Richard thinks I'm going home to change into a tuxedo for Vanessa,"" Ethan said. ""He expects me to break. We use that.""
Ethan took out his phone. He dialed his best friend, Liam, an investigative journalist who had spent the last two years looking into Sterling Global's offshore shell corporations.
Liam answered on the second ring. ""Ethan? Where the hell are you? The entire Sterling family is having a meltdown at the cathedral, and Twitter is going insane—""
""Liam, shut up and listen,"" Ethan interrupted, his voice razor-sharp. ""Richard Sterling has financial fraud documents that incriminate my father. He’s using them to extort me and seize custody of my newborn son.""
The line went dead silent for two seconds. ""Your son? Ethan, what did you do?""
""I need you to pull the emergency fire override in the west wing of St. Anthony's from the external utility grid,"" Ethan said. ""And I need a car waiting at the ambulance bay in exactly twelve minutes.""
""Ethan, that's a federal offense—""
""Liam, they are taking my child!"" Ethan snapped.
A long pause stretched across the line. ""Ambulance bay. Twelve minutes. Don't be late.""
Ethan hung up and looked at Claire. ""We need medical scrubs. And we need to trigger an evacuation before they transfer Noah to the high-security ward.""
Ethan slipped into the hallway supply closet, grabbing two pairs of navy-blue surgical scrubs. Within two minutes, both of them had disguised their clothes.
They moved quickly down the secondary service hallway toward the neonatal unit. Through the glass, Ethan spotted Noah resting in bassinet seven, unaware of the war raging around him.
Suddenly, the overhead hospital alarm screamed to life. A piercing siren echoed through the speakers, accompanied by flashing amber strobes.
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“Attention all personnel: Code Pink. West Wing evacuation. Code Pink.”
Ethan turned to grab the nursery door handle, but as the alarm blared, an electronic lockdown engaged. The heavy magnetic locks snapped shut, and through the glass, Ethan saw a man in a black suit who wasn't hospital security picking Noah up from the bassinet.
