Chapter 6 - The Poison in the Water
Three days before Claire’s scheduled heart valve stabilization procedure, the war took a dark and terrifying turn.
At 2:00 AM, the fire alarms inside the Mercer Tower penthouse went off with a deafening screech.
Red emergency lights flashed against the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Ethan leaped out of bed in the guest room, pulling a robe around himself, and sprinted down the hallway into Chloe’s room.
"Chloe!" Ethan shouted, scooping the terrified child out of her bed and clutching her against his chest.
The private elevator doors at the end of the penthouse foyer slid open with a violent chime. Four men wearing black tactical uniforms and masks stepped out into the apartment, carrying heavy leather equipment bags.
Ethan backed away toward the security panic room behind his master office. "Who sent you?! Marcus?!"
The lead man didn't answer. He drew a high-voltage taser from his belt and fired.
The prongs struck Ethan in the shoulder. A terrifying voltage ripped through his body, causing his muscles to seize violently. Ethan let out an agonizing roar, falling to his knees on the marble floor—but even as his body convulsed, he twisted his torso to take the full force of the fall, keeping Chloe safely cradled against his chest so she wouldn't hit the floor.
"DAD!" Chloe screamed in terror, her small hands clutching his face.
"Take the kid," the lead gunman growled, stepping forward to grab Chloe by her arm.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Ethan screamed through gritted teeth, his pure fatherly instinct overcoming the horrific paralysis of the taser.
With a surge of unimaginable strength, Ethan reached up with his free arm, grabbed the gunman’s tactical vest, and threw his entire two-hundred-pound frame forward, smashing the gunman into the glass coffee table, which shattered into a thousand pieces.
Ethan scrambled to his feet, bleeding from his arms, shielding Chloe behind his back as he pulled a heavy bronze sculpture from a side table, preparing to fight the remaining three men to the death.
Suddenly, heavy gunfire echoed from the elevator lobby.
The three masked men turned in shock as Ethan’s private security team, led by his head of personal defense, Vance, burst through the service doors, weapons drawn.
Within thirty seconds, the four intruders were subdued, thrown onto the floor, and disarmed.
Vance rushed over to Ethan, holding a tactical light. "Boss! Are you hit?!"
"I'm fine!" Ethan gasped, clutching Chloe, who was weeping uncontrollably against his bloody chest. "What was their objective?! Why did they try to grab her?!"
Vance knelt beside the lead gunman, pulling off his black mask. He searched the man’s equipment bag and pulled out a small, glass vial containing a clear liquid, alongside a syringe.
"It wasn't a kidnapping, sir," Vance said, his face turning pale as he examined the vial label. "This is concentrated potassium chloride. They weren't taking her... they were going to inject her, and then head to the hospital for Miss Bennett."
Ethan stared at the glass vial, the cold realization washing over him like ice water.
Marcus Mercer wasn't trying to win a board vote anymore. He was trying to erase every living trace of Claire and Chloe before the court granted Ethan full legal custody and guardianship.
Ethan looked at his crying daughter, feeling a terrifying, absolute clarity wash over his soul.
"Vance," Ethan said, his voice dropping into a register so dark and cold it frightened even his own security guards.
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"Yes, Boss?"
"Contact the State Police. Contact the FBI," Ethan ordered. "And tell my pilot to fuel the private jet. We are moving Claire out of Northwestern Hospital tonight."
