Chapter 3 - The Billionaire's InterrogationIn a secure VIP holding lounge on the upper mezzanine overlooking the chaotic terminal below, Ethan sat across a glass table from Noah. A steaming cup of hot cocoa and a plate of warm pastries sat between them, untouched by the boy, who stared nervously at the armed guards standing post by the reinforced doors.
"Eat something, Noah," Ethan said gently, pushing the plate closer. "You're safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you."
"They're looking for me," Noah whispered, his voice trembling for the first time. "The men in the corridor. I dropped my spare sneaker near the vent when I heard them talking. If they find out I told you..."
"They won't find you," Ethan promised, leaning forward. "Tell me everything you heard, word for word. Why were those men talking about me?"
Noah took a slow breath, gathering his courage. "The short man with the earpiece—the one they called Marcus on the radio—he was yelling at the big man with the scar. He said, 'If Ethan isn't on that flight, the board won't approve the liquidation of Cole Security Systems. His signature is the only one missing.'' And then he said, 'Once the plane goes down, his emergency proxy activates, and I take full control of the biometric patents. Ten billion dollars, clean and clear.'"
Ethan felt the room tilt.
It wasn't just a murder plot. It was a corporate coup executed through mass slaughter. Marcus wasn't just planning to kill his best friend; he was planning to slaughter two hundred and fourteen innocent passengers on Flight 442 just to make Ethan's death look like an unavoidable tragedy, thereby triggering the emergency succession clause in Cole Security's foundational charter.
The door burst open, and Ray Caldwell strode in, dragging the shorter man by the collar while his operatives shoved the scarred man behind them.
"We caught them scrubbing the hardline in B-sub," Ray reported, throwing a military laptop onto the glass table. "The payload was already staged for Flight 442. But Agent Voss is outside with federal backup. She's already grounded every aircraft within a fifty-mile radius."
Ethan stood up slowly. The grief, the betrayal, and the cold, calcified rage of a man whose world had just been shattered fused into a singular, razor-sharp purpose.
May you like
He looked down at the shorter man cowering against the wall.
"Tell Marcus," Ethan whispered, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly quiet pitch, "that his best friend is coming to visit."
