Chapter 6 - The Father He Needed
The abandoned warehouse in Queens had once been owned by a Sterling subsidiary.
Robert remembered signing off on its sale years ago without looking at the address. It had been just another asset on a spreadsheet.
Now, according to Marcus’s surveillance team, it was where Gavin Hollis had taken Ethan.
Benji had been left safely with Dr. Patel after a mechanical failure delayed the second transport vehicle. Lily was with Robert in the back of an armored SUV, silent and pale.
“You should stay behind,” Robert told her.
“I’m not staying behind while Ethan is scared.”
“You’re a child.”
“So is he.”
Robert looked at her.
There was no arguing with that.
Marcus sat in the front passenger seat, speaking through an earpiece. “We have visual confirmation. Two armed guards outside. More inside. Police are on standby, but Hollis is demanding to speak only with you.”
“What does he want?”
“The notebook.”
Robert held the blue notebook in his hands.
“And?”
Marcus’s expression tightened.
“He wants you to sign control of Sterling Financial Group to him.”
Robert almost laughed.
“Of course he does.”
“He says if you refuse, Ethan won’t leave the building.”
The SUV came to a stop near the warehouse.
Snow had started falling again, light and cold beneath the orange glow of streetlamps.
Robert looked at Lily.
“You stay in the vehicle.”
She shook her head.
“Lily.”
“You need someone to remind you what matters.”
Robert stared at her.
Then he nodded once.
“Stay behind Marcus.”
Inside the warehouse, the air was bitterly cold.
Gavin Hollis stood on a raised loading platform beneath a hanging work light. He wore an expensive coat and looked exactly as he had in every executive meeting: polished, calm, confident.
Ethan sat in his wheelchair beside him.
His hands were tied to the armrests.
Robert’s heart nearly stopped.
“Dad!” Ethan called.
Robert took one step forward.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
Gavin pressed a gun against Ethan’s shoulder.
“Stay where you are, Robert.”
Robert froze.
“Let him go.”
“Give me the notebook.”
Robert held it up.
“You betrayed my family for a ledger?”
Gavin smiled. “Your family betrayed everyone. I simply learned from the best.”
“My father is dead.”
“Yes. But his systems remain. His accounts. His leverage. His company.” Gavin’s eyes sharpened. “And you, Robert, were always too sentimental to understand what you inherited.”
Robert’s jaw tightened.
“You kept Ethan from recovering.”
“I made sure the right doctors stayed in charge. I made sure Caroline understood what would happen if she spoke.”
Robert went still.
“Caroline.”
“She did not abandon you because she didn’t love Ethan. She left because she was terrified.”
The words cut deeper than Robert expected.
“Where is she?” he asked.
Gavin’s smile faded slightly. “Alive. Somewhere. But irrelevant.”
“No,” Robert said. “She isn’t.”
Gavin lifted the gun again. “The notebook.”
Robert stepped forward and placed it on the floor.
“There.”
“Kick it over.”
Robert did.
Gavin’s man picked it up and handed it to him.
He flipped through the pages.
“That’s not enough,” Gavin said. “Sign the transfer.”
Marcus whispered, “Police are three minutes out.”
Three minutes.
Ethan looked at Robert.
His face was pale, but he was not crying.
“Dad,” he said quietly.
Robert met his gaze.
“I’m sorry,” Robert whispered.
“For what?”
“For being afraid. For not listening. For letting people convince me that money mattered more than being here.”
Ethan’s lips trembled.
Robert took another step forward.
Gavin raised the gun.
“Stop.”
But Robert did not.
“I can’t change the last five years,” Robert said, looking only at Ethan. “But I can tell you this: I would give up every dollar, every building, every company, every title I have if it meant you could come home with me.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
Gavin laughed. “Touching.”
Then Lily stepped from behind Marcus.
“Your dad lied to you,” she said.
Gavin looked at her.
“What?”
“Robert’s dad,” Lily continued. “He lied to him. You lied to Ethan. Everybody lies because they want to be powerful.”
“Get that kid out of here.”
“But you’re not powerful,” Lily said. “You’re just scared people will see who you are.”
Gavin’s face hardened.
In that split second, Ethan moved.
His fingers gripped the wheels of his chair.
His feet pressed against the floor.
Robert saw it.
Ethan saw it too.
“I can feel them,” Ethan whispered.
Gavin turned toward him.
And Ethan pushed.
The wheelchair rolled backward with sudden force. Gavin stumbled, his gun arm shifting away from Ethan.
Marcus moved instantly.
A shot rang out.
Robert lunged.
He reached Ethan just as Marcus tackled Gavin to the ground.
The gun skidded across the concrete.
Police burst through the warehouse doors seconds later.
But Robert barely heard them.
He was on his knees in front of Ethan.
“Dad,” Ethan whispered.
Robert looked down.
Ethan’s feet were on the ground.
His legs were shaking violently.
“I can’t,” Ethan said, panic rising. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes, you can.”
“I’m scared.”
Robert took both his hands.
“I know.”
“I don’t want to fall.”
“Then fall into me.”
For one breathless moment, Ethan stayed still.
Then he pushed himself upward.
His knees buckled.
Robert caught him immediately.
But Ethan was standing.
Not perfectly.
Not easily.
Not for long.
But standing.
The warehouse disappeared around them.
The police. The sirens. The shouting. The cameras.
None of it mattered.
Robert held his son as Ethan clung to him, tears running down both their faces.
“You’re here,” Ethan sobbed.
“I’m here,” Robert said.
And for the first time in five years, he was not talking about a place.
May you like
He was talking about a promise.
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