THE WRONG CAR, THE RIGHT RIDE

Olivia fell to her knees, throwing her arms around the little boy.

“Leo! Oh, God, Leo,” she sobbed, burying her face in his soft hair.

“Auntie Liv,” Leo murmured, hugging her back tightly. “The nice man said we were playing hide and seek.”

Alexander stared at his old mentor. Elias looked terrible. He was leaning heavily against a mop bucket, holding a bloody rag to his side.

“You’re supposed to be in a private hospice,” Alexander said, his voice thick with emotion as he knelt beside the older man.

Elias let out a raspy chuckle. “Sterling’s goons are idiots. I paid an orderly three hundred bucks to wheel me out the laundry exit while they were busy arguing at the front desk. I went to the apartment, grabbed the kid before Sterling arrived, and called Marcus.”

Alexander looked back. Marcus was standing silently by the door, his massive frame blocking the entrance, holding a crowbar.

“You brought them here?” Alexander asked his driver.

“Seemed logical, sir,” Marcus replied evenly.

“Sterling doesn't have the boy,” Olivia realized, wiping her tears. “He was bluffing on the phone.”

“Sterling is desperate,” Elias coughed, wincing in pain. “The board vote for the Vanguard merger is tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. If Sterling pushes it through, he gets total control, cashes out, and disappears. You have to stop him, Alex.”

“I don't have the ledger,” Alexander said bitterly. “I threw it at a guard.”

Elias smiled weakly. He reached into his coat and pulled out a single, folded piece of paper. “The ledger was just the numbers. This… this is the prize.”

Alexander took the paper. He unfolded it.

It was a signed confession from the lead mechanic who cut the brakes on David Sterling’s car. And pinned to it was a photograph.

It was a picture of Sterling handing a briefcase to the mechanic.

“It’s over for him,” Alexander breathed.

“Only if you present it to the board,” Elias said. “He’s frozen your security clearance. You can't get into the building.”

“I’m the CEO,” Alexander said.

“You were,” Elias corrected gently. “Sterling filed an emergency injunction tonight. He claimed you’re mentally unfit. He’s locked you out of your own empire.”

Alexander’s jaw tightened. The ultimate betrayal.

Olivia stood up, holding Leo’s hand. She looked at Alexander, the billionaire who had risked his life for her tonight.

“There is another way in,” Olivia said quietly.

Alexander looked at her. “How?”

“My sister Sarah,” Olivia said, pulling a worn ID badge from her pocket. “She never returned her lab access card when she went into hiding. The lab connects directly to the executive boardroom via the freight elevator.”

Alexander stared at the badge. It was a ghost key.

“If we do this,” Alexander said, looking at Olivia, “there is no going back. Sterling will try to kill us both.”

Olivia looked down at little Leo, then up at Alexander. Her eyes were steel.

“I’m done running,” she said. “Let’s go take back your company.”

Before they could move, the heavy metal door of the maintenance closet rattled violently.

Someone was trying to break in.

“Stand back,” Marcus said, raising the crowbar.

The door was kicked open, revealing three of Sterling’s men, guns drawn.

But behind them stood someone else. A woman in a sharp business suit.

Alexander’s breath hitched.