Chapter 6 - The Silver Key
|
Andrew let out a soft, amused laugh, releasing my arm and raising his hands in a mock gesture of surrender.
"Mr. Carter, I think you're severely misunderstanding a private moment between a couple," Andrew said smoothly, adjusting his bowtie. "Ava is under immense stress with the gala preparations. She gets confused easily."
"No," Ethan replied, his voice dropping an octave. "I finally understand everything."
Andrew’s smile disappeared completely, replaced by a dark, arrogant sneer. He leaned close to Ethan, lowering his voice so only the three of us could hear.
"Be very careful where you step, Carter," Andrew whispered. "Why don't you ask Ava what happened to the last brave man who tried to save her from me?"
My breath hitched in my throat. The memory of what Andrew had done to my former colleague—framing him for narcotics theft and ruining his medical license overnight—sent a cold wave of nausea through my stomach.
Before Ethan could react, Andrew turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room, adjusting his jacket as he headed back toward the applause of the main ballroom, utterly confident that his threat had silenced us.
The moment the hallway door clicked shut, I bolted the lock.
"Ava, what did he mean?" Ethan demanded, turning to me.
Instead of answering, I reached into my pocket, pulled off my heavy diamond engagement ring, and unscrewed a small, concealed silver backing beneath the center stone. A tiny, strangely shaped key fell into my palm.
"There is a wall safe hidden behind the painting in Andrew’s private office at the hospital," I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Inside that safe are encrypted hard drives containing recorded surgery videos, altered patient mortality files, and the offshore account numbers he uses to launder money."
Ethan stared at the tiny key in my hand. "How did you get this?"
"I took his master keyring while he was in the shower tonight and had a duplicate cut," I said. "I was going to wait until next week to go to the FBI..."
Suddenly, Ethan’s smartphone buzzed violently in his pocket. High-priority security alert.
Ethan pulled out the phone. His eyes narrowed as he read the notification glowing on the screen.
May you like
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's an automated silent alarm from the server room at Carter Hospital," Ethan said, his voice laced with sudden disbelief. "Someone just used my master biometric key to open Dr. Vaughn’s private office safe three minutes ago."
