“Do it,” my father said.

A sharp knock sounded at the hospital room door.

My father immediately stepped between the door and my bed.

The door opened slowly.

A young man in a courier uniform stood in the hallway, holding a clipboard and a small manila envelope.

“Delivery for Hannah Parker,” the young man said.

My father stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him to speak to the courier.

A minute later, my father returned, holding the envelope.

He ripped it open.

Inside was a single car key and a handwritten note on a scrap of lined paper.

He handed the note to me.

The handwriting was messy, but I recognized it instantly as Ethan’s.

*I can get you the medical clearance to leave,* the note read. *Meet me in the basement garage in ten minutes. Alone.*

I looked at my father, my heart pounding against my ribs.

“He’s desperate,” my father said, looking at the key.

“He doesn’t know we have this paperwork,” I said, gesturing to the spreadsheets on the table.

“He knows the pressure is building,” Karen said. “And he is looking for an escape route.”