I took my phone out again and unlocked the screen.

The notification was there, a red dot flashing next to the secure banking app.

It was a complete divestment form, ready for my biometric signature.

If I pressed my thumb to the screen, everything I had built over twenty years would belong to Caleb.

The docks, the ships, the warehouses, the political favors.

It would all vanish.

“Adrian,” Nora said, her voice shaking.

“We can’t let them hurt Lila.”

“I am not going to let them hurt anyone,” I said.

“But if I sign, he has no reason to keep us alive.”

“He will secure the transfer, then seal the well house.”

I turned to Daniel.

“Where is the emergency release for the intake?” I asked.

“It is in the old well house, fifty yards from the main structure,” Daniel said.

“But it is manual.”

“Someone has to go out there and pull the lever to bypass the roof line.”

“We are locked inside,” I said.

“The only way out is through the front door.”

Daniel looked at his watch, then at the monitor on the wall.