“I hope you’re ready to cooperate,” he said.

“Let me talk to Liam,” I demanded.

A long pause filled the line.

Then, I heard the sound of a heavy metal door swinging open in the background.

“Say hello to your sister, doctor,” Ethan said.

There was a muffled groan, followed by Liam’s strained voice.

“Claire… don’t…”

The call abruptly ended.

I stared at the black screen.

My thumb hovered over the send button on my draft email.

The green light on my phone’s camera suddenly blinked.

The tiny green dot glowed like a hostile eye in the dark hospital room.

I didn’t hesitate.

I slammed the phone face-down on the plastic bedside table.

My heart hammered against my cracked ribs, a sharp, hot reminder of what Ethan was capable of.

If the camera light was on, he had already compromised my device.

He was watching me through the lens, or his IT security team at Apex was.

I reached for the small, silver paperclip I had stolen from the nurse’s station earlier.

I popped the SIM card tray out of the side of my phone.