The monitor beside my bed began to beep rapidly, reflecting my rising heart rate.

Through the phone, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the desk.

“You think you have everything figured out,” Ethan said, his voice suddenly much closer to the phone.

Did he see it?

“I have enough to destroy you, Father,” Ethan said.

“You have nothing,” Richard said.

I heard a rustling sound, then the sharp tone of the call being disconnected.

The line went dead.

A dial tone buzzed in my ear.

I let my hand fall to the mattress, the old phone slipping from my fingers.

The room seemed to spin around me.

The rain continued to lash against the glass, a relentless, gray sheet hiding the city.

I needed to get up.

I needed to find Ethan before he did something he could never undo.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, my bare feet touching the cold linoleum floor.

The room tilted violently.

My vision began to blur at the edges, dark spots dancing in the light of the hallway.