Chapter 19 - THE LAST TRAITOR
Judge Vale was returned to the United States under heavy guard.
Ethan attended the interview.
Vale looked frightened.
Not of prison.
Of dying before he could bargain.
“Victor wanted Amelia silenced.”
“You already know that.”
Ethan waited.
Vale continued.
“But Victor did not control the hospital security system.”
“Someone inside Blackwood Holdings did.”
“Who?”
Vale smiled nervously.
“That is what my immunity buys.”
Federal prosecutors approved limited protection.
Vale finally spoke.
“The authorization came from Blackwood security.”
Ethan felt his stomach tighten.
Only three people had possessed executive access seven years earlier.
Charles.
Victor.
And Jonathan Mercer.
Ethan’s current security chief.
Mercer had been protecting Lily since the night of the poisoned tea.
He had been inside Ethan’s house.
He knew every safe location.
Ethan immediately called the federal residence.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then one of the agents finally answered.
“Mr. Blackwood, Mercer is gone.”
“And my family?”
“Amelia is here.”
“Lily is here.”
“Rose…”
The agent stopped.
Ethan stood.
“Where is Rose?”
“We cannot find her.”
Security footage showed Mercer leading Rose through a service exit.
She went willingly.
He had told her Ethan wanted her moved.
Ethan’s world narrowed.
Once again, one of his daughters had disappeared.
But Mercer was not working for Victor anymore.
He sent Ethan a message directly.
I SAVED HER ONCE.
NOW YOU WILL HEAR THE TRUTH.
Mercer directed Ethan to an abandoned church outside Albany.
Federal agents surrounded the area.
Ethan entered alone.
Rose sat safely in the front pew.
Mercer stood near the altar.
No weapon in his hands.
Ethan ran to Rose.
She hugged him.
This time without hesitation.
“Daddy.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The word nearly broke him.
He moved Rose behind him.
“You have ten seconds.”
Mercer lifted his hands.
“I didn’t hurt her.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I needed you to listen before the government buried this.”
“Talk.”
Mercer confessed that he had disabled the hospital cameras seven years earlier.
But he claimed he did not know Victor planned a fire.
Victor told him Amelia was stealing corporate intelligence.
When Mercer realized people were trapped inside, he entered the burning maternity wing.
He was the unnamed man who carried Lily out.
Then he found Rose.
Victor’s men took Rose from him outside.
Mercer had spent seven years searching secretly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Charles threatened my family.”
Mercer handed Ethan an old memory card.
“It came from the hospital security room.”
The footage showed Victor giving orders.
Then Charles arguing with him.
Then Malcolm Reed.
And finally Jonathan Mercer trying to stop the evacuation lockdown.
Mercer had told the truth.
Ethan’s anger remained.
But the final traitor had not been Mercer.
Vale had lied to protect himself.
Federal agents arrested Vale on additional obstruction charges.
Rose returned home.
Victor’s final network collapsed within weeks.
Reed accepted a plea deal and testified.
Nora pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy but received reduced sentencing for helping expose Victor and save Lily.
Charles confessed to financial crimes, obstruction, and unlawful imprisonment.
He accepted prison without asking Ethan for forgiveness.
Victor refused every deal.
His trial became one of the largest corporate criminal cases in American history.
The jury deliberated less than six hours.
Guilty on every major count.
Conspiracy.
Kidnapping.
Attempted murder.
Fraud.
Racketeering.
Multiple counts connected to the hospital deaths.
When Victor was led from the courtroom, he looked at Ethan.
“You will always be a Blackwood.”
Ethan looked toward Amelia, Lily, and Rose.
“No.”
May you like
“I’m their father.”
“That matters more.”
