Chapter 20 - Ethan Tries to Take ControlEthan reached beneath his suit jacket.
Mark saw the movement reflected in the cockpit glass.
“Keep your hands where I can see them.”
Ethan ignored him.
He removed a compact control module, larger than the electronic key he had used earlier.
Mark’s stomach tightened.
“What is that?”
“Insurance.”
Ethan pressed the central switch.
The helicopter’s auxiliary fuel warning illuminated.
Mark stared at the gauge.
Fuel pressure began dropping.
“You tampered with the fuel system?”
“I arranged options.”
“You planned to sabotage the aircraft?”
“Only if necessary.”
Mark looked toward the Coast Guard helicopter approaching from the north.
Ethan had created a final escape story.
A mechanical failure.
An aircraft lost over water.
No surviving pilot.
No route data.
No husband returning alone to explain why his wife had disappeared.
Ethan had always intended to control every ending.
Mark adjusted the fuel mixture manually.
Pressure stabilized briefly.
“You’ll kill yourself.”
Ethan smiled without warmth.
“Better than prison.”
He moved toward the open side door.
For a moment, Mark thought he might jump.
Instead, Ethan reached for the external emergency release controlling a detachable equipment panel beneath the cabin.
If released at altitude, the panel could strike the rotor assembly.
Mark left one hand on the controls and lunged backward with the other.
He caught Ethan’s wrist.
The helicopter rolled sharply.
The Coast Guard pilot radioed a warning.
Ava’s cliff vanished beneath the aircraft.
Ocean filled the windshield.
Mark pulled the cyclic and regained altitude seconds before impact.
Ethan’s control module slipped from his hand.
It skidded across the floor toward the open door.
Both men watched it.
The module stopped against the metal threshold.
Its warning light continued flashing.
Mark needed it as evidence.
Ethan needed it destroyed.
May you like
They moved at the same time.
👉 Ethan’s sabotage device rested inches from open air—and whoever reached it first would control the truth.
