Next to it was a handwritten note: *Account: Albert Stern.* Not Sterling. Stern. Jack memorized the numbers.
“You can’t prove anything!” Reed suddenly screamed, ripping the electrodes off his chest. “Sterling is dead! I have the certificate!”
At that moment, the office door slammed open. Two men in dark jackets stepped in. Eleanor recognized the type—hired muscle. Sterling’s “security.”
“What’s going on here, Victor?” the first one growled. “Who are these people?”
Reed shrank into his chair. “It’s… it’s a doctor. I’m having chest pains!”
The second man, a blonde guy with a buzz cut, looked at Jack. Jack was leaning on his cane, looking unbothered. “A doctor? And a guy with a cane? I didn’t see an ambulance downstairs.”
The tension was thick. Eleanor felt the adrenaline hit her system. They were seconds away from being caught.
Jack acted with the split-second timing of a rescue worker. He didn’t argue. He grabbed the heavy EKG case and swung it with all his might at the blonde man. The case hit him square in the chest, knocking him back into his partner. Papers flew everywhere.
“Run!” Jack barked, grabbing Eleanor’s arm.
They bolted for the door. Eleanor’s heels clicked on the tile as they sprinted down the hall. Jack, despite his limp, was incredibly fast. They reached the elevator just as the doors were closing. A split second later, the blonde man appeared at the end of the hall, reaching into his jacket. The doors shut.
The elevator descended. Eleanor leaned against the wall, gasping for air. Jack was steady, though sweat beaded his forehead.
“We have to get out of here,” he said.
They walked through the lobby like normal visitors. The guard was still doing his crossword. Once they were safe in the Crown Vic, Jack floored it, disappearing into the city traffic.
“We didn’t get anything,” Eleanor said, her voice shaking. “The machine is still in his office. We risked everything for nothing.”
Jack shifted gears. “Not for nothing, Eleanor. I saw the paper. St. Gall Clinic, Geneva. The account name wasn’t Sterling. It was Albert Stern.”
Eleanor turned to him. “Stern? Who is Albert Stern?”
