Chapter 3 - THE SECRET IN THE BABY’S BLANKET
Claire woke to the sound of someone crying.
For one terrifying second, she thought it was Eli.
Then she realized the sound was coming from herself.
She sat up.
The guest room was dark.
She had dreamed about the warehouse again.
But this time there had been something different.
A woman.
Standing behind the men.
Watching her.
Claire rubbed her eyes.
She couldn't remember the face.
Only the voice.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
A knock came at the door.
Claire froze.
“It's me.”
Gabriel.
She hesitated before opening it.
He stood in the hallway wearing a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up.
No jacket.
No tie.
For the first time, he looked less like Chicago's most feared man and more like an exhausted man who hadn't slept.
“Eli's awake.”
Claire immediately followed him.
They found the baby in the nursery, sitting in the arms of an elderly nanny.
The moment Eli saw Claire, he reached toward her.
“Mama.”
Claire stopped.
Her heart twisted.
“He doesn't call me that.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Maybe he should.”
She shook her head quickly.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm not his mother.”
Gabriel was silent.
Claire took Eli into her arms.
The baby immediately buried his face against her shoulder.
Something warm passed through Gabriel's eyes.
Then his phone rang.
He stepped away.
“Yes?”
His expression hardened.
“What do you mean missing?”
Claire watched him.
“Find it.”
He hung up.
“What happened?”
“The blanket.”
“What blanket?”
“The one Eli was wrapped in when he was taken.”
Claire looked down.
“I thought it was here.”
“It was.”
Gabriel walked to a nearby table.
“Now it's gone.”
Claire's stomach tightened.
“Someone took it?”
“Yes.”
“Why would anyone want a baby blanket?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because there may be something sewn inside it.”
Claire remembered the warehouse.
One of the men had searched Eli's clothes.
He hadn't searched the blanket.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“They knew something was inside it.”
He stared at her.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at Eli.
“But the man with the raven symbol said something strange.”
“What?”
“He said, ‘The boy has the key.’”
Gabriel went completely still.
“The key to what?”
“I don't know.”
He moved toward the nursery.
Then a sound came from Eli's crib.
A tiny metallic click.
Claire turned.
Inside the crib lay a small silver object.
Gabriel picked it up.
It was a key.
No larger than a fingernail.
Claire frowned.
“Where did that come from?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Eli was wearing it.”
“On a chain?”
“No.”
He turned the key over.
A number was engraved on it.
“Seven.”
Claire felt suddenly cold.
“Seven?”
Gabriel nodded.
Then the nursery door opened.
Mason rushed inside.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found the blanket.”
“Where?”
“In the garage.”
Gabriel's expression tightened.
“Anyone there?”
“No.”
“Then why did you come running?”
Mason looked at Claire.
“Because there's blood on it.”
Claire's face drained of color.
“Eli?”
“No.”
Mason shook his head.
“Not his.”
Gabriel walked toward him.
“Whose?”
Mason held up a plastic evidence bag.
Inside the folded blanket was a small bloodstained piece of fabric.
And sewn into it was the same black raven symbol.
Claire whispered:
“They left it for us.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“No.”
He looked at the key.
“They left it for me.”
A phone rang.
Not Gabriel's.
Claire's.
She stared at the screen.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
For three seconds, there was only silence.
Then a man's voice whispered:
“Ask Gabriel what happened to Sophia.”
Claire's blood froze.
The call ended.
Gabriel had heard every word.
He slowly looked at her.
“How do you know that name?”
“I don't.”
But Gabriel wasn't looking at her anymore.
He was staring at Mason.
Because Sophia was his dead sister.
And only three people in the world knew the private circumstances surrounding her death.
Gabriel.
May you like
Mason.
And the man who had killed her.
