Chapter 5 - The Enemy Inside the House
Gabriel locked down the building before sunrise.
Every employee was questioned.
Every camera inspected.
Every electronic device checked.
Nothing.
That frightened him.
Enemies outside walls could be shot.
Enemies already inside were harder.
Nora stood in the kitchen making coffee because doing something ordinary kept her hands from shaking.
Gabriel entered.
“You haven't slept.”
“Neither have you.”
He leaned against the counter.
For once, he looked exhausted rather than dangerous.
Nora pushed a cup toward him.
He accepted it.
Neither spoke for a while.
Finally Gabriel said, “I was wrong.”
Nora glanced at him.
“About?”
“The ring.”
A humorless smile appeared.
“That narrows it down.”
“I treated you like something that belonged to me.”
Nora waited.
Gabriel looked at the coffee.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Care about someone without trying to control every variable around them.”
The confession was so uncharacteristically vulnerable that Nora's anger weakened.
“I'm not a variable.”
“I know.”
“You don't protect someone by taking away every choice.”
“I know that too.”
She studied him.
“Since when?”
“Approximately 4 hours ago.”
Despite herself, Nora laughed.
The sound surprised both of them.
Then the elevator chimed.
Marco entered.
His expression erased the moment.
“We found the camera.”
He placed a device no larger than a shirt button on the counter.
“Where?”
Gabriel asked.
“Inside the smoke detector across from Nora's room.”
Gabriel's face became lethal.
“Who serviced it?”
“Building maintenance.”
“Names.”
“One technician entered 3 weeks ago.”
Marco handed him a photograph.
Nora looked.
Her cup nearly slipped.
“I know him.”
Gabriel turned.
“Who?”
“That isn't a maintenance technician.”
She pointed.
“That's my mother's old attorney.”
His name was Samuel Keane.
They found his office abandoned.
But they found something else.
A safe.
Inside were 18 years of documents.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Police reports.
And a handwritten letter addressed to Nora.
She opened it with trembling fingers.
Nora,
If you are reading this, I failed to keep the past buried long enough to protect you. Your mother did not die because she fell asleep. She died because she discovered that Vittorio Rossi was planning to leave his criminal empire and expose the men who had turned it into something far worse.
Nora stopped.
Gabriel read over her shoulder.
She continued.
Evelyn helped Vittorio collect evidence against three men: Patrick Doyle, Councilman Richard Vale, and Vittorio's younger brother, Salvatore Rossi.
Gabriel's face changed.
Uncle Salvatore.
The man who had raised Gabriel after Vittorio died.
The man Gabriel trusted more than almost anyone alive.
Nora continued reading.
On October 17, Vittorio intended to meet federal investigators. Evelyn was carrying a duplicate ledger. Neither reached the meeting.
Gabriel sat down.
For the first time, Nora saw him look like a son rather than a boss.
“My uncle told me my father died defending the family.”
Nora looked at him.
“Maybe he died trying to save you from it.”
The words struck somewhere deep.
Marco searched the safe.
“There's no ledger.”
Gabriel looked at Nora.
“Then whoever is doing this still wants something.”
Nora's attention moved toward the ring.
Something bothered her.
She picked up the evidence bag.
“Colin said they asked about something sentimental.”
“Yes.”
“But why return the original?”
Gabriel understood.
“Because it contains something.”
Marco brought tools.
Minutes later, the braided silver band separated along an almost invisible seam.
Inside was a tiny rolled strip of paper.
Not a message.
Numbers.
A bank.
A box number.
A key code.
Gabriel stared.
“The ledger.”
Nora nodded.
Her mother had hidden its location inside the ring.
Then the office lights went out.
Marco reached for his weapon.
A red laser dot appeared against Gabriel's chest.
Nora saw it first.
“GABRIEL!”
She hit him.
Glass exploded.
The bullet passed where his heart had been.
Marco fired toward the neighboring rooftop.
Gabriel pulled Nora behind the desk.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
He checked anyway.
Her face.
Shoulders.
Arms.
“Nora.”
“I’m fine.”
His hands stopped against her cheeks.
Their faces were inches apart.
For one suspended second, the conspiracy disappeared.
So did the ring.
The dead.
The empire.
Gabriel looked at her mouth.
Nora whispered, “Don't.”
He immediately pulled away.
Her fingers caught his jacket.
“I meant don't stop.”
Gabriel froze.
Then Nora kissed him.
Slowly.
Not desperately.
Not because they were frightened.
Because after 2 years of saying everything except the truth, neither of them could pretend anymore.
When they separated, Gabriel rested his forehead against hers.
“We survive this first.”
Nora breathed against him.
“And then?”
His eyes opened.
“Then I ask you something I should have asked a long time ago.”
Across the office, Marco cleared his throat.
“I deeply regret interrupting whatever this is.”
Gabriel looked murderous.
Marco pointed toward the broken window.
“But our sniper left something behind.”
May you like
On the opposite rooftop, illuminated beneath an emergency light, someone had painted 3 words.
HELLO, NEPHEW. — S
