Chapter 5 - The Son Who Chose Wrong
Daniel Cross entered under armed supervision.
Hannah wanted Lucy upstairs.
Lucy disagreed.
Strongly.
“I found everything.”
“You found enough,” Hannah said.
“But—”
“Bed.”
Lucy looked at Gabriel for support.
Gabriel shook his head.
“Your mother outranks me.”
“Everybody says you’re the boss.”
“Apparently they’re misinformed.”
Lucy trudged upstairs with her bear.
Daniel watched her leave.
“She’s why everything fell apart.”
Gabriel stepped toward him.
“Choose your next sentence carefully.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then explain.”
Daniel sat at the table.
For three years, Evan had been using Nolan to create false maintenance contracts. Nolan initially believed the companies were legitimate subcontractors. By the time he discovered otherwise, Evan had gathered enough evidence to make Nolan appear responsible.
“He trapped him,” Daniel said.
“And you?”
Daniel looked down.
“My father told me Rowan Freight belonged to both of you. Said you were pushing him out.”
“So you helped him steal from me?”
“At first I thought we were moving money he was owed.”
Gabriel’s voice became cold.
“Twenty-three million?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I didn’t know how much.”
“When did you realize?”
“Six months ago.”
“And you continued.”
“My father said if I stopped, we’d both go to prison.”
Hannah stood near the doorway listening.
Gabriel noticed her expression.
Not fear.
Disappointment.
Somehow that seemed to affect Daniel more.
“Why were you upstairs today?” Gabriel asked.
“To warn Nolan.”
“About what?”
“Dad planned to move the restructuring documents into Nolan’s apartment, then anonymously tip off federal investigators. Once they searched Nolan’s place, they’d find the papers and financial records tying the theft to you.”
Gabriel understood.
Nolan would appear to be Gabriel’s intermediary.
The shell companies would point toward Gabriel.
The stolen restructuring plan would suggest motive: Gabriel had discovered an internal theft and was eliminating the system before auditors found it.
Elegant.
Almost.
Except for a squeaky shoe and an eight-year-old.
“Where’s Nolan?”
“An abandoned freight depot in Cicero.”
Marcus stood.
“Address?”
Daniel gave it.
Gabriel reached for his coat.
Hannah blocked him.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“With police?”
“No.”
“That sounds intelligent.”
“It usually isn’t.”
“Then don’t.”
Gabriel looked at her.
For years, people had obeyed him because they feared what happened if they didn’t.
Hannah simply looked annoyed that he was considering something stupid.
It was refreshing.
And inconvenient.
“Marcus is coming.”
“That does not make getting yourself killed more sensible.”
Daniel interrupted.
“My father won’t hurt Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked at him.
Daniel’s eyes fell.
“That sounded more convincing in my head.”
Twenty minutes later, Gabriel and Marcus reached the depot.
Nolan was alive.
Barely.
They found him tied to a chair inside an office, his face bruised.
Gabriel cut him loose.
“Where’s Evan?”
Nolan coughed.
“Gone.”
“Why did you take the envelope?”
“He ordered me.”
“Why?”
“He said my daughter would receive everything I’d done if I didn’t.”
Gabriel stopped.
Nolan had a seventeen-year-old daughter applying to colleges.
“Everything?”
Nolan laughed bitterly.
“Your friend is thorough.”
“My former friend.”
Nolan looked up.
“He was never your friend.”
That sentence hurt more than Gabriel expected.
Nolan told them everything.
Evan had begun stealing almost thirteen years earlier.
Small amounts first.
Then larger.
Every time Gabriel cleaned one part of the company, Evan built another route.
“But why?” Gabriel asked.
Nolan looked confused.
“Money.”
“He already had money.”
“Not like you.”
There it was.
Not survival.
Not desperation.
Resentment.
Evan had spent fourteen years standing beside Gabriel while privately measuring everything Gabriel possessed.
The house.
The company.
The authority.
The name.
He didn’t want half.
He wanted Gabriel to have nothing.
Marcus’s phone rang.
Hannah.
He answered.
His expression immediately changed.
“What?”
Gabriel grabbed the phone.
“Hannah?”
Her voice trembled.
“Gabriel, Daniel is gone.”
“What happened?”
“He received a text. Then ran outside before the guard could stop him.”
“Where’s Lucy?”
A pause.
Gabriel’s blood went cold.
“Hannah.”
“She was sleeping.”
“Was?”
“I checked two minutes ago.”
Her voice broke.
“The window is open.”
Gabriel couldn’t breathe.
Then another phone vibrated.
Daniel’s phone, which he had left at the safe house.
A message appeared.
A photograph.
Lucy sat in the back seat of a car, hugging her teddy bear.
Beside her was Evan Cross.
The caption contained one sentence.
Bring Daniel to the old Rowan warehouse, or the girl learns what loyalty costs.
Gabriel stared at it.
Something inside him became perfectly still.
Nolan whispered, “What happened?”
May you like
Gabriel put on his coat.
“Evan just made the last mistake he’ll ever make.”
