Chapter 4 - The Enemy Behind Gabriel’s Door
There are betrayals that arrive like explosions.
Then there are betrayals that come in a familiar voice.
Toby’s confession hurt because it was both.
“The one Dad gave me before he died.”
Those words replayed inside my head as Gabriel held me behind the concrete wall.
Across the corridor, Marcus was silent.
So was I.
Then Marcus asked, “Where is it?”
Toby answered with a tired laugh.
“You think I’m telling you?”
A blow landed.
I moved.
Gabriel caught me.
I whispered, “He’s hurting him.”
“He’s trying to get information.”
“He’s my brother.”
“And if you rush that door, he becomes a hostage with a dead sister.”
I hated his logic.
Again.
Inside the room, Marcus spoke.
“Your father ruined everything because he thought he could expose men more powerful than him.”
“He exposed you.”
“Did he?”
Another silence.
“He died,” Marcus continued. “Daniel spent twelve years obeying me. Gabriel built an empire without noticing what was growing underneath it. And you spent a decade blaming yourself for debts I created.”
My stomach turned.
Toby’s voice cracked.
“You did that?”
“I introduced you to the first lender.”
“You—”
“I made sure you always had somewhere else to borrow.”
“You destroyed my life.”
“No, Toby. I made your weaknesses useful.”
I heard my brother breathe hard.
Then Marcus continued.
“Your father understood leverage. That is why he hid evidence with both children.”
Both?
I looked at Gabriel.
He heard it too.
Marcus said, “Harper became an accountant because Peter taught her to follow money. You became reckless because grief made you easier to direct.”
“Go to hell.”
“Eventually.”
Marcus sounded amused.
“But first I want the second drive.”
I leaned toward Daniel.
“What is he talking about?”
Daniel whispered, “Peter kept duplicate records.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know where they were.”
Gabriel looked toward the door.
“How many men with Marcus?”
Daniel listened.
“At least two.”
“Entry points?”
“Main door and service vent.”
Gabriel glanced upward.
“Vent size?”
“Enough for one person.”
Gabriel looked at me.
“No.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I fit.”
“No.”
Daniel stared between us.
“This is an unusual time for relationship dynamics.”
“We don’t have relationship dynamics,” I snapped.
Gabriel gave Daniel a murderous look.
“Find the vent.”
Daniel wisely moved.
The vent opening sat behind a maintenance panel ten feet back.
Gabriel removed it.
Narrow.
Dark.
Definitely large enough for me.
“I can get inside,” I said.
“You can barely walk.”
“I crawl mostly with my hands.”
“No.”
“Gabriel.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You shoot Marcus through the door, Toby may get hit.”
“I know.”
“If I reach the room from behind, I can release Toby.”
“You think Marcus won’t notice a bleeding accountant falling from his ceiling?”
“I’ll try to make it elegant.”
His stare could have cut glass.
Daniel returned with a small earpiece.
“The vent exits behind the storage cabinets.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You’re encouraging this?”
“I’m acknowledging geometry.”
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly.
Then looked at me.
“If you hear me say down, you get down.”
“Okay.”
“If anything changes, you come back.”
“Okay.”
“And if Marcus sees you—”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
His voice lowered.
“He has been using your family for twelve years. Do not underestimate what he will do if he feels control slipping.”
For the first time, I heard something beneath Gabriel’s command.
Fear.
Not for his company.
For me.
I nodded.
“I’ll be careful.”
He touched my wrist once.
Then released me.
I crawled.
The vent was freezing.
Every movement pulled at my stitches.
By the time I reached the end, sweat covered my face.
Through the slats I could see the room.
Toby sat tied to a chair.
His lip was bleeding.
Marcus stood near him in a charcoal suit.
Two armed men guarded the door.
Marcus Vale did not look like a monster.
That was the problem.
He looked like somebody’s successful uncle.
Silver at his temples.
Calm eyes.
Perfectly tailored clothing.
The kind of man who could destroy families and still hold doors open for strangers.
“Last chance,” Marcus said.
Toby looked up.
“I don’t have it.”
“You said your father gave it to you.”
“He did.”
“Where?”
Toby smiled.
“I lost it.”
Marcus struck him.
My hand covered my mouth.
“Wrong answer.”
“You asked.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Your sister is upstairs with Gabriel.”
Toby’s smile vanished.
“You leave her alone.”
“Then tell me.”
“Go to hell.”
Marcus sighed.
“Children always assume love makes them strong.”
He leaned down.
“Usually it makes them predictable.”
I removed the vent cover as quietly as I could.
One screw.
Two.
Three.
My fingers slipped on the fourth.
The cover moved slightly.
One guard glanced toward the sound.
I froze.
Marcus turned.
“What?”
“Thought I heard something.”
Marcus listened.
Silence.
“Rats.”
The guard looked back.
I exhaled.
Thirty seconds later, the cover came free.
I lowered myself into the narrow space behind storage cabinets.
My leg screamed.
I bit the inside of my cheek.
Toby could not see me.
Neither could Marcus.
I edged sideways.
There was a metal shelf between me and Toby’s chair.
I could reach his hands.
Barely.
I extended my fingers.
Toby jerked.
I pressed one finger against his wrist.
He froze.
Then I tapped twice.
A childhood signal.
Two taps meant:
Don’t react.
His breathing changed.
But he obeyed.
I found the rope.
It was tight.
No knife.
No tool.
Then I felt something in the pocket of my coat.
The broken metal clip from the flash drive case.
Not sharp.
Sharp enough.
I began sawing.
Marcus continued.
“Do you know what Gabriel will do when he discovers the truth?”
Toby stared at him.
“What truth?”
“That Harper’s father wasn’t investigating Gabriel’s father.”
My hand stopped.
Marcus smiled.
“He was investigating Gabriel.”
I felt sick.
“That’s a lie,” Toby said.
“Is it?”
Marcus walked toward a table and picked up a folder.
“Peter Monroe believed young Gabriel Cross was diverting Black Harbor money.”
Gabriel had been what, twenty-something then?
Marcus opened the folder.
“He followed the transactions for months.”
Toby shook his head.
“Dad said—”
“Your father died before he learned who was forging Gabriel’s authorizations.”
Marcus smiled.
“Me.”
My stomach twisted.
So Marcus had framed Gabriel.
Used his father’s system.
Manipulated Daniel.
Killed my father.
Then spent twelve years staying close to the man he had intended to blame.
Why?
Money alone did not explain it.
I returned to the rope.
Fibers began separating.
Marcus kept talking.
“Gabriel inherited an empire built on fear. I built the parts that actually worked.”
Toby spat blood onto the floor.
“Sounds like jealousy.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Good.
Toby had always been excellent at irritating people.
“You think Gabriel deserves what he has?”
“I think I don’t care.”
Marcus slapped him.
The rope finally snapped.
Toby’s hands came free.
He kept them behind the chair.
Smart.
I touched his wrist.
Three taps.
Wait.
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His face changed.
“Interesting.”
He answered.
“Gabriel.”
I couldn’t hear Gabriel’s side.
Marcus smiled.
“You found the corridor.”
Pause.
“No, I don’t think you’ll shoot through the door.”
Pause.
“Because Harper is already inside.”
My blood froze.
Marcus turned his head.
Directly toward the storage cabinets.
He knew.
One guard raised his weapon.
“Come out, Harper.”
Toby surged from the chair.
Everything happened at once.
I shoved the metal shelf.
It crashed into the nearest guard.
Toby tackled the second.
Marcus reached inside his jacket.
The main door exploded inward.
Gabriel entered first.
Daniel behind him.
A shot thundered.
Then another.
I dropped.
Gabriel shouted, “Down!”
I crawled toward Toby.
One guard was unconscious beneath the shelf.
The other struggled with Daniel.
Marcus fired toward Gabriel.
The bullet struck the wall.
Gabriel returned fire.
Marcus ducked behind a desk.
I reached Toby.
“Harper?”
“Move!”
We crawled toward the side exit.
Marcus saw us.
His gun lifted.
Gabriel stepped into the line of fire.
The shot cracked.
Gabriel staggered.
“No!”
He fell against the doorframe.
I screamed his name.
Daniel fired.
Marcus disappeared through a rear exit.
Toby grabbed me before I could run toward Gabriel.
“We have to go.”
“Gabriel’s hit.”
Daniel crouched beside him.
“I’ve got him!”
Gabriel pressed a hand to his side.
Blood darkened his white shirt.
His eyes found mine.
“Go with Toby.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
His jaw clenched.
“Marcus is escaping.”
“Then let him.”
“No.”
He pushed himself upright.
Daniel swore.
“You’ve been shot.”
“Grazed.”
“That’s a lot of blood for a graze.”
Gabriel ignored him.
“Toby.”
My brother looked up.
“Yeah?”
“Where’s the second drive?”
Toby hesitated.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
Toby looked at me.
His face was pale.
“Dad didn’t give me a flash drive.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He gave me a key.”
“To what?”
“I never knew.”
“Then why did you tell Marcus it was a drive?”
“To keep him talking.”
Despite everything, Gabriel almost smiled.
Toby reached beneath his shirt.
A thin chain hung around his neck.
At the end was a tiny brass key.
I had seen it a thousand times.
I thought it belonged to our mother.
Toby held it out.
“Dad made me promise never to remove it.”
Daniel stared.
Then his face went white.
“I know that key.”
We all looked at him.
Daniel swallowed.
“It opens a private deposit box Elias Cross established thirteen years ago.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“For Peter Monroe.”
My heart started racing.
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
Daniel looked toward the ceiling as alarms suddenly began screaming throughout the underground level.
Then every emergency light switched from white to red.
Gabriel checked the corridor.
“What did Marcus do?”
Daniel’s face turned grim.
“He activated the purge protocol.”
“What purge?”
“The old Black Harbor system destroys its physical archives if compromised.”
“How?”
Daniel looked at us.
“Fire.”
A second alarm began.
And from somewhere behind the walls came the unmistakable hiss of gas.
The deposit box containing whatever our fathers had hidden was inside the building.
May you like
And Marcus had just decided to burn everything with us still underneath it.
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