Chapter 10 - Gabriel’s Warning
Madison remembered the ledger.
Not as a ledger.
As a damaged inventory tablet.
Three months earlier, a scanner had been returned with corrupted shipping data.
Madison had backed it up before resetting the device.
She had copied the files onto an external drive.
Then forgotten about it.
“Where is it?” Gabriel asked.
“My apartment.”
His face changed.
They drove there immediately.
The door was open.
Gabriel moved in front of Madison.
“Stay here.”
“My apartment.”
“Stay.”
This time she listened.
Security cleared the rooms.
Nobody inside.
Everything had been searched.
Drawers emptied.
Mattress overturned.
Laptop smashed.
Madison entered slowly.
Her life lay across the floor.
“They knew.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Where's the drive?”
Madison walked toward the kitchen.
She opened a cabinet.
Removed a cereal container.
Reached inside.
The drive was still there.
Gabriel almost laughed.
“You hid evidence worth millions in oatmeal?”
“Bran cereal.”
“Of course.”
For a moment, tension broke.
Then Madison handed him the drive.
Their fingers touched.
Neither moved immediately.
Something had changed between them during the previous days.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Trust.
Gabriel withdrew his hand.
“We copy this tonight.”
“What happens after?”
“We give everything to federal investigators.”
Madison looked surprised.
“You?”
“What?”
“The terrifying Gabriel DeLorenzo calls the authorities?”
“Sometimes paperwork is more effective than bullets.”
She smiled.
Then the apartment lights went out.
Gabriel instantly pulled Madison behind him.
Glass shattered.
A shot struck the wall.
Security shouted.
Gabriel dragged Madison down.
Another shot.
Then silence.
The shooter escaped.
Madison was unharmed.
Gabriel wasn't.
Blood spread across his upper arm.
“You're hit.”
“Graze.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I noticed.”
For once, Madison became the one giving orders.
“Sit.”
Gabriel looked at her.
Despite everything, they both understood the irony.
He sat.
Madison pressed a towel against his arm.
Gabriel watched her.
“You're shaking.”
“So are you.”
“I've been shot.”
“I've been shot at.”
“Fair.”
Their eyes met.
Then Gabriel's expression changed.
“Madison.”
“What?”
“If something happens, you run.”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Voss has already tried twice.”
“And I'm still here.”
“That isn't courage if it gets you killed.”
Madison's voice softened.
“Then stop trying to protect me by yourself.”
Gabriel stared at her.
For years, people had obeyed him.
Feared him.
Needed him.
Very few had stood beside him.
Madison did.
And that frightened him more than the bullet.
May you like
Because Gabriel finally understood what Voss could use against him.
Her.
