Chapter 5 - The Dead Man’s Address
They drove north before noon.
Clare refused Gabriel’s offer to send someone else.
“If Thomas is alive, I need to see him.”
Gabriel drove.
No security convoy.
No dramatic pursuit.
Just two people in a black SUV heading toward a town on Lake Michigan that Clare had never heard of.
Ethan stayed behind.
Clare didn’t trust him enough to bring him.
Not yet.
For the first hour, neither Clare nor Gabriel spoke.
Chicago disappeared behind them.
Buildings gave way to highway.
Highway gave way to woods.
Clare stared out the window.
“My sister died believing her husband was dead.”
Gabriel glanced toward her.
“We don’t know what happened.”
“If he chose to disappear…”
She stopped.
The thought made her furious.
“If he abandoned Noah…”
“Then Noah deserves the truth.”
“And if he didn’t?”
Gabriel looked at the road.
“Then someone owes your family six years.”
Clare swallowed.
“Can you give years back?”
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
“No one can.”
Something in his voice made Clare look at him.
“You’ve lost someone.”
“My mother when I was twelve. My father at twenty-seven.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded once.
“Were you close to him?”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel’s hands tightened slightly on the wheel.
“It was complicated.”
“That usually means yes.”
He almost smiled.
“He was not an easy man.”
“Neither are you.”
This time he did smile.
Briefly.
“I’ve been told.”
Clare looked at him.
“Are the stories true?”
“What stories?”
“You know exactly what stories.”
“The mafia stories.”
She nodded.
Gabriel was quiet for a few seconds.
“My grandfather had ties to organized crime.”
Clare waited.
“My father spent most of his adult life separating our legitimate companies from that history.”
“And you?”
“I run hotels, restaurants, logistics firms and real estate funds.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He glanced toward her.
“No, Clare. I don’t order people hurt.”
She believed him.
She didn’t know why.
Maybe because he had answered directly.
“People are still afraid of you.”
“Sometimes reputation is cheaper than security.”
Clare laughed despite herself.
“That’s disturbingly practical.”
“Most useful things are.”
Three hours later they reached Pine Harbor.
The address belonged to a small cabin near the lake.
Clare’s heart hammered as they approached.
A truck was parked outside.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
Someone lived there.
Gabriel stopped the SUV.
“Stay here.”
Clare opened her door.
“No.”
“Clare.”
“If that’s Thomas, I’m not watching from a car.”
They walked together.
Gabriel knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
A lock clicked.
The door opened.
A man stood there.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray in his beard.
A scar crossed his forehead.
Clare recognized him instantly.
Her knees nearly gave way.
“Thomas.”
His face collapsed.
“Oh, God.”
Clare slapped him.
Gabriel didn’t move.
Thomas accepted it.
Then Clare slapped him again.
“You were alive.”
“I know.”
“Six years!”
“I know.”
“Noah buried an empty casket!”
Thomas closed his eyes.
At Noah’s name, tears appeared.
“Is he okay?”
Clare stared at him.
“You don’t get to ask that first.”
“You’re right.”
“What happened?”
Thomas looked toward Gabriel.
“You’re Moretti.”
“Yes.”
Thomas stepped aside.
“You’d better come in.”
Inside, the cabin was simple.
Books.
Fishing gear.
An old laptop.
Photographs.
Clare stopped at one.
Noah.
Age five.
School photograph.
Another.
Age six.
Little League uniform.
Another.
His eighth birthday.
Clare turned slowly.
“How do you have these?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Someone sent them.”
“Who?”
“Emma.”
Clare froze.
“Emma knew?”
Thomas nodded.
Rage hit harder than grief.
“My sister knew you were alive?”
“For two years.”
Clare’s eyes filled.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Thomas sat.
“The night before the crash, I met with an investigator.”
He looked at Gabriel.
“I was exposing Charles Vale and two partners who had been siphoning money through Meridian North.”
“Who were the partners?” Gabriel asked.
Thomas hesitated.
“Your father was not one of them.”
Gabriel went still.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
Thomas looked at Clare.
“Charles Vale. Malcolm Shaw. And a city contractor named Peter Lang.”
Vivien’s father.
Clare felt sick.
Thomas continued.
“They used Moretti capital as cover. When Gabriel’s father discovered discrepancies, he threatened to expose them.”
Gabriel’s face darkened.
“What happened to my father?”
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel’s voice became colder.
“He died in a boating accident six months later.”
Thomas stared at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Keep talking.”
Thomas nodded.
“I was supposed to testify. Two federal investigators arranged protective relocation after someone tampered with my truck.”
Clare stood.
“So the crash…”
“Staged.”
“You agreed?”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“They told me Emma and Noah would be targets if anyone knew I survived.”
Clare’s anger faltered.
Thomas’s voice broke.
“I watched my son’s second birthday through a photograph.”
Clare looked away.
“And Emma?”
“They contacted her privately after a year.”
“She knew you were safe?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t she join you?”
“Because the investigation collapsed.”
Gabriel frowned.
“How?”
“One investigator disappeared. Another recanted. Evidence went missing.”
Thomas looked toward the window.
“Emma and I decided Noah was safer if nothing changed.”
Clare’s voice trembled.
“Then Emma died.”
Thomas nodded.
“I found out two days after the funeral.”
Clare stared.
“You didn’t come.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You didn’t come for Noah.”
Thomas’s eyes filled.
“I wanted to every day.”
“That means nothing to a child.”
“I know.”
She hated that he kept agreeing.
It left nowhere for her anger to land.
Gabriel walked toward the shelves.
“Why were the payments from Charles?”
Thomas looked at him.
“He paid to keep me hidden.”
Clare stared.
“What?”
“Not directly. Through intermediaries.”
“Why would Charles pay you?”
“Because he believed I had copies of the ledger.”
“Did you?”
Thomas smiled sadly.
“Emma did.”
Clare thought of the bank box.
“Charles knew you survived.”
“Yes.”
“And he kept you hidden.”
“Because a dead whistleblower couldn’t testify.”
Gabriel’s phone rang.
Marina.
He answered.
She spoke rapidly.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“What happened?”
Clare listened.
He ended the call.
“Someone broke into your apartment.”
Clare’s blood went cold.
“Noah?”
“With Maria. He’s safe.”
She exhaled.
“What did they take?”
Gabriel looked at Thomas.
“Boxes belonging to Emma.”
Thomas stood.
“They know Clare found the ledger.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
A vehicle appeared at the end of the dirt road.
Black sedan.
Thomas went pale.
“That’s them.”
Clare’s heart stopped.
Gabriel turned.
“Who?”
Thomas grabbed a small metal case.
“The people who made sure I stayed dead.”
The sedan stopped.
Two men stepped out.
They wore ordinary coats.
No visible weapons.
Yet Thomas looked terrified.
Gabriel moved toward the front door.
Clare grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?”
“Talking.”
“That’s your plan?”
“It usually works.”
Gabriel stepped outside.
The men approached.
One looked at Gabriel and stopped.
Recognition changed everything.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Gabriel stood on the porch.
“This property is private.”
“We’re looking for Thomas Brennan.”
“You found me instead.”
The man’s confidence weakened.
“We have instructions.”
“So do I.”
“From who?”
Gabriel’s expression became almost bored.
“Myself.”
The second man whispered something.
They retreated.
No confrontation.
No violence.
They got back into the sedan and left.
Clare stared at Gabriel.
“That was it?”
“For today.”
Thomas looked grim.
“No. They’ll report back.”
“To Charles?”
Thomas shook his head.
“That’s the problem.”
Clare frowned.
“If not Charles, then who?”
Thomas looked toward Gabriel.
“Malcolm Shaw.”
Back in Chicago, Vivien Shaw sat across from her father inside his private office.
Malcolm poured himself a drink.
“You were supposed to marry Ethan eventually,” he said.
Vivien looked disgusted.
“I never agreed to that.”
“You agreed to help secure the hotel.”
“Not destroy Clare.”
Malcolm smiled.
“Everyone destroys someone on the way up.”
Vivien stood.
“I’m done.”
Malcolm’s smile disappeared.
“No, sweetheart.”
He opened a drawer and removed a photograph.
Clare entering the Michigan cabin.
Gabriel beside her.
May you like
Thomas visible through the door.
“You’re just beginning.”
