Chapter 8 - The Wrong Rhythm
Gabriel moved Leo before sunrise.
Not out of the estate.
That would have been predictable.
Instead he took him into the oldest section of the mansion, a stone guest wing built decades before the modern security network.
Two rooms.
One staircase.
No exterior balcony.
One reinforced door.
Evelyn stayed with him.
Gabriel personally checked every window.
When he finished, Leo sat on the bed hugging a pillow.
Gabriel crouched several feet away.
“You’re safe.”
The boy stared at him.
Gabriel almost added more.
Promises.
Explanations.
Instead he tapped the wooden floor.
Tap-tap.
Pause.
Tap.
Leo answered.
Gabriel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Evelyn stood near the doorway.
Gabriel looked at her.
“If anyone knocks, what do you do?”
“Nothing.”
“If they use the signal?”
“We listen to the rhythm.”
“If it’s correct?”
“We still do nothing unless I recognize the voice.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Good.”
Evelyn’s eyebrow lifted.
“You know I’ve kept him alive this long.”
“I know.”
The words surprised both of them.
Gabriel stood.
“I’m trusting you.”
Evelyn’s expression softened.
“With Leo?”
“With what matters.”
For Gabriel, there was no greater statement.
He returned downstairs.
Harker had disappeared.
The guards outside the security room were unconscious.
Again.
This time there was no uncertainty.
Both were breathing.
A chemical-smelling cloth had been left nearby.
Gabriel looked at the open door.
Someone inside the estate had released Harker.
The inner circle was shrinking.
He called Victor.
It rang four times.
“Gabriel?”
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“Stay there.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
Gabriel deliberately made his breathing sound tense.
“Someone fired at Leo’s room.”
“What?”
Victor sounded convincing.
Too convincing.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Gabriel, if someone attacked the house—”
“I said stay there.”
“Are you sure?”
“No. But do it anyway.”
He ended the call.
Then called his private investigator, Aaron Cole.
“You still tracking Harker?”
“I thought your security had him.”
“Not anymore.”
A long pause.
“That’s bad.”
“Find him.”
“I’ll try.”
“Don’t try.”
Aaron sighed.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
Gabriel returned to the corrupted-card lie.
Only three people supposedly knew the card existed.
Gabriel.
Evelyn.
Harker.
Victor would know through Harker.
But the projectile through Leo’s window suggested someone else had immediate information.
Unless Victor had stationed another person near the property.
Gabriel examined the security logs personally.
At 2:11, six minutes before Evelyn entered Leo’s room, the estate network received an administrator command.
User: GMarino-Primary.
Gabriel’s credentials.
Cloned.
The command disabled lighting and lockdown controls.
Two minutes later, a second command came from inside the house.
Not remotely.
A physical terminal.
Location: staff corridor.
Gabriel checked camera footage.
Looped.
Sixteen seconds repeating.
Daniel had been right.
Gabriel stared at the timestamp.
Then something occurred to him.
If the person had used a physical terminal, they had to be inside the estate.
Still.
He called the household manager.
“Everyone in the main dining room in ten minutes.”
“Everyone?”
“Staff. Security. Drivers. Everyone.”
Twenty-nine people assembled.
Gabriel walked slowly along the line.
Cooks.
Housekeepers.
Gardeners.
Drivers.
Two security officers.
Evelyn was absent with Leo.
One person was missing.
“Where’s Mrs. Vale?”
The housekeeper looked around.
“Laundry room, I think.”
“Find her.”
Five minutes later a guard returned.
“Gone.”
Gabriel frowned.
Mrs. Vale had worked at the estate for nine years.
Sixty-one years old.
Sophia adored her.
She had helped prepare Leo’s nursery.
Gabriel walked to her room.
Closet empty.
Suitcases gone.
No personal photographs.
Nothing.
As if she had planned the departure.
On the desk sat an envelope.
Mr. Marino.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Gabriel expected confession.
Instead:
I am sorry. They told me they would hurt my daughter if I did not help. I never wanted anyone harmed. I copied a key. I changed one camera. I did not know they would enter Leo’s room. Please forgive me. Do not trust the man who tells you I acted alone.
No name.
Gabriel read it twice.
Mrs. Vale had copied the bedroom key.
She may have helped disable the camera.
But she had not built a multimillion-dollar scheme.
Someone coerced her.
The final sentence mattered.
Do not trust the man who tells you I acted alone.
Gabriel folded the letter.
His phone rang.
Victor.
Again.
Gabriel answered.
“I told you to stay home.”
“I’m looking at your security alerts.”
“How?”
“I still have remote access.”
Gabriel said nothing.
Victor continued quickly.
“You need to remove it if you don’t trust me.”
Interesting choice of words.
“I didn’t say I don’t trust you.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Gabriel looked around Mrs. Vale’s empty room.
Victor said, “I checked the overnight logs.”
“And?”
“One of your housekeepers accessed the staff terminal.”
Gabriel remained silent.
“Mrs. Vale.”
“I know.”
Victor exhaled.
“Then you know who helped Harker.”
Gabriel’s eyes sharpened.
Who helped Harker.
Not who disrupted the system.
Victor had just connected Mrs. Vale to Harker.
Gabriel had never told him Harker was the intruder.
He had only said someone attacked the house.
“Victor.”
“Yes?”
“How did you know Harker was here?”
Silence.
A mistake.
Small.
Fatal.
Then Victor answered too quickly.
“You mentioned him yesterday.”
“I mentioned searching for him.”
Another silence.
Gabriel could almost hear Victor calculating.
“You told me he was dead,” Gabriel continued.
“Gabriel—”
“You’re slipping.”
The call ended.
Victor had disconnected.
Thirty seconds later, the remote security system received multiple login attempts.
Gabriel’s credentials.
Victor’s credentials.
Both rejected.
Gabriel had disabled Victor’s access minutes earlier.
Then Aaron called.
“I found Harker’s car.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near a warehouse in Northbrook.”
“Anyone inside?”
“No.”
“Cameras?”
“I’m checking.”
Gabriel looked toward the upper floor.
“Do it.”
Before he ended the call, Aaron said, “There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The warehouse belongs to one of the shell companies tied to your missing money.”
Gabriel’s pulse slowed.
Not because he was calm.
Because the pieces were finally aligning.
“Send me the address.”
Ten minutes later, Gabriel prepared to leave.
Evelyn met him at the bottom of the stairs.
“You’re going somewhere.”
“Yes.”
“Victor?”
“Possibly.”
“Don’t.”
Gabriel stopped.
“You’ve been telling me to think. I’m thinking.”
“You’re angry.”
“I can do both.”
“Sometimes.”
He almost argued.
Then Leo appeared behind her.
The boy held his drawing pad.
He walked down two steps and extended a page.
Gabriel took it.
A picture of the east hallway.
Sophia near the door.
Daniel beside her.
A third figure.
This time Leo had colored the figure’s tie.
Deep red.
Gabriel knew one man who wore red ties constantly.
Not Victor.
Aaron Cole.
His private investigator.
The same man who had just sent Gabriel toward a warehouse.
Gabriel looked at Evelyn.
She saw the realization.
“Who is it?”
Gabriel folded the drawing.
“The man I was about to trust.”
His phone vibrated again.
Aaron.
Warehouse is clear. Come alone. I found something you need to see.
Gabriel stared at the message.
Then at Leo.
The six-year-old boy who had not spoken for fourteen months had just warned his father without saying a word.
Gabriel typed a reply.
On my way.
But he had no intention of arriving alone.
Because now he finally understood the danger.
Victor was not the only traitor.
May you like
And one of the men helping Gabriel investigate Victor had been standing inside the betrayal from the beginning.
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