Chapter 6 - The Traitor Beside Gabriel's Bed
Victor did not demand money.
That frightened Gabriel more than anything.
Men who wanted money were predictable.
Victor wanted something else.
“The docks,” Victor said over the phone. “Pier Seventeen. Midnight.”
Gabriel's gaze hardened.
“You think I'm walking into a meeting three days after almost dying?”
“I think you'll come because I have something you want.”
“Ruth's memory card?”
Victor chuckled.
“That too.”
Gabriel's eyes shifted toward Sadie.
“What else?”
“Laura Bennett.”
Marcus stepped closer.
Victor continued.
“She has been very helpful.”
“So she works for you.”
“She worked for whoever paid her.”
Gabriel's expression remained unreadable.
“And Daniel Pierce?”
“Disposable.”
“And the fake surgeon?”
“Also disposable.”
Sadie felt sick.
Victor sounded as if he were discussing tools.
Gabriel asked, “Why?”
For the first time, Victor's voice lost its amusement.
“Your father built our family with my money, my contacts, and my risks. Then you took everything.”
“I took it because he was destroying it.”
“You humiliated him.”
“He deserved worse.”
“You sound proud.”
“I am.”
Silence.
Then Victor said, “Midnight.”
The call ended.
Marcus immediately shook his head.
“You're not going.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Apparently everyone gives me orders now.”
“You can barely stand.”
“I can sit in a car.”
“Victor wants you dead.”
“He already tried.”
“And nearly succeeded.”
Sadie stepped between them.
“What is on the memory card?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“If Ruth protected it for years, probably evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“North Atlantic. Payments. Chemical testing. Maybe more.”
Marcus frowned.
“Enough to destroy Victor?”
“Possibly.”
Sadie folded her arms.
“Then that's why he wants Gabriel there. Not just revenge. He wants to trade—or make sure no other copy exists.”
Gabriel studied her.
“You think like your mother.”
“I'm beginning to understand that was not always a compliment.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
They made a plan.
Gabriel would appear to attend.
Marcus's team would control the perimeter.
Police were not involved.
Sadie disliked that.
Gabriel disliked involving them more.
Dr. Reed disliked all of it.
“You are not medically cleared to leave the house.”
Gabriel adjusted his black shirt carefully over the fresh dressing.
“Then don't clear me.”
“You could reopen the wound.”
“Then bring gauze.”
Reed stared at him.
Sadie handed Gabriel his coat.
“You're both impossible.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You're coming?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Sadie smiled without humor.
“Interesting. I thought we'd established that you don't control me anymore.”
“You quit.”
“Exactly.”
Marcus muttered, “I liked this house better when she was invisible.”
Midnight found them near Pier Seventeen.
Fog covered the harbor.
Shipping cranes towered against the dark sky.
Gabriel remained in the armored SUV while Marcus's men took positions.
Sadie sat beside him.
“You're shaking,” Gabriel said.
“So are you.”
“Fever.”
“Fear.”
He looked at her.
“Maybe.”
That admission surprised her.
Headlights appeared.
A black sedan stopped near the warehouse.
Victor Salerno stepped out.
He was older than the photograph.
Gray hair.
Elegant coat.
Cold eyes.
Laura Bennett emerged behind him.
Sadie's stomach tightened.
Laura had coordinated Gabriel's care for years.
She had known every medical detail.
Every surgeon.
Every medication.
Every vulnerability.
Victor raised a phone.
Gabriel's rang.
“You look terrible,” Victor said.
Gabriel answered through the car.
“You always did confuse appearance with weakness.”
Victor smiled.
“Come out.”
“No.”
Victor gestured.
Laura opened the trunk.
Inside sat Daniel Pierce.
Alive.
Bound.
Bleeding.
Sadie stared.
Marcus whispered through Gabriel's earpiece, “Something is wrong.”
Gabriel saw it too.
Victor had brought Pierce as a prisoner.
Why?
Victor spoke.
“Daniel made an unfortunate mistake.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“He stole the laboratory specimen.”
“Yes.”
“I never ordered him to.”
Sadie turned toward Gabriel.
Victor continued.
“Daniel panicked after your maid recognized the thread. He thought destroying the evidence would protect him.”
“Protect him from what?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“From the person who actually arranged the surgery.”
Gabriel went very still.
“Laura?”
Laura suddenly raised a gun.
Not at Gabriel.
At Victor.
Everything happened at once.
A shot.
Victor dropped.
Marcus's men moved.
Laura dragged Daniel from the trunk and fired toward the SUV.
Gabriel pushed Sadie down.
Glass exploded.
Security returned fire.
Laura disappeared behind the warehouse.
“Stay here,” Gabriel ordered.
Then he opened the door.
Sadie grabbed his coat.
“You can barely walk!”
“Laura knows who did this.”
“So let Marcus catch her!”
But Gabriel was already outside.
Sadie swore and followed.
Inside the warehouse, shadows moved between shipping containers.
Marcus pursued Laura from one side.
Gabriel entered from another.
Sadie stayed behind him.
A voice echoed.
“You should have died quietly.”
Gabriel stopped.
Laura emerged above them on a metal platform.
Her weapon pointed down.
Gabriel stared.
“Victor didn't order it.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Laura smiled.
“Ask Marcus.”
Sadie's blood went cold.
Gabriel did not move.
Laura continued.
“Who controlled the hospital security after you were shot?”
Gabriel's face changed.
“Marcus.”
“Who approved emergency medical access?”
“Marcus.”
“Who recommended Daniel Pierce?”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Victor.”
Laura laughed.
“That's what Marcus told you.”
Sadie looked toward the shadows.
Marcus appeared slowly.
Weapon in hand.
For one impossible moment, nobody moved.
Gabriel looked at him.
“Tell me she's lying.”
Marcus said nothing.
Sadie's heart sank.
“Marcus.”
Gabriel's voice was quieter now.
Not angry.
Wounded.
“Tell me.”
Marcus lowered his gun.
“I didn't know about the poison.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“What did you know?”
“I arranged the shooting.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
Gabriel's face became empty.
Marcus continued.
“The bullet was supposed to miss anything vital. You were supposed to be injured, not killed.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor had been moving against you. I needed him to expose his people.”
Gabriel's eyes darkened.
“So you used me as bait.”
“I thought I could control it.”
Laura laughed above them.
“And I changed the surgeon.”
Marcus looked up.
“You.”
“I found Voss.”
“You nearly killed him.”
“That was the point.”
Marcus raised his gun toward her.
Laura fired first.
Marcus collapsed.
Sadie screamed.
Gabriel moved toward him.
Laura aimed at Gabriel.
Sadie saw the shot coming.
Without thinking, she grabbed a loose metal chain and yanked.
A suspended cargo hook swung across the platform.
Laura jumped backward.
Her shot went wide.
Marcus's security team rushed in.
Laura tried to escape.
They surrounded her.
Minutes later she was restrained.
Gabriel knelt beside Marcus.
Blood spread across Marcus's shirt.
“Stay with me.”
Marcus gave a weak laugh.
“Now you sound like Sadie.”
“Shut up.”
Reed's emergency team arrived from the vehicles.
They stabilized Marcus.
As they carried him away, Marcus caught Gabriel's wrist.
“I betrayed your trust.”
Gabriel looked down at him.
“Yes.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You shot me.”
“A detail I regret.”
Gabriel almost smiled despite himself.
Marcus's eyes closed.
He was taken away.
Sadie stood beside Gabriel.
Victor had survived Laura's shot.
Daniel had survived.
Laura was in custody.
The nightmare seemed almost over.
Then Daniel began laughing.
Everyone looked at him.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
Daniel shook his head.
“You still don't understand.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“Understand what?”
“Laura didn't create the poison formula.”
Sadie went cold.
Daniel looked directly at her.
“Neither did Victor.”
“Who did?” she whispered.
Daniel smiled.
“Your mother.”
Sadie's face drained.
“No.”
“She developed the neutralizing compound too.”
Gabriel frowned.
“What neutralizing compound?”
Daniel looked toward the fresh wound beneath Gabriel's shirt.
“The only thing that can stop the remaining toxin already inside his bloodstream.”
Sadie stared.
“Where is it?”
Daniel smiled wider.
“On the memory card.”
Gabriel looked toward Victor.
But Victor's coat pocket was empty.
The tiny silver thimble necklace was gone.
May you like
And so was Laura Bennett.
---
