Chapter 4 - The Man Who Knew Her Mother
Gabriel moved Kalida and Toby into a hotel suite in Cheyenne.
Not a luxury suite.
A safe one.
Kalida complained about the room.
Gabriel laughed.
“You've just been shot at and your diner burned.”
“I still hate expensive pillows.”
“They're decorative.”
“They're useless.”
“You're impossible.”
“You keep saying that like it's a revelation.”
Toby liked Gabriel.
That was the problem.
Kalida could handle her own feelings.
Toby was different.
The boy trusted Gabriel with an innocence that terrified her.
Gabriel never treated Toby like an inconvenience.
He helped him with homework.
He built dinosaur models with him.
He even allowed Toby to name one of his security vehicles “Blue Thunder.”
One afternoon, Toby asked Gabriel a question.
“Are you my dad?”
The room went silent.
Gabriel looked toward Kalida.
She froze.
Toby continued.
“Because you stay around a lot.”
Gabriel smiled gently.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because your father is your father.”
“He doesn't come around.”
Gabriel's face hardened for a second.
Then softened.
“Sometimes adults make mistakes.”
“Did my dad make mistakes?”
Kalida stepped in.
“Yes.”
She looked at Gabriel.
“But you're allowed to decide who deserves a place in your life.”
Toby nodded.
He returned to his coloring book.
Gabriel looked at Kalida.
“You're a good mother.”
“Thank you.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
That evening, a man came to the hotel.
He was older.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
Gabriel knew him immediately.
Victor Crane.
Former Mercer attorney.
He had vanished twenty years earlier.
“Gabriel.”
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Victor smiled.
“Everyone keeps saying that about people who know too much.”
Kalida stood nearby.
Victor looked at her.
“Thomas's daughter.”
“Yes.”
“He would be proud.”
“You knew my father?”
“I did.”
“What happened to him?”
Victor sat.
“He discovered the identity of the person stealing from Mercer companies.”
“Who?”
Victor looked at Gabriel.
“Your uncle.”
Gabriel stiffened.
“My uncle died before I took over.”
“Which uncle?”
“Andrew.”
Victor smiled.
“Andrew Mercer wasn't dead.”
Kalida felt a chill.
“How many people have been pretending to be dead?”
Victor ignored the question.
“Andrew was running a parallel operation.”
“What operation?”
“Human trafficking.”
Kalida's face went white.
“He used Mercer warehouses.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father didn't know.”
“He suspected.”
“And my father?”
“Thomas found records proving it.”
“Then what happened?”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“He tried to expose Andrew.”
“And Andrew killed him?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Victor looked toward the window.
“Thomas disappeared.”
“Because he was taken?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
Gabriel's voice turned cold.
“You came here to tell us this?”
“No.”
Victor handed him a folder.
“I came to warn you.”
Inside was a recent photograph.
Thomas Ingles.
Alive.
Older.
Standing outside a church.
Kalida stopped breathing.
“My father.”
She grabbed the picture.
“When was this taken?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Her hands shook.
“Where?”
“Chicago.”
“Why is he alive?”
Victor looked at her.
“Because someone has been protecting him.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Gabriel stood.
“Who has Thomas?”
Victor's expression changed.
“The same man who burned your diner.”
Gabriel turned.
“Who?”
“Damian Mercer.”
Kalida stared.
“Gabriel's brother?”
Gabriel's face was blank.
“I don't have a brother.”
Victor smiled.
“You do now.”
Then the hotel lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel pulled Kalida behind the couch.
Victor dove to the floor.
Toby screamed.
Gabriel reached him first.
“Stay with me.”
“I want Mom.”
“She is right here.”
Kalida crawled toward them.
A bullet tore through the wall.
Gabriel covered Toby with his body.
His men stormed the hallway.
Minutes later, silence.
Victor was dead.
A bullet had struck him.
Kalida stared at Gabriel.
“He came to help us.”
Gabriel looked down.
In Victor's hand was a small device.
A recording.
Gabriel activated it.
Victor's voice filled the dark room.
“If I die, tell Thomas I kept my promise.”
Then another voice played.
Kalida knew it.
Her father's.
“If anything happens to me, keep Kalida away from the Mercer family.”
Gabriel looked shattered.
The recording continued.
“And never tell Gabriel about his brother.”
The audio stopped.
Gabriel stared at the floor.
“He knew.”
Kalida touched his arm.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“Why hide your brother?”
“I don't know.”
Elias entered.
“We found something.”
A photograph.
Damian Mercer.
Alive.
Standing beside Kalida's father.
And behind them was Toby's father.
David.
Kalida's breath caught.
“David?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your ex-husband knew my family.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Another photograph appeared.
David.
Damian.
Andrew.
And a third man.
The same man who had been watching the diner.
Kalida knew the face.
She had seen him once before.
At the bank.
Mr. Henderson.
The sympathetic mortgage officer.
She whispered.
“Henderson.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your banker?”
“Yes.”
Elias took out his phone.
“We checked him.”
“He's not who he claims.”
“Who is he?”
“His real name is Damian Mercer.”
Silence.
Gabriel looked at the photograph again.
His expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
Elias stared.
“Boss?”
May you like
Gabriel whispered.
“Damian is my older brother.”
