Chapter 6 - The Betrayal No One Saw Coming
The silver ring changed everything.
Gabriel became convinced someone inside his organization had been helping the enemy for years.
Nobody was trusted.
Not even Leo.
Not even Paulie.
Especially Paulie.
But there was a problem.
Paulie had vanished.
His hospital room was empty.
The police found no sign of him.
Gabriel stood in the command room of his downtown office.
“I want every camera.”
Leo handed him files.
“We’re reviewing footage.”
I sat at the conference table, staring at the old family records.
My mind kept returning to the same question.
Why would my mother build Project Dawn?
“She wasn't evil,” I said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“I know.”
“She built it to protect people.”
“Yes.”
“Then someone turned it into blackmail.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
I shook my head.
“There was more.”
Gabriel waited.
“The system wasn't just about blackmail. Whoever controlled it could predict where people were vulnerable.”
“Meaning?”
“They could destroy anyone.”
I thought about the restaurant.
Paulie’s poisoning.
Rosa’s murder.
The attempted shooting.
“They're not trying to kill you quickly.”
Gabriel understood.
“They're dismantling my trust.”
I nodded.
“They want you isolated.”
“And afraid.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel stared at me.
“You think they're trying to make me destroy my own organization.”
“I think they're trying to make you destroy everyone who could protect you.”
He was silent.
Then Leo entered.
“We found the person who rented the storage unit.”
“Who?”
Leo placed a photograph on the desk.
I recognized her immediately.
My mother.
Claire Bennett.
Or Eleanor Cross.
My hands went cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“She rented it six months ago,” Leo said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“She has been planning something.”
I stood.
“I need to see her.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“She is my mother.”
“She may be the person behind this.”
I stared at him.
“You don't believe that.”
“I don't know what to believe.”
“Then let me find out.”
Gabriel looked at me for a long moment.
“Fine.”
We found my mother at an abandoned church.
She was waiting.
No disguise.
No fear.
When she saw me, she cried.
“Norah.”
I ran to her.
She held me so tightly I could barely breathe.
Then I stepped back.
“Why?”
She looked at Gabriel.
He stood several feet away.
“Because I promised Evelyn.”
“What promise?”
“To keep you alive.”
“You lied to me for twenty years.”
“I saved your life.”
“You erased it.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You were four.”
“I was still your daughter.”
She nodded.
“You were Amelia.”
I whispered, “Tell me everything.”
She finally did.
After the fire, she took me.
Rosa helped.
Evelyn was already dead.
Richard had been shot.
Gabriel had been trapped upstairs.
My mother believed everyone would be killed.
She took me and disappeared.
“Why didn't you come back?”
“Because Anthony D’Amico threatened us.”
“But he died.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“What?”
“Anthony never died.”
Everyone froze.
My mother continued.
“He faked his death.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You've known for years.”
“I knew he was alive. I didn't know where.”
“Then why now?”
She looked at me.
“Because he came back.”
My stomach dropped.
“He contacted me three months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“You.”
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Amelia was never just your sister.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Evelyn created Project Dawn for one reason.”
“To protect the family.”
“No.”
My mother shook her head.
“To protect the person who could destroy it.”
I stared.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
She explained that Evelyn had hidden the master access key inside the genetic records of her children.
Gabriel had one half.
I had the other.
Together, we could access the original Project Dawn archive.
That archive contained names.
Money trails.
Evidence.
Enough to destroy the network.
“And Anthony wants it.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“So this entire war is about us.”
My mother nodded.
“The poison. Rosa. The attacks. Everything.”
Then headlights appeared outside.
Dozens of them.
Gabriel reached for his weapon.
My mother whispered.
“He found us.”
The church doors exploded inward.
Gunmen stormed the sanctuary.
Gabriel pulled me behind a pillar.
Leo fired.
My mother screamed.
Then a man stepped through the smoke.
Older.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
Silver ring with a black stone.
Anthony D’Amico.
He looked directly at me.
“Hello, Amelia.”
I froze.
He smiled.
“You look exactly like your mother.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
Anthony laughed.
“Go ahead.”
Then he held up a phone.
On the screen was my mother’s face.
But she wasn't standing beside us.
The woman next to me wasn't Claire.
It was a decoy.
I turned.
The woman beside me smiled.
May you like
Then stabbed me.
Everything went black.
