Chapter 4 - Gabriel Came Home to Find His Mother Gone
The attack began before midnight.
Gabriel's safe house was secure.
Or so he believed.
When the alarm activated, armed men flooded the hallway.
Norah had the twins.
Gabriel had a gun.
Luca shouted through the radio.
“The rear cameras are down!”
Gabriel moved toward the nursery.
“Get Norah out.”
She appeared at the door.
“No.”
“Take the babies.”
“I’m staying.”
“Norah.”
“I've run enough.”
The sentence stopped him.
She wasn't the frightened woman from the day before.
She was still scared.
But she wasn't running.
They moved through the emergency corridor.
The twins were crying.
Gabriel carried their son.
Norah carried their daughter.
They made it to the armored vehicle.
Outside, gunfire erupted.
Luca returned fire.
The attackers vanished before Gabriel could catch one.
Inside the vehicle, Norah stared at him.
“This isn't over.”
“No.”
“It won't be until Victor is stopped.”
“I know.”
She looked down at the twins.
Then she whispered:
“My father once told me the Costa family survives because everyone fears them.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And if we stop being feared?”
“We become vulnerable.”
Norah met his eyes.
“Maybe that's what you need.”
He didn't answer.
When they reached the main estate, Gabriel's mother was gone.
Her bedroom had been searched.
The guards were dead.
A single red rose lay on the bed.
Gabriel stared at it.
Victor's signature.
His father had used the same symbol.
A rose for every death.
Luca found blood on the stairs.
“Is she hurt?”
“No body.”
Gabriel breathed.
“She’s alive.”
Then a phone rang.
Victor.
Gabriel answered.
“You took something from me.”
Victor laughed.
“You're finally understanding.”
“If you touch her—”
“She will be fine.”
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“You already have the archive.”
“No.”
Victor's voice hardened.
“I have copies.”
Gabriel's blood ran cold.
“What is the original?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your wife.”
Norah stepped closer.
Victor continued.
“Norah knows the access code.”
“She doesn't know anything.”
“She knows enough.”
He gave Gabriel twelve hours.
Bring Norah.
Bring the master archive.
Or Elena Costa dies.
The call ended.
Norah looked at Gabriel.
“You can't give me to him.”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We find another way.”
The next six hours became a battle of intelligence.
Luca tracked Victor's communications.
Gabriel searched old family properties.
Norah decoded pieces of Project Harbor.
The archive required three elements.
A physical key.
A blood fingerprint.
And a phrase only Norah knew.
The physical key had been buried with her father.
They returned to Bennett Cemetery.
Norah dug beside the grave.
She found a metal capsule.
Inside was a brass key and a letter.
Norah read it silently.
Then handed it to Gabriel.
Your husband will think he is the target.
He is not.
The children are.
Because whoever controls the twins can control the future of both families.
Gabriel looked at Norah.
“Why would the babies matter?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
The key opened a room beneath the cemetery chapel.
Inside was a ledger.
Names.
Dozens.
People who had been paid.
Politicians.
Judges.
Officials.
And one name that made Gabriel stop.
Bianca.
He stared.
Norah said nothing.
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I needed proof.”
The ledger showed payments to Bianca for months.
She hadn't merely been his mistress.
She had been reporting information about him.
Gabriel sat down.
The shame was overwhelming.
He had brought a spy into his bed.
He had destroyed his marriage for someone who had been using him.
Norah closed the ledger.
“You don't have to punish yourself forever.”
“I betrayed you.”
“Yes.”
“I almost lost my family.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you still here?”
She looked at the twins.
“Because I want my children to grow up knowing what their father was capable of becoming.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“That he can change.”
They found Victor's location that evening.
An abandoned church on the outskirts of Indiana.
Gabriel brought only six men.
Norah insisted on coming.
The exchange began in silence.
Victor stood beside Elena.
He was older.
Elegant.
Calm.
“Gabriel.”
“Victor.”
“You look just like your father.”
“I don't want to.”
Victor laughed.
“That is exactly why you are weak.”
Gabriel looked at his mother.
“Release her.”
“Give me the key.”
Norah stepped forward.
Victor smiled.
“Good girl.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
Norah handed him a fake.
Victor examined it.
Then he laughed.
“You always were clever.”
He raised his weapon.
A shot rang out.
But Norah had already moved.
She pulled Elena behind a pillar.
Gabriel attacked.
The church exploded into chaos.
Victor escaped through a side door.
Elena was safe.
The master archive remained secure.
But a second threat appeared.
Luca found a message on Victor's phone.
The sender was Bianca.
She had betrayed Gabriel.
But now she was asking for protection.
She claimed she knew where Victor's final weapon was.
His own lawyer.
A man named Marcus Vale.
Gabriel frowned.
“Vale?”
Luca nodded.
“Victor's son.”
Gabriel stared.
He hadn't known Victor had a son.
May you like
Norah stepped beside him.
“Then we just found the person who knows why the twins matter.”
Related Stories
