Chapter 4 - The Secret Phone Led Me to a Hidden Recording, and Gabriel Discovered His Girlfriend Had Betrayed Him for a Reason Nobody Expected
The FBI spent the next three hours tracing Leo's call.
They identified a relay tower near Red Hook, but the signal had bounced between several buildings before disappearing.
It wasn't enough to locate him.
Harper paced the conference room while Rachel and Michael studied the map.
Gabriel sat near the window, his injured shoulder wrapped in a fresh bandage. He had refused pain medication and spent most of the morning making calls in a low voice.
Every time Harper glanced toward him, he seemed to be listening to something nobody else could hear.
Finally, she stopped pacing.
“Why did Leo owe Benny sixty thousand dollars?”
Gabriel looked up.
“Gambling.”
“I know that. I want to know why Benny lent him so much money in the first place.”
“People like Benny don't lend money because they expect gratitude.”
“They lend money because they want something.”
“Exactly.”
Harper folded her arms.
“What does Roman want from Leo?”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Possibly information about you.”
“Or the key.”
“Or both.”
Harper sat down.
She remembered the strange way Roman had reacted to her last name. He hadn't simply recognized Daniel Bennett. He had looked as though the discovery had changed the entire operation.
Her father had been important enough for two rival families to keep searching for his records for more than a decade.
And Leo, who had never been interested in anything beyond football, video games, and the occasional disastrous business idea, had somehow become part of the same mystery.
Harper rubbed her temples.
“I need to know what my father did.”
Rachel turned from the computer.
“We found something else at the storage unit.”
She placed a small digital recorder on the table.
“It was hidden inside the desk drawer. The device contains several audio files, but the recordings are encrypted.”
Harper leaned forward.
“Can you open them?”
“Our technical team is working on it.”
Gabriel studied the recorder.
“Let me see.”
Rachel pushed it away from him.
“No.”
He gave her a cold look.
“You want to know what Daniel Bennett was hiding. So do I.”
“Then cooperate with the investigation.”
“I am cooperating.”
“You threatened three of my agents in the parking garage.”
“They were standing between me and Harper.”
“They were doing their jobs.”
Gabriel sighed.
“Fine. Put it on the table.”
Rachel hesitated before allowing him to examine the device.
He turned it over in his hand.
“There's a serial number on the back. This model was used by private shipping firms about fifteen years ago.”
Harper watched his face.
“Does it mean anything?”
“Maybe.”
He reached into his pocket and removed a small card.
“My father kept a similar recorder. He used it to document private meetings.”
Rachel immediately looked up.
“Do you still have it?”
“No. It disappeared after his death.”
Harper frowned.
“Could the recordings explain why my father disappeared?”
“Possibly.”
A technician entered the room carrying a laptop.
“We've recovered one file.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He connected the recorder to the laptop and opened the audio.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice emerged.
Daniel Bennett.
Harper recognized it instantly.
Her father had spoken more slowly than she remembered, with a slight rasp that grew stronger when he was tired.
“If you're hearing this, Antonio, then I failed to convince you to leave the port business alone.”
A second voice answered.
Antonio Rossi.
“I can't abandon the company now. Too many people depend on it.”
“Too many people are using it.”
“They'll destroy everything if I pull out.”
“Then let them try.”
Silence followed.
Then Antonio spoke again.
“You don't understand what you're asking me to do.”
“I understand exactly what I'm asking. The money is being moved through companies that don't exist. Children are being used to threaten debtors. People are disappearing. If you continue to protect the people responsible, you'll become one of them.”
Harper covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
Antonio's voice sounded exhausted.
“What do you want from me?”
“Give me the original ledger. I'll make copies for the authorities. Then we can expose the people who have been stealing from both families.”
“And if I refuse?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Then I take the evidence myself.”
The recording ended abruptly.
Nobody spoke.
Harper stared at the laptop.
Her father had known about the criminal activity. He had tried to stop it. And Antonio Rossi, Gabriel's father, had been caught in the middle.
Gabriel's face was pale.
“My father never told me about this conversation.”
Rachel closed the laptop.
“We need the remaining files.”
The technician nodded.
“We're working on them.”
Harper looked at Gabriel.
“Your father trusted mine.”
“Yes.”
“And my father trusted yours.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did everything fall apart?”
Gabriel stared at the dark screen.
“Because someone made sure neither man survived long enough to explain what they knew.”
The words settled over the room like a threat.
Rachel ordered the recording copied and secured. Then she turned to Gabriel.
“Do you have any reason to believe Victoria Hayes knew about these records?”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“She was involved in the shipping acquisition.”
“How?”
“She represented several investors who wanted to purchase a controlling interest in the terminal.”
“Falcone investors?”
“I don't know.”
“You've been dating her for three years. Surely you know who she does business with.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“I know what she told me.”
“And you believed her?”
He looked away.
That was answer enough.
Harper studied him.
“You loved her.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“Did you know she was betraying you?”
“No.”
“Did you suspect it?”
His jaw tightened.
“Not until I read your note.”
Harper felt a strange ache in her chest.
She barely knew Gabriel Rossi. She had no reason to care about his romantic life. Yet she understood the humiliation of discovering that someone you trusted had been lying to you.
She had watched Leo make promises he couldn't keep. She had listened to her mother insist that everything was fine when bills went unpaid. She had spent years trying to protect people who refused to tell her the truth.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Why are you staring at me?”
“Because you look like someone who doesn't know what to do when he can't control the situation.”
A faint, humorless smile crossed his face.
“You're very observant for a waitress.”
“And you're very defensive for a man who claims he doesn't care what anyone thinks.”
For a moment, the tension in his face eased.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
And went completely still.
“What did you say?”
He listened again.
“Send it to me.”
He ended the call and looked at Rachel.
“We found Victoria.”
Harper stood.
“Where?”
“An abandoned hotel near the waterfront.”
“Is she alive?”
“Apparently.”
Rachel immediately ordered a team to prepare for a coordinated operation.
Gabriel rose.
“I'm going.”
“No,” Rachel said.
“She's my girlfriend.”
“She's also a potential witness and a possible suspect in a violent attack. We will handle the extraction.”
“If Roman has her, he won't wait for your paperwork.”
Rachel met his gaze.
“If you interfere, you'll compromise the operation.”
Gabriel turned toward Harper.
“Stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Harper—”
“You don't get to order me around.”
“This isn't about ordering you around. Roman knows your name. If he sees you, he'll use you to get to me.”
“He already tried.”
“And I won't let him do it again.”
The words came out sharper than he intended.
Harper stared at him.
For a moment, she saw something beneath the cold authority.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for her.
She looked away first.
“I need to know whether Victoria can explain what happened.”
Rachel considered the request.
“Harper will remain in the command vehicle. She won't enter the building.”
Gabriel looked as though he wanted to argue.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
The abandoned hotel stood at the edge of the waterfront, its windows dark and its entrance blocked by rusted construction barriers.
The FBI established a perimeter while Gabriel's security team waited at a distance.
Harper sat in the command vehicle beside Michael, watching the surveillance feed.
The hotel appeared empty.
Then a figure moved behind an upstairs window.
Victoria.
Her hands were tied, and a man stood behind her.
Harper's stomach tightened.
“That's Roman?”
Michael nodded.
“Looks like him.”
The operation began.
Officers entered through two separate doors. Gabriel remained outside until the team reported that the ground floor was clear.
Then the radio crackled.
“Possible suspect on the second floor. Moving toward the rear staircase.”
Another voice followed.
“Hostage located. One armed male present.”
Harper gripped the edge of her seat.
A sudden burst of static filled the vehicle.
Then a shout.
“Shots fired!”
She jumped.
Michael reached for his radio.
“Status?”
No answer.
“Status!”
A second later, the feed returned.
The hostage room was empty.
Victoria was gone.
So was Roman.
Gabriel appeared on the monitor, running through the corridor with two officers behind him.
Then the camera showed something on the floor.
A small disposable phone.
The same kind Victoria had used in the restaurant.
Michael retrieved it minutes later.
The screen was cracked, but the last message remained visible.
“Package recovered. Bennett girl confirmed. Rossi will come for her.”
Harper felt the blood drain from her face.
The message was timestamped before the attack on the restaurant.
Someone had known about her before she ever approached Gabriel's table.
She looked at Michael.
“Who is the Bennett girl?”
Michael didn't answer.
Harper stood.
“Who were they talking about?”
Gabriel entered the command vehicle, his expression grim.
“They were talking about you.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
He held up the recovered phone.
“Because Victoria wasn't just telling Roman where I was sitting.”
May you like
He looked at Harper.
“She was telling him that Daniel Bennett's daughter had finally appeared.”
Related Stories
