Chapter 7 - Gabriel Shaw Was Alive, and He Wanted His Lost Daughter BackGabriel did not raise a weapon.
He didn't need to.
Twenty armed men stood behind him.
Declan stepped in front of Clara.
“You're dead.”
Gabriel smiled.
“That's what I wanted people to believe.”
Lily stared at him.
“You killed Victor.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“No.”
“You destroyed his network.”
“Yes.”
“You left us underground.”
“I kept you alive.”
Lily's eyes filled with anger.
“You don't get to call that mercy.”
Gabriel sighed.
“I made mistakes.”
Declan laughed bitterly.
“Mistakes?”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You know nothing about what happened.”
“I know you abandoned your children.”
“I protected them.”
“You protected yourself.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“I protected Clara.”
Clara felt her stomach tighten.
“Why me?”
Gabriel looked directly at her.
“Because you were the last person your mother trusted.”
“My mother?”
“She had evidence that could destroy everything.”
“Then why did she disappear?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Because she believed you were safer without her.”
“Is she alive?”
Silence.
Clara's breath caught.
“Is my mother alive?”
Gabriel looked away.
“Yes.”
She almost collapsed.
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because the people hunting you don't know where she is.”
Clara stepped forward.
“They know me.”
“They know about the ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“Yes, you do.”
She touched the music box.
“The memory.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Your mother encoded everything into a childhood song.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew paper could be stolen.”
Clara stared.
“What does the ledger contain?”
“Every person who paid for a child.”
“Names.”
“Yes.”
“Amounts.”
“Yes.”
“Evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then why doesn't it exist?”
Gabriel smiled.
“Because the ledger was never written down.”
Clara frowned.
“What?”
“The real ledger is in your memory.”
She felt the room spin.
“You're saying my memories are the ledger?”
“Not all of them.”
“What then?”
“The song.”
He explained that Elena had turned locations, names, dates, and transactions into melodies.
A musical code only Clara had heard often enough to remember.
Gabriel had been searching for her for years.
So had the people who wanted the network destroyed.
So had the people who wanted it revived.
“You're protecting me because I know the code.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why not force me to tell you?”
“Because I never wanted to become Victor.”
Clara looked at him.
“Yet you built the network.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“I built a shield.”
“You built a nightmare.”
“Yes.”
For the first time, Gabriel looked ashamed.
“I thought controlling criminals was the only way to control crime.”
Declan shook his head.
“And how many children suffered?”
Gabriel looked down.
“Too many.”
An explosion shook the grounds.
Everyone ducked.
Gabriel's men rushed toward the vehicles.
Declan grabbed Clara.
“We're leaving.”
Gabriel stopped him.
“Take the eastern tunnel.”
“Why?”
“Because the western road is compromised.”
Declan looked suspicious.
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
Gabriel looked at Clara.
“But trust the woman beside you.”
They escaped through the eastern tunnel.
Minutes later, the mansion exploded behind them.
Clara stared through the rear window.
“Who attacked us?”
Gabriel's voice came through the SUV radio.
“They're coming for all of us.”
Declan grabbed the radio.
“Who?”
The answer was simple.
“Elias.”
The radio went dead.
Clara looked at Declan.
“Your brother.”
“Yes.”
“He wants the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Declan clenched his jaw.
“Because he wants to resurrect the network.”
They reached a safe house.
Lily was there.
Gabriel was not.
He had stayed behind.
Declan looked at the map.
“If Elias has the remaining men, he'll attack the ports.”
Clara frowned.
“No.”
“What?”
“He won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he doesn't want the ports.”
She opened her laptop.
“He wants the original records.”
“Where?”
Clara remembered the song.
A phrase.
A hidden verse.
“Boston.”
Declan stared.
“What?”
“The oldest warehouse.”
“Which one?”
She closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“Pier nineteen.”
They drove through the night.
At Pier nineteen, they found Elias waiting.
He stood beside a shipping container.
“You're getting predictable, little brother.”
Declan raised his gun.
“It's over.”
Elias smiled.
“No.”
He opened the container.
Inside were dozens of files.
Photographs.
Passports.
Birth certificates.
But the most disturbing thing was the row of names.
Among them:
Clara Hayes.
Lily Shaw.
Declan Shaw.
Elias Shaw.
And one more.
Elena Hayes.
Clara stared.
“My mother.”
Elias smiled.
“You finally understand.”
“She was never a victim.”
“No.”
“She worked with you.”
“She built the system.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“She betrayed Victor.”
“Why?”
“To save you.”
Elias stepped closer.
“She made the ledger because she knew one day you'd need it.”
Then he said the words that broke Clara's heart.
May you like
“She didn't leave you.”
“She was taken.”
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