Chapter 5 - The Journey To Marseille
Gabriel did not want Emily anywhere near Marseille.
Emily went anyway.
They traveled with a small team.
Mercer.
Luca.
Two security specialists.
And Gabriel.
The city welcomed them with rain and old stone.
Emily had never been to France.
Yet something about Marseille felt hauntingly familiar.
The harbor.
The narrow streets.
The smell of salt.
The old warehouses.
Her mother had spent time here.
A hidden life.
Gabriel watched Emily constantly.
"You've been quiet."
"I'm listening."
"To what?"
"The city."
He smiled.
"That sounds ridiculous."
"No."
She looked toward the harbor.
"I think I know this place."
They entered an abandoned warehouse.
Inside they found documents.
Photographs.
Financial records.
An old medical file.
Emily picked it up.
Her name appeared on the front.
She opened it.
Then froze.
There was a second medical record.
A pregnancy report.
Evelyn Carter.
She had been pregnant before Emily was born.
The father was listed as unknown.
Gabriel read it.
"So?"
Emily stared.
"The dates."
"What about them?"
"She was already pregnant when she met my father."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"That doesn't make sense."
She kept reading.
Then her hands began to shake.
"There was another child."
Silence.
"What?"
"A twin."
Gabriel stared.
Emily looked up.
"My mother had twins."
One name.
Emily Carter.
The other had been blacked out.
Before they could investigate, gunfire erupted outside.
Mercer shouted.
"Move!"
The team scattered.
Gabriel grabbed Emily's hand.
They ran through a side corridor.
A bullet struck the wall.
Another shattered a window.
They reached the basement.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Gray hair.
A scar above her eyebrow.
Emily stopped breathing.
"Mom."
Evelyn looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Oh, my baby."
Emily ran into her arms.
For several seconds, mother and daughter simply held each other.
Then Emily pulled back.
"You lied."
"I know."
"You were alive."
"I know."
"You let me bury you."
"I wanted you safe."
"You let me think you were dead."
"I had to."
"Why?"
Evelyn looked toward Gabriel.
"Because Matteo wasn't the only enemy."
Gabriel stepped closer.
"Who else?"
Evelyn whispered:
"Your father."
Gabriel froze.
"My father?"
"Your father ordered the accident."
Gabriel's face went white.
Evelyn continued.
"He wanted Emily because of what she knew."
"What did she know?"
"Nothing consciously."
"Then why?"
Evelyn looked at her daughter.
"Because I placed the evidence inside her."
Emily stared.
"What evidence?"
"Names."
"Of what?"
"Every person who belonged to Matteo's network."
Gabriel's eyes widened.
"Where?"
Evelyn touched Emily's necklace.
The necklace Emily had worn since childhood.
A tiny silver pendant.
"Your father hid the data chip inside that."
Emily removed it.
Gabriel looked at the pendant.
"It's been with you for twenty years."
She opened it.
Inside was a microscopic storage device.
The evidence was still there.
But before they could access it, the basement doors exploded open.
Men flooded inside.
Gabriel drew his weapon.
Evelyn shouted:
"Take Emily and go!"
"No."
"Gabriel!"
"I don't leave people behind."
Evelyn looked at him.
For one brief moment, she smiled.
"Now I understand why my daughter loves you."
Emily froze.
Gabriel looked at her.
Then at Evelyn.
The words hung in the air.
Love.
Neither of them spoke.
Then the shooting started.
The room erupted.
Gabriel pushed Emily behind a concrete pillar.
Mercer returned fire.
Evelyn grabbed a weapon.
Emily stared.
Her mother was not the fragile woman she remembered.
She was trained.
Precise.
Terrifying.
Within minutes, the attackers retreated.
One remained.
Gabriel dragged him forward.
"Who sent you?"
The man laughed.
"You're already too late."
"Too late for what?"
"Your wedding."
Emily frowned.
"What wedding?"
The man smiled.
"Matteo said the little doctor will be his bride."
Gabriel's expression became murderous.
Emily stared.
"He's insane."
The man laughed again.
"Maybe."
Then he whispered:
"But someone in this room already agreed."
Everyone went silent.
Mercer.
Luca.
Evelyn.
Gabriel.
May you like
Someone had betrayed them.
And the traitor was standing among them.
