Chapter 3 - The Name Hidden in Gabriel’s Father’s File
Gabriel did not reach for his weapon.
That was the first thing Serena noticed.
The second was his expression.
No anger.
No surprise.
Only calculation.
“Why are you here?”
Serena closed the vault door.
“You left it open.”
“I never leave it open.”
She smiled.
“Then someone opened it.”
Gabriel glanced at the file in his hand.
“My father wrote your name.”
Her smile vanished.
“When?”
“Years before he died.”
“About what?”
“You tell me.”
Serena looked away.
Gabriel opened the file.
The note was short.
If Gabriel ever trusts Serena more than Naomi, he has already lost.
Serena began shaking.
“That isn't what you think.”
“What do I think?”
“That I killed your father.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was investigating you?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
“What did he know?”
Serena sat.
“Everything.”
The word landed like a stone.
Gabriel stared.
She continued.
“Our family wasn't as clean as you believed.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You know what people tell you.”
“What do you know?”
“Your father planned to leave.”
“Leave what?”
“Everything.”
Gabriel frowned.
“The organization.”
“He wanted to disappear.”
“Why didn't he?”
“Because of me.”
Serena's voice broke.
“When I was seventeen, I was kidnapped.”
Gabriel remembered.
The event had changed the family.
His father had become obsessed with security.
His mother had stopped leaving the house.
Serena had survived.
Or so Gabriel believed.
“They told us you were taken by Victor.”
“They lied.”
“Who?”
Serena looked at him.
“Your father.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father kidnapped you?”
“No.”
“He arranged it.”
Gabriel stepped back.
“Why?”
“To teach himself what fear felt like.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does when you know what he was planning.”
She took a breath.
“Your father had enemies inside the organization.”
“And he staged your kidnapping?”
“To draw them out.”
Gabriel said nothing.
“It worked.”
“Then why hide it?”
“Because one of them realized I wasn't really kidnapped.”
“Who?”
“Your father's closest adviser.”
Gabriel froze.
“Adrian?”
Serena nodded.
Adrian Blake had been their father's right hand for thirty years.
He had helped raise Gabriel.
He had attended his wedding.
He was the man Gabriel trusted with every secret.
“He was the one leaking information?”
Serena nodded.
“Back then.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“And now?”
She didn't answer.
“That doesn't explain Naomi.”
“Yes, it does.”
Serena looked at him.
“Naomi has been investigating Adrian.”
Gabriel froze.
“What?”
“She found his shell companies.”
“Then why accuse her?”
“To protect you.”
“By making me hate my wife?”
Serena's face twisted.
“You never listen when you're afraid.”
Gabriel's voice turned dangerous.
“Did you fabricate the evidence?”
“No.”
“The audio?”
She hesitated.
“I edited it.”
Everything stopped.
Gabriel stared.
“Why?”
“Because Naomi was meeting Victor.”
“She wasn't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Because she was meeting a woman who used to work for our foundation.”
Serena shook her head.
“You're defending her again.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I'm investigating.”
A phone buzzed.
Serena looked down.
Gabriel saw the screen.
Unknown number.
Her face drained.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Answer.”
She did.
Nobody spoke.
Then a man's voice came through.
“You have failed.”
Serena's eyes widened.
“Please.”
Gabriel listened.
“Gabriel knows.”
A pause.
“Then you know what happens next.”
The call ended.
Gabriel took the phone.
“Who was that?”
She whispered:
“Adrian.”
Gabriel stared at the screen.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
He walked toward the door.
Rafael entered.
“Boss.”
“Find Adrian Blake.”
Rafael nodded.
“He already knows we're looking.”
“How?”
Rafael looked at Serena.
“She sent a message.”
Gabriel turned.
Serena shook her head.
“I didn't.”
Rafael held up a tablet.
A message had been sent from Serena's device.
HE KNOWS.
RUN.
Gabriel looked at his sister.
She whispered:
“Someone is using my phone.”
Then the building alarm sounded.
Someone had entered through the lower level.
Gabriel drew his weapon.
“Stay here.”
Serena grabbed his arm.
“They'll kill me.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, he didn't know if she was asking for protection or buying time.
He removed her hand.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I am.”
“Then prove it.”
Gabriel left.
Downstairs, shots echoed.
Rafael returned minutes later.
“Clear.”
Gabriel looked around.
“Find Adrian?”
“No.”
“What did we find?”
Rafael placed a small envelope on the table.
“Under Serena's car.”
Gabriel opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Naomi.
Pregnant.
Leaving a clinic.
On the back were 6 words.
SHE KNOWS WHAT YOU DON'T.
Gabriel's blood went cold.
“What's the clinic?”
Rafael checked.
“High-risk pregnancy center.”
Gabriel stared.
“Why was Naomi there?”
Rafael looked at him.
“She had a medical appointment.”
Gabriel felt ashamed.
He had known she had a prenatal appointment.
He had simply forgotten.
Or perhaps he had deliberately pushed it aside because he was drowning in suspicion.
“Call her.”
Her phone went straight to voicemail.
“Again.”
No answer.
Gabriel's heart began pounding.
He called the clinic.
“Is Mrs. Mercer there?”
“I'm sorry, her appointment ended an hour ago.”
“Did she leave alone?”
The receptionist hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel hung up.
Rafael spoke.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Naomi never arrived at the clinic.”
Gabriel froze.
“Then whose appointment was it?”
Rafael showed him the file.
Someone had used Naomi's name.
But the patient photograph wasn't her.
Gabriel's eyes widened.
A false appointment.
A staged trail.
Someone wanted him looking at a clinic while the real Naomi was somewhere else.
He called her again.
This time, someone answered.
Silence.
Then breathing.
“Naomi?”
A man's voice replied.
“You should have believed your wife.”
The line went dead.
Gabriel's entire world stopped.
“Find her.”
Rafael nodded.
“Every camera.”
“Every tower.”
“Every vehicle.”
“Shut down the city if you have to.”
Gabriel looked at Serena.
She was crying.
“Gabriel…”
He stared at her.
“If she dies…”
He didn't finish.
Because for the first time, the sentence wasn't a threat.
May you like
It was a confession.
He would never forgive himself.
