Chapter 4 - Mrs. Gable's Secret
Mrs. Gable had worked for the Rossi family for twenty-eight years.
She knew every room.
Every secret passage.
Every employee.
Every family argument.
And apparently, my father.
When I confronted her, she didn't deny it.
“I wondered when you'd find the box.”
Lorenzo stood beside me.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Since before you were born.”
I stared.
“My father trusted you.”
“He did.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew the people hunting him would kill you too.”
Lorenzo's eyes hardened.
“Where is Patrick?”
Mrs. Gable shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You've lied enough.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I have protected enough.”
Then she told us the truth.
Patrick had discovered that Giovanni was stealing from the Rossi family.
But Giovanni wasn't acting alone.
There was a second person inside Lorenzo's inner circle.
Someone who had access to every security system.
Someone who could make people disappear.
Someone who could control hospital records.
Lily.
I looked at her.
“You're saying the person watching my sister is someone in the mansion?”
Mrs. Gable nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I never saw their face.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
“Then what did you see?”
“A symbol.”
She described it.
A small black raven.
I remembered it.
I had seen the symbol on a ring.
Thomas wore one.
Vincent wore one.
But there was another.
One I had never paid attention to.
Lorenzo's personal security chief.
Gabriel.
He entered the room carrying files.
“Boss.”
His face was calm.
He had served Lorenzo for twelve years.
Mrs. Gable looked at him.
Then immediately looked away.
Lorenzo noticed.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know this symbol?”
Gabriel's face didn't move.
“No.”
Mrs. Gable whispered:
“Liar.”
Gabriel drew his gun.
Everything happened at once.
Lorenzo fired.
Gabriel dove behind the desk.
Security rushed in.
Mrs. Gable pushed me down.
Lily screamed.
Gabriel escaped through a hidden passage.
Lorenzo looked at me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Lily?”
She shook her head.
Mrs. Gable was bleeding from the shoulder.
The bullet had grazed her.
Lorenzo rushed to her.
“You're coming with us.”
She nodded.
As we moved through the hallway, Mrs. Gable grabbed my wrist.
“Norah.”
“Yes?”
“Your father is alive.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“He contacted me six months ago.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he say?”
She looked at Lorenzo.
“Find the raven.”
Then she fainted.
That night, Lorenzo sat outside the hospital room.
I joined him.
Neither spoke.
After an hour, he finally said:
“I should have known.”
“You couldn't.”
“I let them into my house.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
I looked at him.
“Lorenzo.”
He turned.
“You don't have to carry everything alone.”
His expression softened.
“That's a dangerous thing to say to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I might start believing it.”
The silence between us changed.
I looked away.
Then he said:
“Norah.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for staying.”
I didn't know what to say.
So I simply nodded.
That night, I fell asleep in a chair outside Mrs. Gable's room.
When I woke, Lorenzo had placed his coat over me.
I stared at it.
He stood by the window.
“You'll get sick.”
“I wasn't cold.”
“You were.”
“Were you watching me?”
“Yes.”
Something fluttered inside my chest.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Send the coordinates.”
He ended the call.
“Patrick.”
I stood.
“What?”
“They found a man matching his description.”
“Alive?”
“Possibly.”
“Where?”
Lorenzo looked at me.
“An abandoned cabin in Michigan.”
May you like
My father's ghost had just become a possibility.
And we were going to find him.
