Chapter 4 - THE LOCKED DRAWER
Gabriel did not sleep.
At dawn, he went into Claire's old bedroom.
He had not entered it alone since the funeral.
Everything remained exactly as she had left it.
Her books.
Her perfume.
A blue sweater draped over the chair.
A photograph of Claire and Eli on the nightstand.
Gabriel picked it up.
He remembered that night.
Claire had smiled.
He had been on the phone.
He hadn't looked up.
He regretted that more than anything.
Then he noticed something.
The photograph frame had a scratch.
Three small lines.
He turned it over.
There was a key taped to the back.
Gabriel stared.
Claire had hidden things from him.
A key.
He searched the room.
Nothing.
Then he remembered the desk.
One drawer had always been locked.
He had assumed Claire kept jewelry there.
The key fit.
Inside was a small flash drive.
A note rested beside it.
For the man who finally stops blaming himself.
Gabriel's eyes burned.
He took the drive downstairs.
Hannah followed.
“I shouldn't be here.”
“Yes, you should.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire trusted you.”
“She didn't trust me.”
“She gave you something.”
Hannah looked away.
“She gave me a warning.”
Gabriel inserted the drive.
A video opened.
Claire appeared on screen.
She looked exhausted.
Behind her was the same library.
“I don't know how much time I have,” she said.
Gabriel sat frozen.
“Gabriel, if you're watching this, Victor has probably already convinced you that someone else is responsible.”
She paused.
“He will tell you the bombing was meant for you.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“It wasn't.”
His face went white.
“It was meant for Eli.”
Hannah covered her mouth.
Claire continued.
“Someone discovered that Eli had witnessed something.”
The video distorted.
Then returned.
“Three weeks before the bombing, Eli saw a man leave your private office.”
Gabriel whispered:
“Who?”
Claire's voice came through.
“The man had blood on his shirt.”
Gabriel remembered.
Eli had drawn a picture that week.
A man.
A black car.
Red on his hands.
Gabriel had assumed it was a child's nightmare.
Claire hadn't.
She had investigated.
“He saw the man hide something inside your desk,” Claire said.
Gabriel stared at the desk.
His own desk.
The one beneath which he had installed the security switch.
Claire continued.
“I tried to tell you.”
She looked toward the camera.
“But you were angry.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
He remembered that night.
He had accused Claire of interfering in his business.
He had told her she was becoming paranoid.
He had walked away.
Claire wiped her eyes.
“The person who ordered the bombing is not trying to kill Eli anymore.”
A pause.
“He is trying to make sure Eli never remembers.”
The screen went black.
Gabriel stood.
“Where is Eli's old medical file?”
Hannah looked at him.
“Hospital?”
“No.”
He called the hospital.
Ten minutes later, they learned that the original neurological assessment had been altered.
One sentence had been removed.
Gabriel demanded the archived copy.
The hospital refused without a court order.
So Gabriel called someone else.
A judge who owed him a favor.
Two hours later, the original file arrived.
Gabriel read it.
His hands began to shake.
Patient demonstrates possible memory retention following traumatic event.
Below it:
Father advised to avoid exposure to triggering objects.
Gabriel looked at the date.
The note had been written by Dr. Adrian Cross.
The same doctor named in Claire's envelope.
Gabriel looked toward Hannah.
“Dr. Cross has been treating Eli for eleven months.”
“Yes.”
“Get him.”
They found him at his private clinic.
But he wasn't alone.
Victor Hale stood beside him.
Gabriel's men surrounded the building.
Victor walked outside slowly.
He wasn't afraid.
That terrified Gabriel more than anything.
“You finally figured it out,” Victor said.
Gabriel stared.
“You killed Claire.”
“No.”
“You ordered the bombing.”
“No.”
“You tried to kill Eli.”
Victor smiled.
“No.”
Gabriel's fist tightened.
“Then who did?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You.”
Gabriel froze.
“What?”
Victor stepped closer.
“You built the machine that did it.”
Gabriel stared at him.
Victor continued.
“You ordered surveillance on your own family. You gave us access. You signed every contract.”
Gabriel's blood ran cold.
“We didn't need to break into your house.”
Victor leaned closer.
“You invited us in.”
Then Dr. Cross stepped outside.
He held something in his hand.
A small red toy car.
Eli's toy.
Gabriel recognized it immediately.
His son had carried it everywhere before the bombing.
Dr. Cross looked at him.
“Ask your son what he remembers about this.”
Gabriel's face went pale.
Victor turned.
“Because the last person who touched that toy before the explosion…”
He smiled.
“…was Claire.”
Gabriel stared at the toy.
Then his phone rang.
Hannah answered.
Her face changed.
“Gabriel…”
“What?”
“Eli's missing.”
Everything inside him stopped.
“What?”
“The safe room is empty.”
Gabriel turned toward the mansion.
May you like
And for the first time in eleven months, he was no longer afraid of what the cameras might reveal.
He was afraid they might reveal nothing at all.
