Chapter 8 - THE GRAVE
Claire's grave was empty.
Gabriel knew it before he reached it.
The coffin had been opened.
The cemetery was deserted.
Rain fell across the marble stone.
Hannah stood beside him.
“Why would Daniel bring you here?”
Gabriel stared at the open ground.
“Because Claire left something here.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Not here.”
Gabriel turned.
Daniel stood beneath an umbrella.
Twenty years older.
Scarred.
Alive.
He looked at Gabriel.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Daniel smiled.
“You look just like Dad.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
Daniel didn't move.
“You killed Claire.”
“No.”
“You ordered the bombing.”
“No.”
“You threatened my son.”
Daniel's smile vanished.
“I saved your son.”
Gabriel froze.
Daniel continued.
“The bomb was supposed to kill you.”
“What?”
“Your enemies wanted you dead.”
“Then why did Claire die?”
“Because she switched vehicles.”
Gabriel's face changed.
“She knew.”
Daniel nodded.
“She knew they were coming.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she discovered who ordered it.”
Gabriel stared.
“Who?”
Daniel looked directly at him.
“Your father.”
Gabriel's gun lowered slightly.
“No.”
“Your father wanted you removed.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed you were becoming uncontrollable.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You're lying.”
Daniel pulled out a recording.
Claire's voice.
“Gabriel, please listen.”
Gabriel went still.
“I know what you're going to think.”
Claire sounded exhausted.
“Daniel didn't kill me.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“I trusted him because he was the only one who believed me.”
Daniel looked away.
“She asked me to protect Eli.”
Gabriel stared.
“Why didn't you?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Victor betrayed us.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“He told your father where Claire was.”
Gabriel's stomach twisted.
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you work with him?”
“I didn't.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I used him.”
Gabriel lowered the gun.
“Where is Victor?”
Daniel smiled.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Who is paying him?”
Daniel handed Gabriel a file.
Inside were bank records.
Gabriel read the name.
His face went white.
The money came from a company he owned.
Not Victor.
Not Daniel.
Gabriel.
His own corporation had been financing the operation.
For years.
He looked at Daniel.
“How?”
“Your father created a trust.”
Gabriel stared.
“When you inherited the company, you inherited the trust.”
“And the money?”
“Went wherever the trust directed.”
Gabriel's mind raced.
The cameras.
The security company.
Victor.
The doctors.
Everything had been financed through his own empire.
He had unknowingly funded the people hunting his family.
Daniel stepped closer.
“You didn't hide the crime from yourself, Gabriel.”
Gabriel looked up.
“You built a life designed not to let yourself see it.”
Then Daniel walked away.
Gabriel didn't shoot.
He couldn't.
Not anymore.
Back at the mansion, Eli was waiting.
Hannah had stayed with him.
Gabriel entered.
Eli looked at his face.
“Did you see him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he bad?”
Gabriel knelt.
“He did bad things.”
Eli thought about it.
“Did he save me?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Maybe.”
Eli looked toward the window.
“Then why does everybody lie?”
Gabriel had no answer.
That night, Gabriel shut down every camera in the house.
One by one.
Black screens.
Silence.
Hannah watched.
“You sure?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because my son deserves a house where he isn't being watched every second.”
Hannah smiled.
Gabriel looked at Eli.
The boy was asleep.
For the first time in eleven months, the mansion felt peaceful.
Then the security alarm sounded.
One camera had turned itself back on.
The screen displayed a live image.
Eli's bedroom.
But the room was empty.
Gabriel ran upstairs.
Eli was gone.
Again.
Only this time, the window was open.
May you like
And on the floor was a note.
You should have kept the cameras.
