Chapter 7 - A Traitor at the Table
“No hospital.”
Harper grabbed Mateo's arm.
He stared at her.
“My water just broke.”
“I understand that.”
“Then why are we discussing this?”
“Because somebody has your medical records.”
Another contraction answered for her.
Harper bent forward.
Mateo caught her.
“Okay.”
His voice changed instantly.
“Liam!”
Everything became movement.
Elena knew a retired obstetrician who had treated the Falcone family privately.
Dr. Claire Bennett arrived forty minutes later.
After examining Harper, she delivered unexpected news.
“You're not in active labor.”
Harper stared at her.
“My water broke.”
“Partial rupture. The baby is stable. We may have time.”
“How much?”
“Hours. Maybe longer.”
Mateo stood beside the bed.
“Can she be moved?”
“Yes.”
Harper glared at him.
“Stop discussing me like furniture.”
Claire smiled.
“She has plenty of energy. That's encouraging.”
They moved to a secure residence outside Chicago.
Mateo refused to leave Harper's room.
She finally snapped.
“You're making me nervous.”
“I'm sitting.”
“You sit aggressively.”
“I didn't know that was possible.”
“It is when you do it.”
For the first time in eight months, Harper laughed.
Mateo smiled.
The moment felt dangerously normal.
Then she asked, “Did you mean it?”
“What?”
“What your mother said.”
He knew.
“That I love you?”
Harper nodded.
Mateo looked down.
“I loved you before you disappeared.”
“You never said it.”
“I thought saying it would make you vulnerable.”
“And not saying it worked beautifully.”
He almost laughed.
“I was an idiot.”
“Yes.”
“I still am sometimes.”
“Frequently.”
He moved closer.
“I love you.”
Harper's eyes filled.
She looked away.
“I can't answer that yet.”
“I know.”
“But I don't hate hearing it.”
For Mateo, that was enough.
Downstairs, Gabriel, Elena, Liam and the security team examined the Consortium records.
Harper joined remotely.
The data revealed a pattern.
Every compromised Falcone operation had one person in common.
Not Simon.
Not Liam.
Not Elena.
A lawyer.
Charles Vale.
Mateo's family attorney for twenty-six years.
“He handled my father's estate,” Mateo said.
“And your mother's fake death certificate,” Harper added.
Elena went pale.
“I never used him.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Then who filed it?”
Harper searched.
The document had been submitted electronically.
Authorized by—
Liam Russo.
Silence.
Liam stared at the screen.
“No.”
Mateo stood.
Liam slowly removed his gun and placed it on the table.
“I didn't file that.”
“The signature is yours,” Gabriel said.
“My digital signature.”
Harper zoomed in.
Then she noticed the date.
Twelve years earlier.
Three months before Liam began working for Mateo.
“It was forged.”
Liam exhaled.
Harper searched deeper.
Charles Vale had been creating identities, authorizations and access credentials for years.
Simon had not built the conspiracy.
He had merely been trapped inside it.
Mateo called Vale.
No answer.
They sent a team to his home.
Empty.
Then Harper received a text.
Unknown number.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT YOUR MEDICAL FILE DESTROYED.
Mateo saw her expression.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Harper.”
She showed him.
His jaw hardened.
“You're not going.”
“Obviously.”
Another message arrived.
WE KNEW YOU WOULD SHOW MATEO.
Then a photograph appeared.
Claire Bennett.
The doctor currently upstairs.
Harper looked toward the ceiling.
Mateo understood.
They ran.
Claire's room was empty.
The medical bag remained.
The window stood open.
On the bed lay a note.
Harper picked it up.
One sentence.
THE BABY WAS NEVER THE TARGET.
Mateo read over her shoulder.
Harper's phone rang.
She answered.
Claire's frightened voice whispered:
“Harper, listen carefully. They don't want your baby.”
A sound interrupted her.
A man's voice.
Claire began crying.
“They want Mateo to think they do.”
“Why?”
Claire whispered the answer.
Harper's face went cold.
Before she could repeat it, the line went dead.
May you like
Behind them, the bedroom door clicked shut.
And somebody locked it from the outside.
