Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Never Died
Gabriel couldn't move.
Evelyn Vale looked older than the photographs in his memory, but there was no mistake.
Same gray-green eyes.
Same scar above her eyebrow.
Same calm voice.
"You died."
"No."
"We buried you."
"You buried an empty coffin."
Dominic groaned.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
"Why?"
Evelyn looked at the gun.
"Because your father was going to kill me."
Gabriel almost laughed.
"My father worshiped you."
"Your father worshiped control."
She stepped closer.
"He built an empire and called it protection. When I tried to leave with you and Dominic, he stopped me."
"So you disappeared."
"I survived."
"And Sofia?"
Pain crossed Evelyn's face.
Gabriel saw it.
"You knew."
"Gabriel—"
"You knew what happened to her."
"I tried to stop it."
"You let me believe she died because of me."
Evelyn's composure cracked.
"Because if Matteo knew I'd contacted you, he would've killed everyone helping me."
"He's been dead eight years."
"His network isn't."
Gabriel held up the ledger.
"You paid Harrow."
"Yes."
"You killed him?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
"Matteo was poisoned by the same people he thought he controlled."
"Names."
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
"First we save your brother."
Gabriel nearly refused.
Then Dominic collapsed.
They moved him to a hidden medical room beneath the house.
Evelyn had prepared it years ago.
Gabriel watched her treat Dominic's wound.
"You've been here this whole time?"
"Sometimes."
"You watched us?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you come back?"
"Because I learned who controlled your father's organization."
Gabriel laughed bitterly.
"I control it."
"No."
The word landed hard.
"You inherited the visible empire."
Evelyn finished wrapping Dominic's side.
"But someone else inherited the machinery beneath it."
"Who?"
"Adrian Cross."
Gabriel knew the name.
A billionaire logistics executive.
Charities.
Hospitals.
Political donations.
Untouchable.
"He isn't mafia."
"Exactly."
Evelyn opened another compartment.
Documents filled it.
"Your father moved money for Cross. Judges, ports, police contracts. Cross needed someone criminals feared. Matteo needed someone respectable people trusted."
"And after Dad died?"
"Cross needed you."
Gabriel understood.
His victories.
His expansion.
Rivals who vanished before he moved against them.
Someone had been shaping his empire.
"Silas?"
"Cross recruited him."
"Dominic?"
Evelyn looked at her wounded son.
"Manipulated."
Gabriel's fists tightened.
"Why bury me alive?"
"Cross wanted a succession war. Dominic would take your organization, Silas would control Dominic, and Cross would remain invisible."
"Then Eli found me."
"Yes."
A nine-year-old child and a golden retriever had destroyed a plan years in the making.
Gabriel almost smiled.
Then he remembered the photograph.
"Cross knows Eli."
"He knows everyone now."
Gabriel immediately called Sarah.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Walter didn't answer either.
His pulse quickened.
He called the clean phone he'd given Eli.
A child answered.
"Gabriel?"
Relief hit him.
"Eli. Where's your mother?"
"Right here."
"Put her on."
Sarah answered.
"We're okay."
"Leave the cabin."
"Where?"
Gabriel looked at Evelyn.
She nodded toward a map.
"There's a church in Banner Elk," Evelyn said. "Father Brennan. Tell him Evelyn sent you."
Gabriel relayed the instructions.
Sarah hesitated.
"Are you coming?"
"Yes."
"You promised Eli."
"I know."
Gabriel hung up.
Dominic woke an hour later.
His first words were, "I'm sorry."
Gabriel sat beside him.
"For which part?"
"All of it."
"That'll take a while."
Dominic nodded.
"Fair."
Gabriel showed him the documents.
Dominic stared at Evelyn.
"You knew?"
"Not enough."
Dominic looked at Gabriel.
"Cross approached me six months ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"He showed me evidence you ordered Sofia's kidnapping."
Gabriel froze.
"What?"
"I believed it."
"How could you?"
"Because he had your signature."
Evelyn interrupted.
"Forged."
Dominic closed his eyes.
"I thought you'd sacrificed her to keep Dad's alliance."
Gabriel stood.
He needed distance.
His brother had betrayed him because someone had convinced him Gabriel was a monster.
Perhaps that was the price of becoming one.
People eventually believed the worst.
Gabriel walked outside.
Snow had stopped.
His phone vibrated.
Sarah.
He answered immediately.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a man spoke.
"Mr. Vale."
Gabriel recognized Adrian Cross from television.
"You've caused an extraordinary amount of inconvenience."
"Where's the boy?"
"Safe."
Gabriel's blood chilled.
"You touch him—"
"Your threats are why we're here."
Cross sounded almost bored.
"Bring me your father's ledger."
"Where?"
"St. Matthew's Church."
Gabriel looked at Evelyn.
She heard.
Cross continued.
"Come alone."
Gabriel asked, "And Eli?"
"You'll see him."
The call ended.
Gabriel checked the map.
St. Matthew's wasn't the church Evelyn had named.
It was forty miles away.
A trap.
Obviously.
But Cross had Eli.
Gabriel turned toward the door.
Evelyn stopped him.
"Think."
"He has the boy."
"That's why you must think."
Dominic forced himself upright.
"We go together."
"No."
"You can't keep doing this alone."
Gabriel looked at him.
"Neither can you."
For the first time in years, the brothers understood each other.
They prepared.
At dawn, Gabriel reached St. Matthew's.
The church appeared abandoned.
He entered.
No Eli.
No Cross.
Only a laptop sitting on the altar.
The screen turned on.
Live video.
Eli sat in a chair.
Scout lay beside him.
Neither appeared injured.
Cross entered the frame.
"Ledger."
Gabriel held it up.
"Boy first."
Cross smiled.
"Your father used to negotiate exactly like that."
"Where is he?"
"Closer than you think."
Gabriel frowned.
Cross leaned toward the camera.
"Did your mother tell you everything?"
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"What does that mean?"
"Ask her what happened to Sofia."
The feed went black.
Gabriel turned slowly toward Evelyn.
She had entered behind him.
Her face was pale.
"What happened to Sofia?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Gabriel stepped closer.
"What happened to my sister?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Gabriel..."
Then a small side door beside the altar opened.
A woman stepped through.
Gabriel stared at her.
She had his mother's eyes.
And she said the name no one had called him since childhood.
May you like
"Gabe?"
His dead sister was standing in front of him.
