Chapter 6 - Titan Remembered Her
They reached the mansion in twelve minutes.
Sophia was safe.
Titan had cornered an intruder inside an empty guest room without attacking him.
The man escaped through a window before security reached him.
But he left something behind.
An old leather dog collar.
Gabriel recognized it.
“Mara’s.”
He explained.
Years earlier, Mara had rescued Titan as a puppy.
Gabriel had helped care for him while hiding at Mara’s rural property.
During Elena’s pregnancy, Gabriel had kept one photograph beside Titan’s kennel.
Elena.
After Sophia was born, he added photographs of her.
It sounded impossible that a dog could recognize a child from photographs.
Gabriel clarified.
“It wasn't the photographs.”
Elena frowned.
“Mara kept one of Sophia’s baby blankets. You mailed it to me before I disappeared completely.”
Elena remembered.
Titan had slept with that blanket during the months Gabriel remained hidden.
Sophia smelled familiar.
Family.
That was why Titan’s defensive posture changed when she approached.
Not magic.
Memory.
Adrian sat quietly beside the dog.
“You remembered before any of us did.”
Titan rested his head against his knee.
The encrypted flash drive opened with the identification number from Titan’s original collar.
Inside were recordings.
Charles Vane’s voice.
Financial transactions.
Threats.
Proof of the staged crash.
Proof he had blackmailed employees.
And proof he planned to frame Gabriel for Adrian’s death.
The bottle beneath Adrian’s desk had been planted for exactly that reason.
But Adrian had not been poisoned.
Dr. Reynolds’s tests revealed a powerful sedative had been added to Adrian’s water in a non-lethal dose.
The purpose was to frighten them and restart the old investigation.
Vane wanted the flash drive.
He believed Gabriel had hidden it somewhere connected to Adrian.
He had used them to find it.
Now they had what he wanted.
Adrian made a decision.
They would stop running.
Dante contacted federal investigators.
The evidence was copied and secured.
Gabriel gave a full statement.
For the first time in years, Elena saw the possibility of an ordinary future.
Then Gabriel told her something harder.
“I don't expect you to forgive me.”
She looked at him.
“You don't get forgiveness because you suffered.”
“I know.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
“You missed her first word.”
His eyes lowered.
“I know.”
“Her first step.”
“I know.”
“Five birthdays.”
Gabriel’s voice broke.
“I know.”
Elena cried then.
Not because she had forgiven him.
Because she finally had someone real to be angry with.
Sophia found them later.
“Are you my daddy?”
Gabriel crouched.
“Yes.”
“Are you staying?”
He looked at Elena before answering.
“I’m going to try to earn that.”
Sophia considered this.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
Children could make complicated things sound simple.
Adults rarely had that gift.
That night, the mansion became quiet.
Adrian found Elena in the kitchen.
“You can take paid leave.”
“I need work.”
“You need time.”
She smiled faintly.
“You always solve everything with money?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Adrian looked toward Sophia, asleep on a nearby couch with Titan beside her.
“She changed this house.”
“She asks seventeen questions before breakfast.”
“Eighteen yesterday.”
“You counted?”
“I was trapped in the car with her.”
Elena laughed for the first time that day.
Then Dante entered.
His face erased the moment.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“The federal team received the evidence.”
“And?”
“They arrested Charles Vane twenty minutes ago.”
Elena exhaled.
It was over.
Then Dante continued.
“Except the man they arrested isn't Charles Vane.”
Adrian stood.
Dante placed two photographs on the table.
The original Charles Vane.
And the man from the church.
Different men.
Someone had stolen Vane’s identity years ago.
Gabriel stared at the photograph.
His face changed.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“You know him.”
Gabriel stepped backward.
“No.”
“Who is he?”
Gabriel whispered the name.
“Thomas Castillo.”
May you like
Elena stopped breathing.
Her brother.
