Chapter 3 - My Wife's Last Warning
Cole raised his weapon.
Elena stepped behind Gabriel.
Another knock sounded.
Gabriel found a narrow service door hidden behind shelving.
He opened it.
A terrified hospital records clerk stumbled forward.
"Don't shoot."
His name was Peter Walsh.
He had hidden there after seeing armed men in the basement.
Gabriel questioned him quickly.
Peter admitted someone had ordered several boxes removed from M-17 earlier that evening.
"Who?"
"Dr. Mercer."
Gabriel opened Isabel's envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Gabriel,
If you are reading this, then I failed to keep this away from you.
Daniel's condition isn't simply congenital.
Someone altered my prenatal treatment.
I discovered it too late.
Do not trust the official records.
Do not trust Marcus.
Gabriel stopped.
Marcus.
Hale.
His mentor.
Cole read over his shoulder.
"Jesus."
Gabriel continued.
There was one final line.
The proof is on the drive. But if Daniel is alive, protect him before you expose them.
Gabriel inserted the flash drive into Cole's secure tablet.
Encrypted.
Military encryption.
Gabriel recognized the architecture.
"That's Defense Department."
Cole nodded.
"Old system. At least six years."
Isabel had somehow obtained military-encrypted files.
Why?
Elena examined the archive.
"Colonel."
She found another patient folder.
Inside were records for pregnant women treated by Dr. Mercer.
Several children had later developed rare cardiac problems.
Gabriel understood.
Daniel wasn't the only one.
Isabel had uncovered something.
Something involving pregnant women, experimental treatments, and military encryption.
Gabriel contacted Army Criminal Investigation Division.
He requested a secure investigative team.
Then his phone vibrated.
Margaret.
A text.
I'M SORRY.
Gabriel immediately called.
No answer.
Another message arrived.
DON'T TRUST HALE.
Then:
HE KNOWS DANIEL SURVIVED.
Gabriel typed:
Where are you?
Three dots appeared.
Stopped.
Appeared again.
Then a photograph arrived.
Margaret was sitting in a chair.
Her hands were bound.
Behind her was a concrete wall.
A man's hand rested on her shoulder.
Gabriel felt his blood turn cold.
A message followed.
BRING ISABEL'S DRIVE.
COME ALONE.
Gabriel showed Cole.
"Trace it."
Cole worked quickly.
"Signal bounced."
"Can you narrow it?"
"Give me time."
Gabriel hated that phrase.
Time was what enemies demanded when they believed they controlled the battlefield.
Elena touched his arm.
"Don't go alone."
Gabriel looked at her.
"This isn't your fight."
"It became my fight when they used my badge."
"No."
Elena's eyes hardened.
"It became my fight when I saw someone trying to suffocate a six-year-old boy."
Gabriel had no answer.
They returned upstairs.
Daniel was awake.
Weak.
Confused.
But awake.
Gabriel sat beside him.
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Dad."
Gabriel took his hand.
"I'm here."
"Did Elena beat the bad guys?"
Elena laughed despite herself.
"Not exactly."
Daniel looked at the mop-handle splinter still caught in her sleeve.
"Yes, you did."
For the first time that night, Gabriel felt something other than rage.
Hope.
Then Daniel whispered:
"Mommy's friend came before."
Gabriel stiffened.
"What friend?"
"The man from the picture."
"Hale?"
Daniel didn't know the name.
"He said he knew Mommy."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Gabriel stared at Dr. Bennett.
"Was anyone documented visiting Daniel?"
"No."
Daniel had seen Hale before he collapsed.
Hale had been near him.
Gabriel called Marcus Hale.
The general answered on the second ring.
"Gabriel."
Too calm.
"Where are you?"
"Virginia."
"Liar."
Silence.
Gabriel continued.
"You visited Daniel."
Another silence.
Then Hale sighed.
"You opened Isabel's file."
Gabriel's entire body tightened.
"You knew."
"I tried to protect you."
"You poisoned my son?"
"No."
"Then tell me who did."
"I can't."
"Marcus."
"You need to leave New York."
"My son is in a hospital bed."
"Then take him and disappear."
Gabriel nearly shouted.
"Why?"
Hale's answer was quiet.
"Because the people who killed Isabel know she left you evidence."
The call ended.
Gabriel stood motionless.
Killed Isabel.
Not died.
Killed.
His wife had been murdered.
Cole received a location ping.
Margaret's phone.
Brooklyn waterfront.
Gabriel prepared to leave.
Elena insisted on staying with Daniel.
"Protect him," Gabriel said.
"I will."
He paused.
"I believe you."
Elena understood what he meant.
The cloned badge.
The suspicion.
"Bring Margaret back."
Gabriel and Cole left with a tactical team.
They reached the warehouse twenty-two minutes later.
The building appeared abandoned.
Gabriel entered from the east.
Cole circled west.
Inside, they found Margaret.
Alive.
Still bound.
Gabriel cut her loose.
"Who did this?"
Margaret sobbed.
"I don't know."
"Why did you run?"
"They called me."
"Who?"
"They said they had proof about Isabel."
Gabriel stopped.
Margaret reached into her coat.
"They wanted this."
She handed him a small brass key.
"Isabel gave it to me the night Daniel was born."
Gabriel stared at it.
"What does it open?"
"I don't know."
Footsteps sounded above them.
Gabriel looked toward the catwalk.
A figure appeared.
Marcus Hale.
He slowly descended the stairs.
Gabriel raised his pistol.
Hale raised both hands.
"I didn't come to fight you."
"Then start talking."
Hale looked at Margaret.
Then Gabriel.
"Isabel discovered a classified medical program."
"What program?"
Hale's face filled with regret.
"A program your father helped create."
Gabriel froze.
"My father died thirty years ago."
Hale nodded.
"That's what you were told."
Then the warehouse lights went out.
May you like
A single red laser dot appeared on Hale's chest.
Someone else had found them.
