Chapter 5 - The Man Behind Owen’s Death
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Then Julian took the phone.
“Who is this?”
The man laughed.
“You know who.”
“Gabriel?”
“Finally.”
Julian looked at Isabella.
She was shaking.
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Julian walked toward the chapel door.
Marcus gestured to his security team.
“Why call now?”
“Because Evelyn failed.”
She flinched.
Julian looked at her.
Gabriel continued.
“And because Maria found something she should not have found.”
Maria’s face went pale.
“What did she find?”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“You touched Owen’s car.”
“No. Evelyn did.”
Julian turned toward her.
She shook her head.
“I didn’t crash it on purpose.”
Gabriel laughed through the phone.
“That part was entertaining.”
“You told her where the key was.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted room forty-seven opened.”
Julian stopped.
This whole night had been manipulated.
“You could have opened it yourself.”
“No. Owen installed a biometric fail-safe.”
Marcus frowned.
“The brass key only releases the outer door.”
Gabriel said, “Correct.”
Julian looked toward Dominic.
“So the room opened because I touched the lock.”
“Yes.”
“Then Evelyn was bait.”
Evelyn looked devastated.
Gabriel chuckled.
“She always was.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You promised my father—”
“Your father is dead.”
The words stopped everyone.
Evelyn’s face went blank.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“My father spoke to me this afternoon.”
“No. Someone using his phone spoke to you.”
Evelyn looked at Julian.
Her knees nearly gave way.
Marcus caught her.
Gabriel continued.
“Richard Cross died three days ago.”
Julian’s mind raced.
“Where?”
“You’ll find him.”
“What do you want?”
“The black case.”
“No.”
“Then more people die.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“You killed Owen.”
A long silence.
“Yes.”
Isabella made a broken sound.
Julian closed his eyes.
Six years.
The answer he had wanted.
The answer he had feared.
“You caused the highway crash.”
“I arranged it.”
“Why?”
“Owen was going to expose me.”
Julian’s voice became almost calm.
“Then why manipulate me into opening his room?”
“Because Owen stole something from me before he died.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Julian looked at the black case.
“The one here?”
“No.”
Another ledger.
“What does it contain?”
“My future.”
Julian almost smiled.
“So you’re afraid.”
Gabriel’s voice sharpened.
“I am giving you one opportunity.”
“You don’t give me anything.”
“Bring the case to Pier Nine at midnight.”
Marcus shook his head.
Julian ignored him.
“And if I don’t?”
Gabriel paused.
Then said, “Ask Maria about her daughter.”
Maria screamed.
Julian turned.
“What?”
Maria’s face went white.
“My daughter is in Chicago.”
Gabriel laughed softly.
“Not anymore.”
The call ended.
Maria nearly collapsed.
Julian caught her.
“No.”
She grabbed his shirt.
“My daughter. Emily. Please.”
Marcus was already dialing.
“Give me her number.”
Maria did.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Marcus called local security contacts.
Julian watched Maria unravel.
This woman had nearly been drowned beneath his home because she had tried to protect evidence connected to his brother.
Now her daughter was missing.
Because of him.
Julian crouched beside her.
“I will find her.”
Maria shook her head desperately.
“You don’t know Gabriel.”
“No.”
“But he knows you.”
That bothered Julian more than he admitted.
Evelyn sat silently against the wall.
Her father was dead.
Her engagement was ending.
Her actions had nearly killed someone.
Still, Julian felt no satisfaction watching her suffer.
Only exhaustion.
He turned toward Marcus.
“Pier Nine.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“We don’t know how many men he has.”
“Then find out.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“I know Pier Nine.”
Julian looked at him.
“Why?”
“Antonio used it years ago.”
“Of course he did.”
Dominic lowered his voice.
“Gabriel knows the old tunnels.”
Marcus frowned.
“What tunnels?”
“Prohibition-era service routes beneath the warehouses.”
Julian looked at him.
“You’re coming.”
Dominic nodded.
Isabella said, “No.”
Julian turned.
“You stay here.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
She looked at Dominic.
“You know what Gabriel wants.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
Julian noticed.
“What does he want besides the ledger?”
Dominic shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Stop lying.”
Isabella stepped toward Julian.
“Gabriel hated your father.”
“That narrows nothing.”
“He hated you too.”
“I never met him.”
“You represented what he believed Antonio stole from him.”
“Which was?”
“His name.”
Julian stared.
“He was the firstborn.”
Isabella nodded.
“Antonio refused to acknowledge him publicly.”
Dominic added, “Gabriel believed the empire should have been his.”
Julian almost laughed.
“So Owen died over inheritance?”
“No,” Dominic said.
“He died because he discovered Gabriel had been using Richard to siphon money and build his own organization.”
Julian understood.
Gabriel had spent years stealing from the Vale businesses.
Then eliminating anyone who discovered it.
Owen first.
Richard eventually.
Maria next.
“And Evelyn?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Disposable.”
Evelyn lowered her head.
Julian felt no sympathy for what she had done to Maria.
But he understood now that she had lived inside Gabriel’s manipulation longer than he had known.
That did not erase responsibility.
It explained the road toward it.
Nothing more.
Marcus returned.
“Pier Nine has heat signatures.”
“How many?”
“At least twelve.”
“Emily?”
“No visual.”
Maria began crying again.
Julian looked at the clock.
11:19.
Forty-one minutes.
“We go.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We need police.”
“No.”
“Julian.”
“Owen specifically warned us.”
“That was six years ago.”
“And someone corrupted his video tonight. Gabriel may have people anywhere.”
Dominic agreed.
“Small team.”
Marcus frowned.
“You, me, Julian?”
“And one sniper.”
Julian looked at Maria.
“You stay with Dr. Reyes.”
She grabbed his arm.
“Bring her home.”
“I will.”
Evelyn stood.
“I’m coming.”
Julian looked at her.
“No.”
“I know Gabriel.”
“You nearly killed Maria.”
“I know.”
“You’re not helping yourself out of that.”
“I’m not trying to.”
She removed the engagement ring.
For the first time, Julian saw genuine shame in her face.
“Gabriel uses my father’s old codes. If Emily is there, I may know where he would keep her.”
Julian stared at the ring in her palm.
Their engagement was already dead.
No ceremony needed.
He took the ring.
Not because he wanted it.
Because it no longer belonged on her hand.
“You follow Marcus’s instructions exactly.”
She nodded.
They left the estate at 11:31.
Pier Nine sat on the eastern edge of the Vale shipping district.
Julian had not visited it in years.
The old warehouses had supposedly been abandoned.
Marcus parked two blocks away.
Dominic opened a maintenance hatch behind a retaining wall.
They descended into darkness.
Evelyn moved behind them.
The tunnel smelled of rust and saltwater.
At 11:53, they reached a steel ladder.
Dominic whispered, “This comes up beneath Warehouse C.”
Marcus checked his weapon.
Julian looked at Evelyn.
“Where would Gabriel hold someone?”
She pointed toward the eastern office.
“My father used a refrigerated records room there.”
Julian’s face tightened.
Cold room.
Maria’s daughter.
They climbed.
The warehouse appeared empty.
Too empty.
Then Julian saw the black SUV.
Maria’s daughter’s photograph was visible on Marcus’s phone.
The backpack in the SUV matched one she wore in the picture.
She had been here.
Julian moved toward the office.
A speaker crackled overhead.
“Right on time.”
Gabriel.
Floodlights came on.
Men appeared along the upper catwalk.
Guns raised.
Marcus swore.
Julian looked toward the office.
The refrigerated-room door had a small window.
Behind the glass stood a young woman.
Emily.
Alive.
But someone else stood behind her.
A pistol pressed against her head.
May you like
Julian recognized the man holding it.
And for one impossible second, he believed he was looking at his dead brother.
