Chapter 8 - The Locked Medicine Cabinet
Norah demanded the truth.
Gideon had none to give.
He didn't recognize her mother's name.
Elaine Blake.
Dominic did.
Twenty years earlier, Elaine had worked as a bookkeeper for Gideon’s father.
She discovered financial records proving someone was stealing from the organization.
Before she could expose them, a car bomb was planted beneath Gideon's vehicle.
Elaine noticed a wire.
She pulled seventeen-year-old Gideon away seconds before the explosion.
She died from her injuries.
Gideon had never known her daughter existed.
Norah sat in silence.
Her entire life had just changed shape.
Her father had blamed Gideon.
Then accepted money from someone connected to the Wolves.
Why?
The answer was inside the locked medicine cabinet.
Elias discovered a false back panel.
Behind it were copies of old ledgers.
Someone had hidden them there recently.
Elaine’s original records.
They showed the theft had begun decades ago.
The signature authorizing transfers belonged to Gideon’s father.
But another signature appeared beside his.
Thomas Blake.
Norah's father hadn't been an innocent widower.
He had been involved.
Elaine discovered her own husband was helping steal money.
She planned to expose him.
Her death saved Gideon and protected Thomas.
Until now.
Norah cried alone in the service stairwell.
Gideon found her.
He sat beside her despite still needing a cane.
“You don't have to stay.”
She wiped her face.
“Are you firing me?”
“No.”
“Then don't tell me what I have to do.”
He almost smiled.
“I’m learning.”
She looked at him.
“Did you ever think the woman who saved you had a family?”
“Yes.”
“Did you look?”
“No.”
That answer hurt.
But it was honest.
“I was seventeen,” Gideon said. “Then I became exactly what everyone expected me to become. Hard. Busy. Angry.”
Norah stared ahead.
“I wish you'd lied.”
“So do I.”
She leaned her head against the wall.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Gideon said, “Your mother saved my life before you did.”
Norah looked at him.
“That doesn't mean you owe me.”
“No.”
His gaze held hers.
“It means I spent twenty years owing a debt to a name I never knew.”
Arthur interrupted them.
Thomas Blake had been found.
Alive.
He agreed to talk only to Norah.
They brought him to a secure room.
Thomas looked older than she remembered.
He began crying when he saw her.
“I'm sorry.”
Norah remained standing.
“Who killed Mom?”
Thomas looked toward Gideon.
Then Arthur.
Then Dominic.
“None of them.”
“Who?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The same man who tried to kill Gideon then.”
Norah leaned closer.
“And now?”
Thomas nodded.
Then he looked directly at Arthur Finch.
Arthur's hand moved toward his weapon.
May you like
Thomas whispered:
“Your father.”
