Chapter 13 - Isabella’s Last Secret
Gabriel pulled the door open.
Elena stood outside.
Beside her was a woman in her sixties.
Chalice recognized her immediately.
Not personally.
From the hospital.
“Dr. Miriam Vale.”
The retired obstetrician nodded.
“I delivered Douglas.”
Chalice frowned.
“Dr. Shaw was listed.”
“Because I was never supposed to be there.”
Miriam had been Isabella’s private physician.
Isabella had contacted her days before the shooting.
She believed she was being watched.
She feared Douglas would be used against Antonio.
So they created a contingency.
But Isabella told Miriam one more secret.
Antonio knew the attack was coming.
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“He knew?”
“Not where. Not when.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He tried.”
Miriam produced a sealed letter.
Gabriel’s name was written across it.
Antonio apologized.
He had kept Gabriel outside the investigation because Victor understood Gabriel’s loyalty.
If Gabriel knew, Victor would see it.
Antonio needed Gabriel genuinely angry.
Genuinely confused.
Genuinely innocent.
The deception had protected him.
Gabriel read silently.
Then handed the letter to Chalice.
The final paragraph concerned Douglas.
If my son survives, don’t raise him to avenge me.
Don’t tell him he inherited enemies.
Tell him his parents loved him.
Tell him his uncle came when we couldn’t.
And if Chalice Imhof is somehow standing beside you, listen when she tells you to stop being an idiot.
Chalice laughed through tears.
Gabriel stared at the page.
“He wrote that?”
“Apparently your brother knew you very well.”
Miriam smiled.
“There’s more.”
Isabella had legally appointed two emergency guardians if both parents died.
Gabriel Holmes.
And Chalice Imhof.
Chalice stared.
“That’s impossible.”
“Your mother agreed years ago that if Isabella ever had children and something happened, you could be considered.”
“But Isabella barely knew me.”
“She knew your mother.”
Chalice looked at Douglas.
For months she had believed she had stolen a child to save him.
Legally, Isabella had already chosen her.
Gabriel seemed equally stunned.
“So she belongs here,” Elena said.
Gabriel looked at Chalice.
“That is not how I wanted her to decide.”
Chalice appreciated that.
“Good.”
“I want you here.”
“I know.”
“But not because of paperwork.”
“I know that too.”
That evening they sat outside.
No guards.
No guns.
Douglas asleep inside.
Gabriel admitted he was afraid.
Chalice smiled.
“Of Victor?”
“No.”
“Prison?”
“No.”
“Losing money?”
He gave her a look.
“Then what?”
“You leaving when you don’t need protection anymore.”
Her smile disappeared.
Gabriel continued.
“I know how to make people stay because they fear me. I don’t know how to make someone stay because they choose me.”
Chalice took his hand.
“You don’t make them.”
He looked at their joined hands.
“They choose.”
Gabriel breathed out.
Before he could respond, Mercer rushed outside.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“Victor was being transferred.”
Gabriel stood.
Mercer’s face told them everything.
“The convoy was hit.”
Chalice’s blood turned cold.
“Victor escaped?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Mercer held out his phone.
A security image showed Victor’s transport vehicle.
The rear door stood open.
Victor lay dead inside.
May you like
And written in blood across the door were three words.
DOUGLAS IS NEXT.
