Chapter 6 - Locker Sixteen
They returned to Bellamy House in eleven minutes.
Dominic drove.
No chauffeur.
No security escort.
Nora spent the ride calling Maya.
Safe.
Then Eli.
No answer.
Thomas.
No answer.
Dominic gripped the steering wheel so tightly his injured arm began bleeding through the bandage.
“You’re reopening it.”
“I know.”
“Slow down.”
“No.”
“You’re not useful dead.”
That earned the smallest glance.
“You always talk to billionaires like this?”
“Only the stubborn ones.”
“Good.”
Nora frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means don’t stop.”
They reached Bellamy House.
The police cars were gone.
Too gone.
Dominic looked around.
“They should still be here.”
“Charles had help.”
“Yes.”
“Police?”
“Possibly.”
They entered through the kitchen.
Empty.
No employees.
No security.
One burner remained lit.
A pot simmered unattended.
Nora shut it off.
Dominic found blood near the service corridor.
Not much.
A few drops.
They followed them downstairs.
“Locker sixteen,” Nora said.
“Where?”
“The old employee lockers were moved years ago.”
“Old locker room?”
“Basement east wing.”
They moved through storage.
The locker room door stood open.
Inside, rusted metal lockers lined one wall.
Numbers one through twenty-four.
Nora found sixteen.
Locked.
She did not have the brass key.
But Dominic kicked the door once.
Metal bent.
Twice.
The lock broke.
Inside was a wooden box.
Nora pulled it out.
A handwritten note rested on top.
For my Nora.
Her breath stopped.
Her mother’s handwriting.
She opened it.
Nora,
If you ever find this, then everything I was afraid of has already happened.
Do not give this to a Callahan because of his name.
Give it only to the one who chooses a stranger over power.
Nora looked at Dominic.
He looked back.
She continued reading.
The ledger beneath this note proves who betrayed Vincent and Gabriel.
But there is something else.
Something worse.
Nora lifted the ledger.
Underneath lay a birth certificate.
She unfolded it.
The name at the top:
NORA ELLEN BENNETT.
Mother:
ELLEN MARIE BENNETT.
Father:
The line had been covered with black ink.
Nora stared.
“What?”
Dominic took the document.
“Someone removed the father’s name.”
Nora flipped it over.
Her mother had written:
ASK GABRIEL WHY.
Nora felt dizzy.
“No.”
Dominic steadied her.
“We’ll find him.”
Footsteps sounded outside.
They turned.
Margaret stood in the doorway.
Alone.
Alive.
Dominic’s face changed.
“Mother.”
He crossed the room.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where’s Charles?”
“I don’t know.”
“He kidnapped you.”
Margaret looked confused.
“No.”
Dominic stopped.
“He called me. I heard you.”
“I was never with Charles.”
Nora stared.
“Then whose voice did we hear?”
Margaret looked at the ledger.
Her expression changed.
“Nora.”
“You know what this is.”
Margaret entered.
“I know what your mother took.”
“Was she working with Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret’s eyes moved to the birth certificate.
Then away.
Nora caught it.
“You know.”
Margaret said nothing.
“You know who my father was.”
Dominic looked between them.
“Mother.”
Margaret sat.
For several seconds she seemed suddenly old.
Not elegant.
Not powerful.
Just tired.
“Gabriel loved Isabel,” she said.
Nora waited.
“But before Isabel…”
Margaret stopped.
Nora’s heartbeat sounded inside her ears.
“Before Isabel what?”
“He loved Ellen.”
Nora stared.
“No.”
Margaret continued.
“Briefly. Years before Thomas was born.”
Dominic looked at Nora.
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“Your mother ended it. She wanted nothing to do with the Callahan world.”
“You’re telling me Gabriel was my father?”
“I’m telling you he may have been.”
Nora took a step backward.
All her life, her mother had said Nora’s father left before she was born.
No name.
No photograph.
No explanation.
Dominic whispered, “Then Nora and Thomas…”
“Could be half-siblings.”
Nora sat because her legs stopped working.
Eli could be her nephew.
The terrified kid she instinctively protected before knowing anything.
Dominic looked toward the ledger.
“Why did Charles need this?”
Margaret answered.
“Because Charles wasn’t working for me.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“I paid him.”
“You just said—”
“I paid him because Vincent ordered me to.”
“To do what?”
“To watch someone.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“Gabriel.”
Nora stood.
“You said Gabriel disappeared.”
“He did.”
“But Charles knew where he was.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel asked him to.”
Dominic stared.
“Then who is behind tonight?”
Margaret looked genuinely afraid.
“Someone else.”
A slow clap sounded from the corridor.
Everyone turned.
Thomas Mercer entered.
Eli’s father.
He held a pistol.
Behind him, Eli stood with his hands bound.
Nora’s heart stopped.
“Dad?” Eli whispered.
Thomas looked at his son without emotion.
Dominic stepped in front of Margaret.
“Thomas.”
Thomas smiled.
“Finally.”
Nora stared at him.
“You knew.”
“Of course I knew.”
“You sent Eli to work here.”
“Yes.”
“You let someone threaten him.”
His jaw tightened.
“Necessary.”
“He’s your son!”
“And my father lost twenty-eight years because of this family.”
Eli looked devastated.
“You used me?”
Thomas looked away.
That was answer enough.
Dominic said, “Charles was working for you.”
“For a while.”
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
Thomas smiled faintly.
“Not yet.”
Nora held the ledger.
“You want this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it proves Vincent stole Gabriel’s company.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No. It proves the opposite.”
Thomas’s face changed.
“What?”
“You never saw it, did you?”
Silence.
Margaret continued.
“Gabriel didn’t own half.”
“Yes, he did.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“The ledger shows Vincent transferred half the legitimate assets into a trust for Gabriel’s descendants.”
Thomas froze.
Dominic looked down.
“What trust?”
Margaret said, “One that becomes active when Gabriel or a verified descendant claims it.”
Thomas stared at her.
“You’re lying.”
“Why do you think Charles wanted the ledger destroyed?”
Thomas’s gun lowered slightly.
“He told you Vincent stole everything,” Margaret continued. “He told you Gabriel lived in hiding because Dominic’s father hunted him.”
Thomas looked uncertain.
Nora realized the truth.
Charles had manipulated him too.
“Where’s Gabriel?” Nora asked.
Thomas looked at her.
“Safe.”
“Take me to him.”
“No.”
“He may be my father.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“And he’s definitely mine.”
“Then why are you pointing a gun at the people trying to expose whoever actually did this?”
Thomas’s face tightened.
“Because I spent my entire life waiting for justice.”
“No. You spent it listening to Charles.”
That hit.
Eli whispered, “Dad, please.”
Thomas looked at his son.
His hand shook.
For the first time.
Dominic moved one step.
Thomas raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
Eli suddenly rammed his shoulder into his father.
The gun fired.
Nora screamed.
Dominic tackled Thomas.
Margaret pulled Eli away.
The weapon skidded beneath the lockers.
Thomas fought.
Dominic pinned him.
“Enough!”
Thomas stopped.
Eli stood trembling.
“You were going to let them hurt Mom.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“I thought I could control it.”
“You couldn’t even protect me.”
That broke something in Thomas.
He stopped resisting.
Nora knelt beside him.
“Where is Gabriel?”
Thomas looked at her.
Then toward locker sixteen.
“There’s another door.”
“What?”
“Behind the lockers.”
Dominic looked at the wall.
Thomas whispered, “Charles said Gabriel would come tonight once the ledger appeared.”
Nora’s heart hammered.
“How do you know?”
“Because Charles sent him a message.”
“What message?”
Thomas swallowed.
“That his daughter had finally found the truth.”
A metal latch clicked behind locker sixteen.
The wall moved.
A hidden door opened.
May you like
An elderly man stepped through.
And he looked directly at Nora.
