Chapter 6 - The Price of the Ledger
Norah could not remember leaving the room.
One second she was beside Gideon.
The next she was in the hallway calling Eli over and over.
No answer.
Marcus caught up.
“Norah.”
“He has my brother.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“Yes, we do.”
“His security detail may—”
“Marcus.”
Her voice cracked.
“Don’t lie to me.”
He stopped.
Gideon appeared behind them.
He should not have been standing.
Dr. Hart would have killed him if Lucian did not.
But he gripped the doorway and said, “Bring the car.”
Norah turned.
“No.”
Gideon raised an eyebrow.
“You’re telling me no?”
“You can barely walk.”
“Then I’ll sit.”
“You almost died.”
“And Lucian knows that.”
Marcus said, “She’s right.”
Gideon ignored him.
“If Lucian took Eli, he wants leverage against Norah.”
“He already has the ledger,” Marcus said.
“Copies exist.”
Norah understood.
Lucian wanted the digital evidence destroyed.
Her phone rang.
Eli.
She answered immediately.
“Eli?”
Lucian spoke.
“Family really is the easiest way to make reasonable people unreasonable.”
Norah’s hands trembled.
“Let him go.”
“Delete every copy.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“They’ve already been sent.”
“Then convince Gideon to withdraw cooperation.”
“That won’t erase the evidence.”
“It will weaken the case.”
Gideon took the phone.
“Lucian.”
A pause.
“My favorite nephew.”
“Where is the boy?”
“Safe.”
“You know how this ends.”
“I do.”
Lucian sounded almost cheerful.
“You lose.”
Gideon’s expression did not change.
“No. You’re standing in the last room available to a man who already lost.”
The call ended.
Norah stared.
“Why did you provoke him?”
“Because angry people make mistakes.”
“He has Eli.”
“And now he’ll prove where.”
Marcus’s technical team traced fragments of the call.
Not enough for an exact location.
But enough to narrow it to an industrial district near the waterfront.
Gideon knew the area.
His father had once owned warehouses there.
Only one remained abandoned.
Warehouse 19.
Federal agents were contacted.
This time Gideon did not insist on handling it privately.
Norah realized the importance of that.
The old Gideon Wolf would have sent armed men.
The man her mother believed existed somewhere beneath the reputation was choosing another path.
Still, he insisted on going.
Dr. Hart blocked the door.
“Absolutely not.”
Gideon looked at her.
“He has her brother.”
“You have kidney failure.”
“Improving.”
“You were unconscious yesterday.”
“I’m awake today.”
“You cannot participate in a raid.”
“I’m not participating.”
Norah folded her arms.
“You’re staying in the car.”
Gideon looked offended.
She stared back.
Finally he said, “Fine.”
Marcus smiled.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“I know that look.”
“I’ve worked for you seventeen years. Nobody has ever told you to stay in the car.”
Norah said, “Somebody had to.”
They reached the waterfront just before midnight.
Federal tactical officers surrounded the warehouse.
Norah remained inside an armored vehicle with Gideon.
Marcus went with the entry team.
Every second stretched.
Then gunfire sounded inside.
Norah grabbed the door.
Gideon caught her wrist.
“No.”
“That’s my brother.”
“And running toward bullets won’t help him.”
She hated that he was right.
Minutes later Marcus’s voice came through the radio.
“We have Eli.”
Norah collapsed against the seat.
“Alive?”
“Alive.”
She covered her face.
For the first time since the nightmare began, she cried.
Not quietly.
Not elegantly.
She sobbed.
Gideon did not tell her to stop.
He simply sat beside her.
His hand rested over hers.
Then Marcus continued.
“Lucian isn’t here.”
Norah looked up.
“What?”
“He left before we arrived.”
Eli emerged from the warehouse wrapped in a blanket.
Norah ran to him.
He was twenty-two, taller than she remembered, and furious at himself for being fooled.
“I thought he knew Mom.”
“He did.”
“I’m sorry.”
She hugged him.
“Stop.”
“I should’ve known.”
“Stop.”
Gideon watched from the vehicle.
Eli noticed him.
“That’s Gideon Wolf?”
Norah laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
“He looks terrible.”
Gideon heard him.
“I’ve been poisoned.”
Eli nodded.
“Fair.”
For the first time in days, Norah laughed.
A real laugh.
Then Marcus approached.
“We found something.”
Inside the warehouse, Lucian had left one final message.
A map.
A photograph.
And a deadline.
The photograph showed Gideon’s estate.
The map marked three underground utility points.
The deadline was 6:00 a.m.
Marcus stared at it.
“He’s going after the house.”
Gideon’s face hardened.
“No.”
Norah asked, “What is under those points?”
“Fuel.”
Marcus understood.
“The backup generators.”
“And the natural-gas lines,” Gideon said.
Lucian no longer cared about escaping.
He wanted to destroy everything.
Evidence.
Witnesses.
The house.
Maybe himself.
They raced back.
The estate was evacuated.
Staff moved to a secondary property.
Dr. Hart complained the entire time while overseeing Gideon’s transfer.
Bomb technicians searched the utility system.
At 4:17 a.m., they found the first device.
At 4:43, the second.
The third location appeared empty.
Marcus did not believe it.
Neither did Norah.
She studied the map again.
“The marks aren’t exact.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
“The first two are on utility points.”
“And the third?”
She traced the position.
“It’s under the west wing.”
The hidden surveillance room.
They rushed there.
Beneath the floor they discovered a tunnel.
Old.
Part of the estate’s original construction.
Gideon’s father had used it decades ago.
The tunnel led beneath the property.
Marcus entered with federal agents.
Norah waited upstairs.
Gideon sat nearby.
“You saved me once,” he said.
Norah looked at him.
“I noticed breakfast.”
“You saved me.”
She did not argue.
He continued.
“My whole life, people close to me wanted something.”
“What do you think I want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe that’s why you trust me.”
He looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Norah smiled.
“I want something.”
His eyes narrowed playfully.
“What?”
“A raise.”
Gideon laughed.
It hurt his ribs.
He laughed anyway.
Then an explosion shook the floor.
Lights flickered.
Norah grabbed the wall.
Gideon stood.
Smoke rose from the corridor.
Marcus’s voice screamed over the radio.
“Evacuate!”
Norah helped Gideon toward the exit.
Then she heard something below.
A gunshot.
Another.
Marcus shouted one name.
“Lucian!”
Gideon stopped.
Norah pulled him.
“Move.”
But a hidden panel in the corridor suddenly opened.
Lucian Wolf stepped through.
Blood streaked his sleeve.
A gun was in his hand.
He pointed it at Gideon.
“You always were difficult to kill.”
Norah stepped between them.
Lucian smiled.
May you like
“Perfect.”
And his finger tightened on the trigger.
