Chapter 18 - THE WOMAN IN MONTANA
Julian wanted to leave immediately.
Derek stopped him.
“You fly now, Gabriel knows exactly what aircraft you use.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“My mother is with him.”
“We don’t know that.”
“He sent a photograph.”
“He sent a photograph of her outside a cabin.”
Julian slammed his fist into the wall.
Maya stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both men stopped.
She looked at Julian.
“Derek is right.”
Julian stared.
“I know.”
“Then act like it.”
His jaw tightened.
Maya softened.
“Gabriel wants you angry.”
“I am angry.”
“He wants you reckless.”
Julian looked away.
Maya touched his face.
“Don’t give him both.”
They contacted local authorities through federal inspectors they trusted.
No response came from Catherine’s cabin.
A patrol vehicle reached the property.
Empty.
No blood.
No struggle.
Catherine’s vehicle remained.
Maya frowned.
“She went willingly.”
Julian hated that possibility.
Derek checked nearby traffic cameras.
A black SUV had left the road two hours earlier.
Catherine sat in the passenger seat.
No visible weapon.
Thomas studied the image.
“She knew whoever picked her up.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“Gabriel.”
“Maybe.”
They flew to Montana under false registrations.
Maya looked through the aircraft window at mountains.
Julian sat opposite her.
He had barely spoken for an hour.
“You’re rehearsing.”
He looked up.
“What?”
“What you’ll say to her.”
“No.”
“You are.”
He sighed.
“Possibly.”
“What have you got?”
“Why?”
Maya smiled faintly.
“Strong opening.”
Julian almost smiled.
Then his face became serious.
“What do you say to a mother who watched fifteen years of your life from a distance?”
Maya thought about Daniel.
“I started with a slap.”
Julian laughed unexpectedly.
“That is not helpful.”
“It released tension.”
“I am not slapping my mother.”
“Probably wise.”
He looked down.
Maya continued.
“You tell her what you feel before deciding what you think.”
Julian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“When I saw Dad, I had twenty questions.”
“Yes.”
“But the first thing I felt wasn’t a question.”
“What was it?”
Maya looked out the window.
“I missed him.”
Julian went quiet.
“So maybe don’t begin with why.”
“What then?”
“Begin with whatever hurts most.”
They landed near Bozeman.
Federal agents traced Catherine’s last known vehicle toward an abandoned mining town.
Gabriel had chosen isolation.
Again.
Derek looked at Julian.
“He wants a conversation.”
“He always wants an audience.”
They approached the mining site before sunset.
No armed guards.
That was suspicious.
Inside an old administrative building, they found Catherine.
Alone.
Sitting beside a window.
Julian stopped at the doorway.
Maya stayed behind him.
Catherine stood.
She looked at her son.
Neither moved.
Julian’s face changed.
She was older.
Of course.
He had spent fifteen years remembering her at forty-six.
Now she was sixty-one.
But she was unmistakably his mother.
“Julian.”
His breath caught.
Maya touched his shoulder.
Catherine began crying.
“My boy.”
Julian flinched.
Catherine stopped.
“I’m sorry.”
Silence.
Maya remembered her own reunion with Daniel.
There were no correct words.
Julian finally spoke.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“For fifteen years.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me bury you.”
Catherine’s face broke.
“I know.”
“You watched me become him.”
She frowned.
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You became yourself.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You don’t know me.”
“No.”
The honesty stopped him.
Catherine continued.
“And that is my punishment.”
Julian looked away.
“I thought staying gone would keep you safe.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know.”
“I spent fifteen years killing every enemy who looked at me too long because I thought being feared was the only way to survive.”
Catherine covered her mouth.
“I know.”
“You don’t get to say that.”
She nodded.
“You’re right.”
Maya saw Julian’s anger losing shape.
He had prepared for excuses.
Catherine gave him none.
“I gave Gabriel the route.”
“Yes.”
“I believed his lie.”
“Yes.”
“I killed your father.”
Catherine’s voice broke.
“No.”
Julian stared.
“He died because of me.”
“He died because Gabriel murdered him.”
Catherine closed her eyes.
“You sound like Maya.”
Julian froze.
Maya stepped forward.
“You know me?”
Catherine looked at her.
A sad smile appeared.
“I have known about you since the first month you worked for him.”
Maya stared.
“How?”
“Evelyn sent photographs.”
Julian looked deeply offended.
“My entire family apparently runs surveillance on me.”
Maya almost laughed.
Catherine’s eyes softened.
“He looked different around you.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Mother.”
Maya smiled despite herself.
Catherine looked between them.
“I hoped he would tell you.”
“He did.”
“Poorly?”
“Extremely.”
Julian sighed.
Then his expression changed.
“Where is Gabriel?”
Catherine’s face hardened.
“He brought me here.”
“Why did you go with him?”
“He told me you had been arrested.”
“I was.”
“He said he could protect you if I gave him David’s files.”
Julian stared.
“You have files?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Catherine reached beneath the desk.
A small metal case.
“David gave them to me the morning Adrian died.”
Maya frowned.
“What’s inside?”
“Proof of every account Gabriel still controls.”
Derek’s eyes widened.
“That could dismantle his organization.”
“Yes.”
Julian looked toward the doorway.
“Where is he?”
Catherine’s eyes filled with fear.
“He said he would come back after dark.”
Maya looked at the windows.
Sunset.
Derek immediately called the perimeter team.
No response.
His face changed.
“Comms are down.”
Julian drew his weapon.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Catherine flinched.
Julian pulled her behind him.
Maya grabbed the case.
Windows shattered.
Gabriel’s men surrounded the building.
Julian shouted.
“Back exit.”
They ran through the corridor.
The rear door exploded inward.
Thomas fired.
Derek dragged Catherine toward the basement.
Maya followed Julian.
They reached an old mine tunnel.
Darkness swallowed them.
Catherine stumbled.
Julian caught her.
For one second mother and son stared at each other.
Then they kept running.
The tunnel divided.
Derek checked the map.
“Left leads outside.”
A voice echoed behind them.
“Wrong.”
Gabriel.
Everyone froze.
He stood at the tunnel entrance.
Gun in hand.
Alone.
Again.
Julian raised his weapon.
Gabriel smiled.
“You finally found her.”
Catherine stared at him.
“You destroyed this family.”
Gabriel laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Julian.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
Gabriel continued.
“Adrian killed David.”
“David survived.”
“Adrian tried.”
“He was stopping Black Harbor.”
“He was stealing what belonged to me.”
“People do not belong to you.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
That was the core of everything.
Ownership.
Control.
Maya understood.
She stepped forward.
Gabriel looked at her.
“There she is.”
Maya held the metal case.
“You want this?”
His eyes sharpened.
“Yes.”
She opened it.
A stack of drives.
Bank records.
Keys.
Maya lifted one.
Gabriel’s breathing changed.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
He raised the gun toward Catherine.
Julian moved.
Gabriel shouted.
“Stay.”
Julian stopped.
Maya looked at Gabriel.
“You keep doing this.”
“What?”
“Pointing guns at people because nobody chooses you.”
His face hardened.
Maya continued.
“Adrian chose to stop you.”
“Shut up.”
“Daniel chose his daughter.”
“Maya.”
“Julian chose not to become you.”
Gabriel’s gun shifted toward her.
Julian’s breathing changed.
Maya smiled sadly.
“And now Catherine chose to help us.”
Gabriel’s face twisted.
“You think choice matters?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Fear decides everything.”
Maya held the drive over a deep mine shaft.
“No.”
Gabriel stared.
Maya released it.
He lunged.
The drive disappeared into darkness.
Gabriel screamed.
Julian tackled him.
The gun fired.
Catherine cried out.
Maya turned.
Blood appeared across Catherine’s stomach.
“No!”
Julian froze.
Gabriel struck him.
Derek fired.
Gabriel stumbled.
Another shot.
Thomas.
Gabriel collapsed near the shaft.
Julian ran to Catherine.
Maya pressed her hands against the wound.
Catherine looked at her son.
“Julian.”
“Don’t.”
Her face was pale.
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Julian.”
He grabbed her hand.
“I am not losing you again.”
Catherine smiled weakly.
“You found me.”
Tears fell down Julian’s face.
“That has to be enough.”
“No.”
Maya looked toward Derek.
“Medical team!”
Derek was already calling.
Gabriel coughed nearby.
Still alive.
He crawled toward the shaft.
Thomas approached.
“Don’t.”
Gabriel laughed weakly.
“You won’t shoot an old man in the back.”
Thomas raised his weapon.
“No.”
Julian looked up.
“Leave him.”
Everyone stared.
Gabriel smiled.
“You’re getting soft.”
Julian looked at him.
“No.”
He returned his attention to Catherine.
“You’re simply no longer the most important person in the room.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
For a man addicted to control, being ignored was worse than death.
Federal agents entered minutes later.
Gabriel was arrested again.
Catherine was airlifted to surgery.
She survived.
This time, Julian waited beside Maya.
His hand shook.
Maya covered it with hers.
He looked at her.
“For someone who feared nothing…”
She smiled faintly.
“You shake a lot.”
Julian laughed through tears.
“Only recently.”
Maya leaned against him.
“Good.”
He looked confused.
May you like
She squeezed his hand.
“It means you finally have things worth being afraid to lose.”
