Chapter 2 - THE DATE THAT NEVER DIED
Gabriel’s father had been dead for seventeen years.
Norah knew that much.
Everybody who worked around Gabriel knew the sanitized version.
Antonio Moretti had been shot outside a restaurant after a failed negotiation.
Gabriel, twenty-three at the time, inherited an organization already tearing itself apart.
He survived.
He rebuilt it.
He became feared.
What Norah did not know was that Gabriel had never believed the official story.
“My father was supposed to meet three people that night.”
Gabriel sat upright despite Mateo’s objections.
“His attorney, his underboss, and the accountant who handled our construction companies.”
Norah stopped typing.
“What happened to them?”
“The underboss died with him.”
“The attorney?”
“Disappeared.”
“And the accountant?”
Gabriel’s eyes met hers.
“Your predecessor’s father.”
A cold feeling moved through Norah.
“My predecessor?”
“Samuel Kessler.”
She knew the name.
Kessler had trained the man who trained Norah when she first entered forensic accounting.
He had been famous for finding money people thought could never be found.
“He died years ago.”
“Supposedly.”
Norah hated that word.
Supposedly.
It was becoming common around Gabriel.
She returned to the transaction pattern.
14-11-03 appeared in eleven separate vendor records.
Someone had been planting it for months.
Not stealing quietly.
Writing to Gabriel.
“Who knew that date mattered to you?”
“Half the city knows when my father died.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Gabriel understood.
Who knew he was still investigating it?
He named four people.
Mateo.
Declan.
His longtime legal adviser, Marcus Bell.
And Gabriel’s younger sister, Elena.
Norah raised an eyebrow.
“You told your sister?”
“Elena knows everything.”
“Then she’s either the safest person in your life or the most dangerous.”
Gabriel’s expression warned her not to push.
Norah did anyway.
“Your feelings don’t change mathematics.”
“No.”
“But they do change where you’re willing to look.”
That landed.
Gabriel stood slowly.
He crossed the room and placed both hands on the table.
“Find the truth.”
“Even if it points at Elena?”
His jaw tightened.
“Especially then.”
Mateo’s phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His face changed.
“What?”
Mateo turned the screen toward Gabriel.
A security camera image showed Declan entering Gabriel’s downtown headquarters.
Time stamp: 5:42 a.m.
Declan had been missing since the attack.
Now he had walked voluntarily into Gabriel’s most heavily guarded building.
The attached message contained six words.
HE SAYS HE CAME TO SURRENDER.
Gabriel reached for his jacket.
Norah blocked him.
“You’re not going anywhere like that.”
“Move.”
“You’ve lost blood.”
“I’ve lost three million dollars, a safe house, and possibly half my security network.”
“And if you pass out in the elevator, I’m sure your enemies will be devastated.”
Mateo looked away.
Gabriel stared at Norah.
Then, unexpectedly, he handed Mateo the car keys.
“We go together.”
Norah blinked.
“I wasn’t volunteering.”
“You’re the only person who understands the accounts.”
“So?”
“So if Declan lies, I need you there.”
Thirty minutes later, they entered headquarters through an underground access tunnel.
Declan was waiting inside Gabriel’s private conference room.
No weapons.
No phone.
Blood on one sleeve.
He looked exhausted.
Gabriel entered first.
Norah followed.
Declan’s gaze went directly to her.
“You found the Delaware company.”
It was not a question.
Norah stopped.
Gabriel’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“How do you know that?”
Declan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Because I created it.”
Gabriel drew his gun.
Declan did not move.
“But I didn’t steal your money.”
Norah studied him.
“Then why create the shell?”
“To trap the person who did.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
May you like
Declan leaned forward.
“And if you kill me before I explain, Gabriel, your sister won’t survive the morning.”
