Chapter 4 - HER MOTHER'S SECRET
Norah had spent thirty-three years believing her mother hated numbers.
Margaret Quinn avoided online banking.
She paid bills with paper checks.
She once called Norah because she could not figure out a spreadsheet.
Now Norah was staring at a file connecting her mother to an accountant involved in the murder of Gabriel’s father.
“No.”
Gabriel watched her carefully.
Norah shook her head again.
“My grandfather’s name was Peter Quinn.”
Declan answered softly.
“Samuel Kessler disappeared in 2009.”
“My grandfather died in 2016.”
“Maybe those were the same man.”
Norah stood.
The chair fell behind her.
Gabriel stepped forward.
She raised a hand.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Norah forced herself to breathe.
“Open the file.”
“It’s encrypted.”
“Give it to me.”
Declan handed her the drive.
Norah plugged it in.
The encryption system was old.
Not weak.
Old.
Personal.
She tried her mother’s birthday.
Nothing.
Her own birthday.
Nothing.
The address where Margaret grew up.
Nothing.
Then Norah remembered something her mother used to say whenever Norah became frustrated with math homework.
Numbers never lie.
People do.
Norah typed the phrase without spaces.
The file opened.
Everyone froze.
Inside were scanned letters.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
And a recorded video.
Date: November 13, 2009.
The night before Antonio Moretti died.
Norah clicked play.
An older man appeared.
Samuel Kessler.
Norah immediately recognized his eyes.
She had seen them in childhood photographs under another name.
Peter Quinn.
Her grandfather.
“If you are watching this, Margaret, then I failed.”
Norah stopped breathing.
Samuel looked terrified.
“Antonio has discovered the siphoning operation.”
Gabriel moved closer.
“Marcus has been transferring organization assets through construction vendors for years.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“But Marcus is not working alone.”
The video glitched.
Samuel continued.
“There is someone above him.”
Norah leaned toward the screen.
“A person Antonio trusts more than anyone.”
Static swallowed the next words.
Then Samuel appeared again.
“If they kill Antonio, Margaret, take Norah and disappear.”
Norah jerked backward.
Her name.
He had said her name.
Seventeen years ago.
When she was sixteen.
Her grandfather had known she could become a target.
“Never let her work for the Moretti organization.”
Norah almost laughed.
The sound came out broken.
Apparently fate had a cruel sense of humor.
The video ended with Samuel holding up a key.
“Everything is inside box 317 at First Federal Storage.”
Norah looked at Gabriel.
“You know the place?”
“It closed twelve years ago.”
Declan shook his head.
“The company closed.”
Mateo understood first.
“The vault didn’t.”
Gabriel turned.
Mateo continued.
“Private underground storage beneath the old building.”
Norah closed the laptop.
“We go there.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Elena first.”
“The coordinates could be a trap.”
“They probably are.”
“And you’re injured.”
“I know.”
Declan stood.
“My wife is there too.”
Gabriel looked at him.
For the first time since Declan entered the room, the two men were not enemies.
Not exactly.
Norah checked the coordinates.
An abandoned freight yard.
She zoomed in.
Then frowned.
“What?”
She turned the laptop.
“The coordinates aren’t pointing to a building.”
They were pointing to a specific section of railroad track.
Mateo leaned closer.
Norah enlarged a satellite image.
A maintenance tunnel ran beneath it.
Gabriel’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Elena.
Claire.
A digital timer beside them.
01:08:44.
Then a message.
BRING THE ACCOUNTANT.
Norah’s blood went cold.
Gabriel immediately said.
“No.”
Another message arrived.
NOT DECLAN.
NOT MATEO.
ONLY GABRIEL AND NORAH.
Norah looked toward Gabriel.
“They don’t want the money.”
“No.”
“They want the file.”
Gabriel checked his weapon.
May you like
Norah closed the laptop.
“And now they know I opened it.”
