Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T RANDOMHarper couldn't remember leaving the bathroom.
One moment she was staring at Gabriel.
The next, she was standing in the dark hallway outside the third floor.
Her brother was gone.
Derek had him.
And somehow Gabriel Ashford already knew more than he was saying.
Harper turned toward him.
"Who was that man?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
"Who was in the reflection?"
"Someone from my past."
"Who?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"Someone who should not be alive."
Harper's voice cracked.
"What does that have to do with Noah?"
"Everything."
Gabriel walked down the hallway.
Harper followed.
"You can't just say that and leave."
"I can."
"I need my brother."
"And I need you alive."
She stopped.
"What?"
Gabriel turned around.
"You think Derek is the problem."
"He is."
"No."
He stepped closer.
"Derek is a weapon."
Harper stared at him.
"Then who is holding him?"
Gabriel's answer was quiet.
"Someone who wants my family destroyed."
He entered his office.
Harper followed without permission.
For the first time, she noticed something strange.
The walls were covered in photographs.
Gabriel's father.
His mother.
His older brother.
Business partners.
Politicians.
Police commissioners.
Judges.
Boston's most powerful people.
And one photograph caught Harper's attention.
A little girl.
Eight years old.
Standing beside Gabriel's older brother, Michael.
Harper moved closer.
"Who is she?"
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
"My niece."
"What happened to her?"
"She disappeared."
"When?"
"Eight years ago."
Harper's heart stopped.
She looked at the girl's face.
Something about the eyes felt familiar.
She couldn't explain why.
Gabriel noticed.
"You've seen her before."
"No."
"You hesitated."
"I just..."
Harper stepped back.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A text appeared.
DON'T TRUST THE MAN IN THE BLACK SUIT.
Harper showed Gabriel.
His face hardened.
Another message arrived.
YOUR BROTHER ISN'T THE ONLY THING HE TOOK FROM YOU.
Then a photograph.
Harper stared at the screen.
It showed a small apartment.
Her old apartment.
Derek's apartment.
And on the table sat a red folder.
Harper knew that folder.
She had seen it once, three years earlier.
Derek had come home drunk and thrown it onto the kitchen counter.
She remembered the words printed across the front.
ASHFORD INVESTIGATION.
Harper looked up.
"What is that?"
Gabriel took the phone.
His eyes darkened.
"Where did you get this?"
"I've seen it before."
"Where?"
"Derek's apartment."
Gabriel's silence told her everything.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
"You knew Derek had something about your family."
"I knew he was investigating us."
"Then why did you hire me?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"I didn't."
Harper frowned.
"You didn't?"
"I didn't choose you."
He turned toward his desk.
"Your employment file came through my head of staff."
"Who?"
Gabriel looked at the door.
"Victoria."
Harper remembered her.
Victoria Kane.
The elegant woman who had interviewed her.
Late forties.
Perfect hair.
Perfect suit.
Perfect smile.
"She hired me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Gabriel opened a drawer.
Inside was another file.
He placed it on the desk.
Harper read the name.
HARPER QUEEN.
Her photograph was clipped to the front.
Below it were pages of information.
Her address.
Noah's school.
Her hospital records.
Her divorce.
Her police reports.
But the final page made her blood run cold.
A handwritten note.
SUBJECT HAS ACCESS TO ASHFORD RESIDENCE.
Harper stared at it.
"I'm the subject?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
"Who wrote this?"
He said nothing.
She turned the page.
A second note appeared.
BEGIN PHASE TWO WHEN GIRL REMEMBERS.
Harper looked up.
"What girl?"
Gabriel stared at her.
"I don't know."
Then the office lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Harper gasped.
Gabriel moved instantly.
"Stay behind me."
A metallic sound came from the hallway.
Click.
A gun being loaded.
Gabriel reached beneath his desk.
He pulled out a handgun.
Harper froze.
Someone began walking toward the office.
Slowly.
One step.
Another.
Then the door handle moved.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Black suit.
Black gloves.
Face hidden in shadow.
He raised his gun.
Gabriel fired first.
The bullet hit the wall beside the man's head.
The stranger disappeared.
Gabriel ran after him.
Harper followed.
The hallway was empty.
But there was something on the floor.
A red ribbon.
Harper picked it up.
Her hands began shaking.
She recognized it.
Noah had one just like it.
Except Noah's ribbon had been stolen from his backpack two weeks earlier.
Gabriel looked at her.
"What?"
Harper whispered.
"The person who has my brother..."
She stared at the ribbon.
"...has been watching us much longer than we thought."
Then, somewhere inside the house, a child's voice whispered through the darkness.
"Harper."
She spun around.
It sounded exactly like Noah.
But Gabriel grabbed her arm.
"Don't."
"That's my brother!"
"No."
The voice called again.
"Harper..."
Gabriel's grip tightened.
"That's not Noah."
The voice came a third time.
Except this time it came from inside the walls.
"Help me."
Then every light in the mansion turned on at once.
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And on the far wall, written in fresh blood, were four words:
YOU WERE NEVER THE TARGET.
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