Chapter 12 - The drive back to Ashford Tower felt endless.Gabriel didn't speak.
Neither did Harper.
Noah sat beside Victor's abandoned seat.
Harper kept thinking about the revelation.
Victor.
Fifteen years.
A man Gabriel trusted.
Possibly a traitor.
Possibly her twin.
None of it made sense.
“You trust him,” Harper said.
Gabriel looked ahead.
“I did.”
“You loved him like a brother.”
“Yes.”
“Then how could you miss it?”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“Because loyalty is hardest to question when it's been standing beside you for years.”
Harper looked down.
“Derek abused me because he wanted my memories.”
“Yes.”
“My grandfather wanted me because I'm the heir.”
“Yes.”
“And Victor?”
“I don't know.”
When they reached Ashford Tower, the building was dark.
Security was gone.
The elevators were offline.
Gabriel pulled his weapon.
“We take the stairs.”
They reached the private level.
The doors opened.
Bodies lay across the corridor.
Harper covered her mouth.
Gabriel checked one.
“Security.”
Noah whispered:
“They were killed.”
“Yes.”
A voice came through the speakers.
“Gabriel.”
He looked up.
His grandfather appeared on the security monitors.
Alive.
Wearing a white suit.
“You came home.”
Gabriel raised his weapon toward the screen.
“You killed my mother.”
“No.”
“You shot her.”
“She survived.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“Release her.”
His grandfather smiled.
“Bring me Harper.”
Harper stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because you're mine.”
Gabriel's voice became deadly.
“She belongs to herself.”
The old man's expression darkened.
“You still don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“Your father tried to destroy Black Wolf.”
“Yes.”
“He failed.”
“Because you killed him.”
“No.”
The old man shook his head.
“Because Harper stopped him.”
Harper froze.
“What?”
“You were four.”
Gabriel turned toward her.
“What did she do?”
The old man smiled.
“Your mother hid the master key inside her.”
Harper stared.
“The key isn't physical?”
“Not entirely.”
Gabriel's grandfather continued.
“Every criminal operation has a dead-man system.”
“What system?”
“A biometric archive.”
Harper remembered the metal box.
The files.
The hospital.
She suddenly understood.
“My blood.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you needed me.”
“Yes.”
“Then Derek wasn't trying to make me remember.”
“He was trying to make you activate it.”
Harper's stomach turned.
“Where?”
The old man smiled.
“Under Ashford Tower.”
Gabriel looked toward the basement.
“The vault.”
“No.”
His grandfather shook his head.
“The vault is only a door.”
Harper whispered:
“What's behind it?”
“Everything.”
Gabriel looked at the monitors.
“How do we open it?”
The old man smiled.
“You already did.”
The building shook.
A deep mechanical rumble rose from beneath them.
Harper felt the floor move.
A section of marble split open.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Gabriel looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
They descended.
At the bottom was another chamber.
This one was filled with computers.
Screens.
Servers.
Thousands of files.
Harper stared.
“This is Black Wolf.”
Her grandfather appeared on a screen.
“No.”
He smiled.
“This is its heart.”
Gabriel walked toward the central console.
“What do you want?”
“Your cooperation.”
“You don't have it.”
“Then I kill Noah.”
Harper stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Gabriel grabbed her arm.
“Don't bargain with him.”
Her grandfather laughed.
“You have always been weak where she is concerned.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
Harper looked at the screens.
One folder appeared.
SUBJECT H-01
Another.
SUBJECT V-02
She stared.
H-01.
Her.
V-02.
Victor.
She opened it.
A photograph appeared.
Victor as a child.
Standing beside a woman.
Evelyn Lawson.
Harper's face drained of color.
Victor was not her twin.
He was Derek's brother.
The grandfather's voice came through the speakers.
“Derek wasn't the only Lawson placed inside the Ashford family.”
Harper stared at the photograph.
“How many of them are there?”
The old man smiled.
“Enough to bury you.”
Then the lights went red.
A warning appeared across every screen.
BLACK WOLF PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.
Gabriel looked around.
“What did you do?”
The grandfather smiled.
“I started the war.”
The doors slammed shut.
And a countdown appeared.
00:09:59
Harper stared.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I don't know.”
A second message appeared.
TARGET: BOSTON
Then another.
CASUALTIES: 12,000 ESTIMATED
Gabriel's eyes widened.
“It's going to blow the city.”
Harper looked at him.
“Can we stop it?”
He stared at the countdown.
“Yes.”
“How?”
May you like
Gabriel pointed at the central console.
“Only you can.”
