Chapter 3 - Harper couldn't breathe.“My father died in a car accident.”
Gabriel didn't look at her.
“That's what the papers said.”
“You said someone killed him.”
“I said someone killed him.”
“Then who?”
Gabriel finally turned.
“I don't know.”
Her voice rose.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
“Then why say it?”
“Because your father's name appears in a file I've been trying to find for eleven years.”
Harper stared at him.
“What file?”
Gabriel remained silent.
Victor glanced at him.
“Boss.”
Gabriel nodded.
Victor pulled a tablet from his coat.
He opened a secure database.
A single folder appeared.
BLACK WOLF.
Harper stared at the screen.
“The symbol.”
Gabriel nodded.
“My father created Black Wolf.”
“Created what?”
“A network.”
“What kind of network?”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Politicians. Police. Judges. Businessmen. Smugglers. Informants.”
Harper felt sick.
“You're saying my father worked with your father?”
“Maybe.”
“And Derek?”
Gabriel's eyes met hers.
“Maybe he's working for them.”
Harper shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Derek hated my father.”
Gabriel's expression didn't change.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Exactly.”
Harper looked down at her phone.
Noah wasn't answering.
Gabriel leaned toward Victor.
“Can you trace the messages?”
“Trying.”
“Do it faster.”
Victor typed.
Then he frowned.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“This is strange.”
“What?”
“The messages aren't coming from the apartment.”
Harper's heart dropped.
“Then where?”
Victor looked at Gabriel.
“Somewhere downtown.”
Harper frowned.
“Why would Noah be downtown?”
Gabriel suddenly turned to the driver.
“Stop.”
The SUV stopped.
Gabriel got out.
Harper followed.
“Where are we going?”
He looked at the street.
“Not your apartment.”
“What?”
“There's someone who can find Noah.”
“Who?”
Gabriel started walking.
“Someone I haven't trusted in ten years.”
They entered an underground parking garage.
A silver sedan waited there.
The driver was an old man with a scar across his cheek.
He looked at Gabriel.
Then at Harper.
His expression changed.
“James Queen's daughter.”
Harper froze.
“How do you know me?”
The old man smiled bitterly.
“Your father talked about you.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“What do you know?”
The old man ignored him.
He looked at Harper.
“Do you have the key?”
“What key?”
“The one your father left you.”
“I don't have anything from him.”
The old man stared at her.
“Then Derek Lawson lied.”
Gabriel's hand moved toward his weapon.
“What did Derek lie about?”
“That girl doesn't know what she carries.”
Harper felt confusion tighten in her chest.
“I don't have anything.”
The old man reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a photograph.
Harper looked at it.
It showed her father.
Standing beside Gabriel's father.
Both men looked younger.
Behind them was the Black Wolf symbol.
Harper stared at the photograph.
On the back was a handwritten message.
IF I DIE, FIND GABRIEL.
She looked up.
“What is this?”
The old man looked at Gabriel.
“You're late.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Who are you?”
“You know who I am.”
“I buried you.”
The old man's smile disappeared.
“Apparently poorly.”
Victor suddenly raised his gun.
“Movement.”
Everyone turned.
Three men stepped from behind concrete columns.
Then five more.
Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel grabbed Harper and shoved her behind the sedan.
Bullets shattered glass.
The old man returned fire.
Victor dropped one attacker.
Another rushed toward Harper.
Gabriel intercepted him.
A brutal fight erupted.
Harper crouched behind the car.
She could hear punches.
Weapons.
Men shouting.
Then silence.
Gabriel appeared in front of her.
His sleeve was torn.
Blood ran down his forearm.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The old man approached.
“Your brother is alive.”
Harper stood.
“Where?”
“Safe for now.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward a service tunnel.
“Derek moved him.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“When?”
“Forty minutes ago.”
Harper's stomach dropped.
“You knew?”
“I've known for years.”
“Then why didn't you help?”
The old man looked at her.
“Because I was waiting for Gabriel.”
Gabriel stared at him.
“For what?”
“For the day he'd finally understand what his father died protecting.”
“What?”
The old man reached into his coat.
He took out a small metal box.
Placed it in Harper's hands.
She looked down.
There was a keyhole on the front.
And carved into the metal was the same wolf.
Gabriel stared at it.
“That's impossible.”
The old man smiled.
“Your father gave it to her.”
Harper whispered, “Why me?”
The old man answered quietly.
“Because you're the only person Derek couldn't kill without losing everything.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“Explain.”
The old man looked toward the tunnel.
“Your father hid evidence inside something Derek could never find.”
Harper's heart raced.
“What?”
The old man looked directly at her.
“You.”
She stepped back.
“No.”
“Your father knew he was going to die.”
“He never said anything.”
“He couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Derek was already inside the family.”
Harper shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
The old man looked at Gabriel.
“It will.”
Then he pulled a second photograph from his pocket.
This one showed Harper as a child.
Standing beside her father.
And beside them was Derek Lawson.
Harper stared.
She had never seen the photograph.
But she recognized the location.
Her father's old study.
The room that had burned down the night he died.
Her voice trembled.
“Why was Derek there?”
The old man answered.
“Because Derek wasn't your father's enemy.”
Gabriel slowly looked at Harper.
“He was his partner.”
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Harper looked at hers.
Noah.
She answered immediately.
“Noah?”
Nothing.
Then a whisper.
“Harper…”
Her little brother sounded terrified.
She closed her eyes.
“Where are you?”
A man's voice replaced him.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Derek.
Harper couldn't move.
Then he said the sentence that turned Gabriel's face to stone.
“Come alone.”
May you like
A pause.
“Or Noah dies.”
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