Chapter 4 - The Grave is Empty
The world seemed to stop spinning. The icy wind howled through the blackened timbers, but Gabriel heard nothing except the roar of blood pounding in his ears. He shoved the barrel deeper into Walter’s forehead, bruising the skin.
""You're lying,"" Gabriel growled, his voice cracking with a volcanic mix of rage and disbelief. ""I stood at her grave! I paid for the monument! I saw the dental records!""
""Records that I forged, you fool!"" Walter spat, coughing as blood flecked his lips. ""Audrey was smarter than you. She found out I was using your shipping containers to move black-market medical pharmaceuticals and high-value tech. When she confronted me, I offered her a deal: stage her death and vanish with a new identity, or watch me arrange an accident for you. She chose to save your life, Gabriel! She traded her freedom so you wouldn't be murdered in your sleep by my partners!""
Molly stood twenty feet away, clutching Piper against her chest, her eyes wide with shock. She looked down at the silver charm bracelet on her wrist—*A.R. Always Remember.*
""Evan knew,"" Molly said suddenly, her voice cutting through the wind. ""When Evan came home terrified, he kept muttering that 'the woman from the shelter was still breathing.' He meant Audrey!""
Gabriel’s vision blurred. For three years, his soul had been consumed by the belief that his stubbornness had burned his wife alive. He had built an emotional prison around himself, punishing every person who dared smile in his presence, all while Audrey had been forced into hiding, living in fear of the man kneeling beneath his gun.
""Where is she, Walter?"" Gabriel demanded, his voice dangerously low. ""Tell me, or I will dismantle you bone by bone.""
""She’s in a private sanitarium outside of Toronto,"" Walter gasped, panic setting in as he saw the pure darkness in Gabriel’s gaze. ""Heavily guarded. Registered under a false psychiatric hold. Without my daily clearance call, the clinic transfers her to an offshore black site. You kill me, Gabriel, and she disappears forever into the Russian syndicate’s network!""
""He’s lying about the clinic transferring her immediately,"" a voice boomed from the shadows near the courtyard.
Gabriel snapped his weapon toward the opening. Samuel Reed strode into the lantern light, followed by four heavily armed loyal Rourke security officers. Samuel was holding a secure satellite phone and a laptop displaying live satellite feeds.
""We intercepted Pike’s personal pilot at Gary Airport twenty minutes ago, Boss,"" Samuel reported grimly. ""The pilot gave up the private airstrip and the facility coordinates in Ontario. It’s an unlicensed private security estate. We have men already staging in Detroit, ready to cross the border.""
Walter’s face turned completely gray. His final bargaining chip had been stripped away.
""You betrayed my father’s legacy,"" Gabriel said softly, looking down at the man who had sat at his family's Thanksgiving table for decades. ""You betrayed my wife. And you pointed a gun at a three-year-old child who only wanted to bring kindness into this world.""
""Gabriel, please..."" Walter whimpered, crawling backward on his hands and knees. ""We were family!""
""Family protects each other,"" Gabriel replied coldly. He lowered his weapon and looked at Samuel. ""Handcuff him. Lock him in the sub-basement of the warehouse district. If he catches a cold before I return, heads will roll. I want him alive to face every charge Evan Bennett documented.""
Gabriel turned and walked toward Molly. His massive shoulders, usually rigid with tension, seemed to carry the weight of an entire lifetime. He knelt down in the cold snow until he was eye-level with Piper.
The little girl reached out a tiny, mittened hand and patted his cheek. ""Mister Gabe, your eyes are leaky again.""
May you like
Gabriel let out a ragged breath that turned into a soft, genuine laugh—the first real laugh his men had heard in years. ""They are, Piper. But this time, they’re not from sadness.""
He looked up at Molly, his expression earnest and raw. ""You and Piper are coming with me to Canada. We are going to finish what your husband started, and we are going to bring Audrey home.""
