Chapter 3 - THE MAN IN THE BASEMENT
Gabriel didn't speak for several seconds.
Then he said, “Tell me everything.”
So I did.
Not because I trusted him.
Not yet.
Because the dead man in the hallway had changed everything.
Michael was alive.
Somewhere.
And whoever had tried to silence me knew it.
I told Gabriel about the phone call.
The warning.
The apartment.
The note.
The symbol of the black crow.
When I finished, Gabriel walked to the window.
“Your brother worked security.”
“Yes.”
“For whom?”
“Northstar Protection.”
Gabriel turned.
“Northstar was contracted by several Rossi companies.”
My heart dropped.
“You knew him?”
“No.”
“Then why was he investigating you?”
“I don't know.”
Gabriel picked up his phone.
“Call Marco.”
A few minutes later, his head of security arrived.
Gabriel gave him instructions.
“Find everything on Michael Bell.”
Marco nodded.
“And find every employee who worked the Rossi accounts during the last three years.”
He looked at me.
“Especially anyone connected to the Crow.”
Marco left.
I watched Gabriel.
“You've heard of them.”
“Yes.”
“What are they?”
“A private organization.”
“Criminal?”
“Yes.”
“Who runs it?”
“We don't know.”
I frowned.
“You're Gabriel Rossi.”
“I know.”
“You're supposed to know everything.”
A faint smile appeared.
“That's what people believe.”
“Do you?”
“Believe it?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
That was the first moment I saw the man beneath the reputation.
Not the mafia boss.
Just a tired man.
A father.
A man who had spent years trying to keep his son alive.
Leo appeared in the doorway.
He looked pale.
His eyes went immediately to me.
“Are you okay?”
I smiled.
“I am.”
He walked in.
Gabriel looked surprised.
“You should be sleeping.”
Leo ignored him.
He climbed carefully onto the edge of my bed.
“I heard you got hurt.”
“I did.”
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
He reached into his pocket.
Then pulled out a wooden train piece.
“I brought you this.”
I smiled.
“Thank you.”
“It keeps bad things away.”
I looked at Gabriel.
He was staring at his son.
Leo had barely spoken to anyone for years.
Now he was sitting beside the woman who had taken three bullets for him.
I squeezed the train piece.
“I'll keep it safe.”
Leo nodded.
Then he looked at his father.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Can she stay?”
Gabriel's eyes met mine.
“For now.”
Leo smiled.
It was the same almost-smile he had given me two years earlier.
Only this time, it was real.
That afternoon, Gabriel received a call.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“Marco found something.”
We went downstairs.
Not into the basement.
Into a hidden room behind the library.
There were monitors everywhere.
Security feeds.
Financial records.
Photographs.
I stopped.
One screen showed the estate.
Another showed the roads around it.
Another showed the sunroom.
Another showed me.
I turned toward Gabriel.
“You've been watching me.”
“Security cameras.”
“That's what you call it?”
“I wasn't personally watching you.”
“Does that make it better?”
“No.”
He shut the monitor off.
Marco entered.
“We found Michael.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“Alive.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where?”
Marco placed a photograph on the desk.
Michael.
Older.
Bearded.
Standing beside a black SUV.
I grabbed the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Where?”
“Albany.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“Then why hasn't he contacted me?”
Marco answered.
“Because he's working for the Crow.”
The room went silent.
“No.”
Marco continued.
“We traced a series of payments.”
“Michael wouldn't.”
“He did.”
I shook my head.
“You don't know him.”
Marco looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel nodded.
Marco placed another photograph on the desk.
Michael was standing beside a man.
The man had his face partially covered.
But I recognized the coat.
The tattoo.
The black crow.
My hands trembled.
“Who is that?”
Marco said:
“Thomas Vale.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Thomas is dead.”
Marco shook his head.
“Apparently not.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“Who is Thomas Vale?”
Gabriel's voice became cold.
“My former right-hand man.”
“What happened to him?”
“He betrayed me.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
I thought about the timeline.
Three years.
Leo's mother died.
Thomas disappeared.
Michael disappeared later.
Something connected all of it.
“Gabriel.”
He looked at me.
“Leo's mother.”
His face changed.
“What about her?”
“Was she killed in the fire?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Because Michael was investigating the Crow before he disappeared.”
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“And Thomas disappeared the same year your wife died.”
Silence.
Then Marco's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“There's a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone just accessed the old fire report.”
Gabriel went still.
“Who?”
Marco looked at the screen.
Then slowly raised his eyes.
“Your wife's name.”
Gabriel's face became unreadable.
“What about it?”
Marco swallowed.
“The report was altered.”
I looked at Gabriel.
“How?”
May you like
Marco whispered:
“It says she wasn't alone in the car.”
