Chapter 10 - THE ENEMY BEHIND THE WALLS
Lucian Devereaux was held in a federal detention center two hundred miles from Gabriel.
He had no access to phones.
His letters were screened.
His visitors were recorded.
Yet the photograph proved he still had reach.
Norah did not tell Gabriel immediately.
That was her first mistake.
She gave the package to Agent Keller and increased security at Romano Tower. She changed apartments twice in one week. Matteo assigned guards to Evelyn’s protected residence.
Still, Norah continued visiting Gabriel every Sunday.
He noticed the guards on the second visit.
“Who are they?”
“Company security.”
“You never bring security.”
“I was almost kidnapped in your tower.”
“That happened months ago.”
“I’ve become cautious.”
Gabriel watched her through the glass partition.
Prison had not softened him.
If anything, confinement made his attention sharper.
“Norah.”
“Yes?”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You blink differently when you lie.”
“I do not.”
“You do.”
She changed the subject.
He let her.
That frightened her more.
Two weeks later, Agent Keller called.
“Lucian arranged the photograph through a prison chaplain.”
“Arrest him.”
“The chaplain disappeared.”
“Where?”
“His car was found near the Canadian border.”
“Alive?”
“No body.”
Norah looked out over the city from Gabriel’s office.
“What does Lucian want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“You destroyed his organization. His daughter is testifying. His accounts are gone.”
“So revenge.”
“Possibly leverage. Lucian’s trial begins next month. He may believe Evelyn has evidence we have not found.”
Norah thought of the original ledger.
Her mother had given investigators everything.
Or claimed she had.
That evening, Norah visited Evelyn.
The protected house was outside Philadelphia, guarded by federal marshals.
Evelyn prepared tea.
“You look tired,” she said.
“Lucian sent someone after me.”
The cup stopped halfway to the table.
“You should leave the country.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“He thinks you have more evidence.”
Evelyn looked away.
Norah’s voice sharpened.
“Do you?”
Silence.
“Mom.”
“There is one account.”
“What account?”
“The reserve.”
Norah sat opposite her.
“What reserve?”
“Your father—Gabriel’s father—created it in case Devereaux ever gained control. It contains bearer bonds, diamonds, and documents connecting international officials to Lucian’s network.”
“How much?”
“Possibly two hundred million.”
Norah stared at her.
“Where?”
“I never knew.”
“You built the system.”
“Antonio separated the location into three keys. He kept one. I kept one. A third went to a priest.”
“The missing chaplain.”
“No. Another priest. Father Michael Reeve.”
“Is he alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Norah stood.
“Why did you hide this?”
“Because money like that creates another war.”
“The war already found us.”
That night, armed men attacked the protected house.
They cut the electricity.
Killed one marshal.
Entered through the basement.
Norah and Evelyn escaped through a storm drain while Keller’s agents exchanged fire upstairs.
In the woods, Evelyn fell.
Norah tried to lift her.
A man stepped from the trees.
Peter Vale.
A scar crossed his face from the wedding explosion.
“Lucian wants the key,” he said.
Norah aimed her gun.
Vale smiled.
“You will not shoot while I’m standing this close to your mother.”
He was right.
Evelyn stepped in front of Norah.
“I don’t have it.”
“You are the key.”
Vale raised his weapon.
A shot came from behind him.
Vale collapsed.
Matteo emerged from the trees.
“You are becoming difficult to supervise,” he told Norah.
She lowered her gun.
“How did you know?”
“Gabriel called me.”
Norah’s face changed.
“He knows?”
“He knew the moment you lied during the visit.”
Matteo checked Vale’s pulse.
Alive.
Barely.
Federal officers surrounded the area minutes later.
Vale was taken into custody.
Under interrogation, he revealed Lucian’s plan.
The reserve required biometric access from Evelyn.
Lucian intended to trade the money and documents for safe passage out of federal custody.
A corrupt transport team planned to free him during a medical transfer.
The transfer was scheduled for Friday.
Gabriel learned the details from Keller during a monitored call.
“You need to move him,” he said.
“We are changing the route.”
“No. He expects that.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Use me.”
Norah, listening from Keller’s office, immediately shook her head.
Gabriel saw her on the video screen.
“Do not start.”
“You are in prison.”
“He wants leverage. Give him something he believes matters more than the reserve.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Keller looked between them.
Gabriel continued.
“Transfer me at the same time. Leak that I am cooperating in Lucian’s trial.”
“He will attack your convoy,” Keller said.
“That is the point.”
Norah stood.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at her through the screen.
“This ends it.”
“You said that at the wedding.”
“And Blackwood.”
“And the tower.”
“Criminal conspiracies are frustratingly repetitive.”
She did not smile.
“You could die.”
“So could you if we wait.”
Keller approved the operation.
Norah hated her for it.
On Friday morning, Gabriel was placed in an armored transport vehicle.
Lucian’s convoy traveled a separate route.
The leak spread through corrupt channels.
At 10:17 a.m., a construction truck blocked Gabriel’s transport on an isolated highway.
Gunmen opened fire.
The armored vehicle overturned.
Norah listened from the command center as radio communication vanished.
“Unit Seven, respond.”
Nothing.
Keller called again.
No answer.
Then a voice came through the radio.
Lucian.
“You should have left my family alone.”
Norah grabbed the microphone.
“Where is Gabriel?”
Lucian laughed.
“Exactly where his father ended.”
May you like
A gunshot sounded.
The transmission went dead.
