Chapter 4 - THE DNA REPORT
I read the report twice.
Then a third time.
The words didn't change.
Daniel was mine.
But the woman listed as his biological mother wasn't the woman I remembered.
It wasn't anyone I knew.
There was no name.
Only a code.
SUBJECT 17.
I looked at Elena.
“What is this?”
She didn't answer.
“Elena.”
“I warned you.”
“You warned me about enemies. You didn't warn me my son's birth was a lie.”
She closed her eyes.
“Because I didn't know how much they had changed.”
“Who?”
She finally whispered:
“Your father's people.”
I laughed once.
It wasn't amusement.
It was disbelief.
“My father has been dead for fourteen years.”
“His organization hasn't.”
Vincent looked up sharply.
“What organization?”
Elena turned toward him.
“The part Gabriel doesn't know about.”
I looked at Vincent.
He didn't speak.
That silence was enough.
“Vincent.”
“I swear I don't know what she's talking about.”
Elena shook her head.
“Not you.”
She pointed at the folder.
“The Black Ledger.”
My father's old name for the network beneath his legitimate empire.
A system of judges, politicians, businessmen, cops and criminals.
I had spent years destroying pieces of it.
I had never realized it had survived.
Daniel suddenly groaned.
His monitor began beeping rapidly.
“His heart!”
Elena moved immediately.
She checked his pulse.
“His medication.”
Vincent handed her the emergency kit.
She opened it.
“Gabriel, I need saline.”
I grabbed it.
She worked quickly.
Daniel's breathing slowed.
Then his eyes opened.
“Dad…”
“I've got you.”
He reached for my hand.
“Don't let them take Elena.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
Daniel whispered:
“She knows where Mommy is.”
Elena froze.
I looked at her.
“Daniel doesn't have a mother.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He does.”
My voice dropped.
“What did you just say?”
Elena looked at Daniel.
“He was told she died.”
“Who told him?”
“Your father.”
I felt something crack inside me.
“My father died before Daniel was born.”
“I know.”
“Then explain.”
She took a breath.
“Daniel's mother wasn't killed.”
I stepped toward her.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
I grabbed the table.
“Then why does Daniel think you know her?”
Elena looked at him.
“Because I was there the night she disappeared.”
Silence.
“Tell me.”
“She gave birth to Daniel in a private clinic outside Manhattan.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Why was I never told?”
“Because you weren't supposed to know.”
“Who made that decision?”
She looked at the red folder.
“Your father.”
My heart pounded.
“My father was dead.”
“He left instructions.”
“For what?”
“To keep Daniel hidden.”
“From whom?”
Elena looked toward the tunnel.
“From the man who just tried to kill him.”
Vincent's phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“Our security cameras were hacked.”
“By who?”
Vincent stared at me.
“Someone inside our organization.”
My blood turned cold.
“How many?”
“All of them.”
Then his phone buzzed again.
A message appeared.
One photograph.
Daniel asleep in Vincent's arms.
Taken from behind us.
Beneath it was a message:
YOU BROUGHT HIM TO THE WRONG PLACE.
Another message arrived.
THE TUNNEL HAS TWO ENTRANCES.
Elena grabbed my arm.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“Run.”
May you like
A metallic click echoed from somewhere behind us.
A gun being loaded.
