Chapter 2 - Uncle Gabe
Gabriel Sloane had been Sebastian Blackwood’s friend for twenty-six years.
They had met at fourteen.
Fought beside each other at eighteen.
Built their first logistics company before either turned thirty.
When Sebastian married Madeline, Gabriel stood beside him.
When Eli was born, Gabriel became his godfather.
When Madeline died, Gabriel had sat in the hospital corridor with Sebastian until sunrise and promised him one thing.
Whatever happens, you and Eli will never face it alone.
Now Gabriel stood outside the Blackwood gates demanding to be admitted.
“Turn him away,” Martin Reyes said.
Sebastian stared at the security monitor.
Gabriel’s black Bentley idled beneath the rain.
He stood beside it wearing a charcoal overcoat.
He looked exactly as Sebastian remembered him from every crisis they had faced together.
Calm.
Concerned.
Ready to help.
That frightened Sebastian more than anger would have.
“Let him in,” Sebastian said.
Martin turned.
“Sir?”
“If he knows something happened, I want to know how.”
The gates opened.
Sebastian returned downstairs.
Eli had hidden beneath the library table.
Maya sat nearby without attempting to pull him out.
She had discovered that silence worked better than persuasion.
“You heard the name?” Sebastian asked.
She nodded.
“He started shaking before I heard the car.”
Sebastian looked toward the windows.
“You think he recognized the engine?”
“I think he recognized something.”
Sebastian crouched near the table.
“Eli.”
The boy stared at him through the chairs.
“Uncle Gabe is outside.”
Eli covered his mouth.
Sebastian’s stomach tightened.
“He will not come near you.”
Eli whispered through his fingers.
“Bad man.”
Three words.
Three years of lies collapsed beneath them.
Sebastian stood.
“Maya, stay here.”
She nodded.
Gabriel entered the foyer five minutes later.
“Sebastian.”
He took one look at the guards and frowned.
“What happened?”
Sebastian said nothing.
Gabriel removed his gloves.
“I received an alert from the estate security system saying the property had been placed under lockdown.”
Martin’s eyes narrowed.
“Those alerts go only to authorized administrators.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“I helped establish the system.”
“Your administrator access was revoked fourteen months ago.”
A pause.
Small.
But Sebastian saw it.
Gabriel recovered immediately.
“Apparently somebody forgot to remove an old notification.”
Sebastian descended the stairs.
“Why did my son scream your name?”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Where is Eli?”
“Answer the question.”
Gabriel looked genuinely confused.
Or performed confusion beautifully.
“I have no idea.”
Sebastian held up the photograph of Madeline beside the Range Rover.
Gabriel’s eyes dropped toward it.
Then lifted.
“Where did you find that?”
“The west corridor.”
This time the change in Gabriel’s face was unmistakable.
He knew.
Sebastian felt twenty-six years of friendship beginning to rot.
“There is a hidden room,” Sebastian continued. “You knew about it.”
“No.”
“You recognized where the photograph came from.”
“I recognized your wife.”
“It was taken behind our old Lake Geneva property. Madeline wrote your initials on the back.”
Gabriel exhaled.
“Sebastian, you’re grieving again. Something has obviously happened with Eli, and I understand—”
“Do not use my son to change the subject.”
The foyer became silent.
Gabriel lowered his voice.
“Then tell me exactly what you think I did.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Good. Because accusations made before facts are how people destroy innocent lives.”
“Interesting advice.”
Sebastian moved closer.
“Did Madeline ever speak to you about company accounts before she died?”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“Thousands.”
“Ghost vendors?”
Nothing.
Sebastian watched him.
Then Maya appeared in the library doorway.
She had not intended to interrupt.
Eli had followed her.
The moment Gabriel saw him, he softened.
“Buddy.”
Eli screamed.
Gabriel stopped.
The boy backed into Maya.
“No!”
Gabriel lifted both hands.
“Eli, it’s Uncle Gabe.”
“No!”
Sebastian watched his son’s face.
There was no confusion in it.
No hesitation.
Only recognition.
Gabriel looked toward Sebastian.
“This proves nothing.”
Eli pointed.
“Car.”
Sebastian went cold.
“What car?”
Gabriel’s face hardened.
“Sebastian.”
Eli began hitting both hands against his ears.
“Black car! Mommy car! Gabe car!”
It was the longest string of words he had spoken since the accident.
Maya knelt immediately.
“You’re safe.”
Gabriel took a step forward.
Sebastian blocked him.
“Don’t.”
“You’re letting a terrified five-year-old construct a memory from things adults are saying around him.”
“No one mentioned a black car.”
Gabriel looked toward Martin.
“You have people investigating in front of him?”
“No,” Maya said.
Every man in the room turned.
It was the first time she had spoken directly to Gabriel.
She swallowed.
“Eli said ‘car’ before anyone said anything about one.”
Gabriel studied her.
“And you are?”
“Maya Bennett.”
“The new maid?”
Sebastian noticed the contempt.
Maya noticed too.
It did not make her retreat.
Gabriel looked back at Sebastian.
“You’re trusting a maid who arrived tonight over the man who has been beside you for twenty-six years?”
“No.”
Sebastian’s voice was flat.
“I’m trusting my son.”
Gabriel stared at him.
Then the doorbell rang.
Martin checked his radio.
His expression changed.
“Dr. Mercer is at the gate.”
Sebastian turned sharply.
“Who called him?”
“No one from security.”
Gabriel said, “Perhaps Caldwell.”
Mrs. Caldwell was still being guarded in the downstairs sitting room.
Sebastian looked toward Martin.
“Did she have a phone?”
“Not after detention.”
“Before?”
Martin hesitated.
“For a few minutes.”
Gabriel spread his hands.
“There you are.”
But Sebastian was thinking differently.
Two men had appeared at his gate within thirty minutes of the hidden room being discovered.
Both connected to Eli.
Both without being invited.
“Let Mercer in,” Sebastian said.
Maya looked worried.
“Sir.”
He glanced at her.
She lowered her voice.
“Eli reacts to his name too.”
Sebastian looked down.
His son had pressed himself against Maya’s legs.
“Dr. Mercer,” Sebastian said.
Eli whispered, “Needle.”
Every muscle in Sebastian’s body tightened.
“What did you say?”
Eli pointed toward his arm.
“Needle. Sleep.”
Gabriel’s face went very still.
Sebastian looked at Maya.
She looked horrified.
Then the front doors opened.
Dr. Adrian Mercer entered carrying a medical case.
“I came as soon as I heard there had been an incident.”
Sebastian stared at the case.
Mercer smiled professionally.
“Given Eli’s history, I thought sedation might be necessary.”
That was the moment Sebastian understood.
May you like
They had not come because they were worried about Eli.
They had come because Eli had started talking.
