Chapter 8 - THE SON GABRIEL NEVER KNEW
Gabriel did not speak for almost a minute.
Claire had watched him face guns, kidnapping, betrayal, and proof that his dead mother was alive.
Nothing had affected him like Teresa’s final sentence.
“You're telling me I have a son.”
Teresa nodded.
“He would be ten now.”
Gabriel turned away.
“You knew.”
“I learned two years ago.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I couldn't find him.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Teresa’s voice broke.
“It’s an excuse.”
Gabriel walked toward the window.
Claire could see his reflection in the glass.
A man who commanded rooms now looked completely lost.
“What was his name?”
“Elena called him Nicholas.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Nicholas.”
Claire remembered seeing that name.
She stood.
“Wait.”
Gabriel turned.
“The Crown documents.”
“What?”
“There was a transfer to an N.M. Foundation.”
Arthur had dismissed it as an educational charity.
Claire grabbed Gabriel’s phone and called Marco.
“Bring the ledger.”
Ten minutes later Marco arrived.
They spread Crown documents across the hospital table.
There.
N.M. Foundation.
Annual transfers.
$250,000.
$400,000.
Then one million.
Gabriel followed the routing numbers.
“Switzerland.”
Marco nodded.
“A boarding school?”
“Possibly.”
Teresa looked at the account code.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Gabriel asked.
“Saint Michael.”
Claire frowned.
“School?”
“Richard’s family used a private school in Vermont called Saint Michael Academy.”
Marco was already searching.
It still existed.
Exclusive.
Tiny.
Students from wealthy families.
Gabriel stared at the school website.
“What surname?”
Teresa shook her head.
“Elena wouldn't have used Moretti.”
Marco began searching connected trusts.
Twenty minutes later he found it.
Nicholas Vale.
Ten years old.
Guardian listed as a corporate trust.
Gabriel stared at the photograph.
A dark-haired boy in a school blazer.
Even from a low-resolution website image, Claire could see Gabriel in him.
The eyes.
The chin.
The serious expression.
Gabriel sat.
“My son has been two hundred miles away.”
Teresa touched his shoulder.
“I’m sorry.”
Gabriel did not move away.
But he did not respond.
Claire understood.
Forgiveness could wait.
The boy could not.
Gabriel called the school.
The headmaster refused to provide information.
Gabriel called again through an attorney.
That changed things.
Nicholas had been signed out forty-eight hours earlier.
By his registered emergency guardian.
Richard Crowley.
Gabriel stood.
“Of course.”
Marco looked toward the hospital room where Richard remained under armed guard.
“He can't move.”
“He moved Nicholas before the warehouse.”
Claire frowned.
“Then where is Nicholas?”
Gabriel looked toward Richard’s room.
“Let's ask.”
Richard Crowley looked smaller in a hospital bed.
Bandages covered his shoulder.
Federal agents waited outside.
Gabriel entered with Claire and Teresa.
Richard looked at Teresa first.
“You really are difficult to kill.”
Teresa stared at him.
“You never were good at finishing things.”
Gabriel closed the door.
“Where is my son?”
Richard’s eyes moved toward him.
“You finally found out.”
Gabriel approached.
“Where is Nicholas?”
Richard smiled.
“Why? Planning your first father-son baseball game?”
Gabriel pulled a chair close to the bed and sat.
Claire recognized the movement.
Calm.
Dangerously calm.
“You can answer me now.”
Richard smiled.
“Or?”
“Or you answer federal investigators after I give them every Crown record.”
The smile faded slightly.
Richard said, “You'd destroy your own family.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
“You kidnapped mine.”
“Daniel kidnapped Lucy.”
“Because you manipulated him.”
Richard’s eyes hardened.
“He was easy to manipulate.”
Teresa shook her head.
“You poisoned children against each other for thirty years.”
Richard looked at her.
“Your husband started it.”
“No.”
“You really still worship Vittorio?”
“He betrayed me.”
Teresa’s voice remained steady.
“He humiliated me.”
Claire looked toward her.
Teresa continued.
“And he was still a better man than you.”
Richard’s face tightened.
Gabriel repeated, “Nicholas.”
Richard sighed.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With someone who loves him.”
Gabriel’s chair scraped the floor as he stood.
Richard smiled.
“There's the Moretti temper.”
“No.”
Gabriel leaned down.
“My father had a temper.”
His voice softened.
“I learned patience.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
Gabriel placed one photograph on the blanket.
It showed Vanessa lying in surgery.
Richard looked away.
“Your daughter took a bullet because of you.”
“She chose Gabriel.”
“She chose a child.”
Gabriel placed another photograph.
Daniel in federal custody.
“Daniel will testify.”
Richard said nothing.
Another document.
Black Crown transactions.
Another.
Margaret Hale’s death investigation.
Another.
The staged death of Teresa.
Gabriel said, “You have no leverage left.”
Richard looked at him.
Gabriel lowered his voice.
“Except Nicholas.”
That landed.
Richard looked away.
Gabriel knew.
“He's alive.”
Richard said nothing.
“You wouldn't kill the final bargaining chip.”
Silence.
“Where?”
Richard finally sighed.
“Delaware.”
Claire frowned.
“Where in Delaware?”
“A house near Rehoboth.”
Marco immediately left.
Gabriel remained.
“Address.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“You'll find it.”
Gabriel stared.
Richard added, “But the boy doesn't know you exist.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“He believes his father is dead.”
Richard almost laughed.
“Apparently that's a family tradition.”
Teresa flinched.
Gabriel didn't.
He walked out.
They reached Rehoboth shortly after sunset.
The house sat behind dunes overlooking the Atlantic.
Security surrounded it quietly.
Gabriel stood outside.
For the first time, Claire saw his hands shake.
“You okay?” she asked.
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Good answer.”
He looked at her.
“What do I say?”
“To Nicholas?”
Gabriel nodded.
Claire thought.
“Nothing impressive.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She looked toward the house.
“Adults always think children need perfect explanations.”
“What do they need?”
“The truth in pieces they can survive.”
Gabriel stared.
Claire touched his arm.
“Start with your name.”
They entered.
A woman in her sixties surrendered immediately.
She had been paid by Richard to care for Nicholas.
She claimed she knew nothing about the crimes.
Upstairs, Nicholas sat on a bed reading.
Gabriel stopped in the doorway.
Nicholas looked up.
“Who are you?”
Gabriel could not speak.
Claire gently nudged him.
He glanced back.
She whispered, “Your name.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“Gabriel.”
Nicholas frowned.
“My grandfather said not to talk to strangers.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“That's good advice.”
“Are you police?”
“No.”
“Then why are there police outside?”
“Because your grandfather has been arrested.”
Nicholas went pale.
“For what?”
Gabriel crouched.
“For hurting people.”
Nicholas looked scared.
“Is he going to jail?”
“Probably.”
“Who's taking me back to school?”
Gabriel hesitated.
Nicholas noticed.
“Who are you?”
Gabriel looked at the boy.
“My last name is Moretti.”
Nicholas stared.
His eyes narrowed.
“My mom’s last name was Moretti.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
“You knew that?”
“She told me before she died.”
Gabriel’s eyes filled.
“What else did she tell you?”
Nicholas reached beneath his pillow.
He removed a photograph.
Elena.
Gabriel.
Taken during their wedding.
Gabriel stared.
Nicholas pointed toward Gabriel in the picture.
“She said that man was my father.”
Gabriel’s composure broke.
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Why didn't you contact me?”
Nicholas looked confused.
“I did.”
Gabriel froze.
“What?”
“I wrote you four letters.”
Claire looked at him.
Gabriel whispered, “I never received them.”
Nicholas stood.
“My grandfather said you sent them back.”
“No.”
Nicholas’s face hardened.
“He said you didn't want me.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
“You didn't even read them?”
“I never saw them.”
Nicholas stared.
Gabriel took one careful step forward.
“If I had known you existed…”
His voice failed.
Nicholas looked at him.
Gabriel tried again.
“I would have come.”
The boy’s lower lip trembled.
“You swear?”
Gabriel nodded.
“I swear.”
Nicholas looked down.
Then Claire heard movement downstairs.
Marco shouted.
“Gabriel!”
A window shattered.
Gabriel pushed Nicholas behind him.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Marco entered.
“We have vehicles coming through the east gate.”
Gabriel drew his weapon.
“Richard’s men?”
“No.”
Marco looked confused.
“Federal plates.”
Gabriel frowned.
Then his phone rang.
Arthur.
Gabriel answered.
Arthur spoke rapidly.
“Get Nicholas out of there.”
“Why?”
“Richard wasn’t working alone.”
Gabriel looked toward Claire.
Arthur continued.
“There’s someone inside the federal task force.”
“Who?”
“I found Teresa’s old ledger.”
Arthur’s voice dropped.
“The man running the investigation is Black Crown.”
Gabriel turned toward the window.
Agents were approaching the front door.
Then Arthur said the name.
“Special Agent Thomas Keene.”
Claire felt her stomach drop.
Keene was the federal agent who had been standing outside Richard Crowley’s hospital room all afternoon.
Gabriel whispered, “Richard.”
May you like
Arthur answered.
“He’s gone.”
