Chapter 3 - A Target on Three Lives
The attack lasted less than two minutes.
But two minutes was enough to change everything.
When the final gunman fell, Gabriel stood in the center of the ruined foyer, his weapon still raised.
Glass covered the marble.
A chandelier swung overhead.
Matteo approached.
"Three intruders."
"Alive?"
"One."
Gabriel nodded.
"Question him."
Matteo dragged the surviving man into the security room.
Gabriel went upstairs.
Hannah was standing in the doorway.
Emma was in her arms.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Emma?"
"She's okay."
Gabriel took a breath.
"Good."
Hannah stared at him.
"You knew this would happen."
"No."
"You knew someone was looking for us."
"Yes."
"You knew they might come here."
"Yes."
"Then why did you let us stay?"
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"Because this building is safer than your apartment."
"Three men just broke in."
"And they're not leaving."
Hannah looked at him.
"That isn't safety."
Gabriel had no response.
She turned away.
"I want to leave."
"You can't."
"Why?"
"Because they know you're here."
"Then I'll go somewhere else."
"They'll follow."
"How do you know?"
"Because this wasn't a random attack."
Gabriel pointed toward the hallway.
"They came directly for the baby."
Hannah looked down at Emma.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
She whispered:
"Maybe Daniel knew something."
Gabriel nodded.
"That's what I'm trying to discover."
He moved closer.
"Hannah."
She looked up.
"Tell me the truth."
"I have."
"Everything."
She hesitated.
Then slowly shook her head.
"There is one thing."
"What?"
"Daniel gave me a box."
Gabriel went still.
"Where?"
"I thought it was empty."
"Where is it?"
"My apartment."
Gabriel stared.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"I didn't know what was inside."
"What's in it?"
"A key."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Anything else?"
"A photograph."
"Of whom?"
"Daniel."
Gabriel waited.
"And a woman."
"What woman?"
"I don't know."
Gabriel looked at Matteo.
"Take a team."
They drove to Hannah's apartment under heavy security.
The building was old.
Too old.
Gabriel hated it immediately.
He entered first.
Hannah followed.
Emma remained with a bodyguard downstairs.
Gabriel searched every room.
Nothing.
Then Hannah opened the bedroom closet.
She pulled out an old wooden box.
Gabriel opened it.
Inside was a key.
A photograph.
And a handwritten note.
He read it.
If they come for Hannah, take her to the Marlowe house. Trust Gabriel.
Hannah stared.
"Why did he write your name?"
Gabriel said nothing.
He turned the photograph over.
A date.
Six months before Daniel's death.
The woman beside Daniel was pregnant.
Hannah looked at the image.
"I've never seen her."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Neither have I."
The key had a number engraved on it.
1408.
Gabriel knew that number.
His expression changed.
"What's wrong?"
He didn't answer.
"Gabriel."
He looked at her.
"That key belongs to a storage facility."
"Which one?"
"One I own."
Hannah's face went pale.
"You own it?"
"Yes."
"Then why would Daniel have the key?"
Gabriel didn't know.
But he intended to find out.
They returned to the city.
The storage facility sat beneath an abandoned warehouse in Queens.
Gabriel's men opened Unit 1408.
Inside was a suitcase.
Nothing else.
Gabriel opened it.
Cash.
Documents.
A flash drive.
And a photograph.
The same woman.
This time she was holding a newborn baby.
Hannah stared.
"That's not Emma."
Gabriel's heart stopped.
Another baby.
Another woman.
Another secret.
Then he saw the date.
Three years ago.
The woman had died two days after the photograph was taken.
Gabriel looked at Hannah.
"Do you recognize the hospital?"
She shook her head.
"No."
He opened the documents.
Birth certificate.
The mother's name was Sarah Vale.
The child's name:
Emma Vale.
Hannah's hands trembled.
"That's impossible."
Gabriel looked at the baby monitor.
"Your daughter's name is Emma Price."
"Yes."
"How old?"
"Eight months."
He looked at the birth certificate again.
The photograph showed a baby three years ago.
That baby couldn't be Hannah's daughter.
Unless—
Gabriel stopped.
"Where is Emma's birth certificate?"
Hannah looked confused.
"At home."
"Did you see it?"
"Yes."
"Who signed it?"
"I don't remember."
Gabriel looked at Matteo.
"Get the original."
An hour later, the document arrived.
Gabriel read it.
His face became unreadable.
Hannah looked at him.
"What?"
He handed it to her.
She read the father's name.
Her hands began shaking.
Daniel Price.
Mother:
Hannah Price.
But the hospital number was wrong.
The record had been altered.
Gabriel looked at Matteo.
"Someone forged this."
Hannah whispered:
"What are you saying?"
Gabriel looked at Emma through the glass doors.
"I don't think the people hunting you are after your daughter because of Daniel."
"Then why?"
"Because they think she's someone else's child."
Hannah stared.
"Whose?"
Gabriel looked at the photograph.
The answer was becoming clear.
"Sarah Vale's."
Hannah shook her head.
"No."
"Sarah was connected to Victor Kane."
"Who is Victor Kane?"
Gabriel didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"The man behind the Harbor Saints."
Hannah's face went pale.
Gabriel closed the suitcase.
"We have to find out who Emma really is."
Hannah looked at him.
"What if she's not mine?"
Gabriel stared at her.
"Then we find the truth."
"And if the truth is dangerous?"
May you like
His answer came immediately.
"Then I become more dangerous."
