Chapter 8 - The Betrayal Inside Security
Marco took the badge from the dead man's jacket.
He examined the hologram.
"It is real."
Gabriel watched him.
"Can someone forge it?"
"Not with the current encryption strip."
Sterling laughed bitterly.
"Your people are very organized for traitors."
Marco ignored him.
"Only three terminals can issue this level of credential."
"Where?"
"My office, central dispatch, and executive security."
Mia looked at Gabriel.
"Who controls executive security?"
Gabriel answered.
"Vittorio's son."
Sterling raised his eyebrows.
"Dante."
Mia remembered the name from payroll records.
Dante Romano was thirty-three, charming, expensive, and famous inside the company for treating every security budget as if it were a personal inconvenience.
She had approved his travel reimbursements often enough to know he spent more on hotel minibar charges than most employees spent on rent.
"Would Dante do this for his father?"
Gabriel's expression turned unreadable.
"Dante would do almost anything for approval."
Marco looked toward the road.
"He also had access to tonight's convoy schedule."
Mia felt her stomach drop.
"Including my last-minute addition."
Marco nodded.
Gabriel looked at the badge again.
"Then he knew she was in the third SUV."
Sterling leaned back.
"And he knew the baby was there."
Gabriel looked at him.
"You talk too much."
"I am enjoying not being the worst person in the car."
Marco tossed the badge onto the floor.
"We need to contact Hannah."
Gabriel nodded.
"Not by phone."
Mia looked at Sterling.
"Do you have a clean vehicle?"
"I had one until your family shot my driver."
"That sounds like no."
Sterling smiled thinly.
"I have another car two blocks east."
Marco stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because I am not stupid enough to arrive at a meeting with one exit."
Mia looked at Gabriel.
"I like one thing about him."
"Do not make a habit of it."
They transferred to Sterling's second vehicle.
Gabriel insisted Marco drive.
Sterling sat in the front passenger seat.
Mia and Gabriel sat in the back with the ledger between them.
The master key remained hidden in Mia's boot.
Nobody mentioned it.
Gabriel knew she still had it.
Sterling did not.
That was the first advantage Gabriel felt they had earned all night.
"Where did Price tell Hannah to go?" Sterling asked.
Gabriel's eyes moved to the mirror.
"Why would I tell you?"
"Because Vittorio has your doctor."
"Still not a reason."
Sterling sighed.
"Then let me guess."
"Do not."
"A location Daniel knew, Vittorio would overlook, and Price could reach with a baby."
Gabriel's face tightened.
Sterling smiled.
"Daniel's old clinic."
Mia looked at Gabriel.
"Clinic?"
"Hannah volunteered at a neighborhood pediatric center after she moved to Chicago."
"Daniel funded it anonymously," Sterling said.
Gabriel looked at him.
"How do you know that?"
"I know where money goes."
Mia did not miss the way Sterling said it.
"Crown money?"
"No."
Sterling glanced back at her.
"Daniel's clean money."
Gabriel told Marco the address.
The clinic occupied a narrow brick building beside a church in Pilsen.
Its lights were off.
Marco circled the block twice before parking.
Gabriel stopped Sterling at the door.
"You stay here."
"I just saved you from a sniper."
"You also helped arrange my brother's death."
Sterling considered that.
"Fair."
Gabriel, Marco, and Mia entered through the clinic's back door.
A small lamp glowed inside an examination room.
Hannah sat in a chair with Leo asleep against her shoulder.
Two trusted guards stood nearby.
Her face flooded with relief when she saw Gabriel.
Then she saw Mia's bloodstained coat.
"You are supposed to be in a hospital."
Mia almost laughed.
"Apparently everyone has an opinion."
Hannah handed Leo to Gabriel.
He held the baby more naturally this time.
"Price?"
Hannah shook her head.
"He made us leave without him."
"He signed paperwork declaring me unfit."
Hannah looked shocked.
"No."
"Under pressure," Mia said.
"Vittorio admitted it."
Hannah's expression changed.
"Then we get him back."
Gabriel looked at her.
"We will."
Hannah looked past them.
"Where is Marco?"
He was standing at the hallway entrance, staring at his phone.
"Marco?"
He looked up.
Something was wrong.
Gabriel saw it immediately.
"What?"
Marco turned the screen around.
A security alert displayed a live photograph from Romano Holdings headquarters.
Dante Romano stood in Gabriel's office surrounded by board members.
Behind him, employees were removing boxes from Gabriel's desk.
A banner at the bottom of the internal feed read:
TEMPORARY LEADERSHIP TRANSITION EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
Hannah stared.
"They removed you already?"
Gabriel's face became calm.
Too calm.
"They are trying."
Marco scrolled.
"Vittorio called an emergency board session."
"Votes?"
"Four to one."
"Who voted against?"
Marco looked at him.
"Adrian."
Gabriel frowned.
Mia did too.
Sterling appeared in the doorway behind them.
Gabriel turned instantly.
"I told you to stay outside."
"Someone is watching the car."
Marco raised his weapon.
"Who?"
"Two men across the street."
"Yours?"
"No."
Gabriel handed Leo back to Hannah.
"Basement exit?"
Hannah pointed toward the supply room.
"Stairs to the church tunnel."
Mia looked at her.
"Why does every Romano property have a tunnel?"
Gabriel answered while checking the window.
"Family tradition."
"Your family needs hobbies."
The front door exploded inward.
A flash filled the waiting room.
Marco pulled Mia behind the reception desk.
Hannah ran toward the supply room with Leo.
Gabriel covered her retreat.
Sterling fired toward the entrance.
Two masked men entered.
One shouted, "Take the woman alive."
Again.
Mia was the target.
Marco fired low and hit one attacker in the leg.
The second moved behind the counter.
Gabriel struck him before he could raise his weapon.
The fight ended fast.
Too fast.
The wounded attacker bit down hard.
Mia saw the movement.
"Stop him."
Marco grabbed his jaw, but it was too late.
The man convulsed once.
A small capsule rolled from his mouth.
Sterling stared.
"Professional."
Gabriel checked the other attacker.
Unconscious.
Alive.
"We finally get one."
Marco ripped off the mask.
Then he froze.
Gabriel looked down.
The man was no hired stranger.
His name was Paul Mercer.
He had worked Romano executive security for nine years.
Marco had attended his daughter's baptism.
"Paul."
Marco's voice broke slightly.
Gabriel looked at him.
"You know him."
"I promoted him."
Mia watched Marco's face.
For the first time that night, the security chief looked personally wounded.
Gabriel crouched beside Mercer.
"Wake him."
Marco shook him hard.
Mercer's eyes opened.
He focused on Marco first.
Shame crossed his face.
"I am sorry."
Marco grabbed his jacket.
"Why?"
Mercer coughed.
"My daughter."
"What about her?"
"They have her."
Marco's grip loosened.
Gabriel looked at Mia.
Mia understood immediately.
Not every betrayal was loyalty bought.
Some were loyalty held hostage.
"Who has her?" Gabriel asked.
Mercer's breathing became ragged.
"Dante."
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
"Where?"
Mercer shook his head.
"He said if I did not bring Mia, they would send me pieces."
Marco closed his eyes.
"Why Mia?"
Mercer looked at her.
"She has the key."
The room went silent.
Sterling slowly turned toward Mia.
Gabriel moved between them.
"What key?"
Mercer swallowed.
"I do not know."
"Who told Dante she has it?"
"Vittorio."
Mia's hand moved instinctively toward her boot.
Sterling noticed.
Gabriel noticed Sterling noticing.
"Damian."
Sterling raised both hands.
"I am not doing anything."
"Keep it that way."
Mercer grabbed Marco's sleeve.
"Please find Emma."
"I will."
"He keeps hostages in the old customs warehouse."
Marco leaned closer.
"Which one?"
"Calumet."
Sterling looked at Gabriel.
"That is one of Vittorio's sites."
Gabriel stood.
"Then we go."
Mia shook her head.
"No."
Gabriel stared at her.
"A child is there."
"Which is exactly why we do not charge into the building he expects us to attack."
"You have a better plan?"
Mia looked at Mercer.
"What did Dante tell you to do after you captured me?"
Mercer struggled to focus.
"Call a number."
"Do you have it?"
He nodded weakly.
Marco took the phone from his pocket.
Mia looked at Gabriel.
"Then Paul succeeded."
Gabriel understood.
"We tell Dante you have Mia."
"And make him choose the meeting point."
Sterling smiled.
"I definitely like her."
Gabriel looked at him.
"You are becoming a problem."
Mia ignored both men.
"Dante thinks he controls a frightened employee."
Marco looked at her injured side.
"You are injured."
"That helps the performance."
Gabriel's answer was immediate.
"No."
Mia met his eyes.
"You want the girl alive."
"Yes."
"Then let me do the one thing they already believe I cannot do."
"Which is?"
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"Choose to walk toward them."
