Chapter 7 - PHASE TWO
Gabriel returned to the mansion at dawn.
He looked like a man who had walked through a chemical fire and refused to admit it.
His shirt sleeve was torn.
His knuckles were split.
Rainwater and blood had dried together on his forearm.
Eli was waiting in the west sitting room.
Hannah had tried to make him sleep.
He refused.
Gabriel stopped in the doorway.
For several seconds, father and son only looked at each other.
Then Eli spoke.
"You said you'd tell me."
Gabriel almost smiled.
"I remember."
He sat across from him.
Hannah remained near the window.
"We found a room full of information about our family."
Eli's face tightened.
"About Mom?"
"Yes."
"About me?"
Gabriel hesitated.
Then forced himself not to hide behind protection.
"Mostly about you."
Eli swallowed.
"Why?"
"Because someone believed they could control me by controlling what happened to you."
The boy stared at him.
"Did it work?"
Gabriel did not answer immediately.
Hannah watched him carefully.
"Yes."
Eli looked surprised.
Gabriel continued.
"For eleven months, yes."
His voice became rough.
"I made decisions because I was afraid."
"Like the cameras?"
"Yes."
"Like not letting me go outside?"
"Yes."
"Like firing everyone?"
Gabriel almost defended that one.
He stopped himself.
"Some of them deserved it."
Eli's mouth twitched.
It was not quite a smile.
"But not all?"
"Probably not all."
Hannah looked away so Gabriel would not see her satisfaction.
Eli studied his father's face.
"Did Uncle Sebastian hurt Mom?"
The question landed heavily.
"I don't know yet."
"You think he did."
Gabriel exhaled.
"I think he knows more than he told us."
Eli looked at the garnet ring on the table.
"I saw that ring."
"I believe you."
The boy went still.
"You do?"
Gabriel felt shame move through him.
How many times had Eli expected disbelief?
"Yes."
Eli looked down quickly.
His eyes shone.
He blinked hard.
Hannah changed the subject before the emotion could become unbearable.
"We also found evidence that Dr. Mercer may have been giving you too much medication."
Eli frowned.
"The sleepy medicine?"
"Yes."
"I hate that stuff."
Gabriel looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Eli laughed without humor.
"I did."
Gabriel's face emptied.
"When?"
"A lot."
The room became silent.
Eli continued.
"You said Dr. Mercer knew what he was doing."
Gabriel remembered.
Not one conversation.
Several.
Eli saying the medicine made his head feel underwater.
Gabriel telling him healing was uncomfortable.
Eli saying he wanted a different doctor.
Gabriel promising Mercer was the best.
He had heard the words.
He had not heard his son.
"I was wrong."
Eli stared at him.
Gabriel forced the next words out.
"I'm sorry."
Hannah looked at the window because somehow that apology felt more private than anything else she had witnessed.
Eli's face tightened.
"Okay."
Gabriel nodded.
He understood that okay did not mean forgiven.
It meant heard.
For now, that was enough.
After Eli finally slept, Gabriel called a neurologist in New York who had no ties to Mercer or Boston.
He arranged a complete independent evaluation.
Then he called his attorney.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
The attorney was Daniel Keane.
Keane had handled the Eli trust.
One of four people who knew about the succession transfer.
Gabriel sent a driver to his house.
Twenty minutes later, the driver called back.
"Boss, the place is empty."
"Define empty."
"Closets cleared."
"Cars?"
"Gone."
Gabriel's face hardened.
"When did he leave?"
"Neighbor says yesterday afternoon."
Gabriel ended the call.
Hannah stood beside the Project Anchor files spread across the library table.
"Another coincidence?"
"No."
Gabriel looked at the PHASE TWO date.
"They're moving."
"Because we found the room?"
"Because Claire's key is active."
Hannah looked toward the brass key.
"What does Phase Two mean?"
"We find out before the date arrives."
Gabriel began making calls.
Not to his organization.
To people outside it.
A retired federal accountant who owed Claire a favor.
A private lab in Connecticut.
A former prosecutor Gabriel had once helped quietly relocate after a threat.
Hannah watched him construct a new network in under an hour.
"You don't trust anyone you employ."
"Not right now."
"That must be a pleasant realization."
"I'm having an excellent morning."
She almost smiled.
Then the front intercom buzzed.
A delivery waited at the gate.
No driver.
Just a white medical cooler sitting on the road.
Gabriel ordered it scanned remotely.
No explosive.
He had it brought inside by a robot cart used for suspicious packages.
Hannah stared at the machine.
"You own a bomb robot?"
"Don't judge me today."
Inside the cooler were twelve medication vials.
Each bore Eli's name.
They were the same sedative Mercer had prescribed.
A note lay beneath them.
YOU SIGNED EVERY ORDER.
Gabriel's face went gray.
Hannah read the next line.
YOU DID THIS TO HIM.
Below that was a photograph.
Gabriel recognized the hospital room from the week after the bombing.
He stood beside Eli's bed.
Mercer held a clipboard.
Gabriel's signature appeared at the bottom of a consent form.
The photograph had been taken from inside the room.
Someone else had been there.
Hannah flipped it over.
A message was written on the back.
ASK THE WOMAN IN WHITE.
Gabriel frowned.
"What woman?"
Hannah looked at the picture again.
In the reflection of a dark television screen, a nurse stood behind them.
White uniform.
Dark hair.
Part of her face visible.
Hannah stopped breathing.
"I know her."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Who?"
Hannah's voice changed.
"Her name is Rebecca Cole."
Gabriel stared.
"Cole?"
Hannah nodded.
May you like
"My sister."
