Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HER MOTHER
Harper stared at Mrs. Morrison as if the older woman had begun speaking another language.
"What does my surname have to do with anything?"
Morrison did not answer immediately.
Gabriel did.
"That is what I would like to know."
His voice was quiet.
That quiet had become more frightening than a raised voice.
Morrison folded her hands in front of her.
"Her mother was Mara Queen."
Gabriel's head turned sharply toward Harper.
Harper felt something inside her chest go cold.
"You knew my mother?"
Morrison's eyes softened.
"Years ago."
"Where?"
"St. Bartholomew's Hospital."
Harper frowned.
Her mother had worked at St. Bartholomew's for nearly nineteen years, first in admissions and later in medical records.
She had talked about doctors, nurses, difficult patients, overnight shifts, and impossible supervisors.
She had never once mentioned Eleanor Morrison.
"You were not a nurse."
"No."
"Then how did you know her?"
Morrison glanced at Gabriel.
That glance told Harper more than any answer could.
"Through this family," Harper said.
Gabriel's face hardened.
"Morrison."
"I was going to tell you."
"When?"
"When I knew why Harper was here."
Harper stepped between them.
"I am here because I need money."
"I believe that," Morrison said.
"Then why did you hire me if you knew who I was?"
Morrison looked toward the rain-dark windows.
"Because your mother once saved someone I loved."
Harper waited.
"Who?"
Morrison did not answer.
Gabriel took one step forward.
"Who did Mara Queen save?"
Before Morrison could respond, Harper's phone rang.
Noah.
She answered before the first ring finished.
"Noah?"
For one second there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice came through the speaker.
"You always were bad at following instructions."
Harper stopped breathing.
Derek.
Gabriel read the name on her face.
He held out his hand for the phone.
She shook her head.
"Where is Noah?"
Derek laughed softly.
The sound brought back a hundred nights Harper had spent listening for his key in the lock.
"You should be asking where you are going to sleep tonight."
"Put Noah on."
"Our home is still available."
"It was never my home."
A pause followed.
Harper knew that pause.
It was the place where his anger gathered itself.
"You have been gone four days."
"I am not coming back."
"You do not get to decide that."
Gabriel's expression went perfectly blank.
Harper saw his hand close slowly into a fist.
"Put my brother on the phone."
"I went to the apartment."
Harper's blood turned to ice.
"He was not there."
She looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel was already texting with one hand.
"Then why did you send me that picture?"
"To remind you that I can get close whenever I want."
Harper's knees weakened.
Derek had not taken Noah.
Not yet.
"What do you want?"
"You."
"No."
"You think that rich criminal can protect you?"
Gabriel's eyes lifted.
Derek knew where she was.
Harper could barely process that fact before he continued.
"You picked an interesting place to hide."
"How did you know?"
"I am a detective, sweetheart."
"You are a patrol officer."
His silence told her the insult had landed.
"Come outside in ten minutes."
"No."
"Then I start asking questions about Noah."
Harper's fingernails dug into her palm.
"You stay away from him."
"Come outside."
"Derek-"
The call ended.
Harper lowered the phone.
"He knows I am here."
Gabriel was already moving.
He crossed to a hidden panel beside the fireplace and pressed his thumb against a scanner.
A section of the wall opened to reveal monitors showing every gate, corridor, stairwell, and exterior angle of the property.
"Elias says Noah was moved three minutes ago," Gabriel said.
Harper looked at him.
"Moved where?"
"Here."
"You said five minutes."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because if you knew he was already in the vehicle, your face might have changed while Lawson was talking."
Harper stared at him.
She could not decide whether to be furious or relieved.
"You manipulated me."
"Yes."
The honesty disarmed her.
"Do not do it again."
"I will try."
"That is not an apology."
"It was not meant to be."
Harper almost snapped back, but one of the monitors caught her attention.
A black SUV had just turned through the front gates.
"Is that Noah?"
Gabriel nodded.
Harper ran.
Pain tore through her ribs as she crossed the hallway, but she did not slow.
By the time she reached the ground floor, the front door was already opening.
A broad-shouldered man with a shaved head stepped inside.
Beside him stood Noah.
He wore pajama pants, mismatched socks, and Harper's old Boston College sweatshirt.
His face was pale with confusion.
"Harper?"
She dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around him.
Noah buried his face in her neck.
"That man said you sent him."
"I did."
It was not entirely true, but she could explain later.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Did anyone touch you?"
"No."
"Did you see Derek?"
Noah stiffened.
Harper felt it instantly.
She pulled back.
"Noah."
His eyes filled.
"He came before the big man did."
Harper's heart stopped.
"What happened?"
"I hid."
"Where?"
"The laundry closet in the basement."
Noah glanced toward the man Gabriel had called Elias.
"He did not see me."
Elias frowned.
"The apartment door was open when we arrived."
Harper gripped Noah's shoulders.
"What did Derek do inside?"
Noah looked at the floor.
"He broke things."
"What things?"
"Your boxes."
Harper went still.
There had been only three boxes left unpacked in the apartment.
All three had belonged to their mother.
Old photographs.
Hospital papers.
A sewing basket.
A wooden music box that no longer played.
"Did he take anything?"
Noah nodded.
"I do not know."
Then he reached inside the sweatshirt.
"But I took this before I hid."
He placed a small brass key in Harper's palm.
A faded paper tag was tied around it with red thread.
On the tag, written in Mara Queen's handwriting, were two words.
SOUTH STATION.
Gabriel had followed them into the foyer.
The moment he saw the key, every trace of color left his face.
"Where did that come from?"
Harper closed her fingers around it.
"My mother's sewing basket."
Gabriel looked at Morrison.
Morrison looked away.
Harper stood slowly.
"Someone needs to start telling me the truth."
No one spoke.
Harper's anger broke through the fear.
"Now."
Morrison took a breath.
"Your mother copied a file she was never supposed to see."
Harper stared at her.
"What file?"
"A trauma admission from seven years ago."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
Morrison continued.
"A young man was brought into St. Bartholomew's after midnight with two gunshot wounds."
Harper looked at Gabriel.
He had gone completely still.
"Who was he?"
Morrison's voice dropped.
"Gabriel's younger brother."
Harper swallowed.
"What happened to him?"
Gabriel answered.
"He died."
The room seemed to lose its air.
Noah pressed closer to Harper.
Gabriel looked at the brass key in her hand.
"And Derek Lawson was the first police officer listed on the evidence chain."
Harper stared at him.
"You think Derek killed your brother?"
May you like
Gabriel's eyes met hers.
"I think Derek Lawson helped someone make sure the truth about Thomas Ashford died with him."
