Chapter 4 - PARKING LEVEL FOUR
Gavin stared at the photograph for only three seconds before locking his phone.
Nora saw enough.
“That’s Marlene.”
Her voice broke.
“Where is she?”
Gavin did not answer immediately.
He looked at Henry.
Then at Priscilla.
Then at the office door.
Someone in the building was coordinating everything.
The blackout.
The planted bracelet.
The torn photograph.
The warning.
And now Marlene.
If Gavin revealed the location, the kidnappers might move her before he reached the garage.
Nora grabbed his sleeve.
“Where is she?”
“Parking level four.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She is my family.”
“And Taylor is your daughter.”
Nora looked down.
Taylor stood beside Evelyn, clutching the skirt of her mother’s uniform.
Fear had finally replaced curiosity in the little girl’s face.
Gavin crouched.
“Taylor.”
She looked at him.
“I need you to do something very important.”
“What?”
“Stay with Grandma Lady.”
Taylor looked at Evelyn.
“Okay.”
“And listen to everything she says.”
Taylor nodded.
Gavin stood.
“Evelyn, lock the office.”
“Call Ortega.”
“He’s on his way.”
Nora stepped forward.
“I’m still coming.”
“Nora.”
“You do not get to decide this.”
Her voice was low.
Steady.
“This started with my husband.”
“My mother-in-law is down there.”
“My daughter has been dragged into it.”
“I am done standing in kitchens while rich people decide what I’m allowed to know.”
Gavin stared at her.
Then nodded once.
“Stay behind me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I believe you.”
“Stay behind me anyway.”
For some reason, that almost made her smile.
They left Evelyn and Taylor in the office.
Gavin ordered Luis to remain outside the door.
Henry started to follow.
Gavin stopped him.
“You stay here.”
Henry’s jaw tightened.
“Sir, I’m head of security.”
“Not anymore.”
Priscilla stared at Gavin.
“You’re firing him because a frightened employee got confused?”
“I’m suspending him because I don’t trust him.”
Henry’s face changed.
There it was again.
Not outrage.
Calculation.
Gavin and Nora walked toward the private stairwell.
The main elevators were still disabled.
The stairwell ran along the west side of the tower.
Forty-two floors.
They were on thirty-eight.
Parking level four meant going down forty-two flights.
Nora looked at the endless stairs.
“You really don’t have another elevator?”
“I have one.”
“The kidnappers know about it.”
“Wonderful.”
They began descending.
Gavin called Ortega as they moved.
“Where are you?”
“Three blocks away.”
“Marlene Bell is being held on P4.”
“Do not go down there.”
“I’m already going.”
“Of course you are.”
“Service entrance.”
“Approach through the north garage.”
“I’ll alert units.”
“No sirens.”
“Gavin.”
“No sirens.”
“If whoever has her hears police, they move her.”
Ortega cursed.
“Fine.”
“Five minutes.”
The call ended.
They continued.
Thirty-seventh floor.
Thirty-fifth.
Thirty-third.
Nora’s breathing became heavier.
Not from exertion.
From fear.
“Tell me about Daniel.”
Gavin glanced at her.
“Now?”
“I need to think about something besides what might be happening downstairs.”
He nodded.
“What was he like?”
Nora took another flight.
“Annoyingly optimistic.”
“Is that a real personality trait?”
“With Daniel it was.”
“He thought every problem could be fixed.”
“Bad plumbing.”
“Broken cars.”
“People.”
“He was especially stupid about people.”
Gavin almost smiled.
“He trusted everyone?”
“He believed almost everyone had a decent explanation for disappointing you.”
“What about Marcus?”
Nora’s expression changed.
“Daniel liked him at first.”
“And later?”
“He started coming home angry.”
“Daniel rarely got angry.”
“But Harbor Crown changed him.”
“He said somebody was ordering engineers to alter reports.”
Gavin stopped on the landing.
“What reports?”
“Load estimates.”
“Material certifications.”
“Foundation tests.”
Gavin’s stomach tightened.
“If those were falsified—”
“The project was never safe.”
Gavin stared at her.
“But the official investigation blamed a subcontractor.”
“Daniel said the subcontractor was being used as a shield.”
“Who was responsible?”
Nora shook her head.
“He never told me.”
“Or he didn’t know yet.”
“What happened the night he died?”
Nora continued down the stairs.
“He called at seven twelve.”
“I remember because Taylor had fallen asleep on my chest.”
“He sounded excited.”
“He said he had copied everything.”
“Everything?”
“That was his word.”
“He said, ‘Nora, I have everything.’”
“Then?”
“He said he was driving home.”
“He never arrived.”
Gavin knew the rest from the company report.
Daniel’s car left the interstate on a desert stretch outside Yuma.
Police concluded he fell asleep.
No other vehicle was found.
No mechanical defect was reported.
The evidence Daniel claimed to possess vanished.
Nora spoke again.
“Two days after the funeral, Marcus came to my apartment.”
Gavin nearly stopped.
“Marcus?”
“He brought flowers.”
“He told me Roberson Development would cover funeral expenses.”
“That sounds like him.”
“I thought so too.”
“Then he asked whether Daniel had brought any company files home.”
Gavin’s face hardened.
“What did you say?”
“That I didn’t know.”
“Was that true?”
“Yes.”
“Then.”
“What changed?”
“About a month later, I found Daniel’s old metal case behind insulation in our garage.”
“The one Taylor mentioned?”
Nora nodded.
“It was locked.”
“I couldn’t find the key.”
“I was barely functioning.”
“Then I moved to California.”
“The case stayed with my things.”
“Why didn’t you force it open?”
“Because part of me didn’t want another mystery.”
“That sounds strange, doesn’t it?”
“No.”
Gavin understood better than she realized.
Sometimes grief made unanswered questions feel safer than answers.
Answers could break the dead permanently.
They reached the twentieth floor.
Nora’s phone rang.
She stopped.
Unknown caller.
Gavin looked at her.
“Don’t.”
“What if it’s Marlene?”
“What if they’re tracking your signal?”
She answered anyway.
“Marlene?”
No voice.
Then a recording played.
Daniel Bell.
Nora’s entire body froze.
The voice was unmistakable.
Older recording quality.
Road noise in the background.
“Nora.”
“If you’re hearing this, then I didn’t make it home.”
Nora grabbed the railing.
Gavin stared at the phone.
Daniel continued.
“Don’t trust Marcus.”
The recording ended.
Nora began crying silently.
Gavin took the phone.
The call had disconnected.
“How would someone have that?”
“I don’t know.”
Nora’s hands shook.
“He never sent it to me.”
“He must have recorded it somewhere else.”
Gavin looked at the screen.
A new text appeared.
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND.
Another.
ASK GAVIN WHO PAID FOR HARBOR CROWN.
Nora looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Gavin knew.
But he wished he didn’t.
“The financing package.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
Nora’s face hardened.
“Gavin.”
“Senator Ashford helped arrange the pension investment consortium.”
Nora stared at him.
“Priscilla’s father?”
“Yes.”
“How much money?”
“Nearly nine hundred million dollars.”
Nora went quiet.
The pieces were beginning to align.
Unsafe construction.
Falsified reports.
Political financing.
Marcus.
Senator Ashford.
Priscilla.
Daniel.
Gavin started moving again.
They reached parking level one.
Then two.
Then three.
At the door to P4, Gavin stopped.
He listened.
Nothing.
He opened the door slowly.
The underground garage was almost completely dark.
Only red emergency lamps glowed every thirty feet.
Rows of luxury vehicles stretched through the concrete structure.
Gavin checked the photograph.
The white P4 marking appeared on a column near section D.
They moved silently.
Nora stayed close.
One row.
Then another.
A black sedan sat near the far wall.
Engine running.
Gavin recognized Marlene’s gray hair through the rear window.
Nora gasped.
“Marlene.”
Gavin grabbed her arm.
“Wait.”
He scanned the garage.
No visible movement.
The driver’s seat was empty.
They approached.
Marlene saw Nora.
Her face crumpled.
Nora ran.
“Marlene!”
She pulled open the rear door.
Marlene’s wrists were tied with plastic restraints.
Nora threw her arms around her.
For several seconds, neither woman could speak.
Marlene kept repeating the same words.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
Gavin searched the vehicle.
No keys.
No weapon.
No obvious person hiding nearby.
Too easy.
Every instinct screamed that it was too easy.
“Marlene.”
She looked at him.
“Who brought you here?”
Her eyes widened.
“You.”
Gavin froze.
“What?”
“They said you wanted to see me.”
“Who said?”
“Your security chief.”
Henry.
Nora looked at Gavin.
Then Marlene suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“We need to leave.”
“Why?”
“They took it.”
“What?”
“The second folder.”
Gavin’s pulse jumped.
“What second folder?”
Marlene began shaking.
“The one Daniel gave me before he died.”
Gavin stared at her.
“You had Daniel’s evidence?”
“Some of it.”
“Where?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
She pointed upward.
“In your building.”
Nora whispered.
“What?”
Marlene looked at her.
“That’s why I came yesterday.”
“I was going to give it to Gavin.”
“But somebody saw me.”
“Who?”
Marlene’s eyes moved toward a security camera above the garage.
The red indicator light was glowing.
“They have been watching this entire time.”
Gavin turned.
The camera rotated.
Directly toward them.
Then the garage speakers crackled.
A man’s voice filled the empty level.
“Gavin.”
He recognized it immediately.
Marcus Reed.
Gavin stepped into the aisle.
“Marcus.”
A soft laugh echoed around the concrete walls.
“I really hoped you’d open the folder tomorrow.”
“After the engagement announcement.”
“After the board meeting.”
“But your maid’s daughter has terrible timing.”
Nora pulled Marlene behind the car.
Gavin looked up at the camera.
“Where are you?”
“Close enough.”
“Come out.”
“No.”
“I don’t think so.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened.
“What did Daniel find?”
Marcus laughed again.
“Oh, Gavin.”
“You always were the last person in the room to understand your own company.”
A sound came from behind them.
The heavy fire door slammed shut.
Gavin ran toward it.
Locked.
Then another door closed across the garage.
Metal shutters began lowering over the vehicle exits.
Nora stared around them.
“Gavin.”
The ventilation system suddenly stopped.
The garage became unnaturally silent.
Marcus spoke one final time.
“You have something I need.”
“And I have something you need.”
Gavin looked at Marlene.
“What do you want?”
“The black folder.”
“And Daniel Bell’s original evidence.”
Marlene shook her head violently.
“I don’t have it.”
Marcus chuckled.
“You do.”
Marlene went still.
“Look inside Daniel’s metal case.”
Nora stared at her.
“You know about the case?”
Marlene began crying again.
“Yes.”
“Because I put the key inside Taylor’s stuffed rabbit.”
Nora’s face changed.
Taylor’s stuffed rabbit was upstairs.
With Evelyn.
Inside the locked office.
Then Marcus said the sentence that made Gavin’s blood run cold.
“You should probably call your mother.”
Gavin grabbed his phone.
No signal.
Marcus continued.
May you like
“Because Henry just entered the penthouse office.”
And Taylor was still inside.
