Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BULLET
Vivian escaped through the crypt tunnels.
Marcus survived.
The bullet passed through his shoulder.
But Vivian had made a mistake.
She now knew Gabriel was recovering.
That meant the game had changed.
Gabriel moved Claire and Emma to a safe house.
Claire refused.
He moved them anyway.
She returned six hours later.
“How?”
“Taxi.”
Gabriel stared.
“You escaped a guarded safe house?”
“I walked out the front door.”
He turned toward Matteo, his security chief.
Matteo looked embarrassed.
“She said she needed tampons.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Claire folded her arms.
“We're not hiding while you fix something that killed my husband.”
“Our lives are not the same.”
“No. They're connected.”
She stepped closer.
“And I'm tired of powerful men deciding where I should stand.”
Gabriel looked at her.
Something changed.
He had known Claire as quiet.
Then brave.
Then angry.
Now he saw the entire woman.
He kissed her.
It surprised both of them.
Claire pulled away.
“That was a terrible idea.”
“Yes.”
“Don't do it again.”
“All right.”
She kissed him.
Emma walked in.
“Mommy?”
They separated.
Emma stared.
“Were you biting Mr. Gabe?”
Claire turned bright red.
“No.”
Gabriel said, “Yes.”
Claire hit his shoulder.
For one evening, they laughed.
Then Lena arrived with new scans.
Gabriel's nerve recovery was better than expected.
“You may walk again.”
Silence.
“Independently?” he asked.
“Possibly.”
“When?”
“Months. Maybe a year.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Tomorrow.”
Lena sighed.
“I hate rich people.”
He trained harder.
Standing.
Steps.
Falling.
Standing again.
Emma kept counting.
Seven.
Nine.
Twelve.
Twenty.
Then thirty-three steps without support.
Claire waited at the other end every time.
But while Gabriel rebuilt his body, Marcus traced Vivian's network.
And found one final name.
Ethan Bell.
Transactions continued under Ethan's identity for eighteen months after his death.
Claire stared at the screen.
“Someone is using his name.”
Marcus shook his head.
“There's another possibility.”
Claire went pale.
“No.”
Two days later, a surveillance photograph arrived.
A man leaving a Monteverde warehouse in Newark.
Older.
Bearded.
But unmistakable.
Ethan Bell.
May you like
Claire's dead husband was alive.
---
