Chapter 3 - THE KEY TO ASHFORD STATION
Harper refused to sleep.
She sat at the kitchen table while Rosa made scrambled eggs.
Gabriel stood near the window, speaking quietly into his phone.
Marco waited by the door.
Everyone seemed to know something she didn't.
She hated it.
At seven-thirty, Gabriel returned.
“The man who gave you the key was named Samuel Voss.”
Harper looked up.
“Is he alive?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“He was found near the diner. He's in the hospital.”
Harper's stomach tightened.
“The impact outside?”
Gabriel nodded.
“A vehicle struck him. Police are investigating.”
“Those men?”
“We don't know yet.”
She stared at him.
“Stop saying things like that.”
“Like what?”
“Things that sound honest but tell me nothing.”
Gabriel looked at her for a moment.
Then pulled out a chair.
“Fair.”
He explained that Ashford Station had once been a private railway terminal owned by the Moretti family.
Twenty-three years earlier, Nicholas had been responsible for maintaining certain business records.
Not ordinary accounting records.
Documents concerning payments, ownership arrangements, and people who had profited from the family's illegal operations.
Nicholas had wanted to leave.
He had also wanted to expose several senior figures.
Then he vanished.
“Everyone assumed he was dead,” Gabriel said.
Harper looked at him.
“Did you?”
He stared at his hands.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I found his car near the river. There was blood inside.”
Harper swallowed.
“And you never found him?”
“No.”
Gabriel placed the brass key on the table.
“This opened a private storage compartment at Ashford Station.”
Harper frowned.
“Does the station still exist?”
“The building does. The railway service ended years ago.”
“Then why does someone want this key?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because whatever Nicholas hid there may still exist.”
Harper stood.
“I'm leaving.”
Gabriel didn't move.
“Where?”
“Home.”
“It's not safe.”
“I have an exam Thursday.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“Pharmacology. Thursday. Eight in the morning.”
Gabriel stared.
Harper felt tears rise.
“You people keep talking about missing brothers and secret keys, but I have a life. I have rent. I have school. I have a job where my manager complains about napkins.”
Her voice broke.
“And my mother is dead. I can't ask her anything.”
Gabriel's expression softened.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
He looked down.
“Maybe not.”
Rosa approached.
“Harper, sweetheart, you can rest here without agreeing to anything.”
Harper wiped her face.
“I don't want to be trapped.”
Gabriel nodded.
“You aren't.”
She looked at him.
“Then give me my phone.”
He handed it over.
“And my bag.”
Marco retrieved it.
Harper stared.
They were actually letting her leave.
Gabriel spoke.
“I'd like to arrange protection, but I won't force you.”
She looked toward the door.
Then at the key.
“Can I keep it?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Yes.”
Harper picked it up.
She didn't leave.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she needed to know why her mother had carried a secret to the grave.
And why a dying stranger had placed the answer in her apron.
That afternoon, Gabriel received a call from the hospital.
Samuel Voss had regained consciousness.
May you like
He had asked for one person.
Harper Hayes.
