Chapter 3 - The Ledger
Gabriel and Leo escaped through a maintenance corridor while Ross security intercepted the men entering the facility.
Forty minutes later, they were back in Gabriel’s penthouse.
Ella was awake.
“You found it.”
Gabriel placed the pocket watch on the table.
Her face changed.
“That was my father’s.”
“Tyler hid a memory card inside.”
Leo inserted it into an isolated laptop.
Files appeared.
Bank transfers.
Shipping manifests.
Names.
Ella moved closer.
Then froze.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“That company.”
She pointed.
WEXLER MUNICIPAL CONSULTING.
Gabriel’s eyes hardened.
Leo swore.
Ella looked between them.
“You know it?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Deputy Commissioner Nolan Wexler.”
“Police?”
“Organized crime division.”
Ella stared.
“You’re telling me Tyler stole evidence connecting a senior police official to organized crime?”
“No.”
Gabriel studied another column.
“I’m telling you he found evidence connecting Wexler to multiple organizations.”
Leo leaned closer.
Including Gabriel’s.
Payments had been routed through shell companies tied to the Ross organization.
Except Gabriel had never authorized them.
“He’s framing you,” Ella said.
Gabriel nodded.
“If federal investigators discover this first, it looks like I’ve been paying Wexler for years.”
“Why?”
“To remove competition.”
Leo scrolled farther.
Then stopped.
“Boss.”
A second name appeared repeatedly.
MALCOLM BARLOWE.
Ella whispered, “The man Tyler owed.”
Gabriel finally understood.
“Barlowe didn’t lend Tyler money by accident.”
Ella looked at him.
“He targeted him?”
“He needed someone close to financial systems.”
“Tyler works IT support for a bank.”
Gabriel nodded.
“They used his debt to force access.”
“And Tyler discovered what they were doing.”
“Exactly.”
Ella stared at the screen.
“So they’ll kill him.”
“No.”
Gabriel closed the laptop.
“They would have already killed him if they didn’t need something.”
“What?”
“The original ledger.”
Ella frowned.
“This isn’t original?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your brother copied it.”
“Then where is the original?”
A new voice answered from the doorway.
“With me.”
Everyone turned.
Dr. Harris stood there.
A compact handgun trembled in his hand.
Ella froze.
“Doctor?”
Gabriel did not move.
“Harris.”
“I’m sorry.”
Leo’s hand moved slightly.
“Don’t,” Harris warned.
Gabriel’s eyes stayed on him.
“How much?”
Harris swallowed.
“It isn’t money.”
“Then what?”
“My daughter.”
Silence.
“Wexler arrested her six months ago. Drugs. He made the charges disappear.”
“And now you belong to him.”
Harris looked ashamed.
“He told me to keep Ella alive.”
Ella stared.
“Why?”
“Because Tyler refuses to cooperate unless he knows you’re alive.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“So Tyler is still useful.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Harris hesitated.
Gabriel took one step.
“Where?”
“Old Hawthorne rail depot.”
Leo stared.
“That’s nowhere near Pier Seventeen.”
“It’s a trap,” Harris said. “Pier Seventeen is meant to kill you.”
Gabriel smiled coldly.
“Good.”
Ella stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means they’re waiting for me in the wrong place.”
He looked at Leo.
“Send the convoy to the pier.”
“And us?”
Gabriel picked up his coat.
“We’re going to Hawthorne.”
Ella swung her legs off the couch.
“No.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“I’m coming.”
“You can barely stand.”
“My brother won’t cooperate if he thinks I’m dead.”
“That makes you leverage.”
“It makes me useful.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“You’re very difficult.”
“You noticed.”
A reluctant smile touched his mouth.
May you like
“Unfortunately.”
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