Chapter 6 - The Trap at Ross Tower
Barlowe did not hide.
He wanted Gabriel angry.
Angry men made mistakes.
So Gabriel did something his enemies never expected.
He waited.
For two days, Ella remained inside Ross Tower while she reconstructed the financial network.
Tyler stayed under federal protection.
On the third night, Ella found something.
“Gabriel.”
He came behind her desk.
“What?”
“This transfer.”
He leaned closer.
“Shell company?”
“Yes. But look at the timestamp.”
Leo joined them.
Ella pointed.
“Every payment happens seventeen minutes after a Ross security shift change.”
Gabriel looked at Leo.
“Someone inside.”
Leo’s face darkened.
They checked access records.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Daniel Crane.
Gabriel’s deputy security director.
Leo whispered, “He’s been with us eight years.”
Gabriel’s expression remained unreadable.
“Then he’s been lying for eight years.”
They fed Crane false information.
Ella would supposedly leave Ross Tower at 10:30 p.m.
She never did.
At 10:27, the underground garage cameras went dark.
Leo smiled grimly.
“There.”
Gabriel stood.
Ella caught his hand.
“Don’t.”
He looked down.
“Stay here.”
“Gabriel.”
“I mean it.”
“What if this is another diversion?”
He stopped.
Ella continued.
“Barlowe knows you’ll protect me. That’s the weakness he thinks he found.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“So?”
“So use it.”
Minutes later, Crane entered the private elevator carrying a stolen access card.
When the doors opened on Gabriel’s floor, Ella sat alone behind Gabriel’s desk.
Crane blinked.
“Where’s Ross?”
Ella smiled.
“Late.”
Crane reached for his phone.
The office doors closed behind him.
Gabriel stepped from the shadows.
“You know how I feel about lateness.”
Crane froze.
Leo appeared beside the elevator.
Crane slowly raised his hands.
“You don’t understand.”
Gabriel walked toward him.
“Then explain.”
“Barlowe has people everywhere.”
“Not anymore.”
“He’ll kill me.”
Gabriel stopped inches away.
“If you cooperate, you get handed to federal custody.”
Crane laughed nervously.
“That’s your offer?”
“It’s the generous version.”
Crane looked toward Ella.
Then surrendered.
He gave them Barlowe’s location.
An abandoned luxury hotel on Lake Michigan.
Gabriel immediately turned toward the door.
Ella stood.
“No.”
He looked back.
“You’re staying.”
“I know.”
That surprised him.
Ella approached.
“But come back.”
Gabriel said nothing.
She touched his hand.
“I’m serious.”
His fingers closed around hers.
“For once, Miss Bennett, I intend to meet a deadline.”
---
Three hours later, Barlowe was back in custody.
No dramatic execution.
No body disappearing into the lake.
Gabriel gave him something worse.
Evidence.
Bank records.
Witnesses.
Enough charges to keep him behind bars for decades.
When Gabriel returned to Ross Tower at 3:51 a.m., Ella was waiting.
He stepped into the office.
She looked at the clock.
“You’re late.”
Gabriel loosened his tie.
“By?”
“Three hours and twenty-one minutes.”
He approached her.
“What’s the penalty?”
Ella pretended to consider it.
“You owe me coffee.”
“That’s all?”
“For now.”
He stopped in front of her.
“And later?”
She looked up.
“Ask me when my leg heals.”
Gabriel smiled.
May you like
“Deal.”
---
