Chapter 4 - The Invisible Maid
Marcus sent teams toward Harbor Nine and every property connected to Victor Hale.
Gabriel remained unconscious for the next four hours.
Sadie refused three times to go home.
On the fourth attempt, Marcus stopped asking.
At 4:17 a.m., Reed checked Gabriel's temperature.
Then checked it again.
Sadie stood up.
“What?”
Reed glanced at her.
“Down half a degree.”
Marcus approached.
“Is that good?”
“It isn't bad.”
Twenty minutes later, Gabriel's blood pressure improved slightly.
Then the fever dropped again.
Reed stared at the monitor.
Marcus asked, “Doctor?”
Reed looked toward the tray containing the removed black thread.
“I think she was right.”
Sadie's knees almost weakened.
Marcus turned toward her.
“You saved him.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Dr. Reed saved him.”
Reed removed his glasses.
“No, Sadie. I operated on what you found.”
At 6:02 a.m., Gabriel woke.
His first word was not water.
Not doctor.
Not Marcus.
“Sadie.”
She approached the bed.
“I'm here.”
His voice sounded rough.
“Am I dead?”
“No.”
He considered that.
“Disappointing several people, then.”
Marcus laughed once.
It was the first laughter in the library for three weeks.
Reed stepped over.
“Your temperature is decreasing. I am cautiously optimistic.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“In English.”
“You might live.”
“Better.”
Marcus's phone rang.
His expression changed while he listened.
“We have Voss.”
Gabriel's eyes sharpened.
“Mercer?”
“Gone.”
“Victor?”
“Still missing.”
Gabriel looked toward Sadie.
“Go eat.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“You've been standing for hours.”
“So have you.”
“I've been lying down.”
Sadie almost smiled.
Marcus stared at Gabriel.
“She's arguing with you.”
“I noticed.”
“You normally fire people for less.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Then she's fortunate I'm too weak.”
Sadie finally left the library.
She crossed the enormous hallway toward the staff kitchen.
Halfway there, a voice came behind her.
“Miss Brooks.”
She stopped.
Victor Hale stood near the entrance to the east corridor.
Perfect gray suit.
Silver hair.
No panic.
Sadie's heart began pounding.
“You're supposed to be gone,” she said.
Victor smiled.
“So I've heard.”
She slowly looked toward the nearest camera.
Victor noticed.
“They're watching Harbor Nine.”
Sadie stepped backward.
“What do you want?”
“You created a remarkable amount of trouble with one piece of thread.”
She kept moving.
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Stop.”
Sadie did.
Not because he told her to.
Because she saw the service bell mounted behind him.
Old-fashioned.
Decorative.
Connected to the kitchen.
Three steps away.
Victor followed her gaze.
“No.”
Sadie lunged.
She hit the bell.
The sound rang through the corridor.
Victor grabbed her wrist.
Sadie screamed.
Doors opened.
Footsteps thundered.
Victor released her immediately.
Marcus rounded the corner with two guards.
“Move away from her.”
Victor lifted both hands.
“Marcus, this is a misunderstanding.”
Marcus walked toward him.
“You escaped a locked estate.”
“I took a walk.”
“You arranged Voss.”
Victor's face remained calm.
“Nonsense.”
Sadie rubbed her wrist.
“Ask him why he's here.”
Marcus looked at her.
“He said everyone was watching Harbor Nine.”
Victor's expression changed.
Barely.
But Marcus saw it.
“How did you know?”
Silence.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Nobody outside the library knew where my teams went.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“You've become paranoid.”
“You tried to kill my brother.”
Gabriel's weak voice came from behind them.
Everyone turned.
Gabriel stood in the library doorway.
Reed supported one side.
Knox supported the other.
He should have looked helpless.
He didn't.
White hospital pants.
Bare feet.
Bandaged shoulder.
Pale face.
And the coldest eyes Sadie had ever seen.
Victor stared.
“You should be in bed.”
Gabriel replied, “You sound disappointed.”
Marcus moved toward him.
“What are you doing?”
“Meeting my attorney.”
“You can barely stand.”
“Then this shouldn't take long.”
Gabriel looked at Victor.
“Why?”
Victor sighed.
“Must we perform this drama in the hallway?”
“Yes.”
For the first time, Victor's composure cracked.
“You were destroying everything.”
Gabriel's expression did not move.
“Everything?”
“The businesses were becoming legitimate. You were selling docks. Closing gambling rooms. Cutting old revenue.”
Marcus stared.
“You tried to kill him because he was going legitimate?”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You think this empire was built so Gabriel could become respectable?”
Gabriel leaned harder against Reed.
“It was built so my family would never be powerless again.”
“And then you became sentimental.”
“No.”
Gabriel looked toward Sadie.
“I became tired.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“The old organization needed leadership.”
“Mercer?”
“A practical man.”
“And Voss?”
“A greedy one.”
Sadie understood.
“The shooting wasn't supposed to kill him.”
Victor looked at her.
The silence answered.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
“You needed me alive long enough for the wound to look natural.”
Victor said nothing.
Sadie continued.
“Mercer arranged the ambush. Voss put the thread inside. The infection was supposed to finish it.”
Victor smiled at her.
“You really should have remained invisible.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
Marcus noticed.
So did everyone else.
Gabriel spoke quietly.
“That was your final mistake.”
Victor looked at him.
“Which one?”
“Thinking invisible people don't matter.”
Gabriel nodded toward Marcus.
“Take him downstairs.”
Marcus's men moved.
Victor's confidence vanished.
“You need me.”
Gabriel turned away.
“No.”
Victor called after him.
“You can't run this without me!”
Gabriel stopped.
Then glanced toward Sadie.
“I found someone more observant.”
Sadie's eyes widened.
“Please don't give me his job.”
Gabriel actually smiled.
Reed shook his head.
“Back to bed. Now.”
Gabriel looked offended.
“You're very comfortable giving orders in my house.”
“You're alive enough to complain. That's progress.”
As Reed guided him toward the library, Marcus received another call.
His face hardened.
He looked toward Gabriel.
“Mercer's moving.”
“Where?”
Marcus listened.
Then looked toward Sadie.
“Port Alder.”
Gabriel stopped walking.
The same town where the ambush had begun.
May you like
Mercer was going back to the beginning.
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