Chapter 7 - THE TRAITOR IN THE HOUSE
Derek was arrested before sunrise.
Kidnapping.
Assault.
Witness intimidation.
Evidence theft.
Multiple corruption charges.
For Harper, watching the handcuffs close around his wrists should have felt like victory.
Instead, Derek smiled at her while police walked him toward the cruiser.
“You think this ends because I’m in cuffs?”
Harper said nothing.
“I know things.”
He nodded toward Gabriel.
“Things powerful men kill for.”
Gabriel stepped beside Harper.
Derek laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?” Harper asked.
“That look.”
Derek smiled at Gabriel.
“You already care.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
Derek looked back at Harper.
“That makes you his weakness.”
The cruiser door slammed.
Harper tried to shake off the words.
She couldn’t.
Back in Boston, Gabriel locked the Ashford residence down.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
His closest men gathered in the library.
Marcus Vale.
Gabriel’s security chief and oldest friend.
Vincent Russo.
The organization’s financial operator.
Leo Brennan.
Dock supervisor.
And Mrs. Morrison, who looked deeply annoyed that criminals had interrupted breakfast.
Harper stood near the doorway.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You should be upstairs.”
“No.”
“Harper.”
“You promised you wouldn’t decide for me.”
Several men exchanged glances.
Nobody spoke to Gabriel that way.
Gabriel exhaled.
“Fine.”
Harper walked into the room.
Gabriel turned to the others.
“Derek Lawson says someone connected to us has been buying seized weapons.”
Vincent scoffed.
“From a cop?”
“Several cops.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“How long?”
“Eighteen months.”
Leo swore.
Gabriel continued.
“Those weapons ended up with the Salvatore crew.”
The room went silent.
Harper knew that name.
Everybody in Boston did.
The Salvatores and Ashfords had been enemies for years.
“If Derek is telling the truth,” Marcus said, “someone in this room is feeding them.”
Gabriel nodded.
Vincent stood.
“This is insane.”
“Sit down.”
“Gabriel—”
“Sit.”
Vincent sat.
Harper studied them.
Men accustomed to power.
Men trying not to look afraid.
Then she noticed something.
Leo Brennan kept rubbing his thumb across his phone screen.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Not typing.
Erasing sweat.
Harper remembered Derek doing the same thing after lying.
She leaned toward Gabriel.
“Leo’s scared.”
Gabriel barely moved.
“They all are.”
“No.”
She whispered.
“He’s scared of his phone.”
Gabriel looked at Leo.
“Hand me your phone.”
Leo froze.
“What?”
“Phone.”
“I don’t see why—”
Marcus stood.
“Give him the phone.”
Leo suddenly bolted.
He made it three steps.
Marcus tackled him.
The phone flew across the floor.
Harper picked it up.
The screen was unlocked.
A message notification appeared.
UNKNOWN:
Did Lawson talk?
Harper showed Gabriel.
His expression darkened.
Then another message appeared.
If he did, kill the maid before she remembers the warehouse.
Harper’s stomach dropped.
“What warehouse?”
Nobody answered.
Harper stared at Gabriel.
“I’ve never been to a warehouse.”
Leo laughed from the floor.
“Yes, you have.”
Harper looked at him.
“What are you talking about?”
Leo’s lip curled.
“Three years ago.”
Her skin went cold.
“Before you married Lawson.”
Harper couldn’t breathe.
Leo continued.
“You cleaned the old Seaport property.”
Images flashed through her memory.
A temporary cleaning job.
A dark warehouse.
Men arguing behind a locked door.
A car trunk.
A scream.
She had forgotten.
Or tried to.
Harper whispered, “Oh my God.”
Gabriel stepped toward her.
“What do you remember?”
She looked at him.
“There was a man tied to a chair.”
Gabriel’s face lost all color.
May you like
Harper continued.
“And your father was standing over him.”
