Chapter 14 - What Gabriel Couldn't Control

Thomas hit Gabriel at full speed.

The gun fired.

The bullet struck the tunnel wall.

Sophie fell free.

Émilie grabbed her and pulled her away.

Gabriel and Thomas crashed into the concrete.

Thomas punched him.

Once.

Twice.

Gabriel drove his thumb into Thomas's injured jaw.

Thomas staggered.

Gabriel reached for the gun.

Madeleine kicked it into the drainage channel.

Gabriel spun toward her.

“You stupid woman.”

Madeleine stood between Gabriel and the weapon.

She was sixty-eight.

Bleeding.

Exhausted.

And completely done being afraid.

“You destroyed twelve years of my son's life.”

Gabriel stepped toward her.

“You helped.”

Madeleine flinched.

He smiled.

“That hurts, doesn't it?”

Thomas pushed himself up.

Gabriel continued.

“Pierre lied to you. Émilie lied to him. You lied to Thomas.”

Madeleine looked at her son.

For a moment, guilt filled her face.

Then Sophie spoke.

“No.”

Everyone turned.

She stood beside Émilie.

“You did this.”

Gabriel's expression hardened.

Sophie pointed at him.

“They were scared because of you.”

The simplicity of it silenced the tunnel.

Gabriel laughed bitterly.

“Children always need monsters.”

“No,” Sophie said.

“They just notice them faster than adults.”

Thomas almost smiled.

Gabriel lunged toward the gun.

Sarah tackled him from the side.

They hit the ground.

Gabriel struck her.

Thomas grabbed him.

Together, they pinned him.

Sirens echoed faintly from the far tunnel entrance.

Gabriel stopped fighting.

His breathing was heavy.

“You think this ends because you found some files?”

Thomas held him down.

“No.”

Federal agents appeared at the river entrance.

Weapons raised.

“Because you just kidnapped three people, shot your own man, tried to burn down a building, and opened Dad's archive yourself.”

Gabriel stared at him.

Thomas leaned closer.

“And your face is attached to every camera at the loading dock.”

Gabriel's confidence finally disappeared.

Agents handcuffed him.

As they pulled him up, he looked at Émilie.

“You think they'll believe you?”

Émilie met his eyes.

“They don't have to believe me.”

She looked at the hard drive Sarah had recovered.

“They can listen to you.”

Gabriel stopped.

Émilie continued.

“Pierre recorded every meeting after the night I disappeared.”

For the first time, Gabriel looked genuinely afraid.

They took him away.

Thomas turned toward Sophie.

She stood beside her mother, shaking.

Thomas knelt.

“You okay?”

She nodded.

Then shook her head.

Then started crying.

Thomas opened his arms but didn't move closer.

He let her choose.

Sophie stared at him for a second.

Then ran into him.

Thomas held his daughter for the first time.

Not a photograph.

Not a passport.

His daughter.

She buried her face against his shoulder.

“I thought you wouldn't come.”

Thomas closed his eyes.

“I didn't know where you were.”

“You came.”

“I came.”

Émilie watched them.

Tears rolled down her face.

Madeleine wrapped one arm around her.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

Then Thomas felt something vibrating inside his pocket.

The red unit.

He pulled it out.

The light blinked once.

A new message appeared.

FINAL ARCHIVE RELEASED.

Then another line.

MESSAGE FOR THOMAS DELACOURT.

Thomas stared.

His father's voice began playing from the tiny speaker.

“Thomas, if you're hearing this…”

Everyone went still.

“…then you found them.”

Thomas felt his throat tighten.

Pierre continued.

“And if Sophie is standing near you, I need you to tell her something for me.”

Sophie lifted her head.

The recording continued.

“Tell her Grandpa Pierre kept his promise.”

Sophie started crying again.

Thomas held her tighter.

Then his father said one final sentence.

“And Thomas, before you decide whether to forgive any of us, there's one last truth you deserve to know.”

Thomas stared at the device.

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The recording continued.

“Émilie never agreed to disappear forever.”