Chapter 5 - The Maid They Thought Nobody Would Notice

Gabriel stared at the photograph.

Maria stepped closer.

“Who is she?”

“Sarah.”

“The maid?”

“Yes.”

Isabella whispered:

“Why would Daniel take her?”

Gabriel looked at the message.

“Because he thinks I will trade the key.”

Mr. Crane frowned.

“For a maid?”

Gabriel looked at him.

“She is a witness.”

“To what?”

“The dinner.”

Maria understood first.

“She heard Silvio confess.”

Gabriel nodded.

“And she saw the bank card.”

He called security.

No answer from the estate team assigned to the east wing.

Gabriel’s jaw tightened.

“Daniel has people inside.”

Isabella stepped forward.

“Let me help.”

Gabriel looked at her.

“No.”

“Gabriel.”

“You already helped enough people hide things from me.”

She stopped.

The words hurt.

He did not take them back.

They returned to the estate through the service road.

No sirens.

No police lights.

Mr. Crane protested.

Gabriel said:

“If Daniel thinks I called the police, Sarah dies before anyone reaches the study.”

Maria looked at him.

“You cannot go alone.”

“I am not.”

He handed Mr. Crane the key.

Everyone stared.

Gabriel continued.

“Daniel wants this.”

Mr. Crane looked at the brass key.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving him something worth following.”

Gabriel called one trusted guard.

Mateo.

Thirty-nine.

Former military.

No family connection.

Gabriel said:

“Take Mr. Crane and Maria through the west entrance.”

Then looked at Isabella.

“You stay with them.”

She shook her head.

“No.”

“Not a negotiation.”

Isabella stepped closer.

“Sarah let Father Martin into the ballroom because I ordered everyone to send him away.”

Gabriel stared.

“She risked her job because she believed he had something important to say.”

Isabella swallowed.

“I helped create this.”

Gabriel looked at her for a long moment.

Then handed her his phone.

“If Daniel contacts me, you answer.”

She nodded.

Gabriel entered through the kitchen.

Empty.

Too empty.

The engagement flowers still covered the halls.

Red roses.

White candles.

Broken champagne glasses.

He moved toward the study.

The door was open.

Sarah sat in a chair.

Hands untied.

Daniel Voss stood beside the desk.

Forty-three.

Gray suit.

No weapon visible.

Gabriel stopped.

“You look comfortable.”

Sarah looked at him.

“I’m fine.”

Daniel smiled.

“She is.”

Gabriel frowned.

Sarah continued.

“He did not kidnap me.”

Daniel’s smile widened.

Gabriel looked at her.

“What?”

Sarah stood.

“I came here because he found me before his men did.”

“Whose men?”

“Silvio’s.”

Daniel closed the study door.

Gabriel stared.

Daniel said:

“I sent the photograph because Silvio monitors your phones.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.

“You could have said that.”

“No.”

Daniel looked at him.

“Because I needed to know whether you would bring the key.”

Gabriel’s expression hardened.

“Jonathan’s clerk.”

“Yes.”

“My CFO.”

“Yes.”

“Silvio’s man?”

Daniel shook his head.

“Jonathan’s.”

Gabriel laughed once.

“Of course.”

Daniel reached into his jacket.

Gabriel moved.

Daniel raised one hand.

Then produced a small drive.

Nothing else.

“Jonathan placed me inside Moretti Holdings nine years ago.”

Gabriel stared.

“To watch Silvio.”

“To document him.”

“And you let him move seventy million dollars.”

Daniel shook his head.

“He thinks he moved it.”

Gabriel waited.

Daniel smiled faintly.

“It is in a controlled escrow account.”

Sarah looked at Gabriel.

“He has been collecting every transfer.”

Gabriel stared at Daniel.

“For nine years?”

“Yes.”

“Why not tell me?”

“Because Jonathan did not know which version of Gabriel Moretti would survive Silvio’s upbringing.”

Silence.

Gabriel’s face became cold.

“And now?”

Daniel looked at him.

“Tonight you stopped before hitting Silvio.”

Gabriel said nothing.

“You recorded him.”

Still nothing.

“You protected a maid he thought you would consider disposable.”

Sarah looked down.

Daniel continued.

“So now I know.”

Gabriel looked at Sarah.

“Why did you trust him?”

She held up a small silver cross.

Father Martin’s.

“He knew the inscription inside.”

Gabriel looked at Daniel.

The clerk opened the drive.

On the desk computer appeared hundreds of files.

Transactions.

Calls.

Photos.

One folder was labeled:

JONATHAN HALE — DEATH.

Gabriel went still.

Daniel opened it.

Security footage from a parking garage.

Silvio.

Speaking to a mechanic.

Two days before Jonathan’s crash.

Then a payment.

Same mechanic.

Cash deposit.

Gabriel stared.

Daniel said:

“This is enough to reopen both murders.”

Gabriel looked at the screen.

“My father and Jonathan.”

“Yes.”

A phone rang.

Gabriel’s phone.

Isabella answered from somewhere else in the estate.

Then her voice came through the study speaker.

“Gabriel.”

“What?”

She sounded terrified.

“Silvio is gone.”

Gabriel looked at Daniel.

Daniel immediately checked another screen.

A vehicle left the rear gate.

Black sedan.

Heading east.

Maria’s voice came over the phone.

“He knows about the vault.”

Gabriel looked at the brass key.

It was not in his hand.

Mr. Crane still had it.

Then Isabella whispered:

“Dad is gone too.”

Gabriel froze.

Silence.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

She continued.

“And so is the key.”