Chapter 6 - The Price of a SisterFor the first time since Chloe had met him, Gabriel Costa looked afraid.
It lasted less than a second.
Then the fear hardened into something colder.
“Lock the city down.”
Vince nodded.
Gabriel continued before the order had even been fully given.
“Airport terminals. Train stations. Private airfields. Marinas. Every Moretti warehouse from Cicero to the lake. I want traffic cameras, toll records, plate readers.”
“What about police channels?” Vince asked.
“All of them.”
Chloe stood beside the SUV with Madison’s photograph crushed in her hand.
The world around her had become strangely quiet.
Gabriel’s men moved.
Phones rang.
Engines started.
Weapons were checked.
But Chloe heard only her sister’s voice from an hour earlier.
I love you too.
She had told Madison to trust her.
And Madison had.
That was the part Chloe could not survive thinking about.
She turned toward Gabriel.
“This happened because of me.”
“No.”
“They took her because of the ledger.”
“They took her because Moretti is desperate.”
“If I hadn’t called—”
“He already knew where she lived.”
Gabriel seized her shoulders.
“Look at me.”
Chloe tried to pull away.
He held tighter.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“You did not put Madison in danger.”
“Then who did?”
“I did.”
The answer startled her.
Gabriel’s face was hard.
“Moretti attacked because you became connected to me. That makes this my responsibility.”
“This isn’t about taking responsibility!”
“I know.”
“Then get her back.”
Her voice broke.
“Please.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
He touched her face.
“I will.”
Chloe believed him.
That terrified her too.
Because she had started believing Gabriel Costa could do impossible things.
Vince approached.
“We found the escort driver.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring him.”
Minutes later, one of Gabriel’s guards was led toward them.
His name was Anthony.
Chloe recognized him from the estate.
Blood covered the side of his face.
“I’m sorry, boss.”
“What happened?”
“Construction truck blocked Ashland. Two vehicles boxed us in. They used police lights.”
“Madison?”
“She fought.”
Despite everything, Chloe almost smiled.
Of course she did.
Anthony continued.
“She kicked one guy in the face. Almost got out.”
“Was she injured?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What direction?”
“South.”
Gabriel looked toward Vince.
“Moretti owns properties south.”
“Four warehouses and an old meatpacking facility.”
“Search all five.”
Anthony hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“They told me to give Chloe a message.”
Everyone went silent.
Anthony swallowed.
“They said, ‘Bring what David stole to the place where he buried the truth.’”
Chloe’s breath caught.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
She closed her eyes.
Her father.
Buried the truth.
A place.
A memory.
“Where did your father spend time?” Gabriel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
“I was a child.”
“Fishing spots? Parks? Family property?”
Chloe paced.
“Joliet.”
Gabriel froze.
“His accident.”
“My mother said he died outside Joliet.”
Vince pulled out his phone.
“Where exactly?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Funeral records?”
“My mother handled everything.”
Vince typed rapidly.
“David Harper death certificate.”
He waited.
Then frowned.
“What?”
“There is no digital record.”
Chloe stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“Not impossible. Strange.”
Gabriel took the phone.
Vince continued.
“I can find tax filings. Social Security records. Property records. But no publicly indexed death certificate attached to that date.”
A sick feeling twisted Chloe’s stomach.
“You’re saying my father didn’t die?”
“I’m saying someone worked very hard to control the paper trail.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“What did your mother show you after the accident?”
“A funeral.”
“Did you see his body?”
“No.”
“Did anyone?”
“I don’t know.”
Chloe felt dizzy.
“This is insane.”
Gabriel guided her into the vehicle.
“Sit.”
“I don’t need—”
“Sit.”
This time she obeyed.
Vince continued searching.
“Your parents owned something.”
“What?”
“A small property west of Joliet. Twelve acres. Purchased under Harper Consulting.”
Chloe stared.
“We never had property.”
“Apparently your father did.”
“What’s there now?”
Vince enlarged satellite imagery.
“Mostly abandoned land.”
Gabriel leaned closer.
“There.”
An old structure stood among trees.
A barn.
Chloe suddenly remembered.
A red barn.
A summer afternoon.
Her father lifting her onto an old pony.
She had been six.
“You’ve been there,” Gabriel said.
“Yes.”
The memory expanded.
Her mother had hated the place.
David called it the farm even though there were barely any animals.
Chloe remembered a chestnut horse named Daisy.
A creek.
An old apple tree.
And her father teaching her to dig in the garden.
She whispered, “The place where he buried the truth.”
Gabriel followed her thought.
“Something is hidden there.”
“Maybe the ledger.”
“Or Moretti believes it is.”
Chloe stood.
“Then we go.”
Gabriel immediately shook his head.
“No.”
She stared at him.
“You agreed to teach me how to survive.”
“That agreement did not include walking willingly into a kidnapping exchange.”
“My sister is there because of me.”
“Which means Moretti expects you to behave emotionally.”
“I am emotional!”
“I know.”
Gabriel crouched in front of her.
“But I’m not.”
She nearly laughed.
“You look like you’re about to murder half the city.”
“That is controlled.”
Despite herself, Chloe made a broken sound that was half laugh, half sob.
Gabriel’s expression softened.
“Let me do what I know how to do.”
“And what am I supposed to do?”
“Remember.”
He touched her temple gently.
“Your father left clues for you. Maybe not intentionally. Maybe through childhood memories. You know things Moretti doesn’t.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
The farm.
Her father digging beneath an apple tree.
No.
Not digging.
Burying something?
A metal box?
The memory was faint.
“He had a workshop.”
Gabriel stood.
“At the property?”
“Yes.”
“Locked?”
“Always.”
“Anything unusual?”
“My mother wasn’t allowed inside.”
Vince was already issuing orders.
“We can send reconnaissance.”
“No aircraft,” Gabriel said. “Too obvious.”
“I’ll take two teams.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“You coordinate the city search.”
Vince looked at him.
“Boss—”
“I’m going.”
“With Chloe?”
“Yes.”
Vince clearly disagreed.
Gabriel ignored him.
Three hours later, a plain black pickup traveled west beneath a pale afternoon sky.
No convoy.
No visible security.
Only Gabriel driving, Chloe beside him, and two vehicles following several miles behind.
Gabriel had insisted on keeping their approach discreet.
Chloe stared out the window.
The city disappeared.
Industrial neighborhoods gave way to open land.
Finally, they reached an overgrown gravel road.
Her heart began pounding.
“I remember this.”
Gabriel slowed.
The abandoned farmhouse appeared first.
Its roof sagged.
Windows were boarded.
The barn had faded from red to gray.
But the apple tree remained.
Chloe stepped out.
Memories attacked her from every direction.
Her father laughing.
Her mother calling them inside.
Madison as a toddler sitting on a blanket.
For one impossible second, Chloe could smell lemonade.
Then Gabriel touched her shoulder.
“Stay close.”
They entered the farmhouse.
Dust covered everything.
Most furniture was gone.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
The workshop stood behind the barn.
Gabriel tested the door.
Locked.
Chloe searched beneath an old flowerpot.
Her fingers found metal.
A key.
Gabriel stared at her.
“My father was predictable.”
“You were six.”
“He used the same hiding place at home.”
She unlocked the workshop.
The door groaned open.
Inside stood rusted tools.
Shelves.
A workbench.
Nothing obvious.
Chloe wandered deeper.
Then she saw a small silver horse carved into the workbench.
The same horse that had been engraved on her music box.
“Gabriel.”
He approached.
Chloe ran her fingers over the carving.
A wooden panel beneath it shifted.
Behind it was a metal compartment.
Gabriel pulled it open.
Inside lay a weatherproof case.
Chloe’s hands trembled as she opened it.
Not a ledger.
A videotape.
Several documents.
And a letter.
Her name was written across the envelope.
CHLOE.
She stopped breathing.
Gabriel stepped back.
“That’s yours.”
She opened it.
The handwriting belonged to her father.
My beautiful Chloe,
If you are reading this, then I failed to keep the darkness away from you.
Her vision blurred.
She continued.
I made terrible choices because I believed money could build a wall around the people I loved. Instead, every dollar pulled me deeper into a world I did not understand until escape became impossible.
I kept records.
Names.
Payments.
Judges.
Police officers.
Politicians.
Shipping companies.
Everything.
I intended to give them to people who could stop Moretti.
But there is something more important you must understand.
Moretti was not the only man involved.
Chloe stopped.
Gabriel watched her.
“What?”
She read the next line.
There were two families.
The Morettis.
And the Costas.
Chloe slowly looked up.
Gabriel’s face went blank.
Her hands began shaking again.
She read aloud.
If something happens to me, do not trust either family.
Not even Gabriel Costa’s father.
Silence filled the workshop.
Gabriel stepped backward.
Chloe stared at him.
“You knew our families were connected.”
“No.”
“Your father knew mine.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“So there’s nobody to ask.”
Gabriel’s expression tightened.
“There is one person.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”
Before Chloe could answer, her phone vibrated.
A secure number.
Gabriel grabbed her wrist.
“Speaker.”
She answered.
“Hello?”
A man laughed softly.
Moretti.
Chloe had never heard his voice before, yet somehow she knew.
“Miss Harper.”
“Where is my sister?”
“Alive.”
“Let me speak to her.”
A pause.
Then Madison’s terrified voice.
“Chloe?”
Chloe’s knees weakened.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t give them anything.”
A sharp sound.
Madison cried out.
Chloe surged forward.
“Don’t touch her!”
Moretti returned.
“Midnight.”
“Where?”
“The old Union Stockyards.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened.
“You bring David Harper’s ledger.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Then find it.”
Moretti’s voice dropped.
“Because if you arrive empty-handed, your sister leaves in pieces.”
The line disconnected.
Chloe stared at the phone.
Gabriel touched her shoulder.
She pulled away.
“Your father was involved.”
“My father is not me.”
“But your mother might know what happened.”
“Yes.”
“Then we go to her.”
Gabriel nodded.
Chloe put her father’s letter inside her jacket.
The videotape followed.
Then she looked at Gabriel.
“If I discover your family destroyed mine—”
His eyes held hers.
“What?”
“I don’t know what I’ll do.”
May you like
Gabriel answered quietly.
“Neither do I.”
Related Stories
