Chapter 5: Six Days
The man standing outside the warehouse wore a Costello ring.
Chloe saw it first.
A black onyx stone.
Silver band.
The symbol engraved beneath it.
A crowned wolf.
She had seen the same symbol on Gabriel's cufflinks.
On Beatrice's necklace.
On the folder at Table 7.
Costello.
The stranger stood beneath the rain.
He didn't raise a weapon.
He simply watched.
Gabriel stepped in front of Chloe.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled.
"Someone who knows where you're going."
Gabriel's hand moved toward his gun.
The stranger shook his head.
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't still be standing."
"That's not an answer."
"No."
The man looked past Gabriel.
His eyes settled on Chloe.
"It's a warning."
Chloe stepped around Gabriel.
"About what?"
The stranger's smile disappeared.
"Chicago."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"How do you know?"
"Because you're already too late."
He turned.
Gabriel shouted,
"Stop."
The man kept walking.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
Chloe grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because he wants us to chase him."
The stranger stopped.
He glanced over his shoulder.
Then smiled.
"Leo was right about you."
Chloe froze.
The man disappeared into the rain.
Gabriel lowered his weapon.
"Get in the car."
Chloe didn't move.
"What did he mean?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Probably."
She stared.
At least he admitted it.
They left Warehouse 17 eleven minutes later.
Antonio remained unconscious in the back of another vehicle with two trusted medical contacts.
Dominic was gone.
Vincent was gone.
The ledger was in Gabriel's possession.
And Chloe had watched her dead brother speak from a screen.
Nothing about the night felt real.
But the rain was real.
The cold was real.
And Leo's voice was still trapped inside her head.
Don't trust Gabriel.
Gabriel drove.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Then Chloe broke the silence.
"Why did my brother say your name?"
Gabriel kept his eyes on the road.
"I don't know."
"That's the third time you've said that."
"Because it's the truth."
"You knew Leo."
"No."
She turned toward him.
"Your father knew him."
"Yes."
"Your mother knew him."
"Apparently."
"You knew he was alive."
Gabriel's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"I didn't."
"Then why did he tell me not to trust you?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"Maybe because he had a reason."
She stared.
"That's supposed to make me feel better?"
"No."
"Good."
Silence returned.
They drove through the night.
Chicago was four hours away.
The city waited beyond the darkness.
And somewhere inside it—
Leo Bennett was waiting too.
Or at least, that was what Antonio had said.
Chloe wasn't ready to believe it.
Hope was dangerous.
She had learned that two years ago.
Hope made you wait for a phone call that never came.
Hope made you stare at hospital doors.
Hope made you visit graves.
Hope made you believe people who said, "We're sorry."
She didn't want hope.
She wanted proof.
Gabriel pulled into a private airfield.
A jet waited on the runway.
Chloe stopped.
"You have a plane?"
Gabriel glanced at her.
"Yes."
"Of course you do."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
They boarded.
The flight to Chicago was silent.
Beatrice was not with them.
She had stayed in New York under heavy protection.
Gabriel had wanted her moved.
Beatrice had refused.
She had signed one sentence.
I have spent too many years hiding.
Gabriel had accepted.
Chloe sat by the window.
The city disappeared beneath clouds.
Gabriel sat across from her.
He had the ledger on his lap.
He hadn't opened it again.
Chloe looked at it.
"What are you afraid of?"
Gabriel looked up.
"I'm not afraid."
"That's a lie."
He stared at her.
"You're becoming very comfortable calling me a liar."
"You've given me practice."
A quiet silence followed.
Then Gabriel closed the ledger.
"I'm afraid of finding out my mother knew more than she told me."
Chloe said nothing.
"And I'm afraid my father came back because he wants something from me."
He looked at her.
"And I'm afraid your brother's warning is true."
Chloe's heart tightened.
"You think I shouldn't trust you?"
Gabriel looked out the window.
"I think you shouldn't trust anyone."
The plane landed in Chicago at 3:18 a.m.
A black SUV waited.
The driver said nothing.
Gabriel opened the door for Chloe.
She hesitated.
Then got in.
The hospital was twenty-seven minutes away.
St. Vincent's stood beneath a gray morning sky.
Old brick.
Bright windows.
Too ordinary.
Chloe stared at it.
Her hands began shaking.
Gabriel noticed.
"You don't have to go inside yet."
"Yes, I do."
"Chloe."
"I've waited two years."
She opened the door.
"I'm not waiting another minute."
They entered through a private entrance.
Gabriel spoke briefly with a hospital administrator.
Money changed hands.
Not literally.
But Chloe could see the kind of influence Gabriel carried.
Doors opened.
Questions disappeared.
Security cameras became irrelevant.
They reached the fourth floor.
Room 414.
The corridor was empty.
Chloe stopped.
Her heart pounded.
Gabriel stood beside her.
"Ready?"
"No."
He nodded.
"Neither am I."
She reached for the door.
Her hand trembled.
She opened it.
Empty.
The bed was made.
No patient.
No belongings.
No Leo.
Chloe stared.
"No."
Gabriel entered.
He checked the bathroom.
Closet.
Window.
Nothing.
Chloe stood beside the bed.
"Maybe Antonio was wrong."
Gabriel didn't answer.
She looked at the chart.
The name had been removed.
But the room had been occupied.
The date was visible.
Two years ago.
For six days.
Chloe's breath caught.
Six days.
She looked at Gabriel.
"That's what he said."
Gabriel nodded.
"Six days."
She touched the bedrail.
"Leo was here."
"Yes."
"Alive."
"Yes."
Her eyes filled.
"Why did nobody tell me?"
Gabriel looked at the chart.
"Someone erased him."
A nurse entered.
She was in her sixties.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
She stopped when she saw Chloe.
The woman's face changed.
Recognition.
Chloe noticed.
"You know me?"
The nurse didn't answer.
Gabriel stepped forward.
"Do you know this woman?"
The nurse looked at Chloe.
Then at Gabriel.
Finally she whispered,
"You're Leo's sister."
Chloe's knees weakened.
"Yes."
The nurse looked around.
"Close the door."
Gabriel did.
The nurse lowered her voice.
"Your brother came here under another name."
"What name?"
"Daniel Miller."
Chloe shook her head.
"Why?"
"Because someone was trying to kill him."
Gabriel's eyes sharpened.
"Who?"
The nurse looked at him.
"You."
Gabriel froze.
Chloe stared.
The nurse continued.
"That's what he believed."
Gabriel's expression darkened.
"What happened?"
The nurse looked at Chloe.
"Leo was brought in after a car accident."
Chloe nodded.
"I know."
"No."
The nurse shook her head.
"You don't."
She pulled a chair out.
"Sit."
Chloe sat.
Gabriel remained standing.
The nurse continued.
"Your brother was badly injured."
"How badly?"
"Broken ribs. Internal bleeding. Head trauma."
Chloe closed her eyes.
"He shouldn't have survived."
"He almost didn't."
The nurse paused.
"But he did."
Chloe whispered,
"How long?"
"Six days."
Chloe looked at the bed.
"Then what?"
"He disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Someone came for him."
Gabriel stepped closer.
"Who?"
The nurse shook her head.
"Two men."
"Describe them."
"One was older."
"How old?"
"Sixties."
Gabriel's face changed.
"And the other?"
The nurse hesitated.
"Young."
"How young?"
"Thirty."
"Hair?"
"Dark."
"Build?"
"Average."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Anything else?"
The nurse looked toward Chloe.
"He wore a Costello ring."
Chloe's blood went cold.
"Who?"
The nurse whispered,
"I don't know."
Gabriel turned away.
His jaw clenched.
The nurse continued.
"But your brother left something."
Chloe looked up.
"What?"
"A message."
"Where?"
The nurse reached into a drawer.
She pulled out a small envelope.
The paper was old.
Folded.
Chloe recognized the handwriting immediately.
Leo.
Her hands began trembling.
She took it.
On the front were two words.
FOR CHLOE.
She opened it.
Inside was a single page.
Her eyes moved across the first sentence.
Then stopped.
Gabriel watched her face.
"What does it say?"
Chloe couldn't speak.
She read again.
Then again.
Finally she whispered,
"He knew."
"What?"
"He knew someone would make me believe he died."
Gabriel moved closer.
"What else?"
She handed him the paper.
Gabriel read.
His expression changed.
Chloe watched.
"Read it aloud."
Gabriel hesitated.
Then:
"Chloe,
If you're reading this, they succeeded in making you believe I died."
His voice was steady.
Chloe wasn't.
Gabriel continued.
"I need you to understand something.
The accident was real.
But it was not an accident."
Chloe closed her eyes.
Gabriel read on.
"The man driving the other car was paid to hit me.
But he wasn't the one who wanted me dead."
A pause.
"Someone inside the Costello family ordered it."
Gabriel stopped.
Chloe looked at him.
"Keep going."
He did.
"I don't know who yet.
But I know why."
His eyes moved down the page.
"Because I found the ledger."
Gabriel looked at the notebook in his hand.
"The ledger contains names of people who have been paying your family for years."
Chloe frowned.
"Your family?"
Gabriel's expression hardened.
Leo's letter continued.
"I thought Gabriel was responsible."
Gabriel stopped again.
Chloe looked at him.
"Keep reading."
"I was wrong."
Gabriel's eyes lifted.
Chloe whispered,
"Wrong about what?"
He continued.
"Gabriel doesn't know."
Chloe's heart stopped.
"He doesn't know what his father has been doing."
Gabriel stared at the page.
"I met Beatrice because I needed someone I could trust.
She warned me not to confront Gabriel.
She told me Gabriel was being watched.
She told me someone inside the family was controlling information before it ever reached him."
Gabriel's breathing became heavier.
Then came the final paragraph.
"I wanted to tell Chloe everything.
But if I contacted her, they would use her to get to me.
So I disappeared."
Chloe covered her mouth.
Gabriel kept reading.
"The man who helped me disappear is someone Gabriel believes is dead."
He stopped.
The nurse looked at him.
Chloe whispered,
"Who?"
Gabriel looked at the final line.
His face went pale.
"He doesn't name him."
"Then what?"
Gabriel turned the page.
Nothing.
The letter ended.
Chloe took it.
She stared at the paper.
"That's it?"
The nurse shook her head.
"No."
She opened another drawer.
There was a photograph.
She handed it to Chloe.
Leo stood beside a woman.
Chloe recognized the woman.
Beatrice.
But that wasn't what frightened her.
Behind them stood a third person.
A man.
Blurred.
His face barely visible.
But his hand was clear.
And on his finger—
A Costello ring.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
"Who is that?"
Gabriel took the photograph.
His eyes narrowed.
"I don't know."
The nurse stared at him.
"You should."
"Why?"
"Because he visited Leo every day."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Who?"
The nurse whispered,
"Your brother called him Uncle."
Gabriel's face drained.
"My uncle."
The nurse nodded.
"He told Leo he was family."
Chloe looked at the photograph again.
Then something caught her attention.
The man's wrist.
A scar.
Three parallel lines.
She had seen that scar before.
Not on Dominic.
Not on Vincent.
Not on Antonio.
On someone else.
Someone from Table 7.
Chloe suddenly stood.
"I know him."
Gabriel turned.
"Who?"
"The man from the restaurant."
"What man?"
"The one who brought your mother the bread."
Gabriel frowned.
"The waiter?"
"No."
Chloe's memory raced.
The man had stood near the door.
Gray suit.
Dark hair.
Quiet.
She had barely noticed him.
But his wrist had shown when he placed the basket on the table.
Three scars.
She remembered.
Gabriel saw her expression.
"Name."
"I don't know."
"Describe him."
"Forty-something. Dark hair. Tall."
Gabriel pulled out his phone.
He called security.
"Pull every camera from Il Canto tonight."
A voice answered.
Gabriel continued.
"Every employee. Every guest. Every delivery."
He hung up.
The nurse looked frightened.
"You need to leave."
Gabriel nodded.
"Why?"
"Because if they're looking for the ledger, they know you have it."
Chloe looked at her.
"Where is my brother now?"
The nurse shook her head.
"I don't know."
"But he was alive."
"Yes."
"Where did they take him?"
"I don't know."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
"Please."
The nurse hesitated.
Then whispered,
"He left a second message."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Where?"
"Under the mattress."
They lifted the mattress.
Nothing.
The nurse frowned.
"That's where he put it."
Gabriel searched beneath the bed.
Nothing.
Then Chloe noticed something.
A small tear in the mattress fabric.
She reached inside.
Her fingers touched paper.
She pulled it out.
A folded map.
Chicago.
One location circled.
An old church.
St. Agnes.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
"That's it?"
The nurse shook her head.
"There was a sentence."
"What sentence?"
The nurse looked directly at Chloe.
"He told me to tell you this if you ever came looking."
"What?"
The nurse whispered:
"Leo said, 'Don't find me until you know why they let me live.'"
Silence.
Chloe stared at the map.
Gabriel took it.
"We're going."
The nurse grabbed his sleeve.
"Not yet."
Gabriel stopped.
"Why?"
"Because St. Agnes isn't abandoned."
"What?"
"People use it."
"Who?"
The nurse looked at him.
"Costello people."
Gabriel's face hardened.
"My people?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Your father's."
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
His eyes were colder now.
"My father."
Chloe nodded.
"We need to know what he wants."
Gabriel folded the map.
"Then we find out."
They left the hospital at 5:02 a.m.
The sun was beginning to rise.
Chicago looked gray.
Cold.
Unforgiving.
Chloe sat beside Gabriel in the SUV.
The ledger rested between them.
The map sat on top.
Neither spoke.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
Beatrice.
He answered immediately.
"Ma?"
Silence.
Then her hands appeared on the video call.
She was signing.
Fast.
Urgent.
Gabriel couldn't understand.
Chloe could.
Her face changed.
"What?"
Gabriel looked at her.
"What is she saying?"
Chloe translated.
"She says she made a mistake."
Gabriel's voice tightened.
"What mistake?"
Chloe watched Beatrice's hands.
Then her face went pale.
"She says the man at the restaurant wasn't Dominic."
Gabriel frowned.
"We know."
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"She says Dominic isn't the man we're looking for."
Gabriel stared.
"Then who is?"
Beatrice signed.
Chloe stopped.
She looked at Gabriel.
"She says the man with the scars."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Chloe whispered,
"The man who brought the bread."
Beatrice continued signing.
Chloe translated.
"She says his name is..."
Her voice broke.
Gabriel leaned forward.
"Who?"
Chloe looked at the screen.
Then back at him.
"Michael Costello."
Gabriel froze.
"Who is Michael?"
Beatrice's hands moved again.
Chloe swallowed.
"Your father's oldest son."
Gabriel's face went white.
"That's impossible."
Beatrice shook her head.
She signed:
He was supposed to be dead.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
Another message appeared on Chloe's phone.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
The photograph showed Leo.
Alive.
Standing outside St. Agnes Church.
And beside him—
Michael Costello.
Gabriel's dead half-brother.
The caption contained only one sentence.
YOU HAVE SIX HOURS TO BRING THE LEDGER.
Then another message arrived.
COME WITHOUT GABRIEL.
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
He looked at her.
Neither spoke.
Because for the first time—
The enemy had made his demand clear.
He didn't want Gabriel.
He wanted Chloe.
May you like
And whatever Leo had discovered two years ago—
It was worth enough to make an entire family rise from the dead.
