Chapter 4 - The Safe House
Beatrice refused to cry.
Even while pieces of broken glass glittered across her carpet.
Even while security men moved through the house.
Even while Gabriel tried to convince her to leave.
Her hands were steady when she signed.
I am not running from my own home.
Chloe translated.
Gabriel answered immediately.
“You are.”
Beatrice glared at him.
No.
Gabriel looked at Chloe.
“Tell her.”
“I did.”
“Tell her again.”
“She can see your face.”
“Chloe.”
“Gabriel.”
He exhaled through his nose.
Beatrice pointed toward the destroyed window.
Then toward herself.
They want me afraid.
I will not give them that.
Gabriel stepped closer.
“I don’t care what they want.”
He looked at Chloe.
“Translate exactly.”
She did.
Gabriel continued.
“I care whether you’re alive tomorrow.”
Beatrice watched his lips.
Then she looked at Chloe.
Ask him where he plans to take me.
“Where are you taking her?”
Gabriel answered.
“My lake house.”
Beatrice rolled her eyes.
Chloe almost laughed.
“What?”
Gabriel asked.
“She hates the lake house.”
“Why?”
Chloe signed.
Beatrice answered.
“She says it looks like a hotel designed by a depressed billionaire.”
Dante coughed loudly near the doorway.
Gabriel looked offended.
“I designed it.”
Beatrice lifted both eyebrows.
Chloe said, “Apparently that supports her argument.”
Against all reason, Gabriel smiled.
It lasted less than a second.
Then he became serious again.
“You’re both going there.”
Chloe blinked.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not part of your family.”
“You’re the only person my mother can communicate with quickly.”
“She can communicate with an interpreter.”
“I don’t know who I can trust.”
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
“It became your problem when Moretti sent someone into your apartment.”
Chloe opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
She hated that he had a point.
Gabriel continued.
“Until I know how deep this goes, neither of you is staying alone.”
“I have work.”
“I spoke to Marco.”
“You what?”
“He gave you the week off.”
“You cannot arrange my life.”
“I just did.”
Chloe glared.
Beatrice watched both of them.
Then signed.
You argue like married people.
Chloe nearly choked.
Gabriel frowned.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing.”
He pointed at her.
“You keep doing that.”
“Confidential communication.”
Beatrice smiled innocently.
An hour later, they left through the rear garage.
Two SUVs went ahead.
Two followed behind.
Chloe sat beside Beatrice.
Gabriel sat across from them.
He spent most of the drive making calls.
Warehouses.
Drivers.
Accounts.
Harbor schedules.
Men named Dominic, Salvatore, and Enzo.
The more Chloe listened, the more she realized the danger was larger than one betrayal.
Vincent had worked beside Gabriel for sixteen years.
He had access to everything.
Shipping manifests.
Company accounts.
Private properties.
Security rotations.
And apparently he had been preparing something around a harbor transfer scheduled for midnight.
Gabriel ended another call.
Chloe asked, “What papers was Beatrice talking about?”
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“That seems important.”
“I know.”
“What happens at midnight?”
“A shipment arrives.”
“The one you discussed at dinner?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of shipment?”
Gabriel stared at her.
Chloe lifted both hands.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
“Illegal shipment?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Chloe.”
“I’m trying to understand why people are shooting at windows.”
“The less you know, the safer you are.”
She laughed once.
“That theory worked beautifully for your mother.”
Gabriel went silent.
Chloe immediately regretted the words.
Beatrice looked between them.
Gabriel turned toward the window.
After several seconds he said, “Medical equipment.”
Chloe blinked.
“What?”
“The shipment.”
He looked back at her.
“It’s medical equipment.”
“That’s legal.”
“Yes.”
“You look disappointed that I’m surprised.”
“My businesses aren’t all crimes.”
“I didn’t say they were.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I was thinking your reputation has terrible public relations.”
Beatrice touched Chloe’s arm.
Ask him about the warehouse papers.
Chloe translated.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“What warehouse papers?”
Beatrice signed.
Your father’s property.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Which property?”
Pier 19.
He went still.
Chloe noticed.
“What’s Pier 19?”
Gabriel looked at Beatrice.
“My father’s first warehouse.”
Beatrice continued signing.
Vincent said you would sign it over.
Gabriel frowned.
“I would never sign over Pier 19.”
Chloe translated.
Beatrice shook her head.
He said you would not know you signed it.
The SUV became quiet.
Gabriel picked up his phone.
“Dante.”
The bodyguard looked back.
“Call Elena Rossi.”
“Your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Tell her to check every document I signed in the last sixty days.”
Dante nodded.
“And have her compare every signature.”
Chloe looked at Gabriel.
“You think Vincent forged something?”
“I think Vincent has been standing next to me for sixteen years.”
His voice had become colder.
“He knows how I sign.”
They reached the lake house shortly after noon.
Beatrice had been correct.
It looked exactly like a hotel designed by a depressed billionaire.
Glass walls.
Gray stone.
Steel furniture.
A view of Lake Michigan that should have been beautiful but somehow felt intimidating.
Chloe stepped inside.
“This place needs a pillow.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“There are pillows.”
“Gray pillows don’t count.”
Beatrice signed enthusiastically.
Exactly.
Gabriel muttered something in Italian.
Chloe turned toward Beatrice.
Does he always complain like this?
Since he was born.
Gabriel pointed at them.
“I know when you’re talking about me.”
“You know nothing.”
Chloe smiled.
“That’s kind of the problem.”
His phone rang.
He answered.
“Elena.”
Gabriel listened.
His expression changed.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Send everything.”
He ended the call.
Chloe waited.
Beatrice stared at him.
Gabriel spoke slowly.
“Three weeks ago, I signed a restructuring agreement for the harbor companies.”
Chloe’s stomach tightened.
“And?”
“There were twenty-seven pages.”
He looked toward the lake.
“Page eighteen transferred controlling ownership of Pier 19 into a holding company.”
“Owned by Vincent?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Gabriel looked directly at Chloe.
“My mother.”
Beatrice frowned.
Chloe translated.
The old woman’s face changed instantly.
She shook her head.
No.
Gabriel continued.
“The holding company was created using her name.”
Chloe understood before he said anything else.
“So if something happened to Beatrice…”
“Vincent could claim she authorized the transfer.”
“And if something happened to you?”
Gabriel’s expression turned hard.
“He controls enough votes in the remaining companies to take everything.”
Beatrice grabbed Chloe’s wrist.
Her hands moved rapidly.
There is more.
Chloe looked at her.
What?
Beatrice signed.
Carlo asked when the explosion would happen.
Chloe froze.
Gabriel saw her face.
“What did she say?”
Chloe translated.
Gabriel was already reaching for his phone.
“What explosion?”
Beatrice shook her head desperately.
I do not know.
Gabriel called Dante.
“Stop the midnight shipment.”
Dante stepped away.
Gabriel called someone else.
“Evacuate Pier 19.”
Another call.
“Get everyone out.”
Chloe stared.
“Do people work there tonight?”
“About forty.”
Beatrice covered her mouth.
Gabriel moved toward the hallway.
Then every light in the lake house went out.
Darkness dropped over them.
Chloe heard Beatrice gasp.
Gabriel stopped.
“Dante.”
No answer.
The security system beeped once.
Then died.
Gabriel pulled his phone from his pocket.
No signal.
Chloe whispered, “That doesn’t seem good.”
A sound came from the rear entrance.
Metal against metal.
Someone was trying the door.
Gabriel moved immediately.
He pulled Chloe and Beatrice toward the floor.
“Stay behind the island.”
Chloe grabbed his sleeve.
“What are you doing?”
“Buying time.”
“That is not a plan.”
“It is when people are trying to get inside.”
From the darkness, glass shattered somewhere in the house.
Beatrice’s fingers found Chloe’s hand.
She signed against Chloe’s palm because they could barely see each other.
A rough version of tactile signing.
They found us.
Chloe squeezed her hand.
Then footsteps entered the house.
Several sets.
Gabriel disappeared into the dark hallway.
May you like
And Chloe suddenly understood that the lake house had never been a safe house at all.
It had been a trap.
