Chapter 16 - The Trade
Harper did not scream.
She became very quiet.
That frightened Gabriel more than screaming would have.
They returned to Boston.
Federal agents searched cameras.
Roads.
Bridges.
Train stations.
Nothing.
Derek had taken Noah.
At 6:17 p.m., Harper’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Agent Price connected a recorder.
Harper answered.
“Derek.”
Silence.
Then Noah cried.
“Harper?”
She gripped the table.
“I’m here.”
“I’m okay.”
Derek took the phone.
“See?”
His voice was calm.
“He’s fine.”
“If you hurt him—”
“I haven’t.”
“Let me speak to him.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“You know.”
Harper looked at the brass key on the table.
“Locker seventeen.”
Derek laughed softly.
“Nolan finally grew a conscience.”
“Where is Noah?”
“Bring me what’s inside.”
“I don’t know what’s inside.”
“Then open it.”
Agent Price shook his head.
Harper ignored him.
“And then?”
“You bring it to me.”
“Where?”
“I’ll call.”
The line went dead.
Gabriel stared at the phone.
“You’re not going.”
Harper looked at him.
“My brother is eight.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t tell me what I’m not doing.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“If Derek gets you too, Noah has nobody.”
“He already has Noah.”
“And that is exactly why you do not give him both of you.”
Harper’s eyes burned.
“What would you do if it were Isabella?”
Gabriel stopped.
The question hit exactly where Harper intended.
His jaw tightened.
“I would make every wrong decision possible.”
“Exactly.”
“No.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“That is not agreement.”
“It is experience.”
He looked at her.
“I spent six years making decisions from anger.”
“I will not help you do the same.”
Agent Price interrupted.
“We open the locker.”
They went to the old warehouse.
Locker seventeen was hidden behind a rusted steel wall panel.
The brass key fit.
Inside was a waterproof case.
Agent Price opened it.
There were paper ledgers.
Photographs.
Cassette tapes.
And a sealed envelope.
Harper Queen was written across the front.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
Inside was a letter.
Harper,
If you are reading this, then the truth survived longer than I expected.
Your mother and I agreed that knowing nothing was the safest life we could give you.
I am sorry for every question that choice created.
Harper stopped.
She could not continue.
Gabriel quietly took the letter.
She nodded.
He read.
I discovered a group of officers using Ashford businesses to hide their own criminal network.
They framed innocent people, extorted businesses, stole evidence, and destroyed anyone who threatened them.
Richard Hale is at the center.
If I disappear, I will stay away until I know you and your mother are safe.
Please believe that leaving you will be the hardest thing I ever do.
I love you.
Dad.
Harper covered her mouth.
Noah had a father.
Maybe alive.
Maybe somewhere.
But she had no time to process it.
Agent Price opened the ledger.
“This is enough.”
“For what?” Rebecca asked.
“To dismantle everything.”
Names filled the pages.
Judges.
Officers.
Prosecutors.
Businesses.
Payments stretching back almost thirty years.
Then Gabriel pointed to a photograph.
Isabella.
She stood beside Benjamin Queen.
Harper stared.
“They knew each other.”
Gabriel nodded.
The date was six years earlier.
Days before Isabella died.
Harper understood.
Her father had returned.
Isabella had found him.
Together, they had tried to expose Hale.
“What happened to my father after Isabella died?”
Nobody knew.
Harper’s phone rang again.
Derek.
She answered.
“You have it?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Let Noah go.”
“Not yet.”
“Where?”
He gave her an address.
Gabriel recognized it.
“Old dry dock.”
Derek continued.
“Come alone.”
“If I see Ashford, Noah pays for it.”
Gabriel’s face became stone.
Derek laughed.
“I know he’s listening.”
Then he spoke directly to Gabriel.
“Stay home, Devil.”
The call ended.
Harper picked up the waterproof case.
Agent Price stopped her.
“That is federal evidence.”
“Then copy it.”
“You are not carrying the originals.”
“Fine.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You still aren’t going alone.”
Harper met his eyes.
“I have to.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Gabriel.”
He waited.
“For once, trust me.”
Something changed in his expression.
May you like
Then he nodded.
“Tell me what you need.”
