Chapter 1 - The Hidden Truth
Gabriel tore through the silk dresses and cashmere sweaters.
He ripped shoeboxes from the shelves and hurled them against the wall.
His chest heaved as he searched for any clue his wife had left behind.
Norah had not taken a single item of value.
The diamond necklace he bought for their anniversary remained locked in its velvet box.
Her passport and credit cards were sitting neatly on the vanity.
She had erased herself using nothing but the clothes on her back.
Gabriel dropped to his knees in the center of the massive closet.
He ran his hands over the thick carpet, desperate for anything that made sense.
His fingers brushed against a loose floorboard beneath the bottom shelf.
He pried the wooden plank up with his bare hands.
Beneath the floorboard lay a hidden, fireproof lockbox.
Gabriel smashed the lock with the heel of his heavy boot.
The lid snapped open to reveal a stack of empty cash wrappers.
Norah had been siphoning cash from his personal safe for months.
Beneath the wrappers was a single, crisp manila folder.
Gabriel opened it with trembling hands.
He found a forged birth certificate bearing a name he did not recognize.
He also found a printed itinerary for a private charter flight scheduled for that morning.
Luca stepped into the closet, his face pale and grim.
He told Gabriel that they had successfully pulled the tire tracks from the mud near the back gate.
The tracks belonged to a heavy, armored SUV.
Gabriel asked if they had cross-referenced the tread patterns.
Luca swallowed hard before answering.
He explained that the tread patterns matched a vehicle registered to a shell company.
Gabriel stood up, his eyes burning with lethal fury.
He asked for the exact name of the shell company.
Luca looked at the floor as he delivered the fatal blow.
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The company belonged to Gabriel's own inner circle.
The man who drove the getaway car was someone standing in Gabriel's house right now.
