Chapter 7 - A Sister in the Dark.
Norah read the message four times before Gabriel took the phone from her hand.
"It's bait," he said.
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"Because whoever sent it knows exactly which door in your head they want opened."
Norah reached for the phone.
Gabriel kept it.
"Give it back."
"When you stop looking like you're about to run into an airport alone."
"Emily is alive."
"A photograph says someone wants you to believe Emily is alive."
Norah's eyes hardened.
"You did not know her."
"No."
"Then do not tell me what I recognize."
Gabriel handed the phone back.
"I am telling you not to make their next move for them."
That stopped her.
Luca stood near the vault door speaking quietly into his phone.
He returned with a grim expression.
"Airport security is pulling footage."
"Which airport?" Gabriel asked.
"The departure board matches Newark Terminal C."
Norah was already moving.
Gabriel caught her arm.
"No."
She turned on him.
"If there is even a chance she is alive—"
"Then we confirm it before you walk into a trap."
"That could take hours."
"You're alive because I care about those hours."
Norah stared at him.
His voice had not changed, but the sentence did.
For half a second neither of them moved.
Then Luca's phone buzzed.
"We have footage."
They crowded around the screen.
A grainy terminal camera showed the brunette woman crossing near Gate 92.
She wore a dark coat and carried no luggage.
Her face appeared for only three frames.
Norah inhaled sharply.
"Emily."
The resemblance was undeniable.
Same narrow chin.
Same dark eyes.
Same tiny scar beside the left eyebrow from a childhood bicycle accident.
Gabriel watched Norah rather than the screen.
"When did she supposedly die?"
"Six years ago."
"How?"
"House fire."
"Bodies recovered?"
Norah's mouth tightened.
"My mother's was."
"Emily's?"
"The report said the second set of remains was too badly damaged for visual identification."
Luca muttered something under his breath.
Norah turned to him.
"Say it."
"DNA?"
She went still.
"They said dental records matched."
Gabriel looked at Luca.
"Find the report."
"Already on it."
They left the bank through a secure loading entrance.
Gabriel moved Norah into the center SUV instead of the lead car.
She did not argue.
That worried him more than if she had.
For ten minutes she stared at the airport still on her phone.
"She hated flying," Norah said suddenly.
Gabriel looked at her.
"Emily."
"She would take a train twelve hours rather than get on a plane for two."
"People change."
"Not that."
Gabriel waited.
Norah zoomed in on the image.
"And she never wore heels."
The woman in the footage wore black ankle boots with a narrow heel.
"So maybe it's not her," Gabriel said.
"Or maybe someone spent six years becoming someone else."
The SUV slowed at a red light.
A motorcycle pulled alongside.
Luca's voice exploded through Gabriel's earpiece.
"Down!"
Gabriel moved before the first impact.
He shoved Norah below the window line as three rounds struck the armored glass.
The motorcycle accelerated past them.
The driver ran the red light.
Gabriel drew his handgun but did not fire into traffic.
"Move!" Luca shouted over the radio.
The SUV surged forward.
Norah's shoulder hit the floor mat.
Gabriel covered her with his body until they cleared the intersection.
"Are you hit?"
"No."
"Sure?"
"Yes."
He checked anyway.
His hands moved over her shoulders and arms with fast precision.
No blood.
Norah looked at him.
"I'm fine."
Gabriel sat back.
His expression was colder than she had ever seen it.
"That was not meant to scare us."
"No."
"They knew our route."
"Yes."
"Again."
Gabriel looked toward the driver.
Only six people had known which convoy vehicle Norah would ride in.
Luca.
Owen.
Two security drivers.
Gabriel.
And Norah.
His phone rang.
It was Marcus Kane.
Gabriel answered.
"What?"
Marcus sounded breathless.
"Where are you?"
"Why?"
"Because somebody just broke into Northline."
Gabriel looked at Norah.
"What did they take?"
"Nothing."
A pause.
"They left something."
"What?"
Marcus hesitated.
Before Marcus delivered the final word, Gabriel heard noise behind him on the call.
A fire alarm chirped once, then stopped.
Voices moved through the background.
Marcus sounded as if he were trying not to let them hear him.
"Who is with you?" Gabriel asked.
"Security."
"Names."
Marcus sighed.
"Davis, Chen, and two night supervisors."
Luca checked the roster on his tablet.
Davis and Chen were both scheduled at Northline.
That proved almost nothing now.
Norah leaned toward the phone.
"Marcus, do not touch anything they left."
There was a pause.
"Is that Norah?"
"Yes."
"Why is she still with you?"
Gabriel's expression changed.
Norah answered first.
"Because apparently I am the only person in this organization who asks useful questions."
Marcus exhaled sharply.
"This is not a joke."
"I know. Did the cameras fail before or after the break-in alarm?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Before."
"How long before?"
"Maybe four minutes."
Norah looked at Gabriel and covered the microphone.
"Same staging sequence as the penthouse. First blind the cameras, then create the visible event."
Gabriel nodded.
She uncovered the phone.
"Was anything moved in your office?"
"How would I know?"
"Because you are supposedly the executive in charge of the company they keep using to steal money. Try."
Marcus went silent.
Luca looked at Norah with new respect.
A minute later Marcus returned.
"My desk safe is open."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"What's missing?"
"Nothing obvious."
Norah asked,
"Any old access tokens? Retired credentials? Vendor stamps?"
Another pause.
"There was an old Northline authorization seal. We stopped using it three years ago."
"Physical seal?"
"Yes."
"Missing?"
"Yes."
Norah closed her eyes.
Whoever was building the false trail wanted authentic old pieces, not just digital copies.
An old seal could legitimize backdated contracts.
A stolen key could open old records.
A copied signature could create history that never happened.
Gabriel spoke into the phone.
"We're coming. Do not leave the building."
Marcus gave a humorless laugh.
"Wasn't planning to."
"Why?" Gabriel asked.
Marcus's breathing changed.
When he answered, his voice was lower.
"Because somebody left something in Storage C."
Gabriel looked at Norah.
"What?"
May you like
Marcus hesitated again.
"A body."
