Chapter 6 - the missing ledger
Gabriel sat alone in the dim glow of his desk lamp, holding the spent brass casing between his thumb and forefinger.
The immediate conclusion—that the rival Moretti syndicate had sent the sniper—was a carefully constructed lie. The black ledger found inside Mia's teddy bear pointed to Pier 42, a dock owned by Moretti. But the bullet itself proved the shooter had been armed directly by someone inside the Valenti inner circle.
Gabriel stood up, slid the brass casing into his pocket, and walked out of his study. He took the private elevator down to the subterranean basement level beneath the estate, stopping outside the heavy steel door of the secure vault.
He pressed his thumb against the biometric scanner. The heavy lock clicked, and the steel door swung open.
Inside, sitting on a velvet sofa with a warm glass of milk, was three-year-old Mia. Claire sat beside her, gently stroking her daughter's brown hair.
Mia looked up and smiled instantly when she saw Gabriel enter. "Mr. Gabriel! Look!"
She pointed at a small wooden train set Bernadette had brought down for her to play with.
Gabriel walked over, kneeling on the carpet in front of the toddler. The lethal, intimidating aura that terrified the underworld vanished completely.
"Are you having fun, little one?" Gabriel asked softly.
"Yes," Mia nodded, her pigtails bobbing. "But Mommy is sad. She lost her necklace."
Gabriel reached into his suit pocket, pulled out the silver antique locket, and carefully fastened the chain around Claire's neck.
Claire looked at him in surprise, her hand rising to touch the silver locket resting against her collar. "Mr. Valenti... I thought you were keeping it."
"It belongs to Marcus's daughter," Gabriel said, looking at Claire. "And so does everything this family owns."
Claire’s eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
"Marcus was my brother," Gabriel said quietly. "Which makes Mia my niece, and the rightful heir to the Valenti estate."
Claire covered her mouth with both hands, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Gabriel... Marcus never wanted her involved in the syndicate. That's why he hid us."
"I know," Gabriel said. "And I will respect his wishes. But first, I need to find the rest of Marcus's records. The ledger inside the bear was only volume two."
Claire frowned, thinking back. "Volume two? Marcus only had one notebook..."
"The entries in that ledger start eight months ago," Gabriel pointed out. "Marcus died three years ago. Someone else has been continuing Marcus's entries using his exact handwriting style."
Claire froze, her brow furrowing. "That's impossible... nobody knew Marcus's writing style except—"
Mia suddenly dropped her wooden train engine and reached out, tugging gently on Gabriel’s navy suit sleeve.
"Daddy's rose garden," Mia said innocently, looking up at Gabriel with her large brown eyes.
Gabriel turned to her, leaning closer. "What did you say, sweetheart?"
"Daddy took me to the glass house with the roses before he went to sleep," Mia whispered, pointing her small finger upward toward the gardens. "He put the blue book under the big red flower."
Gabriel stood up slowly, his heart hammering against his ribs.
He looked at Claire. "Did Marcus take her to the estate greenhouse before he died?"
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"No," Claire said, her voice shaking violently as she realized the horrifying truth. "Marcus never set foot on this estate. I brought Mia to the estate greenhouse for the first time four months ago..."
Gabriel’s eyes locked onto Claire's with terrifying intensity. "Which means the man who took Mia to the greenhouse four months ago wasn't her dead father. It was someone using Marcus's memory to guide her."
