CHAPTER 5 — The Woman Behind Every Tragedy
Gabriel replayed the security footage from the night Isabella died.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Hundreds of times over four years, he'd watched the attack.
Gunfire.
Chaos.
The Escalade.
Broken glass.
Nothing new.
Until now.
He paused the footage.
Zoomed in.
Frame by frame.
The armored SUV had stopped at a private warehouse only forty-three seconds before the ambush.
Someone had opened the security gate...
From inside.
The timestamp froze.
A woman wearing oversized sunglasses stepped into view.
Only for two seconds.
Then disappeared.
Gabriel enlarged the image.
The face was blurry.
But the necklace...
Three flawless diamonds arranged like a crown.
Lily had remembered.
"The lady with the diamonds."
Claire suddenly gasped.
"I've seen that necklace."
Everyone turned.
"Where?"
Claire swallowed.
"Vivian wears it."
The room fell silent.
Meanwhile...
Vivian Chase calmly entered a private office overlooking Central Park.
She wasn't worried.
Not yet.
She poured herself expensive whiskey.
Opened an old safe.
Inside were passports.
Cash.
New identities.
And dozens of childhood photographs.
Each photo showed a different child.
Different names.
Different countries.
Every child had eventually disappeared.
She closed the safe.
Her assistant entered nervously.
"Ma'am..."
"They found Eleanor."
Vivian sighed.
"I expected that."
"What should we do?"
Vivian smiled.
"Begin Phase Two."
The assistant hesitated.
"And the little girl?"
Vivian looked toward Manhattan.
"She remembers too much."
Across the city...
A black van quietly parked outside Margaret Donnelly's cancer clinic.
Two men exited.
Neither wore masks.
Neither carried visible weapons.
One entered the hospital carrying flowers.
The other carried an empty wheelchair.
Back inside the penthouse...
Claire called the hospital.
No answer.
She called again.
Still nothing.
Her heart pounded.
Then...
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A calm female voice spoke.
"You sing beautifully, Claire."
Claire's blood froze.
"If you want your mother alive..."
"...come alone."
The line disconnected.
Gabriel looked at Claire.
"You aren't going."
Claire shook her head.
"They have my mother."
Gabriel replied quietly,
"No."
"They've made her bait."
May you like
Then he loaded another magazine into his pistol.
"And I don't leave family behind."
