Chapter 4 - THE AMBULANCE THAT VANISHED|
The first thing Gabriel did was call the hospital.
The second was order every security guard on the estate to remain at his post.
The third was turn toward me with an expression that frightened me more than anger ever could.
"Claire, I need you to tell me everything my father said tonight."
I repeated the words as carefully as I could remember them.
The blue cabinet.
The key.
The warning about midnight.
Gabriel listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he walked toward the fireplace and stared at his mother's portrait.
Outside, rain began striking the windows.
"Someone knew we were going to the hospital," he said.
"Could Isabella have arranged it?"
"She might have."
He looked toward the cassette recorder.
"But this started long before Isabella came into our lives."
His phone rang again.
This time, it was Anthony.
Gabriel put the call on speaker.
"We found the ambulance," Anthony reported.
"Where?"
"Under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway."
My stomach tightened.
"What about my father?" Gabriel asked.
"He's not there."
"Are the paramedics alive?"
"Yes, sir."
Gabriel closed his eyes briefly.
"Tell me what happened."
According to Anthony, two vehicles had blocked the ambulance at an exit ramp.
Four men wearing dark jackets had approached with forged medical transfer paperwork.
They had claimed Vincent needed to be moved to a specialist facility.
When the paramedics refused, one of the men produced a weapon.
Nobody had been seriously injured.
But Vincent had been taken.
Gabriel gripped the phone.
"Did they see the license plates?"
"The vehicles had temporary plates."
"Any identifying marks?"
"One of the men had a tattoo on his neck."
Gabriel frowned.
"What kind?"
"A black crown."
Something changed in his expression.
I saw recognition immediately.
"You know who they are?" I whispered.
He nodded once.
Anthony continued.
"We're gathering traffic-camera footage."
"Send everything to Detective Brooks," Gabriel ordered.
"And Anthony?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Do not try to recover my father without the police."
Anthony hesitated.
"Understood."
When the call ended, Gabriel stood motionless.
I had expected him to become furious.
Instead, he looked exhausted.
"Mr. Romano?"
He glanced at me.
"That tattoo belongs to a crew Richard used years ago."
"Your uncle?"
"Richard isn't my uncle by blood."
I frowned.
"He isn't?"
"He was my father's oldest business partner."
Gabriel gave a bitter smile.
"I called him Uncle Richard because he'd been around since I was a child."
He looked toward the old family photographs.
"He attended my mother's funeral."
A terrible thought occurred to me.
"And he knew about Daniel."
Gabriel nodded slowly.
"He knew enough to be afraid when I mentioned the police."
I remembered Richard leaving the dining room shortly before Vincent collapsed.
At the time, everyone had been distracted by the commotion.
Now the memory bothered me.
"Mr. Romano, Richard went into the hallway during dinner."
"When?"
"After you showed everyone the photograph."
Gabriel straightened.
"Did you see him make a call?"
"No, but he returned looking upset."
Gabriel pulled out his phone again.
"Find Richard Holloway," he told his security team.
"Give Detective Brooks his last known location."
Then he turned to me.
"There's something else I need to ask."
I waited.
"Why did my father trust you?"
The question surprised me.
"What do you mean?"
"He barely trusted anyone after his stroke."
Gabriel looked genuinely confused.
"Some days he wouldn't even speak to me."
I thought about my first week working at the mansion.
Vincent had been sitting alone beside the library window.
He had dropped a photograph.
I'd picked it up and handed it back.
Instead of rushing away, I'd sat with him while he struggled to explain who the people in the photograph were.
It had taken nearly twenty minutes.
But I'd listened.
"Because I gave him time," I answered.
Gabriel looked down.
"Something I should have done."
I didn't know how to respond.
He rubbed a hand across his face.
"I kept telling myself I was protecting my father by keeping him comfortable."
His voice became quieter.
"I didn't notice his world getting smaller."
Before I could answer, the doorbell rang.
A moment later, Mrs. Ellis entered.
"Detective Brooks is here, sir."
A tall woman in a dark coat stepped into the study.
She had sharp eyes, short brown hair, and the calm manner of someone accustomed to difficult rooms.
"Gabriel."
"Evelyn."
They shook hands.
"I understand your father's missing."
"Yes."
"And your fiancée?"
"Also missing."
Detective Brooks raised an eyebrow.
"That's quite an evening."
Gabriel handed her the photograph, Eleanor's letter, and the cassette.
"There's more."
He explained everything.
I filled in the details about Vincent's treatment, the suspicious paperwork, and Isabella's phone call.
Detective Brooks took notes.
When I mentioned the threat against my mother, she stopped writing.
"Has anyone contacted you directly since then?"
"No."
"Keep your phone available and don't delete anything."
She looked toward Gabriel.
"I'll arrange additional protection through official channels."
Gabriel nodded.
Then he pointed toward the cassette.
"My mother's recording names Richard."
Detective Brooks listened carefully.
When it ended, she remained silent for several seconds.
"This gives us a starting point," she said.
"But we need corroborating evidence."
Gabriel opened the drawer of his father's desk.
He removed the brass key we'd found in the cabinet.
"Maybe this helps."
Detective Brooks examined it.
A tiny number had been engraved along its edge.
317.
"Looks like a safe-deposit key," she said.
Gabriel stared.
"My mother kept an account at Hudson First Trust."
Detective Brooks nodded.
"Can you verify that?"
"I can."
"Then we'll contact the bank."
Gabriel checked his watch.
It was nearly eleven thirty.
I felt the same cold uneasiness I'd experienced when Vincent whispered his warning.
"Before midnight," I said.
Both turned toward me.
"What?" Detective Brooks asked.
"Mr. Vincent kept saying something had to happen before midnight."
Gabriel looked at the key.
"Maybe the bank account?"
Detective Brooks considered it.
"Perhaps, but banks don't normally make estate changes at midnight."
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number appeared on the screen.
I looked at Gabriel.
He nodded.
"Answer it."
I put the call on speaker.
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice spoke.
"Claire Bennett?"
My mouth went dry.
"Who's calling?"
"You found the blue cabinet."
Gabriel straightened.
Detective Brooks quietly activated her recording device.
"Who is this?" I asked.
The man ignored the question.
"Tell Gabriel to stop looking for Richard."
Gabriel stepped closer.
"Where is my father?"
Silence.
Then the man laughed softly.
"Gabriel Romano."
The voice sounded pleased.
"I wondered how long it would take you to become involved."
Gabriel's expression turned hard.
"Let him go."
"That depends on whether you understand the situation."
"What do you want?"
"Something your mother left behind."
Gabriel looked toward the key.
"What?"
"The original trust document."
Detective Brooks wrote a note and held it up.
KEEP HIM TALKING.
Gabriel understood.
"Why would I give you that?"
"Because your father is old, Gabriel."
A pause.
"And old men don't survive excitement very well."
I pressed my hand over my mouth.
Gabriel's face remained still.
"If you hurt him—"
"Threats won't help."
"Let me speak to him."
There was a muffled sound.
A chair scraping.
Then I heard something that nearly made me cry.
"Gabriel?"
Vincent.
Weak.
Frightened.
But alive.
"Dad!"
"Listen."
His breathing sounded uneven.
"Don't..."
The line crackled.
"Don't give..."
A sharp noise interrupted him.
Then the strange man returned.
"Midnight, Gabriel."
"What happens at midnight?"
"Your brother gets transferred."
"Transferred where?"
"Somewhere you won't find him."
Gabriel gripped the edge of the desk.
"And your father will go with him."
The caller paused.
"Bring the key and whatever you found in the cabinet to the old Riverside Terminal."
Detective Brooks shook her head immediately.
"Come alone," the man continued.
"No police."
Then he added something unexpected.
"And bring Claire."
My blood turned cold.
Gabriel looked at me.
"Why Claire?"
The man laughed.
"Because she has something that belongs to us."
I stared at the phone.
"I don't have anything."
"Oh, you do."
He lowered his voice.
"You just don't know what it is yet."
The call ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Detective Brooks looked directly at me.
"Claire, have you received anything unusual from Vincent recently?"
I thought about the note.
The cabinet.
The envelope.
Then suddenly, I remembered something from three weeks earlier.
Vincent had given me an old silver locket.
He'd said it belonged to his wife and asked me to keep it somewhere safe until he was ready to give it to Gabriel.
I'd placed it in the jewelry box beside my bed.
And I hadn't thought about it since.
"Oh my God," I whispered.
Gabriel stepped closer.
"What?"
"Your father gave me something."
"What did he give you?"
"A locket."
Gabriel froze.
"Silver?"
I nodded.
"With a little blue stone on the front?"
"Yes."
He turned pale.
"Claire, that belonged to my mother."
I stared at him.
"He asked me to keep it safe."
Gabriel reached for the desk.
"That locket disappeared the night she died."
Detective Brooks studied us both.
"Then we need to see it."
I reached for my phone.
"I'll ask the officers protecting my mother to retrieve it from my apartment."
Before I could dial, a message appeared on the screen.
It was a photograph.
My apartment door stood open.
The jewelry box lay smashed on the floor.
And underneath the image was a sentence.
"WE LOOKED EVERYWHERE, CLAIRE."
May you like
A second message arrived.
"NOW TELL US WHERE YOU HID IT."
