Chapter 6 - The Investigator Who Knew Too Much
Gabriel had trusted Marcus Hale for twelve years.
He had hired him to investigate corporate fraud, employee theft, threatening letters, and security breaches.
Marcus had attended family dinners.
He had held Noah as a baby.
He had stood beside Gabriel at his mother's funeral.
And now Victoria had named him as one of the people responsible for Elise's imprisonment.
Gabriel wanted to believe she was lying.
But he had already learned what blind trust could cost.
At the hospital, Victoria underwent emergency surgery.
The bullet had passed through her abdomen without striking her spine, but internal bleeding made her condition serious.
Noah was physically unharmed.
Elise arrived within an hour.
When she saw her son sitting beneath a blanket in the hospital waiting room, she stopped walking.
Noah looked up.
For a moment, they stared at each other.
Then he whispered, “Are you really my mommy?”
Elise knelt.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Did you want to leave me?”
Her face crumpled.
“Never.”
Noah studied her.
“Not even when I cried?”
“Especially not then.”
He moved toward her.
Slowly.
Uncertainly.
Then he wrapped his arms around her neck.
Elise held him as if she were afraid the world might take him away again.
Gabriel watched from the doorway.
He had imagined this reunion many times since Elise returned.
But nothing could have prepared him for its quietness.
There were no dramatic speeches.
No grand declarations.
Just a little boy asking whether his mother had wanted him.
And a woman finally allowed to answer.
Later, Gabriel met privately with Detective Sarah Collins, the lead investigator assigned to the shooting.
Collins was a sharp, experienced detective in her early forties.
She had already interviewed the responding officers and obtained the first statements from Caleb Ross.
Gabriel told her everything Victoria had whispered.
Collins listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked, “What do you know about Marcus Hale's employment history?”
“He was a detective before becoming a private investigator.”
“Where?”
“Connecticut State Police.”
“When did he leave?”
“About thirteen years ago.”
Collins wrote something in her notebook.
“Was he involved in any investigation concerning Briarwood Lane?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Then we need to find out.”
She stood.
“And Mr. Whitmore?”
“Yes?”
“Do not contact Marcus. Do not confront him. Let us handle it.”
Gabriel nodded.
But his phone was already vibrating.
Marcus.
He let it ring.
A message appeared.
Gabriel, I heard about the shooting. Call me immediately.
Then another.
Your father has disappeared.
Gabriel showed the messages to Collins.
She read them carefully.
“Has your father contacted you?”
“No.”
“Do you know where he might go?”
Gabriel thought about Richard's properties.
The Manhattan penthouse.
The country estate.
The private aviation hangar.
Then he remembered something.
A secluded property in Vermont.
Richard had purchased it through a holding company years earlier.
Gabriel had visited only once.
He gave Collins the address.
She immediately contacted her team.
Meanwhile, Elise sat beside Noah in a private hospital room.
He had finally fallen asleep with his hand wrapped around hers.
She studied his face.
His eyelashes.
The curve of his nose.
The tiny scar near his eyebrow.
Seven years of his life had passed without her.
She would never see his first steps.
Never hear his first complete sentence.
Never comfort him through his earliest fears.
But she could be there now.
She brushed his hair gently.
“I'm here, baby.”
A voice spoke from the doorway.
“He looks just like you.”
Elise turned.
Marcus Hale stood there.
Her body went rigid.
“Marcus.”
He smiled.
“It's been a long time.”
Elise glanced toward the hallway.
“Gabriel isn't here.”
“I know.”
Marcus stepped inside.
His expression changed.
“I'm not here to hurt you.”
Elise stood between him and Noah.
“Then leave.”
Marcus sighed.
“You still don't understand what happened.”
“I understand enough.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You don't.”
He reached into his jacket.
Elise's heart began pounding.
But he withdrew a small envelope.
“I should have given you this years ago.”
She stared at it.
“What is it?”
Marcus placed it on the table.
“Something Rose Bennett asked me to keep.”
Elise didn't move.
Marcus continued.
“Your imprisonment wasn't the beginning of this story.”
He looked toward Noah.
“It started before he was born.”
Elise felt cold.
“What are you saying?”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Richard Whitmore wasn't trying to protect Gabriel's marriage.”
A pause.
“He was trying to protect a secret about Noah.”
Elise stared at him.
May you like
Then Marcus said the words that made her knees weaken.
“Gabriel may not be Noah's biological father.”
