Chapter 5 - THE SON HE COULDN’T REACH
I had never run so fast in my life.
The stairs blurred.
My heart felt like it was ripping itself apart inside my chest.
“Eli!”
Gabriel was beside me.
Dominic shouted behind us for security to lock down the east wing.
When I reached the kitchen, one window had shattered inward.
Glass covered the floor.
Noah and Lucas were crouched beneath the island with one of Gabriel’s guards shielding them.
Eli was gone.
For a second, my mind refused to understand.
“Where is he?”
The guard looked toward the hall.
“He ran when the window broke.”
I screamed his name.
Gabriel moved toward the rear corridor.
“Elias!”
It was the first time he had called one of the boys by his full name.
No answer.
The house erupted with footsteps.
Security teams.
Radios.
Doors locking.
I ran toward the mudroom.
His blue sneaker lay near the back door.
The door was open.
Snow blew across the threshold.
I couldn’t breathe.
“No.”
Gabriel stepped past me.
A trail of tiny footprints crossed the backyard.
Then disappeared near the tree line.
“Eli!”
We ran into the snow.
No coat.
No gloves.
I didn’t feel the cold.
The lake stretched to our left.
Woods to the right.
Security spread out.
Gabriel shouted commands.
Then he stopped.
He looked down.
The snow near the trees was disturbed.
Large boot prints.
And Eli’s.
Someone had been there.
Gabriel’s face went white.
“Dominic!”
A guard came running.
“There’s a vehicle track beyond the north fence.”
My knees almost gave way.
Gabriel caught me.
I hit his chest.
“This is your world!”
He didn’t defend himself.
“This is because of you!”
“I know.”
“My baby—”
“I know.”
His voice broke.
It was the first time I had ever heard Gabriel Cross’s voice break.
Then the radio crackled.
“Movement at the boathouse.”
Gabriel turned.
We ran.
The boathouse sat fifty yards from the main property, half-hidden beneath cedar trees.
Its door was open.
Gabriel drew a handgun from beneath his shirt.
I grabbed his arm.
“My son is in there.”
“Our son.”
“Then don’t miss.”
His eyes met mine.
“I won’t.”
Dominic arrived behind us.
Two guards circled around the building.
Gabriel approached the door.
“Eli?”
Silence.
Then a tiny voice.
“Mom?”
I nearly collapsed.
“Eli!”
“Stay there!” Gabriel shouted.
A man appeared in the doorway.
He had one arm around my five-year-old son.
A pistol pressed against Eli’s shoulder.
My entire body went numb.
The man wore dark clothing and a black cap.
I didn’t recognize him.
Gabriel did.
“Caleb.”
The man smiled.
“Been a while.”
“Let him go.”
“Vincent says hello.”
Gabriel raised his gun.
Caleb pulled Eli closer.
My son was crying silently.
That destroyed me more than screaming would have.
“Mommy.”
“I’m right here, baby.”
Gabriel’s gun remained perfectly steady.
“What do you want?”
“Car keys.”
“You have them.”
“Your phone.”
Gabriel slowly placed it in the snow.
“Gun.”
He didn’t move.
Caleb pressed his weapon closer to Eli.
Gabriel lowered his gun.
“Kick it.”
He did.
It slid across the snow.
Caleb smiled.
“The great Gabriel Cross.”
“Take me.”
Caleb blinked.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You heard me.”
“Gabriel,” Dominic warned.
Gabriel ignored him.
“Vincent wants leverage. I’m worth more than a five-year-old.”
Caleb laughed.
“Not anymore.”
My stomach turned.
Eli’s eyes found mine.
Then something unexpected happened.
He bit Caleb.
Hard.
Caleb screamed.
Eli dropped.
Gabriel moved.
One gunshot cracked across the lake.
Caleb’s pistol flew from his hand.
Dominic tackled him before he hit the ground.
I ran.
Eli crashed into my arms.
I fell to my knees in the snow, holding him so tightly he whimpered.
“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“I was hiding.”
“I know.”
“The man found me.”
“I know.”
Gabriel stood several feet away.
His gun hung at his side.
He was staring at Eli.
But he didn’t approach.
He waited.
My son noticed.
“Dad?”
Gabriel’s face broke.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
The word had reached somewhere no bullet ever had.
Eli looked at him.
“You shot the bad man.”
Gabriel swallowed.
“I shot his gun.”
“Are you gonna shoot people?”
“No.”
Gabriel lowered himself to one knee.
“I’m going to make sure nobody comes near you again.”
Eli thought about that.
Then stretched out one mittenless hand.
Gabriel looked at me.
He was asking.
I nodded.
He came closer.
Eli touched his face.
“You look scared.”
Gabriel shut his eyes.
“I was.”
“Bad guys get scared?”
A broken laugh escaped him.
“Apparently.”
Eli wrapped both arms around Gabriel’s neck.
Gabriel froze.
His eyes opened.
He looked at me over our son’s shoulder.
There were tears in them.
Gabriel Cross did not cry.
Not at his father’s funeral.
Not when he was shot at thirty-two.
Not when federal agents raided three of his companies.
But holding his five-year-old son for the first time, kneeling in the snow while armed men surrounded us, tears ran silently down his face.
And I hated myself for loving him a little in that moment.
Not enough to forgive.
But enough to remember.
We returned to the house.
Caleb survived.
Gabriel deliberately had shot the weapon, not the man.
“Call the police,” he told Dominic.
Dominic stared.
“You sure?”
Gabriel looked at the boys.
“Yes.”
That was new.
The old Gabriel would have handled Caleb privately.
Everybody knew what privately meant.
Instead he called the police.
By afternoon, federal agents were involved.
Apparently Vincent had been under investigation for years.
Gabriel spent four hours giving them records.
When he returned, he found me sitting beside Eli’s bed.
My son was asleep.
Gabriel stood in the doorway.
“I’m selling everything.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“The businesses connected to Vincent.”
“That was already happening.”
“Not just those.”
He entered slowly.
“The clubs. Shipping contracts. Protection arrangements. Every company that ties us to the old organization.”
My heart stopped.
“Gabriel.”
“I should have done it when you asked.”
I looked at him.
“You’re doing this because you’re scared.”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
“I’m terrified.”
He sat in a chair across from me.
“I spent my entire life believing fear was power.”
His eyes moved to Eli.
“Today I learned it’s a prison.”
I didn’t know what to say.
A knock sounded.
Dominic entered.
His face was grim.
“We searched Caleb.”
He placed a small recorder on the dresser.
“Wire?”
“Not exactly.”
Dominic pressed play.
Vincent’s voice filled the room.
“Take one of the boys. Don’t hurt him unless Cross refuses the terms.”
My skin crawled.
Then another voice answered.
Female.
“Which one?”
I stopped breathing.
Gabriel slowly stood.
The recording continued.
Vincent replied, “Whichever is easiest.”
The woman laughed softly.
“We only need one to make Claire cooperate.”
Gabriel’s face went completely blank.
I knew that laugh.
I had heard it across charity ballrooms.
Fashion shows.
My husband’s office.
Serena.
Dominic stopped the recording.
No one spoke.
Gabriel looked toward the window.
May you like
Then he said three words.
“Bring her here.”
