Chapter 5 - The Voice in the Receiver
Derek’s voice filled the small, stale-smelling motel room like a physical presence, bringing back a rush of phantom pains across my ribs and the memory of cold tile floors and shouting matches that ended in tears and locked doors.
"Leave me alone, Derek," I managed to choke out, gripping the edge of the wooden table so hard my fingernails bit into the laminate. "It's over. I'm not coming back."
A harsh, ugly laugh echoed through the phone speaker. “Over? Sweetheart, nothing is over until I say it is. You think you’re smart running off with my belongings? You think you can steal from me and hide behind some trashy motel walls?”
"I didn't steal anything of yours!" I shouted, the long-repressed anger finally breaking through the terror. "I took my clothes! I took my son! You can keep your miserable apartment, your badge, and your secrets!"
There was a chilling pause on the other end of the line. When Derek spoke again, his voice had dropped into a soft, venomous whisper that made my blood run ice-cold.
“I’m not talking about your clothes, Harper. I’m talking about the black envelope. The ledger. You know damn well what you took. And if you don't bring it to the abandoned rail yard on Fourth Street within the next thirty minutes... I’m going to introduce your little brother to a very painful lesson about stealing from police officers.”
A muffled, terrified whimpering sound echoed in the background behind Derek—a sound that shattered every remaining piece of my composure.
"Noah!" I screamed into the phone. "Noah, are you okay?!"
“Harper?!” a small, crying voice called out from the speaker, breaking my heart into a thousand jagged pieces. “Mommy—I mean, Harper! There’s a bad man here, he grabbed my arm on the way back from the store—please help me—”
The line went dead with a harsh, synthetic click.
I stood frozen, staring at the blank phone screen, tears streaming down my face in a blinding torrent. My knees gave out beneath me, and I would have collapsed onto the linoleum floor if a pair of strong, steady hands hadn't caught me by the shoulders, pulling me upright against a solid, warm chest.
"Harper. Look at me," Gabriel’s voice commanded, firm and unyielding.
I raised my tear-stained face, looking up into his storm-gray eyes.
"He has Noah," I sobbed, my hands clutching blindly at the lapels of his suit jacket. "He has my little brother. Gabriel, we have to go. We have to give him the envelope, we have to do whatever he wants—"
"We are not giving him a damn thing," Gabriel interrupted, his voice dropping into a lethal, terrifying register.
He pulled out his satellite phone with his free hand, pressing a single speed-dial button.
"Vance," Gabriel said the instant the line connected. "Did you secure the perimeter on South Elm?"
"Affirmative, Mr. Ashford," Vance’s voice crackled through the speaker. "Our operatives intercepted Lawson three minutes ago as he was dragging the boy out of the grocery store. Noah is currently secured in the back of unit two. He's safe, and he's unharmed."
A massive, shuddering gasp of pure relief escaped my lungs. My knees buckled again, and this time Gabriel let me slide down into his arms, kneeling on the motel floor as I buried my face in my hands and sobbed until my chest ached.
"He's safe?" I choked out, looking up at Gabriel through a blur of tears. "Noah is really safe?"
"He's safe," Gabriel repeated, his voice softening just a fraction as he placed a large, steady hand on the back of my head, letting me lean against him.
He clicked his satellite phone back on. "Vance, listen to me very carefully. Lawson thinks he has the boy. He thinks he's luring Harper to the abandoned rail yard on Fourth Street with the ledger."
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"Shall we intercept him before he gets there, sir?" Vance asked.
"No," Gabriel said, a cold, dangerous smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Let him drive to the rail yard. Let him wait in the dark for a girl who isn't coming. And when he realizes he's completely trapped... my men and I will be waiting to greet the officer."
