Chapter 5 - THE WAREHOUSE ON THE NORTH SIDE|
Gabriel did not sleep.
By dawn, he had assembled a small team and ordered a quiet inspection of the abandoned warehouse. Catherine insisted on accompanying him, despite the fresh bandage around her hand.
“You’re not trained for this,” he told her.
“Neither was I trained to discover stolen family silver.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No. This time, I know what I’m looking for.”
He studied her for a moment, then handed her a protective jacket.
“Stay behind me.”
The warehouse stood on a neglected industrial street, surrounded by a rusted fence and empty loading bays. Its windows were boarded, and weeds had grown through the cracks in the concrete.
Gabriel’s men entered first.
The main floor appeared deserted, but Catherine noticed a clean rectangular patch on the dusty wall where a cabinet had recently been removed.
“Someone has been here,” she said.
Gabriel crouched beside the floor.
Fresh marks crossed the dust. Heavy equipment had been dragged toward a service elevator that should not have been working.
Marcus checked the panel.
“Power is disconnected.”
Catherine touched the wall beside it.
“No. The panel is disconnected. The cable is warm.”
Gabriel looked at her.
She pointed toward a narrow maintenance door hidden behind a stack of wooden pallets.
“Someone is using the old lift.”
His men forced the door open.
A steep staircase led to a basement corridor. At the bottom, they found a room filled with empty crates and a steel cabinet secured by a new electronic lock.
Gabriel ordered the lock removed.
Inside were shipping manifests, photographs, and a collection of small metal boxes. One box bore the Romano crest.
Catherine reached for it.
Gabriel stopped her.
“Let Marcus check it.”
The security chief examined the latch, then nodded.
“Safe.”
Gabriel opened the box.
Inside lay a silver key, an old family ring, and a folded letter addressed to Lorenzo Romano.
The handwriting on the envelope was unfamiliar.
Gabriel opened it carefully.
Lorenzo, if you have received this, then Elena has chosen to protect the family name rather than the truth. The container must never be returned to the house. The original records are with the girl.
Gabriel read the message again.
“The girl,” Catherine whispered.
He looked at her.
“Do you know what this means?”
“No.”
But she had noticed something else.
A photograph lay beneath the letter. It showed a woman holding a baby outside a hospital. The woman’s face was turned away, but the baby wore a small bracelet engraved with a date.
Catherine recognized the date immediately.
It was her birthday.
Her throat tightened.
“My mother told me I was born in a hospital in Indiana,” she said. “She said my father brought me home three days later.”
Gabriel looked from the photograph to her.
“Your mother is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Does she know anything about the Romanos?”
Catherine swallowed.
“She never wanted to discuss my birth. Whenever I asked, she said the past was something I didn’t need to carry.”
A noise sounded above them.
Marcus drew his weapon.
“Someone’s inside.”
Gabriel moved Catherine behind the cabinet as footsteps approached the staircase.
A man appeared at the bottom, holding a gun.
Arthur.
His face was bruised, and blood stained the collar of his shirt.
“Put the box down,” he ordered.
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“You’re going to explain everything.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“You still think you’re in charge.”
He looked directly at Catherine.
May you like
“Ask your mother what happened the night you were born.”
Then the warehouse lights went out.
