Chapter 7 - THEY TOOK THE WRONG PERSON|
Graham read the message twice.
Then he called his security director.
"Find Daniel Hayes. Immediately."
Tabitha stood.
"What happened?"
He turned the phone toward her.
Her face lost its color.
"Daniel."
She grabbed the phone.
"Where is he?"
"We're finding out."
"No. I need to go to him."
Graham caught her wrist gently.
"You're not leaving alone."
"He's my brother!"
"And I'm not going to let them take you too."
For the next hour, the mansion became a command center.
Security officers checked hospital records, traffic cameras, and Daniel's last known location.
At 9:40 p.m., a call came through.
Daniel's rehabilitation center had reported him missing.
His wheelchair had been found outside the rear entrance.
Tabitha began crying.
Graham moved toward her, then stopped.
He remembered that she didn't like being touched without warning.
"Tabitha."
She looked at him.
"Please."
That single word broke something inside him.
He opened his arms.
She stepped forward and buried her face against his chest.
Graham held her carefully.
"I'll bring him home."
"You don't understand. He's all I have."
"Then we'll bring him home together."
He dispatched three teams.
One followed the vehicle seen outside the rehabilitation center. Another traced the phone number used in the threat.
The third discovered something more disturbing.
Daniel had not been kidnapped by strangers.
He had been taken by a man who knew him personally.
The center's medical administrator.
Dr. Simon Hale.
Graham recognized the name.
Hale had once worked for his father.
He specialized in treating injured members of the Costa organization.
"Where is he?" Graham demanded.
A security officer placed a map on the table.
"An abandoned warehouse in Queens."
Graham reached for his coat.
Tabitha followed.
"You're staying here," he said.
"No."
"Tabitha—"
"He's my brother."
"I cannot protect you if you come into a gunfight."
"Then don't put me in one. Let me talk to him."
Graham looked at her.
He hated the idea.
But he understood that Daniel might respond better to his sister than to armed men.
They arrived at the warehouse shortly before midnight.
The building was dark.
Graham's men surrounded the property.
He entered with two guards while Tabitha waited near the vehicle.
Then a voice came from inside.
"Tabby?"
She froze.
"Daniel!"
Graham raised his hand to stop her.
A moment later, a man appeared in the doorway.
It was Dr. Hale.
He held Daniel by the shoulder.
Daniel looked pale but conscious.
"Come closer," Hale ordered.
Graham stepped forward.
"Let him go."
Hale smiled.
"You really have become predictable, Graham."
He looked at Tabitha.
"Your mother was smarter than you. She understood what happened when you trusted a Costa."
Tabitha's eyes narrowed.
"What did you do to my mother?"
Hale ignored her.
"Give me the locket."
Graham lowered his weapon slightly.
"Let Daniel walk out."
Hale pushed Daniel forward.
For a moment, it seemed the exchange would work.
Then Daniel stumbled.
Tabitha rushed toward him.
A gunshot rang out.
Graham pulled Tabitha to the ground.
One of his guards returned fire.
Hale disappeared through a side door.
When the shooting stopped, Daniel was alive.
But he was clutching a small folded piece of paper.
"Tabby," he whispered.
She knelt beside him.
"What is it?"
He handed her the paper.
"Mom gave this to me before she died. She told me never to open it unless someone from the Costa family came looking for you."
Tabitha unfolded it.
Inside was a photograph of her mother.
May you like
On the back, in familiar handwriting, were the words:
GRAHAM'S FATHER DID NOT ORDER MY DEATH. GRAHAM'S MOTHER DID.
