Chapter 10 - The Journal’s Secret|
The sound of helicopter blades chopping through the cold morning air echoed across the lake at eight o'clock sharp.
The black Eurocopter touched down smoothly on the estate’s private helipad.
Gabriel stepped out, wearing a dark trench coat over a charcoal suit, carrying a worn leather satchel across his shoulder. He looked tired—dark shadows under his obsidian eyes—but his posture was as broad and commanding as ever.
I met him at the glass doors of the lower patio.
Without saying a word, Gabriel walked up to me, reached out, and pulled me into a brief, fierce embrace, his broad arms wrapping securely around my waist. The scent of rain, leather, and cedar filled my senses.
“Thank you for keeping her safe, Hannah,” he murmured into my hair before stepping back.
My heart was beating wildly against my ribs. “She’s sleeping upstairs.”
Gabriel nodded, walking inside toward the great room’s stone fireplace. He set his satchel on the rustic oak table and pulled out a faded, rain-stained leather notebook tied with a dark ribbon.
“Elena’s journal,” I whispered, stepping beside him.
Gabriel untied the ribbon with steady fingers, opening the yellowed pages.
The pages were filled with elegant, neat handwriting, technical diagrams, and lines of complex software code. But as Gabriel flipped toward the back, the handwriting changed—becoming jagged, rushed, and frantic.
Gabriel paused on the final entry, dated three days before Elena’s fatal car crash.
He read the words out loud, his voice dropping into a raspy whisper:
“Victor Moretti knows about the algorithm. He came to the house while Gabriel was in New York. But he isn't acting alone. Someone inside the Marconi shipping firm is supplying him with my private security clearance.”
Gabriel stopped reading. He looked up at me, his gray eyes blazing with sudden, terrifying realization.
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“It wasn't just Isabella,” Gabriel whispered. “Isabella’s father—Dominic Marconi—was Victor Moretti’s primary silent partner four years ago.”
Before I could process the revelation, the lights inside the great room flickered once, twice, and went completely black.
