Chapter 3
Gabriel didn’t look shocked.
He didn’t look disgusted.
He only asked, “Does Derek know?”
I nodded.
“He found the birth papers after my mother died.”
“Is Derek his father?”
“No.”
The word came out fast.
Too fast.
Gabriel’s expression changed, but he stayed quiet.
I looked toward the fitness center.
“I was twenty-two. I worked nights at a diner. A man followed me after closing.”
The rain sounded loud against the SUV roof.
“My mother said if I tried to raise a baby alone, the world would punish both of us. So she told everyone she had adopted a baby from a cousin in Florida.”
My voice broke.
“Noah grew up calling me Harper. Then sis. It was easier.”
Gabriel’s eyes stayed on mine.
“Easier for who?”
That question hit hard.
I looked away.
“For everyone except him, I guess.”
Mason’s voice crackled in my earpiece.
“Movement inside. Lawson, two officers, one child.”
Gabriel opened the door.
“Then we end it.”
Inside, the fitness center smelled like mold and old sweat.
A single light hung over the basketball court.
Noah sat beneath it.
Tape covered his mouth.
His hands were tied to the chair.
Derek stood behind him in uniform, badge shining like a joke.
When Noah saw me, he sobbed behind the tape.
I almost ran.
Gabriel’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Slow.”
Derek smiled.
“There she is.”
“Let him go.”
“You brought friends.”
I froze.
Derek lifted his gun toward the ceiling.
“I know Ashford’s rats are here.”
Gabriel whispered, “Keep him talking.”
Derek ripped the tape from Noah’s mouth.
Noah screamed, “Harper!”
I took one step.
Derek pressed the gun against the chair.
“Stop.”
I stopped.
Noah’s face crumpled.
“Don’t hurt her.”
Derek bent beside him.
“You love your sister?”
Noah nodded hard.
Derek looked at me.
“Tell him.”
My body went numb.
“No.”
Derek smiled.
“I’ll tell him then.”
He leaned close to Noah.
“She’s not your sister.”
Noah blinked.
“She’s your mother.”
Silence swallowed the court.
I expected Noah to look betrayed.
I expected anger.
Confusion.
Hate.
Instead, his eyes found mine.
“Is it true?”
I could not lie to him again.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”
Derek laughed.
“She lied to you for eight years.”
Noah’s lip trembled.
Then he said, “But she came.”
Derek’s smile disappeared.
Noah looked at me again.
“You came.”
I broke.
I moved before thinking.
Derek grabbed Noah’s shoulder.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire cracked.
I dropped to the floor.
Someone shouted.
Glass shattered.
Noah screamed, “Mom!”
Mom.
The word tore through me.
I crawled toward him through darkness.
A hand grabbed me from behind.
I fought wildly.
“Harper,” Gabriel hissed. “It’s me.”
“Noah!”
“Mason has him.”
I looked over the broken counter.
A man carried Noah toward the rear exit.
Derek fired at them.
Gabriel rose and shot once.
Derek’s gun flew from his hand.
He screamed and fell, clutching his wrist.
Gabriel crossed the court and kicked the gun away.
Derek spat at him.
“You going to kill a cop?”
Gabriel leaned down.
“No. I’m going to let witnesses watch you become powerless.”
Federal agents flooded the building.
Real ones.
Not Derek’s friends.
A woman in an FBI jacket shouted, “Derek Lawson, you’re under arrest.”
Derek stared at Gabriel.
“You called the feds?”
Gabriel said, “You asked for an audience.”
Outside, I found Noah wrapped in Mason’s coat.
He ran into my arms.
“Mom,” he sobbed.
I held him so tightly he gasped.
“I’m here. I’m here.”
His hands clung to my neck.
“I’m not mad.”
That destroyed me.
“You should be.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“Are you really my mom?”
I pulled back and held his face.
“Yes.”
He cried harder.
“Then don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t.”
Derek was dragged past us.
He looked at Noah, then me.
“This isn’t over.”
Gabriel stepped beside me.
His voice was quiet.
“For you, it is.”
But when we returned to Beacon Hill, Mrs. Morrison was waiting in the foyer.
Her face was pale.
“Mr. Ashford,” she said, “your sister is here.”
Gabriel froze.
“My sister is dead.”
May you like
Mrs. Morrison looked at me.
“Apparently not.”
