Chapter 9 - THE NIGHT KIERAN SAVED MY SON'S FATHER
Kieran Blackwood had been at the warehouse the night Gabriel disappeared.
And he'd never told me.
I confronted him the next morning.
He arrived at Rebecca's office carrying his own records.
When I showed him the photograph, his expression changed.
"Where did you get this?"
I stared.
"Did you help Gabriel escape?"
Kieran slowly sat down.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"Then why did you tell me you didn't know what happened?"
He looked ashamed.
"Because I didn't know where Gabriel went afterward."
I folded my arms.
"That's not the same thing."
He nodded.
"You're right."
I took a breath.
"Tell me everything."
Kieran looked toward Rebecca.
Then began.
"Six years ago, I discovered Sebastian was moving money through several shipping contracts."
I swallowed.
"Gabriel knew?"
"Yes."
"He'd been helping identify irregular payments."
My stomach tightened.
"Then what happened?"
"Sebastian arranged a meeting at the warehouse."
Kieran looked down.
"I believed Gabriel was in danger."
"So you went?"
"Yes."
I stared.
"And?"
"I found him near the loading bay. He'd been attacked. I helped him get out before the fire spread."
My heart pounded.
"Who attacked him?"
"I didn't see."
Kieran continued.
"I arranged emergency medical care and temporary protection."
I looked toward him.
"Then why did he disappear?"
"Because someone told him you were being threatened."
My stomach twisted.
"Sebastian."
Kieran nodded.
"I later learned Sebastian had been controlling the information reaching Gabriel."
I felt sick.
"And you never checked whether he was safe?"
Kieran's expression crumpled.
"I believed the protective arrangement was being handled by people I trusted."
I stared.
"Another Blackwood trusting the wrong person."
He lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Kieran said something unexpected.
"Emma—"
I looked up sharply.
"My name is Saraphina."
He closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
I stared.
"Why did you call me Emma?"
Kieran looked confused.
Then reached for one of the old files.
His expression changed.
"Because that's the name Gabriel used when he first contacted me."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
Kieran showed me a handwritten note.
IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, TELL EMMA I'M SORRY.
I stared.
Emma.
Not Saraphina.
I had never used that name.
Then I remembered something Gabriel once told me.
His younger sister had disappeared when he was a teenager.
Her name was Emilia.
He called her Emma.
My heart stopped.
"Gabriel wasn't talking about me."
Kieran looked up.
"Then who?"
I swallowed.
"His sister."
Rebecca began examining the old records.
Within minutes, she found a missing-person report.
Emilia Torres.
Missing at seventeen.
Last seen near a shipping warehouse connected to Blackwood Logistics.
My blood ran cold.
Gabriel hadn't simply been trying to protect me.
He'd been searching for his sister.
And someone had used that search to trap him.
Then Rebecca found one final document.
A hospital discharge record.
A young woman had been treated for injuries shortly after the warehouse fire.
She was listed under an assumed name.
But the description matched Emilia.
I stared.
"Is she alive?"
May you like
Rebecca looked toward me.
Then whispered, "The records suggest she survived."
