Chapter 4 - ROSA’S PAYMENT
Norah refused to let Gabriel decide Rosa was guilty from one line in a ledger.
He hated that.
Good.
“People are paid for many reasons.”
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
“That usually narrows the reasons.”
“Still not proof.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You really enjoy correcting me.”
“I enjoy evidence.”
Leo muttered:
“She’s going to live forever.”
Gabriel ignored him.
They examined the ledger.
Rosa’s payment occurred four days before the fire.
Fifty thousand.
Large money then.
Why?
Then Norah found a letter inside Elena’s envelope.
Rosa,
Take the money.
Michael thinks he bought you.
Use it to get us out.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
Rosa had taken the bribe to finance the escape.
Not betrayal.
Strategy.
Elena knew.
Another letter:
Do not tell Gabriel until Michael is gone.
And even then, only if you believe my son has become different from his father.
Gabriel read that twice.
“What does that mean?”
Norah answered gently.
“She was afraid of what you might become.”
His face hardened.
“That’s clear.”
“No.”
Norah shook her head.
“She still hoped.”
That was different.
Then they examined the names on the blue page.
Some were old associates of Michael.
Some current members of Gabriel’s organization.
Rosa had continued monitoring them for years.
How?
Through someone.
Who?
The missing two pages probably explained.
Then Gabriel’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a recording played.
Paulie screaming.
Gabriel’s face went blank.
Norah heard enough to understand.
It sounded like the night Paulie died.
Then a voice:
“You should have stayed hungry.”
Call ended.
Leo moved immediately.
“Trace it.”
Security started working.
Norah looked at Gabriel.
His breathing had changed.
Shallow.
Fast.
“Sit.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re going to faint.”
“I don’t faint.”
Then he fainted.
For approximately four seconds.
Leo caught him before his head hit concrete.
Norah dropped beside him.
Pulse rapid.
Skin cold.
Eight days barely eating.
Stress.
Dehydration.
He opened his eyes furious.
“No hospital.”
Norah laughed.
“Yes.”
“No.”
“You lost consciousness.”
“I stood too fast.”
“You have not eaten properly in over a week.”
“I ate.”
“One bowl.”
“Large bowl.”
Leo almost smiled.
Norah looked at him.
“Hospital.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“No Moretti—”
“Hayes.”
“What?”
“Your last name is Hayes.”
He looked offended.
“Whatever criminal empire you belong to, hospitals have independent labs.”
That caught him.
Independent.
No family kitchen.
No trusted chef.
No Paulie scenario.
“We can request sealed supplies,” she continued. “You can watch them open everything.”
Gabriel’s resistance weakened.
Twenty minutes later, he was in a private emergency suite.
Not because money bought better medicine.
Because his security team bought privacy.
Bloodwork showed dehydration.
Electrolyte abnormalities.
Severe calorie deficit.
No poison.
No mysterious toxin.
Just starvation.
The doctor told him plainly:
“You are hurting yourself more effectively than whoever threatened you.”
Gabriel did not enjoy that.
Norah did.
Then the physician ordered nutritional support.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Gabriel agreed only after Norah watched the sealed drink opened.
Ridiculous.
Necessary.
He drank.
Then his phone buzzed.
Leo handed it over.
They traced the threatening call.
Not to a burner.
To a line registered under Hayes Security Logistics.
Internal.
Gabriel looked at Leo.
“How many people can access that system?”
Leo answered:
“Six.”
One was Vincent Hayes.
Gabriel’s cousin.
Another was Leo himself.
Then the hospital nurse entered.
“Mr. Hayes?”
“Yes?”
“Someone left this downstairs for you.”
A brown paper bag.
Leo grabbed it first.
Inside:
Fresh bread.
A jar of homemade tomato sauce.
And a handwritten note.
Gabriel recognized the handwriting immediately.
Rosa’s.
Impossible.
She had been dead three years.
The note said:
THE WRONG MAN DIED WITH PAULIE.
Gabriel stared.
“What does that mean?”
Norah looked inside the bag again.
Under the bread lay a recent photograph.
Paulie.
May you like
Alive.
Taken yesterday.
