Chapter 6 - THE CALL FROM A DEAD MAN
Noelle's father had not been kidnapped.
He had been moved.
That distinction kept Gabriel from declaring war on half of Chicago.
Barely.
A nurse had transferred Charles Hayes to another wing after receiving what appeared to be legitimate instructions from his physician.
By the time staff discovered the order was forged, Charles was gone.
At 3:41 a.m., Noelle received a call.
"Hello?"
A man's distorted voice answered.
"Bring the drive."
Noelle looked at Gabriel.
He motioned for her to keep talking.
"Where is my father?"
"Alive."
"I want proof."
A pause.
Then her father's weak voice came through.
"Noelle?"
"Dad!"
"I'm okay."
The line switched back.
"Lower Wacker. East service tunnel. Five a.m. Alone."
The call ended.
Gabriel immediately said, "You're not going."
"Yes, I am."
"No."
"They have my father."
"And they will have you too."
Noelle moved closer.
"If it were your father—"
"Don't."
The word cracked through the room.
She stopped.
Gabriel looked away.
Then quieter, "Don't use him against me."
Noelle's anger disappeared.
"I'm sorry."
He rubbed his jaw.
"I'll get your father back."
"How?"
"By giving them what they think they want."
At 5:03, a black SUV entered the tunnel.
Noelle sat in the passenger seat wearing a hidden transmitter.
Gabriel drove.
"This isn't alone," she muttered.
"They'll survive the disappointment."
Headlights appeared ahead.
A van waited near a maintenance gate.
A man stepped out.
Black coat.
Gloves.
Noelle didn't recognize him.
"Miss Hayes."
"Where's my father?"
"Drive first."
Gabriel held up a replica.
"Father first."
The man laughed.
"You really are Vittorio's son."
Gabriel went still.
"Who are you?"
The man pulled off his glove.
A strange tattoo marked his wrist.
Gabriel's expression changed.
Noelle saw it.
"You know him."
"Gabriel Russo," the man said. "Ten years and still asking the wrong question."
Gunshots erupted.
Gabriel shoved Noelle down.
Glass exploded.
Marco's vehicles raced from both ends of the tunnel.
The stranger disappeared through the maintenance gate.
Inside the abandoned van, they found Charles Hayes sedated but alive.
Noelle cried against her father's shoulder until Gabriel quietly stepped away to give them privacy.
Later, Marco handed Gabriel something recovered from the van.
An old cell phone.
It contained one audio file.
Gabriel pressed play.
His father's voice filled the car.
"If you're hearing this, I'm dead."
Gabriel closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
"Henry Pierce isn't the man you should fear."
Noelle looked at Gabriel.
May you like
Vittorio's final words followed.
"The person who betrayed me was inside our family."
