Chapter 2 - THE DRIVER WHO WASN'T DRUNK
By noon, Gabriel had three men searching for Anthony Vale.
By twelve-ten, he learned the police report had lied.
Elias entered Gabriel’s office carrying a thin black folder.
“Boss.”
Norah sat outside at her desk pretending to work.
Gabriel closed the door.
“What did you find?”
“Vale’s blood alcohol level.”
“High?”
“Zero.”
Gabriel’s expression went still.
“Then why was he charged with drunk driving?”
“He wasn’t.”
Elias placed the file down.
“There was never a criminal charge.”
Gabriel opened the folder.
The case Norah had been told ended with a suspended license and probation did not exist.
Instead, there was a confidential civil settlement.
One point eight million dollars.
Paid to an unnamed recipient.
“Who?”
“Shell company.”
“Trace it.”
“Already did.”
Elias hesitated.
Gabriel looked up.
“Say it.”
“The company was controlled by Costa Maritime.”
Silence filled the room.
Gabriel’s own company had paid after Leo Hayes was nearly killed.
He opened the office door.
“Norah.”
She entered.
One look at his face told her something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Gabriel pushed the report toward her.
“Anthony Vale wasn’t drunk.”
She stared.
“What?”
“He had no alcohol in his blood.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Someone lied.”
Her hands began shaking.
“My lawyer told me—”
“Name.”
“Samuel Pierce.”
Gabriel knew him too.
Corporate counsel.
Twenty years with the Costa family.
Gabriel picked up the phone.
Pierce answered immediately.
“Gabriel.”
“Come upstairs.”
“I’m in court.”
“Then leave.”
A pause.
“I can’t simply—”
“You have twelve minutes.”
Gabriel hung up.
Norah stared at him.
“You think your company covered it up?”
“I think someone using my company did.”
“Why would anyone care about Leo?”
That was the question.
Twenty-two when the accident happened.
Diner employee.
No criminal record.
No known connection to Gabriel.
Then Elias returned.
He looked troubled.
“Boss, there’s more.”
He handed Gabriel a photograph taken three nights before the crash.
Leo stood outside a diner beside a man in a dark overcoat.
The image was grainy.
But Gabriel recognized the man.
His uncle Matteo Costa.
The man who had raised Gabriel after his father died.
The man who had taught him how to run the empire.
Norah stared at the photograph.
“I’ve never seen him before.”
Gabriel looked closer.
Leo was handing Matteo something.
A small flash drive.
And suddenly Leo’s accident had a possible motive.
Before Gabriel could speak, Samuel Pierce entered the office.
He saw the photograph.
Stopped.
May you like
Then whispered:
“You weren’t supposed to find that.”
