Chapter 14 - THE MAN AT THE DOOR
Gabriel reached the front window.
A dark sedan sat at the curb.
The man in the navy jacket stood beside it.
“Take Léa upstairs,” he told Claire.
She looked once, then moved.
Gabriel called police before opening the door.
He stayed on the porch.
“What do you want?”
The man held a document envelope.
“To give her something.”
“You can give it to her attorney.”
“I tried calling.”
“Then leave it with him.”
The man looked over Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Lucien knows I have copies.”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“Copies of what?”
“Instructions. Payments. The surveillance job.”
“Why bring them here?”
“Because he told me to destroy them.”
Across the street, a second car slowed.
The man saw it and went pale.
“Listen to me. I didn’t know about the kid at first.”
“You photographed her preschool.”
“I know.”
Gabriel pointed toward the sidewalk.
“Put the envelope down. Step back.”
The second car stopped.
Lucien got out.
For a second, Gabriel thought he might actually laugh at the absurdity of it.
His cousin wore a tailored suit and fury he could no longer hide.
“Give me that,” Lucien snapped.
The man backed away.
“No.”
Lucien lunged for the envelope.
Gabriel stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Lucien shoved him.
Gabriel hit the porch railing hard enough to knock the air from his chest.
Inside, Léa screamed.
That sound cut through everything.
Gabriel straightened but kept his hands down.
“You’re on camera,” he said.
Lucien looked toward the small security camera above the door.
Then the siren sounded.
He turned toward his car.
“Stay where you are,” Gabriel said.
“You don’t give me orders.”
“No. They do.”
Two patrol cars pulled up.
The man in the navy jacket put the envelope on the ground and raised his hands before anyone asked.
Lucien began talking immediately.
A misunderstanding.
A family disagreement.
Private documents.
Gabriel stepped away and let the officers work.
Claire appeared behind the glass with Léa in her arms.
He lifted one hand so she could see he was okay.
Later, Daniel opened the envelope with investigators present.
Inside were surveillance invoices, emails, and a recording Lucien’s consultant had made to protect himself.
On it, Lucien said:
“Keep Moreau away from Gabriel until the vote. Use the theft complaint if she won’t cooperate.”
Another voice entered halfway through.
Vivienne.
“If he sees the child, none of this will matter.”
Gabriel listened without moving.
May you like
Then Daniel turned off the recording.
For the first time in five years, nobody could tell him he had misunderstood.
