Chapter 9 - THE MAN AT THE DOOR
Gabriel read the forwarded email in silence.
Then he called Cole and asked him to come to the shop.
Rose stood.
“You don't question him alone.”
“He works for me.”
“His name is on a document meant to bury me.
I get to hear him explain it.”
Lena agreed to stay.
Ada took her husband's photograph into the next room.
She was tired of watching strangers study his death like a business problem.
Cole arrived carrying his usual tablet.
He stopped when he saw the printed email.
“I requested the declaration,” he said.
“Richard's office said the bank needed it before the purchase.”
“Did you verify that?” Lena asked.
“No.”
Rose folded her arms.
“Did you know I hadn't seen it?”
“Richard said you'd reviewed it.”
Gabriel's voice hardened.
“How much contact have you had with him?”
Cole looked at the floor.
Then he put his tablet on the table and unlocked it.
“More than I reported.”
Richard had paid an outstanding medical bill for Cole's brother the previous winter.
Cole had called it a loan.
After that came requests: a guest list, a copy of a schedule, confirmation that Rose's purse had been collected with the bridal belongings.
Nothing had seemed large enough to ruin a life.
Together, they had built the walls around hers.
“You told him where I went,” Rose said.
Cole's silence answered before he did.
“When Marco reported the address, Richard asked if you were safe.
I told him.”
Gabriel stood so abruptly the chair struck the wall.
Cole didn't retreat.
“I didn't know he'd send Owen.”
“You didn't ask,” Rose said.
That was the sentence she was beginning to hate.
No one had asked.
Lena told Cole he needed his own lawyer.
She also told him to preserve the messages and stop discussing the details until he had advice.
Gabriel took his access badge, but left the tablet untouched for counsel to handle.
At the door, Cole turned to Rose.
“I'm sorry.”
“Then stop helping him.”
His phone lit up before he could answer.
A message from Richard filled the screen.
Need harbor gate open tomorrow, 11:30 p.m.
After this, your brother's debt is gone.
May you like
Cole looked at Gabriel.
“There is no harbor transfer scheduled tomorrow.”
