Page 54 of A Mistake of Identity
“I had my team pull Ellis’ cell records again. There’s a contact we overlooked. Someone named ‘Lottie.’ They texted nearly every day, sometimes multiple times. It’s mundane stuff, mostly complaints about clients and jokes about the weather. But she’s an escort too, works at one of the top union houses in Fourth Cat.”
Gabriel went very still. The kind of stillness that made even Nika take a half step back. “You’re telling me,” he said softly, dangerously, “that for over a week, we’ve had a direct connection to someone who knows Ellis, knows his world, and no one thought to check his text messages?”
“We were focused on Sentinelle’s movements, on Henri, on your father’s—” Nika stopped himself, likely seeing something dangerous flash across Gabriel’s face. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. I fucked up. We all fucked up.”
Gabriel’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood. “Bring her here. Now.”
“It’s three in the morning.”
“Do it!”
Nika straightened his wrinkled tie. “I’ll have her here within the hour.” He turned to leave, then paused. “Gabriel... there’s something else. Your father called an emergency board meeting for tomorrow—” Nika checked his watch, grimacing. “Rather, later today. Nine a.m. He’s claiming you’re emotionally compromised.”
Gabriel’s laugh was sharp enough to cut. “Of course he is.” He turned back to the screen where Ellis’ Mercedes was frozen in frame. “Get me Lottie. I’ll deal with my father after.”
Nika pulled open the study door, only to freeze. Lucas and Alain stood on the other side, Lucas’ fist raised to knock. Gabriel watched Alain’s eyebrow lift at Nika’s unusual appearance.
“I’ll call as soon as I have her,” Nika said, brushing past.
Lucas watched him go, then turned back to Gabriel. “Was that actually Nikolai Rykov with his tie crooked?”
“Apparently, none of us are sleeping anymore.” Gabriel didn’t look up from the screen. “What do you have?”
Alain took up his usual position near the desk, his appearance as immaculate as ever despite the hour. Only the tightness around his eyes betrayed both his exhaustion and the anger he’d been carrying since his security systems had been compromised.
“The new system will be installed tomorrow,” Alain reported, each word precise and clipped. “Completely closed circuit, no cloud access. Only I will have remote viewingcapabilities, and even that will be through dedicated hardware, not any network.” His jaw tightened briefly. “I’ve vetted the tech company personally. They’ll have no access once the installation is complete.”
Lucas leaned forward, his shirt gaping where it was unbuttoned to his chest. “We found who sold us out. Johnson had a hundred and fifty thousand deposited to his account the morning of the kidnapping.” His lip curled in disgust. “He managed to spend almost twenty grand before Sentinelle put a bullet in his head. The rest was withdrawn that same day.”
“Money trail?” Gabriel asked.
“Untraceable,” Lucas confirmed. “But it proves what we suspected—someone on our security team was feeding information to your father.”
“Peter’s being released next week,” Alain added, a hint of respect softening his rigid tone. “The doctors say he’s lucky to be alive after taking three bullets. He’s asking to come back.”
Gabriel nodded. “Good. We need men like that—ones willing to die protecting what’s mine rather than selling us out.” He glanced at the clock, nearly three-thirty now. “Speaking of loyalty, Nika was here with an update.”
“I saw.” Lucas’s exhaustion momentarily lifted. “He looked like he slept in those clothes. Did he find something?”
“A connection we missed.” Gabriel’s voice held barely controlled fury. “Someone named Lottie. She and Ellis texted nearly every day. She works at one of the union houses in Fourth Cat.”
Alain’s perfect composure cracked slightly. “We missed a direct connection to Ellis’ world?”
“We didn’t have his phone. Nika’s getting her now.” Gabriel’s fingers drummed once on his desk before he caught himself. “But that’s not all. My father has called a board meeting for 9 a.m. He’s claiming I’m emotionally compromised.”
“Bastard,” Lucas breathed. “He takes them, then tries to take the company too?”
“He won’t succeed.” The cold certainty in Alain’s voice drew both men’s attention. “The security footage shows Sentinelle’s involvement. Antoine might be your father’s friend, but the board won’t ignore a La Sauvegarde security force being used to kidnap the CEO’s partner and someone under his protection.”
“Especially since he’s claiming you’re compromised,” Lucas added, straightening in his chair. “We can use this.”
“First, we get answers from Lottie.” Gabriel turned back to the screen where Ellis’ Mercedes sat frozen in frame. “Then we deal with my father.”
The quiet that followed was heavy with exhaustion and rage. Lucas broke it first.
“What exactly did Nika find in Ellis’ texts?”
“They talked almost daily. About everything, apparently. Clients, weather...” Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “She might know things about Ellis’ world that we don’t. Places, people... anything that might tell us where they’ve taken him.”
