Chapter 19 - The Man Called Gabriel
Late that evening, Michael received an encrypted phone call.
Only one sentence was spoken.
"Ask Margaret about Gabriel."
The caller disconnected immediately.
Michael approached Margaret carefully.
"Did Richard ever mention someone named Gabriel?"
Margaret froze.
Her coffee cup slipped from her hands.
It shattered across the floor.
Edward immediately noticed her expression.
"You know that name."
Margaret nodded slowly.
"I hoped I would never hear it again."
Everyone waited.
Thirty years earlier, before Collins Industries became an international success, Richard had employed a brilliant young engineer named Gabriel Ross.
"He saved the company twice," Margaret recalled.
"Richard trusted him like a brother."
Rebecca searched the personnel database.
"No resignation."
"No death certificate."
"No retirement."
Michael frowned.
"He simply disappeared."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"The newspapers reported that Gabriel died in a boating accident."
Edward quietly asked,
"Did you believe it?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Richard didn't."
She remembered one sleepless night decades ago.
Richard had stood by the bedroom window staring into the darkness.
He had spoken only once.
"If Gabriel is alive..."
"...everything changes."
Rebecca finally located an old company photograph.
Richard.
Thomas.
Victor.
Gabriel.
All four stood together.
Michael carefully examined the image.
Something felt wrong.
He zoomed in.
Standing in the background...
almost unnoticed...
was a young man delivering coffee.
Edward leaned closer.
"I know that face."
Rebecca compared it with another file.
Then everyone understood at the same time.
The coffee delivery employee...
was Daniel Collins.
Long before anyone thought he knew anything about the company.
Long before Richard supposedly retired.
Daniel had already been present.
May you like
And perhaps...
He had seen far more than he had ever admitted.
