Sebastian’s Last Bargain

Chapter 11 - Sebastian’s Last Bargain

Martin Keene was arrested at 6:40 the next morning.

By 7:15, he had asked for a lawyer.

By 8:30, his lawyer had asked whether immunity was available.

Thomas called that “the traditional sunrise of conscience.”

Keene’s cooperation changed everything.

He gave up bank accounts, burner numbers, safe houses, and names. He admitted suppressing Claire’s evidence years earlier. He admitted warning Sebastian about Thomas’s investigation. He admitted ordering Dr. Mercer to falsify Paulie’s report.

But he claimed Sebastian had disappeared.

Gabriel did not believe him.

Neither did Norah.

At noon, a package arrived at Elena’s house.

No return address.

Inside was a small wooden box.

Gabriel opened it carefully.

His luxury watch lay inside—the one he had been wearing the night Norah served him stracotto.

Norah frowned. “When did you lose that?”

“I didn’t know I had.”

Leo examined it.

The clasp had been opened and resealed.

Inside the back plate was a listening device.

Gabriel stared at the watch.

“He heard everything.”

“Not everything,” Thomas said. “Battery range is limited. It would need a relay nearby.”

Leo looked toward the security staff outside.

Gabriel’s face darkened.

The paranoia returned so quickly Norah could almost feel it enter the room.

Every guard became suspect.

Every open doorway became danger.

Gabriel’s breathing changed.

Norah stepped in front of him.

“Look at me.”

His eyes stayed on the window.

“Gabriel.”

He looked at her.

“This is what Sebastian wants.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. Because a man who wanted you dead would send a bullet. A man who wants you afraid sends your watch back.”

The room quieted.

Gabriel’s shoulders lowered by a fraction.

He handed the watch to Thomas.

“Evidence.”

That single word cost him something.

Norah knew it.

The second object in the package was a key.

Rosa recognized it.

“The restaurant.”

“What restaurant?”

“Dominic’s old place. La Serata. It closed after he died.”

Gabriel frowned. “Sebastian owns the building now.”

A card lay beneath the key.

One hour. Gabriel alone. Bring nothing. Come if you want the truth about Paulie.

Thomas immediately said no.

Gabriel immediately said yes.

Norah folded her arms.

Both men looked at her.

“Neither.”

Gabriel stared. “Neither?”

“You don’t go alone, and Thomas doesn’t send a visible army. Sebastian knows the building better than anyone.”

Thomas nodded slowly. “Surveillance and a concealed team.”

Gabriel looked at Norah. “You are becoming alarmingly comfortable giving orders.”

“Somebody has to.”

La Serata occupied the ground floor of an old brick building near the river. Its windows were dusty, gold lettering faded from the glass.

Gabriel entered alone wearing a wire Thomas’s team had installed.

Norah listened from a van half a block away with Thomas, Leo, and two agents.

Sebastian waited at a table in the center of the abandoned dining room.

He was seventy-one, silver-haired, elegant, and looked exactly like the sort of man newspapers photographed handing oversized checks to children’s hospitals.

“Gabriel,” he said warmly.

“You look terrible, Sebastian.”

A soft laugh came through the wire.

“You look like Dominic when you’re angry.”

“I’m told that’s not a compliment.”

“No. Rosa has been talking.”

Gabriel sat across from him.

“Where were you when Paulie was poisoned?”

Sebastian poured himself wine from an unopened bottle.

“Still chasing cause and effect. You always were literal.”

“Answer me.”

“I arranged it.”

In the van, Thomas leaned toward the receiver.

A confession.

Sebastian continued.

“But Paulie was not supposed to die.”

Gabriel went still.

“What?”

“The dose was intended to make him ill. Frighten him. Remind him that curiosity has a price.”

“That poison killed him.”

“Yes.” Sebastian’s voice flattened. “Because Daniel doubled the dose.”

Norah looked at Thomas.

Daniel.

The frightened lawyer who claimed he wanted out.

Sebastian chuckled.

“You thought Daniel was weak. He is. Weak men are the most dangerous because they will do anything to avoid pain.”

“Why tell me?” Gabriel asked.

“Because you deserve to know who killed your friend.”

“You ordered the poisoning.”

“I ordered a warning.”

“That distinction may comfort you in prison.”

Sebastian laughed again.

Then his tone changed.

“I did not ask you here to discuss Paulie. I asked because you still have one choice left.”

“What choice?”

“Walk away.”

“You burned my home, kidnapped my sister, tried to steal evidence, threatened Norah, and you think I’m walking away?”

“Not from me. From the chair.”

Gabriel said nothing.

Sebastian leaned closer.

“Your father knew something you still refuse to understand. Empires do not retire. They collapse onto everyone standing nearby.”

In the van, Norah watched the audio levels rise and fall.

Sebastian continued.

“Turn over the docks. Dissolve your crews. Give the legitimate companies to Elena. Leave the city with the waitress.”

Gabriel’s voice became very quiet.

“And you?”

“I disappear.”

“You expect me to let you?”

“I expect you to decide whether vengeance is worth becoming Dominic.”

The sentence landed exactly where Sebastian intended.

Norah knew it.

So did Gabriel.

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Then Gabriel said, “My father already gave me better advice.”

“Oh?”

“He told me to get out of the chair.”

Sebastian’s voice sharpened.

“You heard the tape.”

“I did.”

“Then you know he was a hypocrite.”

“Yes.”

“You still plan to obey him?”

“No.”

A pause.

“I plan to make my own decision.”

Sirens sounded faintly outside.

Sebastian stood.

“You wore a wire.”

Gabriel remained seated.

“You always taught me to expect betrayal.”

“That is not betrayal. It is surrender.”

“No,” Gabriel said. “It’s evidence.”

Agents entered from both sides of the building.

Sebastian did not run.

He looked toward the windows, then back at Gabriel with something close to pity.

“You think they will let you walk away because you helped them catch me?”

Gabriel’s expression did not change.

“I’m not asking them to.”

That was the moment Norah understood what he had already decided.

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Gabriel Hayes was not bargaining for freedom.

He was preparing to confess.