Phoenix Heart: The Last Heir

CHAPTER 3: Among Wolves

Gabriel spent three days learning everything he could about the Siegel estate. Floor plans that Miss had sent to his phone. Guard rotations. Camera positions. Exit routes. 

He studied them until his eyes burned and his head ached, but he still felt like he was walking into a trap with his eyes wide open.

The five million dollars had appeared in his bank account exactly like Miss promised. Gabriel stared at the numbers on his phone screen for a full ten minutes trying to make them feel real. 

Five million dollars. More money than he had ever imagined having. Enough to save Vera ten times over.

But he only got to keep it if he survived the next forty eight hours.

Vera was getting worse. The blood came more often now and she barely had the strength to sit up. 

Gabriel used some of the money to get her into a cheap motel room with heat and a real bed. 

She cried when she saw it and told him he was an angel. Gabriel felt sick because angels didn't lie to the people they loved and he still hadn't told her about the job.

What was he supposed to say? That he was about to rob the most powerful family in Chicago? 

That he might not come back? That every dollar keeping her alive was bought with a promise that might get him killed?

So he said nothing and held her hand and pretended everything was fine.

The night of the gala arrived too fast. Gabriel stood in the bathroom of a gas station and looked at himself in the mirror. 

The catering uniform fit okay but it felt wrong. Black pants and a white shirt and a bow tie that kept choking him. 

His dark hair was combed back and his face was clean shaved. He looked like someone else. Someone who belonged in fancy places with fancy people.

The lie made him want to laugh.

A white van picked him up at seven. There were five other people inside and all of them wore the same uniform. Nobody talked much. The driver had given them all instructions earlier. 

Serve drinks. Don't make eye contact with guests. Stay quiet. Don't mess up or they would never work in this city again.

Gabriel wondered what they would say if they knew he was planning to rob their boss.

The Siegel estate sat on twenty acres outside the city. The van drove through iron gates and up a long driveway lined with trees. 

Gabriel pressed his face to the window and felt his stomach drop. The house looked like something from a movie. 

Three stories of white stone and huge windows that glowed with warm light. Expensive cars lined the circular driveway and people in suits and dresses walked toward the entrance like they owned the world.

Maybe they did.

The van pulled around to the back where the service entrance was. A woman with a clipboard checked everyone's names and told them where to go. 

Gabriel got assigned to the main ballroom with drink service. Good. That was where the vault entrance was supposed to be according to the floor plans Miss had given him.

Inside the house was even worse than outside. Everything looked like it cost more money than Gabriel had ever stolen in his entire life. 

Crystal chandeliers hung from ceilings that were twenty feet high. Paintings covered the walls and Gabriel was pretty sure they were real and not prints. 

The floors were marble and so shiny he could see his reflection.

This was the world that regular people never got to see. The world that existed behind walls and gates and security guards. 

The world where nobody worried about rent or food or dying because they couldn't afford medicine.

Gabriel felt anger burn in his chest but he pushed it down. Stay focused. Don't mess up.

The ballroom was massive. At least a hundred people stood around in groups talking and laughing and drinking champagne. 

The women wore dresses that probably cost thousands of dollars. The men wore suits that fit so perfectly they had to be custom made. 

Everyone looked comfortable like they were born to stand in rooms like this and make small talk about things that didn't matter.

Gabriel picked up a tray of drinks from the bar and started walking around. His job was to offer champagne and smile and be invisible. 

Easy enough. He had spent years being invisible on the streets.

But his stomach kept growling. Long tables lined one wall and they were covered with more food than Gabriel had seen in months. 

Shrimp and steak and fancy cheeses. Little cakes that looked almost too pretty to eat. His mouth watered and he had to look away.

Focus. You're here for Vera. Not food.

He circled the room and tried to memorize where everything was. The main entrance was on the east side. 

Two security guards stood there trying to look casual but Gabriel saw the bulges under their jackets where they kept their guns. 

More guards were stationed at the other exits. Cameras hung in every corner and Gabriel counted at least eight just in this room.

The vault was supposed to be in the private wing. Second floor. North corridor. Gabriel just needed to find a way to slip away without anyone noticing.

Then the room got quiet.

Gabriel looked up and saw everyone turning toward the front of the room. A man stood on a small stage next to the band. 

He was maybe forty five with silver in his dark hair and eyes that looked cold even from across the room. 

He wore a black suit that fit him like a second skin and when he smiled at the crowd it didn't reach those cold eyes.

Ian Siegel.

Gabriel's hands started shaking so bad he almost dropped his tray. He didn't know why. He had never seen this man before in his life. 

But looking at him made something twist in Gabriel's gut. Something that felt like fear and rage all mixed together.

Why did he hate this man? Why did looking at his face make Gabriel want to run or fight or both?

"Thank you all for coming tonight," Ian Siegel said and his voice carried across the room without him even raising it. The kind of voice that is expected to be listened to. 

"Your generosity continues to make Chicago a better place for everyone."

Lies. Gabriel didn't know how he knew but he knew. 

This man didn't care about making anything better. He cared about power and control and crushing anyone who got in his way.

How do I know that? Gabriel thought. I've never met him.

But the feeling wouldn't go away. It sat in his chest like a weight. Like his body knew something his brain didn't.

Ian Siegel kept talking about charity and giving back to the community. The crowd nodded and smiled and clapped at the right moments. 

Gabriel felt sick watching them. These people had no idea who they were applauding. They saw the expensive suit and the big smile and the generous donations. They didn't see what was underneath.

What was underneath? Why was Gabriel so sure there was something wrong with this man?

"Chicago has given me everything," Ian Siegel was saying now. "My family. My fortune. My purpose. Everything I have built here is because this city welcomed me with open arms nineteen years ago when I had nothing."

Nineteen years ago.

Something flickered in Gabriel's head. A memory that wasn't quite there. Fire. Screaming. Hands reaching for him in the dark.

Gabriel blinked and the memory was gone. What was that?

"I promise to continue serving this great city," Ian Siegel said and raised his champagne glass. "To Chicago and to all of you who make it home."

The crowd raised their glasses and drank. Gabriel stood frozen with his tray, trying to understand what was happening to him. 

His heart was pounding. His hands were sweating. Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run.

But he couldn't run. Vera needed him. The job needed him.

A woman walked past and took a glass from his tray without looking at him. Gabriel forced himself to move. 

Forced his legs to carry him through the crowd. He was just a catering staff. He was nobody important. Invisible.

Ian Siegel stepped down from the stage and people rushed to shake his hand. To tell him what a wonderful speech it was. To laugh at his jokes. 

Gabriel watched him work the room like he owned every person in it. Maybe he did.

Gabriel needed to move. The vault wouldn't rob itself. But he couldn't stop watching Ian Siegel. 

Couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this man somehow. That they had met before in a life he couldn't quite remember.

A security guard walked past and Gabriel snapped back to attention. Focus. Stop being stupid.

He made his way toward the north corridor. The private wing. Where the family lived and where guests weren't allowed. 

There was a velvet rope blocking the hallway and a guard standing next to it. Gabriel would need to find another way.

He went back to the kitchen with his empty tray. Other servers were rushing around and nobody paid attention to him. Good. Gabriel slipped out the side door into a service hallway. Quieter here. Less people.

He pulled out his phone and checked the floor plans Miss had sent him. There was a back staircase that led to the second floor. 

It was used by staff to move between floors without bothering guests. If Gabriel was lucky it would be empty this time of night.

He found the stairs and started climbing. His heart was beating so loud he was sure someone would hear it. Each step felt like walking toward the edge of a cliff.

This is it. No turning back now.

Gabriel reached the second floor and opened the door a crack. The hallway was empty. Paintings on the walls. Thick carpet. 

Doors leading to rooms he couldn't see. Somewhere down this hall was the vault. Somewhere down this hall was the Phoenix Heart.

Somewhere down this hall was either five million dollars or a bullet with his name on it.

He stepped into the hallway and let the door close behind him. The silence was so complete he could hear his own breathing. Could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

Then he heard voices.

Two security guards came around the corner and their hands went to their guns the second they saw him.

"Hey," One of them said. "You're not supposed to be up here.”