Chapter 7 - The Ghost Inside the Walls
Damian locked down the estate so completely that even the staff stopped pretending it was a home.
Steel shutters covered ground-floor windows.
Every vehicle was searched.
Every employee surrendered phones and identification.
Rafael doubled the guards around Ethan.
Elena refused to leave her brother's bedside.
At three in the morning, Damian found her sitting in a chair with her head resting beside Ethan's hand.
"Sleep."
She didn't look at him.
"That worked out badly last time."
His mouth shifted.
"I'll provide a safer bed."
She finally turned.
"Was that a joke?"
"I've been told I occasionally make them."
"By who?"
"No one currently employed."
She smiled despite herself.
Then the smile faded.
"Gabriel."
Damian leaned against the wall.
"My father's younger brother."
"Why did everyone think he was dead?"
"His boat exploded on Lake Michigan."
"No body."
"No."
"And nobody thought that was suspicious?"
"Plenty did."
"Did you?"
"At first."
"What changed?"
"Marco provided evidence that Gabriel had been killed by a rival family."
Elena understood.
"Marco lied."
"Or believed a lie."
Damian's eyes moved toward Ethan.
"If Gabriel is alive, he's been operating outside my organization for six years."
"Why target my brother?"
"Leverage."
"For what?"
"The flash drive."
Elena stood.
"No. Marco wanted the drive too. Gabriel apparently wants the same thing. Why?"
"Maybe there's something we haven't opened."
They returned to Damian's study.
The flash drive contained dozens of folders.
Most involved financial crimes.
Arthur had documented everything.
But one encrypted folder remained.
Its title consisted of only one word.
ORPHEUS.
Damian frowned.
"I've heard that before."
"Where?"
"My father used to mention Orpheus when I was young."
"What was it?"
"He said it was insurance."
Elena sat at the computer.
"Insurance against what?"
"Everyone."
They tried passwords.
Nothing worked.
Arthur.
Vincent.
Isabella.
Elena.
Ethan.
Every attempt failed.
Ethan appeared in the doorway an hour later.
He looked exhausted but stronger.
"You should be sleeping," Elena said.
"So should you."
Damian glanced at him.
"Fair."
Ethan stared at the screen.
"What's Orpheus?"
"We don't know."
"Greek guy who went to the underworld for his wife."
Damian and Elena looked at him.
Ethan shrugged.
"I pay attention in school."
Elena leaned closer.
"Say that again."
"Orpheus went to the underworld to bring back the woman he loved, but he looked behind him and lost her."
Damian went still.
Isabella.
He typed ISABELLA.
Denied.
Elena whispered, "Don't look back."
Damian typed DONTLOOKBACK.
The folder opened.
Neither spoke.
Inside were photographs of politicians, businessmen and organized crime leaders meeting at private locations.
Bank accounts.
Secret ownership records.
Video files.
And one document titled SUCCESSION.
Damian opened it.
His father's name appeared at the top.
Then Gabriel Cross.
Then Damian.
Beneath them were financial structures designed to transfer control of Cross assets if Vincent died.
Elena stared.
"Gabriel was supposed to inherit."
"Originally."
"What changed?"
"Father cut him out after Gabriel tried moving narcotics through our shipping routes."
Elena looked at Damian.
"You don't?"
"No drugs."
"You say that like you have ethical business standards."
"I have lines."
"Interesting place to draw one."
Damian ignored that.
"Gabriel lost hundreds of millions when my father changed the succession documents."
"So he had motive."
"To kill Vincent."
"And Isabella."
"And Arthur."
Another video folder appeared.
Damian opened the oldest clip.
Arthur Hale appeared on-screen.
Elena covered her mouth.
He was alive.
Not truly.
But moving.
Breathing.
Her father sat in a small office looking directly into the camera.
"If this recording is being watched, I failed."
Elena began crying.
Ethan entered fully and stood beside her.
Arthur continued.
"Vincent Cross believes Marco Salvi is the traitor. He's wrong."
Damian stared.
"Marco is stealing," Arthur said. "But somebody encouraged him. Somebody gave him routes, security schedules and medical access."
Arthur held up a photograph.
Gabriel Cross.
"Gabriel survived the boat explosion. I know because I met him afterward."
Damian swore.
"He offered me money to destroy evidence."
Arthur looked exhausted.
"I refused."
Elena reached toward the screen without touching it.
"Dad."
"He plans to kill Vincent and frame Marco. Then he plans to remove Damian and take control."
Damian became still.
Arthur's eyes seemed to look directly at him.
"Damian, if you're seeing this, your uncle believes grief will destroy you more effectively than bullets."
Elena glanced at him.
"He knows about Isabella."
Damian's breath stopped.
"I don't know if Gabriel intends to hurt her, but get her away from Chicago tonight."
The recording ended.
Damian stared at the black screen.
Arthur had tried to warn him.
He had been too late.
Elena wiped her face.
"There are more videos."
They opened another.
This time Isabella appeared.
Damian sat down.
She was younger than Elena expected.
Warm brown eyes.
Dark blond hair tied loosely behind her head.
She smiled nervously at whoever stood behind the camera.
Arthur's voice said, "Just tell him."
Isabella looked toward the lens.
"Damian, you're going to be furious."
His face broke.
Not dramatically.
Just a small fracture around the eyes.
"I found some things Arthur thinks you need to see."
She looked down.
"And before you yell at me for getting involved, I know."
A faint smile.
"I know what you would say."
Damian's hand closed into a fist.
Isabella continued.
"But loving someone doesn't mean pretending not to see the fire because he thinks he can stand inside it alone."
Elena looked at Damian.
He couldn't look away.
"I don't want your money. I don't want your name. I want the man who feeds stray dogs behind restaurants when he thinks nobody is watching."
Elena almost smiled.
Damian muttered, "She promised never to tell anyone that."
Isabella's smile disappeared.
"Gabriel is alive."
Damian inhaled.
"Arthur thinks he's planning something. Please trust him."
A knock sounded in the video.
Isabella looked away.
Then the recording cut.
Damian sat motionless.
Elena approached.
"You loved her."
"Yes."
"You still do."
His eyes met hers.
"Some part of me always will."
Elena nodded.
There was no jealousy.
Only sadness.
Damian seemed surprised by that.
She sat beside him.
"That doesn't mean your life ended with hers."
His voice became rough.
"It did for a while."
"What changed?"
He looked at her.
She felt the answer before he spoke.
"You slept in my bed."
Elena blinked.
"That's your great emotional turning point?"
"It was extremely irritating."
She laughed.
Damian did too.
Then his phone rang.
Rafael.
"Boss, we found the nurse's car."
"Where?"
"Abandoned near Belmont Harbor."
"Any sign of Gabriel?"
"No."
A second voice sounded in the background.
Then Rafael cursed.
"What?"
"Boss, you need to see this."
A new security image reached Damian's phone.
The underground garage.
A man in a black coat standing beside one of Damian's vehicles.
Older.
Gray at the temples.
Same eyes as Vincent Cross.
Gabriel.
Timestamp:
Two minutes ago.
Damian pulled his gun.
Elena stood.
"He's here."
A voice came through the estate intercom.
Smooth.
Calm.
Familiar to Damian.
"Hello, nephew."
Ethan froze.
Gabriel continued.
"I believe you're holding something that belongs to me."
Damian looked at the ceiling.
"No."
A chuckle.
"Then perhaps Elena would like to know why her father really chose you."
Elena's heart stopped.
The intercom crackled.
"Arthur Hale didn't trust Damian because he was good."
May you like
Pause.
"He trusted him because Damian Cross owed him a life."
