Chapter 6 - The Man Inside the House
Roman did not confront Julian Cross.
Sadie expected fury.
Instead, Roman became polite.
That frightened her more.
He walked across the hall, shook Julian’s hand, apologized for the inconvenience, and told everyone the security lockdown had been triggered by a technical failure.
Julian smiled.
“Anything I can do?”
“I’ll let you know.”
Roman’s voice was warm enough to fool almost anyone.
Sadie had known him less than a week and heard the steel underneath.
Julian left thirty minutes later.
Carter followed him remotely through city cameras.
The moment Julian’s car cleared the estate gates, Roman turned to the systems manager.
“Take the network offline.”
Within seconds, phones stopped connecting to wireless service. Internal cameras moved to local recording. Carter collected staff devices.
Sadie sat in the library with Ben and Dr. Evans.
“You’re not leaving this room,” Roman said.
Sadie folded her arms.
“You’ve said that before.”
“This time I mean it.”
“You meant it every time.”
Ben whispered, “You two are weird.”
Sadie pointed at him.
“Not now.”
Roman put Daniel Mercer’s notebook on the table.
“What does the symbol mean?”
Sadie flipped through the pages.
The crossed circle appeared beside nine transactions.
“Dad never explained it.”
Ben leaned closer.
“Maybe a company logo?”
Roman shook his head.
“It is older than that.”
He took out his phone, then remembered the network was down.
“Carter has seen it.”
“Where?”
“On documents from my father’s private office.”
Sadie looked up.
Roman continued.
“When Anthony died, Julian handled the estate. Certain files disappeared before I took control.”
“Julian worked for your father?”
“Since before I was born.”
Ben whistled softly.
“So your family lawyer is a rat.”
Roman’s eyes went cold.
“Possibly.”
Dr. Evans said, “You’re all discussing organized crime in front of two concussion patients.”
Ben raised a hand.
“I don’t have a concussion.”
“You will if you keep talking.”
For the first time in twenty-four hours, Sadie smiled.
Then Carter entered.
“Julian drove straight to Vane Tower.”
Roman’s expression emptied.
“Confirmed?”
“Three separate cameras.”
There it was.
Proof enough to change the room.
Sadie expected Roman to give an order that ended with somebody disappearing.
Instead he said, “We document everything.”
Carter nodded.
Sadie studied him.
“You’re not going after him.”
“Not yet.”
“That doesn’t sound like the man from the alley.”
Roman looked at her.
“The man from the alley knew Tommy Sullivan had done something stupid. This is different.”
“How?”
“Julian has managed legal structures for my family for thirty-two years. If I move too quickly, he can burn evidence, accounts, companies, and people.”
Sadie touched her father’s notebook.
“People like my father.”
“Yes.”
The answer was so quiet that her anger softened against her will.
Roman pulled out a chair.
“Daniel’s ledger may contain the only records Julian could not destroy.”
For the next three hours, they decoded it.
Sadie recognized her father’s habits.
He abbreviated months with numbers.
He circled transactions that lacked invoices.
He used grocery items as reminders for names because he had once taught Sadie memorization tricks that way.
“Lemon means L,” she said.
Roman frowned.
“What?”
“Dad used foods for letters when he helped me study spelling. Lemon was L. Apple was A. Rice was R.”
Ben stared at her.
“I thought he was just hungry.”
Sadie ignored him.
A page marked LEMON appeared beside a payment dated six days before Daniel’s death.
L.
Sadie scanned the attached initials.
J.C.
Julian Cross.
Roman stood.
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“To Julian?”
“Maybe.”
Carter checked archived account numbers.
His face hardened.
“The receiving account belonged to Cross Legal Holdings.”
Sadie felt sick.
Six days before her father died, Julian received $200,000 from a Vane shell company.
Four months later, Anthony Hail died.
Three days after that, Julian became executor of Anthony’s estate.
Roman stared at the figures.
Sadie watched a lifetime of suspicion become shape behind his eyes.
“Roman.”
He did not respond.
She touched his wrist with her good hand.
It was the first time she had initiated contact.
He looked down.
“Don’t become what they expect,” she said.
His gaze lifted to hers.
“What do you think they expect?”
“That you get angry. That you send men. That evidence disappears along with people.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“And what would you have me do?”
“The thing you said you don’t do.”
He knew before she said it.
“Police.”
“Not local police.”
Carter nodded slowly.
“Federal.”
Roman laughed without humor.
“Half the evidence in this room could create questions I have no interest in answering.”
Sadie pulled her hand away.
“Then maybe answer them.”
Ben stared at her.
Carter became very still.
Roman’s voice lowered.
“You are asking me to expose my own organization.”
“I’m asking whether you actually want Vane stopped or just replaced.”
The words hung there.
Roman looked furious.
Sadie did not retreat.
“I’ve met men like Tommy my whole life,” she said. “They always work for someone who says there are rules. Everyone pretends that makes them civilized.”
Roman’s face changed.
Pain this time.
Not anger.
“My father believed rules were enough.”
“And my father died anyway.”
Silence.
Then Roman sat.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Finally he said to Carter, “Call Eleanor Price.”
Carter blinked.
“The federal prosecutor?”
“Yes.”
“You haven’t spoken to her since—”
“I know.”
Carter left.
Sadie stared at Roman.
“You’re really doing it.”
“I am making a call.”
“That’s a start.”
His eyes settled on her bruised face.
“You have an irritating definition of gratitude.”
“You picked me up because I was leverage.”
“At first.”
The words came before either of them seemed ready for them.
Sadie’s heart skipped.
“At first?”
Roman looked away.
Ben suddenly stood.
“I’m going to see if Dr. Evans needs help.”
“She absolutely does not,” Sadie said.
“Still going.”
He vanished.
Sadie almost smiled.
Roman remained across from her.
“What changed?” she asked.
He was quiet.
Then: “You did.”
Her breath caught.
Before she could answer, Carter returned too quickly.
His face was grim.
“Eleanor will meet.”
Roman stood.
“When?”
“Tomorrow night. Neutral location.”
“That’s good.”
“No.”
Carter placed a photograph on the table.
Security had captured Julian entering Vane Tower.
Another man stood beside him.
Tommy Sullivan.
Sadie’s stomach tightened.
Carter turned the photograph.
Written on the back in fresh ink were five words.
BRING THE GIRL OR BEN DIES.
Sadie’s face drained.
Ben had left the library less than two minutes earlier.
They searched the hall.
The kitchen.
The clinic room.
The guest wing.
May you like
Ben was gone.
And the service door behind Dr. Evans’s office stood open to the rain.
