Chapter 8 - THE BROTHER WHO DISAPPEARED
Julian Cross had been dead for eleven years.
At least that was what Nathaniel had believed.
The official story said Julian disappeared during a sailing accident on Lake Michigan when he was twenty-eight. His damaged boat had been recovered near Milwaukee.
His body never was.
After months of searching, Malcolm Cross held a private memorial.
Nathaniel remembered standing beside an empty casket while his father stared straight ahead without shedding a tear.
Now Julian’s face glowed from Arthur’s tablet.
Alive.
Standing beside David Bennett three years ago.
Carol stared.
“That picture can’t be eleven years old?”
“It isn’t,” Arthur said.
Nathaniel took the tablet.
Julian had changed.
His hair was shorter. His face thinner. But Nathaniel knew the arrogant tilt of his head.
“I buried him.”
Arthur said nothing.
Nathaniel turned sharply.
“You knew?”
“No.”
That answer carried enough anger that Nathaniel believed him.
Carol folded her arms.
“Why would your brother fake his death?”
Nathaniel gave a humorless laugh.
“Julian hated our father.”
“Why?”
“Because Father chose me.”
Nathaniel walked toward the fireplace.
“When we were young, Julian was supposed to inherit Cross Industries. He was older, charming, brilliant with numbers. But he also gambled.”
“How badly?”
“Badly enough to lose seven million dollars before he turned twenty-five.”
Arthur added quietly, “He borrowed from dangerous people.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Father covered the debt once. Julian promised to stop.”
“He didn’t,” Carol guessed.
“No.”
Two years later Julian secretly used Cross assets as collateral for another loan.
“When Father discovered it, he removed Julian from succession.”
“And chose you.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Julian said I stole his life.”
A notification appeared on Arthur’s tablet.
One of his analysts had completed facial comparison.
99.2 percent match.
Julian Cross.
Carol sat down.
“David knew him.”
“Apparently.”
Nathaniel’s phone buzzed again.
Another unknown number.
Arthur immediately began tracing.
Nathaniel answered.
“You found the photograph.”
Same distorted voice.
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Julian.”
Silence.
Then laughter.
The electronic distortion vanished.
“Hello, little brother.”
Nathaniel’s entire body tightened.
Carol watched him.
“You’re alive.”
“Disappointed?”
“I stopped mourning you years ago.”
“That hurts.”
Nathaniel’s voice went colder.
“You killed David Bennett.”
Julian sighed.
“Straight to accusations.”
“You were there.”
“I was.”
Carol stepped forward.
“Put him on speaker.”
Nathaniel did.
Her voice shook.
“What happened to my husband?”
Julian paused.
“Carol Bennett.”
Hearing a stranger say her name made her skin crawl.
“David was inconvenient,” Julian replied.
Nathaniel gripped the desk.
“If you touched him—”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“Then who did?”
“Father’s people.”
Nathaniel froze.
Julian continued.
“David discovered our smuggling network. He confronted me. Foolish man thought I could be frightened by spreadsheets.”
Carol’s fists tightened.
“He told me he intended to call the FBI.”
“You threatened him.”
“I offered money.”
“He refused.”
“He did.”
Julian almost sounded amused.
“Your husband was annoyingly honorable.”
Carol’s tears returned.
“You don’t get to talk about him.”
Julian ignored her.
“David went to Malcolm instead. That was his mistake.”
Nathaniel’s stomach turned.
“My father ordered his death?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then say what happened.”
“He ordered David frightened.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Julian continued.
“One of Father’s dock supervisors sabotaged the crane intending to cause a nonfatal equipment incident.”
Carol exploded.
“You sabotage a crane and expect nobody to die?”
“Malcolm underestimated the damage.”
Nathaniel slammed his hand on the desk.
“And you let us believe you were dead while running Hale’s smuggling operation?”
Julian laughed.
“Richard Hale gave me something Father never did.”
“What?”
“Respect.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“He used you.”
“We used each other.”
Arthur held up three fingers.
Trace almost complete.
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“You humiliated Richard. Vanessa is going to prison. Hale’s political allies are disappearing.”
“Good.”
“You really think this ends with them?”
Nathaniel looked toward Carol and Ivy.
“No.”
“Then understand this.”
Julian’s tone became deadly serious.
“Everything our father built belongs to me.”
“You surrendered that claim when you disappeared.”
“I surrendered nothing.”
“You want the company?”
“I want the Cross name cleared of you.”
Arthur pointed.
Trace complete.
An abandoned warehouse near Calumet Harbor.
Nathaniel signaled security.
Julian continued.
“You became sentimental. A maid. Her child. Foundation housing.”
Carol’s face hardened.
Nathaniel spoke quietly.
“Say one more word about them.”
“Oh, little brother.”
Julian laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
A photograph arrived on Nathaniel’s phone.
It showed the Cross Foundation headquarters.
Taken ten minutes earlier.
Employees visible through glass windows.
Beneath it:
YOUR EMPIRE HAS TOO MANY DOORS.
Nathaniel looked at Arthur.
Arthur was already calling teams.
“Evacuate the foundation.”
Carol’s phone rang.
Her assistant.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Panicked screaming erupted.
Then an explosion thundered through the speaker.
The line went dead.
Carol turned white.
Nathaniel grabbed his coat.
Arthur shouted into his radio.
“Fire at Cross Foundation headquarters!”
Carol ran toward the door.
Nathaniel caught her arm.
“You stay here.”
“My employees are there!”
“It could be a trap.”
“They are my people!”
For one second, they faced each other.
Then Nathaniel released her.
“We go together.”
As alarms activated across the estate, Nathaniel understood something terrifying.
Vanessa Hale had been cruel.
Richard Hale had been corrupt.
But Julian Cross knew the family from the inside.
He knew their systems.
Their habits.
Their weaknesses.
May you like
And most dangerous of all—
He knew Nathaniel.
