Chapter 22 - Roman Bellamy Surrenders
Roman had three choices.
Run.
Fight the arrest.
Or walk into Federal Plaza voluntarily.
He chose the third.
Tessa stood beside him on the courthouse steps while hundreds of reporters shouted questions.
“Mr. Bellamy, did your family order Sean Callahan’s murder?”
“Are you still involved in organized crime?”
“Miss Callahan, do you believe Roman killed your father?”
Roman kept walking.
Then Tessa stopped.
Roman turned.
She faced the cameras.
“My father believed truth mattered even when it cost him something.”
The crowd quieted.
“Today, I believe the same.”
A reporter shouted, “Does that mean you believe Roman Bellamy is innocent?”
Tessa looked directly into the cameras.
“Yes.”
The answer exploded across every network within minutes.
Inside, Roman surrendered.
He was processed, fingerprinted, and placed in a holding room pending arraignment.
Tessa sat outside with Miriam.
“You know they’re going to attack you now,” Miriam said.
“They already have.”
“No. I mean publicly. People will say you’ve been manipulated by him.”
Tessa shrugged.
“People say many things.”
“You’re remarkably calm.”
“I served brunch on Mother’s Day in Manhattan for nine years.”
Miriam laughed despite herself.
“Fair point.”
The indictment relied heavily on financial records.
Transfers.
Signatures.
Accounts.
Witness statements from anonymous sources.
Tessa read every page.
Something bothered her.
“The murder allegation.”
Miriam nodded.
“What about it?”
“They say Roman authorized payment to Murphy in 2009.”
“He would have been twenty-four.”
“He was in Europe.”
“How do you know?”
“Roman once told me he spent that year managing Bellamy shipping offices in Rotterdam.”
Miriam searched.
Travel records confirmed it.
“That helps.”
“No.”
Tessa tapped the payment document.
“This transfer was digitally approved from New York.”
“Remote authorization existed.”
“In 2009?”
“For Bellamy, yes.”
Tessa studied the approval code.
Then she remembered something from the Lantern archive.
Arthur Ward had used Victor’s credentials.
Perhaps he had used Roman’s too.
Dante brought copies of old company access logs.
They found the transaction.
Approved under Roman Bellamy’s account.
But the terminal location was not New York.
It was Boston.
Tessa’s pulse quickened.
“Who had authority to impersonate executives?”
Dante answered.
“Legal and finance administrators.”
“Arthur Ward.”
“Yes.”
Miriam leaned closer.
“This can create reasonable doubt.”
“I don’t want reasonable doubt.”
Tessa looked at the page.
“I want Elias.”
Roman’s arraignment lasted twenty-three minutes.
The government requested detention.
Miriam argued Roman had voluntarily surrendered, extensive domestic ties, and no history of fleeing prosecution.
The judge released him under strict conditions.
No international travel.
No access to certain accounts.
Passport surrendered.
When Roman emerged, Tessa waited in the corridor.
“How bad?” she asked.
“I’ve had better Fridays.”
“Still want dinner?”
He looked at her.
“Are you serious?”
“Extremely.”
For the first time that day, Roman laughed.
They ate in the closed Marlowe Room.
No staff.
No guards visible.
Just takeout pizza at the premier window booth.
Roman removed his jacket.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“For bringing this into your life.”
Tessa put down her slice.
“No.”
“Tessa—”
“No.”
She leaned closer.
“My father’s murder was already in my life. Clara’s medical payments were already in my life. Elias was already watching me.”
Roman went silent.
“You didn’t create this.”
“I made it larger.”
“You helped me stop running.”
Their eyes met.
Roman reached across the table.
Tessa took his hand.
For several seconds, there was peace.
Then Patrick entered carrying a package.
“This was delivered by courier.”
Roman sighed.
“I’m developing a dislike for packages.”
Patrick placed it on the table.
Inside was a champagne bottle.
No label.
A note was tied around the neck.
CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING BAIL.
Tessa turned the card over.
More writing.
THE NEXT HEARING WON’T GO SO WELL.
Roman examined the bottle.
A serial number had been etched into the glass.
Miriam photographed it and searched the federal evidence database.
She stared at the result.
“This bottle was logged as evidence fourteen years ago.”
Tessa frowned.
“Evidence from what?”
Miriam looked at her.
“The warehouse fire where Sean died.”
Tessa’s heartbeat stopped.
Roman carefully removed the cork.
Something rattled inside.
Dante broke the bottle under controlled conditions.
A small brass key fell onto the table.
Another key.
Another locked piece of the past.
Attached to it was a faded tag.
BOSTON HARBOR SAFE DEPOSIT 6.
Tessa closed her fingers around it.
Roman looked at her.
“Elias wants us to find something.”
“No.”
Tessa stared at the key.
“He thinks whatever is inside will destroy you.”
May you like
Roman stood.
“Then let’s disappoint him.”
