Chapter 5 - Cross Examination
Midnight arrived with the sound of distant thunder rolling over the estate.
In the high-security sub-basement three floors beneath the mansion, Cole Mercer sat on a cold steel chair, watching Daniel Cross hang by his handcuffed wrists from an iron support beam.
Daniel’s expensive suit was torn, his face bruised, but a venomous smirk remained plastered across his bloody lips.
“You think you’ve won, Cole?” Daniel wheezed, coughing up crimson. “The memory card inside Claire’s box... it’s encrypted with military-grade software. You don't have the decryption cipher. You’ll never access what she gathered.”
Cole sat motionless, a glass of amber scotch resting untouched on the small metal table beside him. “I don't need the cipher, Daniel. I already know what’s on it. Claire discovered you were funneling twenty percent of our transatlantic shipments to the Rossi syndicate through the docks in Newark.”
Daniel’s smirk faltered slightly.
“What you underestimated,” Cole continued in a voice as cold as a frozen grave, “was Claire’s devotion to this family. She didn't just leave records of your financial theft. She documented your meetings at the marina. She took photographs of the brake-line tampering equipment ordered under your shell company’s name.”
Daniel let out a bitter, hacking laugh. “Then why didn't she give it to you? Why hide it in a stupid music box for three years?”
“Because she knew I was blind,” Cole said, his voice dropping into a deadly register. “She knew I trusted you like a brother. She knew that if she accused you without undeniable, concrete proof, it would cause a civil war within my organization that could put Noah in the crosshairs. She was going to take Noah and leave me until I dealt with you.”
Cole stood up, stepping into the dim overhead light. His shadow towered over the chained traitor.
“She died trying to protect our son from you,” Cole whispered. “And today, you walked right into my house and tried to pin your treason on a four-year-old child whose mother scrubs my floors to pay off her dead husband’s medical bills.”
Daniel swallowed hard, fear finally breaking through his arrogant facade. “Cole... listen. We were partners. The Rossi family is coming tonight. They know the play went bad. They’re already mobilizing outside the perimeter gates! If you let me go, I can call them off—”
The heavy steel door at the top of the basement stairs clicked open.
Marcus, Cole’s head of security, stepped onto the landing. “Boss. Perimeter sensors just tripped on the south tree line. Three unmarked black vans just breached the outer electronic fence.”
Cole didn't even blink. He reached into his pocket, took out a heavy silver lighter, and tossed it onto the metal table.
“Lock Daniel in the holding cell,” Cole instructed without looking back. “Cut the courtyard power. Tell the perimeter teams: nobody who crossed that fence leaves this property alive.”
May you like
“Yes, sir,” Marcus acknowledged.
Cole turned toward the stairs, his thoughts instantly racing up three flights of stairs to the private penthouse where Elena, Eli, and Noah were resting.
