Chapter 10 - Anna’s Shadow
Benjamin Cross was found at 3:20 that afternoon.
Alive.
His car sat in a parking garage near LaGuardia Airport.
He was in the driver’s seat, shaking.
No suitcase.
No laptop.
No injuries.
Dante met him at a private office in Queens.
Cross looked twenty years older than he had the previous week.
“Anna contacted me,” he said.
Victor remained standing near the door.
Marco sat opposite Cross.
Dante asked, “When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
There it was again.
Cross wiped his mouth.
“She knew about Meridian. She knew Nico’s records existed. She wanted access.”
“Why?”
“She said Salvatore destroyed her life.”
Marco’s voice cut through the room.
“He did.”
Cross looked at him with shame.
“I know.”
Dante leaned forward.
“You reactivated Meridian for her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I owed her.”
“What did you do?”
Cross’s eyes closed.
“I prepared the warehouse cleanup.”
Marco rose.
Dante raised a hand.
Marco stayed standing.
Cross continued.
“Salvatore told me there had been a theft. He said records needed to disappear before auditors arrived. I hired men to remove documents.”
“Fire?”
“I never ordered fire.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know. One of the men called after midnight. Said there had been an accident.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“You accepted that?”
“I was a coward.”
Marco moved around the table.
“You were a murderer’s clerk.”
Cross did not deny it.
Dante said, “Anna knew?”
“Eventually.”
“How?”
“I told her after Salvatore died.”
Victor stared at him.
“You contacted her?”
“I had been sending money for years.”
“You used Moretti funds.”
“I used Salvatore’s private account.”
Dante asked, “Why did she come back eleven months ago?”
Cross looked at him.
“Because of your audit.”
“She was afraid I’d find Meridian?”
“No.”
Cross raised his eyes.
“She wanted you to.”
That changed everything.
Dante leaned back.
Cross continued.
“Anna believed Nico hid evidence inside your father’s network. She spent years trying to reconstruct it. When she learned you were auditing the estate, she thought you might expose what Salvatore had done.”
“Then why spy on me?”
“I don’t know that she did.”
“Did you give her access credentials?”
“I gave her old corporate documents.”
“Did those include Victor’s identification?”
“Yes.”
“Marco’s?”
“Yes.”
“Network diagrams?”
Cross hesitated.
Marco swore.
Dante’s voice lowered.
“What else?”
“Archived security files.”
“Why?”
“Because she said she needed to locate CROWN.”
Victor turned away.
Dante stared at Cross.
“You knew what CROWN was?”
“Only the name.”
“Where is Anna?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were heading to an airport.”
“She told me to leave.”
“Why?”
Cross looked toward Marco.
“Because she said someone had taken control of her operation.”
Silence.
Dante felt cold.
“Someone?”
Cross nodded.
“She contacted me two nights ago. She sounded terrified. She said the plan had changed.”
“What plan?”
“To expose Salvatore’s crimes.”
Marco laughed without humor.
“By framing me?”
Cross looked genuinely confused.
“What?”
Dante showed him the photographs from the garage.
The forged ledger.
The copper bugs.
Cross’s face collapsed.
“That isn’t Anna.”
Victor said, “How can you be sure?”
“She hated Salvatore. She didn’t hate Marco.”
Marco stared at him.
Cross continued.
“She spent years trying to find him.”
“Me?”
“She wanted to tell you about Nico.”
Marco looked away.
Dante asked, “Who took over her operation?”
Cross shook his head.
“She wouldn’t say. Only that she had trusted the wrong person.”
“Name everyone she worked with.”
“I only knew one.”
“Who?”
Cross swallowed.
“Someone inside your security company.”
Marco’s face hardened.
“Name.”
“Daniel Pike.”
Marco knew him.
Thirty-eight.
Cybersecurity director.
Employed seven years.
One of the two men capable of migrating administrative credentials.
One of the men who could clone internal numbers.
One of the men who could install a router without attracting attention.
Marco immediately called operations.
No answer from Pike.
They traced his company vehicle.
It was parked beneath the Moretti mansion.
Dante’s blood went cold.
He called Elena.
No answer.
He called Rosa.
Nothing.
Marco tried the guard room.
Static.
The mansion’s security system had gone offline.
Dante was already moving.
They reached East 74th Street in twelve minutes.
The front doors stood closed.
No visible disturbance.
Dante entered through the service corridor with Marco ahead of him.
Two guards were unconscious near the camera room.
Breathing.
No blood.
Sedated.
Victor pointed upstairs.
A child’s voice drifted from the hall.
“Mommy?”
Dante ran.
Elena stood outside the guest suite, holding Lily behind her.
Daniel Pike stood twenty feet away.
No gun.
No weapon.
He held a black laptop bag.
Marco raised his pistol.
“Don’t move.”
Pike smiled.
“You’re late.”
Dante stepped forward.
“Where’s Anna?”
Pike looked surprised.
Then amused.
“So Cross talked.”
“Where is she?”
Pike glanced toward Lily.
“You should ask the little detective.”
Dante’s voice became dangerous.
“Look at me.”
Pike did.
“You come near that child again, nothing you know will save you.”
Pike’s smile disappeared.
“Anna said the same thing.”
He slowly placed the laptop bag on the floor.
Marco ordered him to turn around.
Pike obeyed.
Then the mansion lights went out.
Total darkness.
Elena grabbed Lily.
A crash came from the stairwell.
When emergency lights flickered on eight seconds later, Pike was gone.
The laptop bag remained.
Inside it was no computer.
Only a photograph of Anna Kessler.
And on the back:
MARCO KNOWS HER.
Marco stared at the image.
His face broke.
Dante looked at him.
“You’ve seen her.”
Marco whispered, “Six years ago.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Where?”
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Marco could barely answer.
“At Nico’s grave.”
