Chapter 10 - The Warehouse Beneath the River
By sunrise, Warehouse 17 looked like a crime scene from another life.
Federal vehicles lined the river road.
Investigators moved through offices.
Water pumps drained the lower tunnel.
Grant Bennett sat in federal custody.
Thomas Vale had escaped.
The master hard drive was gone.
Claire sat wrapped in a gray blanket on the back step of an ambulance while a medic checked a cut on her palm.
Adrian stood nearby speaking with investigators.
His shirt was soaked.
His expensive suit jacket had disappeared somewhere in the tunnel.
For the first time since Claire met him, Adrian Cross looked completely ordinary.
Tired.
Cold.
Human.
He noticed Claire watching.
“Everything okay?”
“The medic says I'll survive.”
“Disappointing him seemed important to you.”
“He was trying to send me to the hospital.”
“You swallowed river water.”
“I swallowed half a teaspoon.”
“You could get sick.”
Claire looked at the medic.
“Is he always like this?”
The medic wisely pretended not to hear.
Adrian sat beside her.
For a moment neither spoke.
The sky over Chicago was beginning to lighten.
“They have Grant,” Claire said.
“Yes.”
“Why doesn't it feel finished?”
“Because it isn't.”
“Vale.”
“And the drive.”
“What exactly is on it?”
“Enough to control everyone Grant spent years compromising.”
Claire looked toward the warehouse.
“So whoever has it owns his network.”
“Potentially.”
“Vale wants it for himself.”
“Yes.”
“What if Grant made copies?”
“He probably did.”
Claire sighed.
“Of course he did.”
An investigator approached.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire hated the title now.
“Yes?”
“Your husband wants to speak with you.”
“No.”
“He says he has information about Thomas Vale.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
The agent added, “He says he'll only talk to you.”
Claire almost laughed.
Even in custody, Grant was trying to control the room.
“No.”
The agent nodded and turned away.
Claire stopped him.
“What exactly did he say?”
The man checked his notes.
“He said, ‘Tell Claire Vale is going after the one thing she still doesn't know I gave her.’”
Claire's stomach tightened.
Adrian looked at her.
“What did he give you?”
“Nothing.”
“Think.”
“Grant gave me jewelry. Clothes. The house. A car I sold after he died.”
“Something recent?”
“He was supposedly dead.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Your company.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
“After Grant died, who inherited his interest in Bennett Studio?”
“He didn't own any.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Then she remembered.
Five years earlier, during a financial crisis, Grant had quietly loaned Bennett Studio money.
Claire repaid it.
Or thought she had.
She opened her phone.
Her attorney answered after several rings.
“Claire? It's six in the morning.”
“I need you to check my corporate ownership records.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Twenty minutes later, the attorney called back.
“You were right that Grant wasn't listed personally.”
Claire exhaled.
“But there is a holding company.”
Her stomach sank.
“Which?”
“CB Meridian.”
Claire had never heard of it.
“Who owns CB Meridian?”
“According to documents filed eleven months ago, you do.”
Claire stared at Adrian.
“I've never seen that company.”
Her attorney continued.
“It owns twelve percent of Bennett Studio and one additional asset.”
“What asset?”
“A commercial storage unit registered through a trust.”
“Where?”
The address arrived by email.
Adrian recognized it immediately.
“Private document vault near O'Hare.”
Grant had given Claire something without her knowing.
A company.
A storage unit.
They reached the facility by 8:15.
The manager confirmed Claire's identity.
Unit 604.
Inside were filing cabinets.
Old servers.
And one safe.
No key.
Claire searched the room.
Adrian watched.
“You're doing the architecture thing.”
“What architecture thing?”
“Looking at walls like they've insulted you.”
She ignored him.
The room was twelve feet wide externally.
Eleven feet internally.
She almost smiled.
“Grant never understood buildings.”
Adrian followed her gaze.
“Another false wall.”
They removed a panel.
Behind it sat a narrow lockbox.
Fingerprint scanner.
Claire touched it.
Green light.
The box opened.
Grant had registered her print.
Inside were legal documents.
One letter.
And an encrypted phone.
Claire opened the letter.
Claire,
If you found this, either I'm gone or everything went wrong.
You spent years accusing me of not believing in your company.
You were wrong.
I believed in it enough to use it.
She stopped.
Even in confession, Grant needed to insult her.
The letter continued.
The phone contains insurance against everyone who thinks they can abandon me. Do not turn it on unless you're ready to understand what powerful men really are.
There is one person you must never trust.
Adrian Cross.
Claire looked at Adrian.
He read the final line.
Neither spoke.
“Convenient,” he said.
Claire almost smiled.
“Very.”
The phone powered on.
One folder contained audio recordings.
The first was labeled CROSS—ADRIAN.
Claire pressed play.
Thomas Vale's voice.
Then Adrian's.
The recording dated back five years.
Vale said, “Your father wants the fire documents destroyed.”
Adrian answered, “Then tell him no.”
Vale: “He won't accept that.”
Adrian: “I don't care.”
Vale: “If those records surface, Cross Development collapses.”
Adrian: “Then we deserve to collapse.”
Claire looked at him.
Grant had intended the recording to incriminate Adrian.
Instead it supported what Adrian had told her.
The next file was newer.
Grant and Vale.
Vale said, “Cross is cleaning the company. He's closing routes, cutting people out.”
Grant answered, “Then remove him.”
Claire stopped playback.
Adrian's face became still.
Grant and Vale had discussed killing him.
Another file.
Vale: “Michael was easier.”
Silence filled the storage unit.
Claire replayed it.
Michael was easier.
Adrian's eyes changed.
Grant had not killed Michael alone.
Vale had been involved.
The final recording contained coordinates and a date.
That night.
A private airfield outside Chicago.
Claire looked at Adrian.
“Vale is leaving.”
“He has the master drive.”
“Then we can stop him.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“We give this to federal agents.”
“And wait?”
“Yes.”
“You think Vale won't have someone warning him?”
“Maybe.”
“Adrian.”
He stepped closer.
“I almost watched you drown six hours ago.”
“And I watched you come back for me.”
“That isn't the point.”
“It is to me.”
Silence.
Claire realized how close they stood.
Adrian did too.
His gaze lowered briefly to her mouth.
Then returned to her eyes.
Neither moved.
Not yet.
“This isn't finished,” Claire whispered.
“No.”
“Then don't treat me like I'm fragile.”
“I don't.”
“You do when you're scared.”
Adrian's expression shifted.
She had seen through him.
He took one step back.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“We go together.”
Claire nodded.
Then the encrypted phone vibrated.
Impossible.
No one should have had the number.
A text appeared.
THANK YOU FOR TURNING IT ON.
Claire's blood went cold.
Another message followed.
NOW I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE.
The lights inside the storage facility shut off.
May you like
And somewhere beyond Unit 604, a metal door slammed.
Thomas Vale had been waiting for them to find the phone.
