Chapter 10 - The Man From the Carriage House
Damian Cross wasn't at the Stamford house when Roman's men entered.
But he had left in a hurry.
Coffee still warm.
A half-packed suitcase.
Two burner phones.
And a photograph of Claire.
Taken through the window of the DeLuca kitchen.
Roman stared at it for a long time.
Claire was laughing with Mrs. Patel.
Unaware.
Watched.
There were photographs of Lily too.
Harbor Ridge.
The café.
A physical-therapy garden.
Roman felt sick.
Gabriel searched the desk.
“He's been following them for months.”
Roman said nothing.
A laptop had been wiped.
One phone destroyed.
But the second burner still contained recent messages.
Most were encrypted.
One wasn't.
V: Christmas Eve. South carriage house. 8:45. Bring her to Location 3. No visible injuries.
Claire read the message twice.
“No visible injuries.”
Roman looked at her.
“You didn't need to see this.”
“Yes, I did.”
“It doesn't help.”
“It tells me I wasn't imagining it.”
“You never were.”
She looked at the photograph again.
“Why did he chase me?”
Gabriel answered carefully.
“Maybe you ran before he could reach you.”
“So?”
“Maybe he panicked.”
Claire shook her head.
“I remember something.”
Roman turned.
“What?”
“When I fell the first time, he shouted my name.”
“Yes?”
“He sounded angry.”
She closed her eyes.
Then memory returned.
“You were supposed to make this easy.”
Roman's gaze sharpened.
“What?”
“That's what he said.”
Claire gripped the edge of the desk.
“He told me I was supposed to make it easy.”
Roman stepped nearer.
“What happened next?”
“I ran.”
“Anything else?”
“A vehicle.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“You saw one?”
“Lights. Behind the carriage house.”
“Color?”
“Dark.”
“Make?”
“I don't know.”
Roman exchanged a look with Gabriel.
Someone else may have been there.
They pulled traffic footage.
At 8:32, Damian's SUV entered the neighborhood.
At 8:40, a second car appeared.
Black Mercedes.
Registered to Mercer Strategic Holdings.
Driver unknown.
At 9:01 it left.
That meant while Claire lay unconscious in the snow, a second Mercer vehicle was nearby.
“Vivian?” Claire asked.
“No,” Roman said. “She was inside.”
“Victor?”
“Also inside.”
“Then who?”
Gabriel zoomed the video.
The passenger's face remained invisible.
But the driver could be identified.
Marcus Dane.
Claire stared.
Roman called the holding location where Marcus was being kept under legal supervision.
Marcus answered on speaker.
Roman didn't waste time.
“You were at the carriage house.”
Silence.
“I found the traffic video.”
Marcus exhaled.
“Yes.”
Claire's skin prickled.
“Who was in the car?”
Another silence.
Roman's voice hardened.
“Marcus.”
“Salvatore.”
Claire stared at Roman.
Roman closed his eyes briefly.
His uncle had been there.
Not merely involved from a distance.
Present.
“What happened?” Roman asked.
Marcus spoke quickly now.
“Damian was supposed to grab Claire and bring her to the car.”
“Why?”
“Salvatore wanted to know what she remembered from the conservatory.”
“And then?”
“She ran.”
“Then?”
“Damian went after her.”
“And you?”
“Salvatore told me to wait.”
“Did you see her fall?”
“Yes.”
Claire gripped Roman's desk.
“What happened?”
Marcus sounded ashamed.
“She stopped moving.”
Roman's face became lethal.
“And you left.”
Marcus whispered, “Salvatore said the storm would handle it.”
Claire shut her eyes.
The room became silent.
Roman didn't speak for several seconds.
His uncle had seen her unconscious.
Knew she might die.
And drove away.
Marcus continued.
“I wanted to go back.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
Claire looked at the phone.
“So was I.”
Marcus had no answer.
Roman ended the call.
He stood motionless.
Claire saw the pain beneath the anger.
“Roman.”
“My uncle left you there.”
“Yes.”
“He watched.”
“Yes.”
Roman turned away.
Claire approached carefully.
“Don't become him because of me.”
He looked back.
“What?”
“I know what you're thinking.”
“You don't.”
“You want to hurt him.”
Roman said nothing.
“That won't undo Christmas Eve.”
“He deserves—”
“He deserves consequences.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
Claire continued.
“Real ones. Ones he can't turn into another family story about loyalty and revenge.”
Roman stared at her.
“How are you the person telling me this?”
“Because I know what it feels like when powerful people decide consequences don't apply to them.”
That stopped him.
Claire's voice softened.
“If you want to prove you're different, be different.”
Roman looked at her for a long time.
Then he picked up his phone.
He called Daniel.
“Send everything on Northstar, Granite Harbor, and the Christmas Eve incident to the federal contact you mentioned.”
Daniel sounded surprised.
“All of it?”
“All of it.”
“That could expose DeLuca entities too.”
“I know.”
“You sure?”
Roman looked at Claire.
“Yes.”
When the call ended, Claire whispered, “That could cost you.”
“A lot.”
“Why do it?”
Roman stepped closer.
“Because you were right.”
“About what?”
“Consequences.”
For a moment they simply looked at each other.
Then Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression sharpened.
“We found Damian.”
Roman turned.
“Where?”
“Bus terminal in Philadelphia.”
Claire's heartbeat jumped.
“Is he alone?”
Gabriel listened.
“Yes.”
Roman reached for his coat.
Claire stopped him.
“No violence.”
He almost smiled.
“You giving orders now?”
“Apparently.”
Roman looked at her hand on his arm.
Then her face.
“I'll bring him back alive.”
Hours later, Damian Cross sat inside an interview room with two attorneys present.
No guns.
No threats.
Only evidence.
Photographs.
Messages.
Traffic footage.
Damian looked at Claire through the glass.
She finally saw his face.
Ordinary.
That disturbed her more than if he'd looked monstrous.
Men who destroyed lives rarely looked like monsters.
Roman sat across from him.
“Vivian says you acted alone.”
Damian laughed.
“She would.”
“Salvatore says he never met you.”
Another laugh.
Roman placed photographs from Stamford on the table.
Then traffic footage.
Then Marcus's statement.
Damian's smile disappeared.
“You're exposed,” Roman said. “The only question is whether Victor Mercer goes down with you.”
Damian stared.
Roman waited.
Finally Damian leaned back.
“Victor doesn't know everything Vivian did.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“She wasn't only protecting Northstar.”
“What else?”
Damian looked through the glass toward Claire.
“She was afraid of something your maid found.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“The key?”
“No.”
“What?”
Damian smiled faintly.
“A recording.”
Claire's breath stopped.
She didn't know about any recording.
But someone else did.
May you like
And according to Damian, it was important enough that Vivian had been willing to let Claire die in the snow to get it back.
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