Chapter 9 - The Man Roman Trusted Most
For eighteen years, Gabriel Kane had been the man Roman called when everything went wrong.
When Roman’s father suffered his first heart attack, Gabriel drove them to the hospital.
When Michael died, Gabriel identified the body because Roman could not bring himself to enter the room.
When Roman inherited companies he did not want and enemies he had not chosen, Gabriel built the security systems that kept him alive.
That history was why betrayal hurt differently when it had a familiar face.
Roman told Chloe this from the rooftop of Miriam’s office building.
Not because he had suddenly become sentimental.
Because Chloe asked.
“What did Gabriel mean when he said Michael wanted to end your empire?”
Roman leaned against the concrete wall.
“He wanted to sell everything connected to our father’s criminal relationships.”
“Was your father a criminal?”
Roman looked toward the city.
“Yes.”
The answer contained no excuse.
“He also owned legitimate companies. Shipping. Property. Construction. Hotels.”
“And Black Harbor?”
“A nightclub now. It used to be where my father met people who preferred not to leave records.”
“People like Russo.”
“Yes.”
“Did you work with them?”
Roman paused.
“In my twenties, I believed I could manage the dirty parts without becoming part of them.”
Chloe understood that kind of lie.
Not the criminal version.
The human one.
The belief that staying near something damaging meant you still controlled it.
“Michael disagreed?”
“Michael was smarter.”
Roman gave a humorless smile.
“He told me there was no safe distance from rot.”
“What happened the night he died?”
Roman looked toward her.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know pieces.”
“Tell me.”
For several seconds only traffic sounded below.
Then Roman spoke.
“Michael discovered my father had created hidden ownership documents. They weren’t illegal by themselves, but they could conceal who controlled certain properties.”
“The Northstar originals.”
“Yes.”
“He wanted to expose them?”
“He wanted them destroyed.”
“But the video said he moved them.”
“Because someone else was trying to steal them first.”
“Gabriel?”
“I thought Frank.”
“And now?”
Roman’s face hardened.
“Now I don’t know.”
His phone vibrated.
Miriam sent a message.
Tommy had contacted them again.
This time he included a photograph.
A concrete room.
A clock.
And one number painted on a wall.
6.
Harbor 6.
“They moved him,” Chloe said.
Roman nodded.
“Or he was there all along.”
The next message came from Tommy.
DON’T COME.
Then another.
THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT.
Roman typed nothing.
Chloe asked, “Could Tommy be sending these willingly?”
“Yes.”
“Could Frank be forcing him?”
“Yes.”
“Helpful.”
Roman looked at her.
“Certainty is rare.”
“Men like you always sound philosophical when you don’t know the answer.”
His mouth twitched.
“You’re becoming disrespectful.”
“I started disrespectful.”
“True.”
Miriam joined them.
“I traced the photo metadata.”
Roman turned.
“And?”
“Removed.”
“Of course.”
“But whoever removed it left the original filename.”
She showed him.
IMG_H6_ARCHIVE_CAM_02.
Chloe frowned.
“Archive camera?”
Roman nodded.
“Harbor 6 had internal cameras.”
“Still active?”
“They shouldn’t be.”
Miriam opened a map.
“Harbor 6 is scheduled for demolition next month.”
Chloe looked at her.
“Why?”
“Marsten filed structural instability reports.”
Chloe immediately understood.
“Pike.”
“Yes.”
Roman looked at the demolition date.
November nineteenth.
The day after the Northstar transfer.
“They take control, then destroy the site.”
“And the original documents,” Chloe said.
Miriam nodded.
Roman stared at the map.
“We need inside.”
Chloe crossed her arms.
“We already established that’s what they want.”
“Then we don’t go through the front door.”
Harbor 6 had been built in 1974.
Roman knew the original loading tunnels because his father used to bring him there as a child.
One underground route connected the terminal to a neighboring warehouse now owned by a seafood distributor.
Miriam acquired permission through its attorney.
No threats.
No bribery.
Just a lie about an insurance inspection.
By midnight they had floor plans.
Tommy’s countdown continued.
Thirty hours until November eighteenth.
Chloe sat on the floor among maps and printouts.
Something bothered her.
“What exactly happens at six?”
Roman looked up.
“Transfer executes.”
“No.”
She pointed to the spreadsheet.
“Release is at six. That doesn’t mean transfer.”
Miriam came closer.
Chloe enlarged the language.
NORTHSTAR MASTER ARCHIVE — RELEASE 06:00.
“What if release means physical release?”
Roman considered.
“Like a vault.”
“Michael said find the route.”
Roman looked at her.
“The documents may be physically secured on a timed system.”
“Which means Frank can’t access them before six even if he knows where they are.”
Miriam nodded.
“That explains the date.”
Chloe continued.
“And why he needs Roman.”
“To open them.”
“Two Vale signatures.”
“But both rights belong to Roman.”
“Yes.”
Miriam frowned.
“Then why two authorizations?”
Roman answered slowly.
“Because inheritance doesn’t merge them automatically.”
He opened an old legal document.
“One authorization belongs to Vale Holdings.”
“And the other?”
“Michael’s estate.”
“Who controls Michael’s estate?”
Roman stared at the page.
Then his expression changed.
“I don’t.”
Chloe blinked.
“You said you inherited.”
“I inherited the financial assets.”
“Who got legal authority?”
Roman scrolled.
The trustee line appeared.
GABRIEL KANE.
Everyone went silent.
Gabriel had not stolen Michael’s authority.
Michael had given it to him.
Twelve years ago.
Roman sat back.
“So Gabriel is not trying to forge the second key.”
“He is the second key,” Chloe said.
Miriam read the trust document.
“Michael appointed Gabriel three days before his death.”
Roman stared at nothing.
“Why?”
Chloe remembered the video.
Gabriel was right and I’m being paranoid.
“Michael trusted him.”
Roman laughed once.
Bitter.
“So did I.”
The distinction mattered.
If Michael trusted Gabriel, perhaps Gabriel’s betrayal had not started twelve years ago.
Perhaps it came later.
Or perhaps Frank’s story was incomplete.
Chloe opened Tommy’s GABRIEL folder again.
Emails.
Transfers.
Messages.
She sorted by date.
The first direct payment from Frank to Gabriel occurred only six years ago.
Not eleven.
“Roman.”
He looked over.
“Gabriel didn’t start working with Frank after Michael died.”
“What?”
“The first payment is six years ago.”
“That proves nothing.”
“No. But your assumption is that Gabriel was involved in Michael’s death.”
Roman’s face tightened.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You thought it.”
He looked away.
Chloe continued.
“What if Gabriel really helped Michael?”
“Then why work with Frank now?”
“I don’t know.”
Miriam searched another folder.
“Here.”
A six-year-old message.
From Gabriel to Frank.
WE AGREED VALE ASSETS ONLY. NO CIVILIANS. NO FAMILY.
Frank replied:
YOU’RE IN NO POSITION TO SET TERMS.
Chloe read it again.
“This doesn’t sound like partners.”
Roman came closer.
Another message.
Gabriel:
YOU SAID THE MONEY WOULD BE USED TO SHUT DOWN THE OLD NETWORK.
Frank:
IT WILL.
Gabriel:
IF ROMAN IS HURT, DEAL IS OVER.
Chloe turned toward Roman.
“He wasn’t helping Frank steal your empire.”
Roman said nothing.
“He thought he was helping dismantle it.”
Miriam found another message.
Three years later.
Gabriel to Frank:
YOU LIED ABOUT THE HOLDINGS. YOU’RE CONSOLIDATING THEM.
Frank:
TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED.
Gabriel:
THIS WAS NEVER ABOUT GIVING YOU CONTROL.
The final reply:
TOO LATE.
Roman sank into the chair.
Gabriel Kane had betrayed him.
That remained true.
But perhaps the betrayal had begun as an attempt to fulfill Michael’s wish.
And somewhere along the way, Gabriel had realized Frank Russo was building a new empire from the ruins of the old one.
Chloe’s phone—one Miriam had finally provided—buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text.
FROM GABRIEL.
She opened it.
I NEED TO SPEAK TO YOU WITHOUT ROMAN.
Roman saw the name.
“No.”
Chloe looked at him.
“What happened to my choice?”
“This is different.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel is dangerous.”
“So are you.”
Roman stared.
Chloe continued.
“And you trusted him for eighteen years.”
“That is not an argument in his favor.”
“It means he may know things you don’t.”
Another message arrived.
ASK ROMAN WHY MICHAEL WAS AT HARBOR 6 THE NIGHT HE DIED.
Chloe slowly looked at Roman.
His face told her there was indeed an answer.
“What did you leave out?”
Roman’s silence was enough.
“Roman.”
He finally spoke.
“Michael was there because of me.”
Chloe waited.
Roman looked toward the city.
“I told him the documents were being moved.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted his help.”
“With what?”
His voice became nearly inaudible.
“Taking control of the company away from our father.”
Chloe stared.
“So Michael didn’t go to Harbor 6 to destroy your empire.”
Roman shook his head.
“He went there to help me inherit it.”
And that meant the story Roman had believed for twelve years was wrong too.
Michael had not died trying to escape his family.
May you like
He had died trying to save his brother from becoming their father.
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