Chapter 7 - MY MOTHER STOOD BESIDE THE MAN I FEARED
My mother looked exactly like the photograph.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably her.
I took one step forward.
“Mom?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
She didn't move.
Nathaniel Cross stood beside her.
Dominic raised his gun.
Cross smiled.
“If you shoot me, she dies.”
My mother immediately said,
“He's lying.”
Cross's smile disappeared.
Dominic didn't lower the weapon.
“Get away from her.”
Cross laughed.
“You still think you're in control.”
My mother looked at me.
“Don't trust him.”
“I don't know who to trust.”
“That is why you're here.”
Cross gestured toward the table.
“Your father left evidence.”
I looked at him.
“You killed him.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Cross's expression changed.
“Someone who wanted you to believe it was me.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Marcus.”
Everyone turned.
Marcus Reed stood near the entrance.
Cross looked at him.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Marcus replied,
“I did.”
“Not well enough.”
My mother stepped away from Cross.
He grabbed her arm.
Dominic moved.
Cross pulled a gun.
Everything stopped.
My mother looked at me.
“Your father discovered a financial network hidden inside Dominic's company.”
Dominic said,
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You know the surface.”
She looked at me.
“The money wasn't funding drugs or weapons.”
“What was it funding?”
“Political influence.”
Victor, who had arrived with Natalia and Simon, stepped forward.
“What kind?”
My mother looked at him.
“Contracts.”
She explained that powerful people had been buying access to ports, transportation corridors, government procurement, and infrastructure projects.
The mafia organization wasn't the final goal.
It was the machinery.
Someone wanted to control the movement of billions of dollars without appearing anywhere on paper.
I looked at Cross.
“You were involved.”
“Yes.”
“But you weren't the leader.”
Cross smiled sadly.
“No.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Who?”
Marcus lowered his head.
“My brother.”
I stared.
“Your brother?”
“Jonathan Reed.”
Dominic's face changed.
“The senator?”
Marcus nodded.
The room fell silent.
Jonathan Reed was a respected political figure who had built his reputation on fighting organized crime.
I almost laughed.
“You're telling me the man who spent years publicly attacking Dominic was secretly using his organization?”
“Yes.”
My mother nodded.
“He used Cross.”
Cross looked angry.
“He used everyone.”
Dominic lowered his gun slightly.
“Why didn't you expose him?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Because he had your father.”
I froze.
“What?”
Marcus explained that Jonathan had discovered Daniel was collecting evidence.
He threatened my mother.
Then he arranged Daniel's death to look like an accident.
But there had been one problem.
Daniel had already copied everything.
The watch contained part of it.
The red book contained another.
The Prague documents contained the rest.
My father had spent his final months creating a trail that would eventually lead to the truth.
I looked at Dominic.
“Why did he give you the watch?”
“Because he trusted me to protect you.”
My eyes filled.
“But you didn't know.”
“No.”
“I was right there.”
Dominic looked at me.
“I know.”
Cross suddenly laughed.
“You're all missing the obvious.”
Everyone turned.
“The evidence isn't enough.”
Victor frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan controls the institutions.”
My mother shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
She pulled a small flash drive from her coat.
“This contains everything.”
Marcus stared.
“You found it?”
She nodded.
“Daniel hid it in Prague.”
Cross's expression changed.
Dominic reached for it.
My mother handed it to me instead.
“This belongs to you.”
I stared at the drive.
“Why me?”
“Because your father wanted you to choose what happened next.”
I looked at Dominic.
He didn't reach for it.
For once, he let me decide.
That mattered.
Then Cross said quietly,
“Open it.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because there is one thing your mother never told you.”
My mother closed her eyes.
I turned to her.
“What?”
She whispered,
“Your father wasn't killed because he found the network.”
“Then why?”
Her voice broke.
“Because he found out who ordered your birth certificate changed.”
I stared.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“You were born under another name.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
My mother took my hand.
“Because your father was afraid they would use you against us.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“And the name?”
My mother looked at him.
Then she said,
May you like
“Pierce.”
Dominic went completely still.
