Chapter 16 - Peter Cross
Peter Cross raised both hands.
Federal agents aimed weapons at him.
“Don’t move.”
He didn’t.
He was tall, silver-haired, dressed in an expensive navy coat.
Vanessa stared at her father as if seeing him for the first time.
“Dad?”
Peter looked at her.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Apparently that’s the family motto.”
Rachel ordered him to the ground.
Peter complied.
No resistance.
That frightened Claire.
Men who came to fight did not usually surrender before speaking.
They searched him.
No weapon.
Only a phone, car keys, and an old photograph of Vanessa as a child.
Claire stepped closer.
“Did you alter my father’s medical report?”
Peter looked at her.
“Yes.”
Vanessa made a broken sound.
Peter continued.
“Harold collapsed after arguing with Daniel. The sedative in his system came from medication he had taken voluntarily earlier that evening.”
Claire stared.
“That’s not what the report said.”
“The report said the level was inconsistent with his prescription.”
“Exactly.”
“Because he took two doses.”
“How do you know?”
“I was there.”
Claire’s skin went cold.
“You were in my father’s house?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He called me.”
Nathan said, “Harold hated you.”
Peter looked at him.
“Harold hated what I had done.”
Claire asked, “Why would he call you?”
“Because he wanted the original financial ledgers.”
“Did you give them to him?”
“I tried.”
Peter looked at the blue door.
“Daniel arrived first.”
Vanessa whispered, “What did Daniel do?”
Peter closed his eyes.
“He begged Harold not to go public. Said the network would kill everyone involved.”
Claire said, “And Dad refused.”
The next minutes moved fast, and every answer only exposed a deeper part of Daniel’s plan.
Claire felt light-headed.
Peter continued.
“Most of it is not in his name. It belongs to people who are looking for him.”
Rachel asked, “Which people?”
Peter answered, “People Daniel has been pretending to work for while stealing from them.”
Claire’s phone buzzed.
A banking notification.
BIOMETRIC ACCESS REQUEST RECEIVED.
Location: Zurich.
Then another message from Daniel.
You have ten minutes to approve it.
Claire stared at the screen.
Below it was a live photograph.
May you like
Owen.
Bound to a chair.
