Chapter 5 - DANIEL CROSS LIED
I folded the letter slowly.
Cross watched me.
“What does it say?”
I looked at him.
“Nothing.”
His expression changed slightly.
That was enough.
He expected something.
I slipped the letter into my purse.
“Claire?”
“No.”
Cross took one step closer.
“That letter matters.”
“It was addressed to me.”
My father looked at me carefully.
He knew me well enough to understand.
Something had changed.
I turned toward Marcus.
“Separate Cross.”
Cross laughed.
“What?”
“Now.”
Two Blackridge officers approached him.
Cross stepped backward.
“This is a mistake.”
I looked directly at him.
“My grandfather warned me about someone standing beside my father.”
Cross's face became still.
My father stared at him.
Malcolm whispered.
“Oh, God.”
Cross turned toward him.
“Shut up.”
There it was.
The mask slipped.
Only for a second.
But everyone saw it.
Marcus moved forward.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Cross raised both hands.
“You're all making a serious mistake.”
My father stared at him.
“What did you do, Daniel?”
Cross looked at him.
“What I had to.”
Twenty-two years of trust disappeared from my father's face.
“You told me Malcolm killed Thomas.”
“He did.”
Malcolm shook his head.
“No.”
We all turned.
The senator looked at Cross.
“I helped cover it up.”
He swallowed.
“But I didn't kill him.”
Grant stared at his father.
“You just confessed.”
“I thought I had.”
“What does that even mean?”
Malcolm looked at me.
“I hit Thomas.”
My stomach tightened.
“At the marina.”
“With what?”
“A metal flashlight.”
My father stepped toward him.
“You told me you never touched him.”
“I lied.”
Dad's hands curled into fists.
Malcolm continued quickly.
“We argued.”
“Thomas threatened to expose everyone.”
“I panicked.”
“I struck him.”
“He fell.”
“There was blood.”
“I thought he was dead.”
Cross stared at him.
“Stop talking.”
Malcolm ignored him.
“Daniel told me he would handle everything.”
My eyes moved toward Cross.
Malcolm continued.
“He told me to leave.”
“And you did?”
“Yes.”
“You left my grandfather bleeding on the ground?”
Malcolm couldn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“You left him?”
“Yes.”
My voice shook for the first time that night.
“Was he alive?”
Malcolm looked at Cross.
“I don't know.”
Cross smiled coldly.
“He wasn't.”
Malcolm stared at him.
“How do you know?”
Cross said nothing.
And that silence answered the question.
My father moved faster than anyone expected.
He grabbed Cross by the collar.
Marcus caught him before he could hit him.
“Richard!”
Dad struggled.
“What did you do to my father?”
Cross laughed.
“Your father was already dead.”
“Liar!”
“Richard.”
Marcus pulled him backward.
Cross's smile disappeared.
“Thomas Bennett was going to destroy everything.”
Dad stared at him.
“What everything?”
Cross looked around the ballroom.
Then at me.
“The system.”
“What system?”
“The one your family helped create.”
I froze.
My father stopped struggling.
Cross continued.
“You think the Bennetts were innocent?”
“Daniel.”
“You think Thomas discovered corruption accidentally?”
“Stop.”
Cross smiled.
“He built the machine.”
I looked at my father.
Dad looked devastated.
Cross continued.
“Thomas Bennett created the financial architecture that allowed powerful families to move billions without scrutiny.”
“No.”
“He created the trusts.”
“The shell corporations.”
“The political foundations.”
“The offshore accounts.”
My father whispered.
“He didn't know how they would be used.”
Cross laughed.
“He knew.”
Then every screen in the ballroom switched on again.
This time, the footage was old.
Grainy.
Dated.
A marina.
My grandfather appeared.
Then Malcolm.
Then Daniel.
Then my father.
The timestamp showed 11:43 p.m.
The footage had no audio.
We watched Malcolm argue with my grandfather.
We watched him raise the flashlight.
We watched him strike.
Grandpa fell.
My hand covered my mouth.
Malcolm backed away.
Daniel approached the body.
My father wasn't there anymore.
Then something happened.
Grandpa moved.
He was alive.
Malcolm stared at the screen.
“Oh, God.”
Daniel Cross crouched beside him.
Then the video froze.
Cross smiled.
“Convenient.”
Marcus looked toward the control booth.
“Who stopped that?”
No answer.
The footage skipped forward.
Three minutes.
When it returned…
My grandfather was gone.
So was Daniel.
Only blood remained on the dock.
My father looked at Cross.
“Where did you take him?”
Cross didn't answer.
“Where?”
Nothing.
Then Victoria screamed.
We turned.
Grant had collapsed.
He was on the floor.
His body was convulsing.
Foam appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Someone screamed for a doctor.
I ran toward him.
Grant's champagne glass rolled beneath a table.
Marcus picked it up carefully.
He smelled it.
Then his expression changed.
“Poison.”
The ballroom exploded into panic.
May you like
And somewhere inside the locked estate…
Someone had just tried to kill Grant Holloway.
