Chapter 12 - THE CABIN THAT WASN’T A CABIN
The “cabin” was a concrete house hidden behind pine trees.
No mailbox.
No sign.
No visible driveway from the main road.
Police surrounded the property.
Evelyn watched from behind a black SUV.
Chloe stood beside her.
Marcus was on the other side.
Detective Hart approached.
“No movement.”
“Is she inside?” Evelyn asked.
“We have heat signatures.”
“How many?”
Hart hesitated.
“Two.”
Chloe inhaled sharply.
“My mother and who?”
“We don’t know.”
Evelyn thought of Daniel.
Impossible.
He was in custody.
Arthur was in the hospital.
Natalie was with police.
Then who?
Hart raised her radio.
A tactical team moved toward the house.
Seconds later:
“Door breached.”
A pause.
“First room clear.”
Another pause.
“Second room clear.”
Then shouting.
Evelyn couldn’t make out the words.
Hart listened.
Her face changed.
“What?” Marcus asked.
She looked at them.
“They found someone.”
“Victoria?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“A man.”
Chloe stepped forward.
“My father?”
“No.”
Hart looked at Evelyn.
“Your uncle.”
Evelyn froze.
“I don’t have an uncle.”
Hart stared at her.
“A man inside claims to be Jonathan Cross.”
The name hit her like cold water.
Jonathan Cross.
Her father’s younger brother.
Dead for twenty-seven years.
At least that was what Evelyn had been told.
“No.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You know the name.”
“My father said Jonathan died in Europe.”
Hart’s eyes narrowed.
“Apparently not.”
They entered once police cleared the building.
The inside was nothing like a cabin.
It was an archive.
Metal shelves.
Locked cabinets.
Hard drives.
Boxes labeled by year.
Cross family photographs covered one wall.
Evelyn saw herself at age ten.
Michael at seven.
Her mother.
Her father.
Pictures taken from distances.
Without their knowledge.
She felt sick.
A man sat at a metal table.
Late sixties.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Handcuffed.
He looked up.
His eyes were Evelyn’s father’s eyes.
She stopped.
He smiled weakly.
“Hello, Evie.”
Nobody called her Evie anymore.
Not since her father died.
Evelyn’s throat closed.
“Who are you?”
“Jonathan.”
“My uncle is dead.”
“So was I, legally.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father needed me dead.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Jonathan looked at Evelyn.
“Your father didn’t build Cross Holdings alone.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Daniel already tried this.”
“Daniel knew pieces.”
Jonathan nodded toward the files.
“I know all of it.”
Chloe looked around.
“Where’s my mother?”
Jonathan’s expression hardened.
“Gone.”
“Gone where?”
“I don’t know.”
Hart said, “You were the second heat signature.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you here?”
Jonathan laughed bitterly.
“Victoria locked me here.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I told her I was done.”
“Done with what?”
Jonathan looked at the files.
“Protecting a lie that should’ve died thirty years ago.”
Evelyn sat across from him.
“Start talking.”
Jonathan studied her face.
“You look like your mother.”
“Start talking.”
He smiled sadly.
“Your father and I started Cross Holdings together.”
“I know that.”
“No. You know the public version.”
He leaned forward.
“Your father handled operations.”
“And you?”
“Money.”
“What money?”
“Dirty money.”
The room went silent.
Jonathan continued.
“Smuggling profits. Political bribes. offshore accounts.”
Evelyn’s stomach turned.
“My father would never—”
“He did.”
“Prove it.”
Jonathan nodded toward a red cabinet.
Hart opened it.
Inside were ledgers.
Originals.
Jonathan looked at Evelyn.
“Michael found copies.”
She shut her eyes.
Of course he did.
“He confronted Daniel first,” Jonathan said.
“Why Daniel?”
“Because Daniel was laundering old Cross money through Blue Harbor.”
Chloe looked sick.
“And my mother?”
“Victoria inherited part of the scheme from her father.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“So Michael threatened both families.”
“He threatened the lie.”
“And you?”
Jonathan looked ashamed.
“I told Victoria to scare him.”
Evelyn stood.
The room seemed to darken.
“You what?”
“I didn’t tell her to kill him.”
“You told her to scare my brother.”
“Yes.”
“She ran him off the road.”
“I didn’t know she would.”
Evelyn grabbed him by the shirt.
Police stepped forward.
She ignored them.
“You started it.”
Jonathan looked into her eyes.
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s hand shook.
Marcus touched her shoulder.
She released him.
Jonathan coughed.
Then said quietly, “There’s something else.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What?”
“Michael wasn’t the first person Victoria killed for Cross Holdings.”
Chloe went white.
“Who else?”
May you like
Jonathan looked at Evelyn.
“Your mother.”
