Chapter 11 - The Trap Inside the Federal Case
The man’s name was Daniel Cross.
Josephine remembered him because Andrew had once introduced him as a Treasury consultant.
Now he held a federal badge in one hand and a suppressed pistol in the other.
Dante moved first.
Cross aimed at Andrew.
“Don’t.”
Dante stopped.
The second agent closed the blinds.
Cross smiled.
“You people have created an extraordinary amount of paperwork.”
Josephine stared.
“You work for Shaw.”
“I work for whoever remains standing.”
Andrew struggled upright.
“Cross.”
“Good to see you survived.”
“You knew?”
“About Shaw? Years before you.”
Andrew’s face hardened.
Cross looked at Josephine.
“Necklace.”
“Gone.”
“Copy?”
“Gone.”
Cross sighed.
“Everybody thinks they’re clever after meeting Dante.”
Dante smiled faintly.
“Most people are clever before meeting me.”
Cross pointed the gun toward him.
“Not helping.”
Josephine looked at the room.
Call button.
IV pole.
Tray.
Window.
Dante caught her glance.
Barely shook his head.
Cross noticed.
“You two are adorable.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
Josephine ignored him.
“What does Shaw want?”
“Immunity.”
“For Carlo?”
“For himself.”
“Carlo?”
“Disposable.”
Dante said, “Carlo knows that?”
Cross smiled.
“He will.”
Josephine understood.
The alliance was breaking.
That was opportunity.
“Where is Shaw?”
Cross didn’t answer.
Josephine tried another direction.
“You’re not here to arrest me.”
“No.”
“So why stage this?”
“Because walking you out in handcuffs creates fewer questions.”
“To where?”
“Vehicle downstairs.”
“And then?”
Cross smiled.
“You ask too many questions.”
Dante said, “Family trait.”
Josephine almost rolled her eyes.
Andrew suddenly ripped the IV from his arm.
Cross swung toward him.
That second was enough.
Dante struck the gun aside.
Josephine grabbed the metal tray and hit the second agent across the face.
The room exploded into movement.
Cross fired.
The bullet struck the ceiling.
Andrew tackled the second man despite his injury.
Dante drove Cross into the wall.
Josephine grabbed the fallen pistol.
Everyone stopped.
She aimed at Cross.
Her hands shook.
But the barrel stayed level.
Cross smiled.
“You won’t shoot.”
Josephine looked at Andrew’s blood.
Dante’s bruised face.
Her own reflection in the window.
“Try me.”
Cross stopped smiling.
Hospital security arrived minutes later.
Real police followed.
Dante disappeared through a service exit before they reached the floor.
Josephine gave a statement.
Andrew used old federal contacts.
Cross’s badge turned out to be genuine.
That was the terrifying part.
Shaw’s corruption reached into real institutions.
By afternoon Josephine was officially detained pending questioning.
Not arrested.
Yet.
Her attorney arrived.
A woman named Sarah Klein whom Josephine trusted from business matters.
Sarah listened silently.
Then said, “We need leverage.”
“I have four hundred eighty million dollars and a mafia archive.”
Sarah blinked.
“That may qualify.”
Josephine almost smiled.
They negotiated with an assistant U.S. attorney outside Shaw’s chain of command.
The archive was copied.
Authenticated.
Transferred through three independent channels.
By sunset, federal internal affairs units were moving on Shaw.
The problem was Carlo.
He vanished.
Dante vanished too.
Josephine disliked how much that bothered her.
Andrew noticed.
“You should call him.”
“I don’t have his number.”
Andrew stared.
“You have a mafia boss emotionally invested in your survival and you didn’t exchange numbers?”
Josephine gave him a look.
“We had other things happening.”
Andrew laughed and immediately grabbed his wound.
For the first time in months, their laughter did not feel married.
It felt like two people remembering what they had once been.
Josephine sat beside him.
“I don’t know if I can forgive you.”
Andrew nodded.
“I know.”
“I may never.”
“I know.”
“But I understand why you disappeared.”
He looked at her.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
She did too.
There was sadness in it.
And release.
By evening Shaw was arrested at O’Hare attempting to board a private plane.
Cross began cooperating.
Vittorio survived surgery.
Rebecca and Lucas entered protective custody.
Helen remained hidden.
For twelve hours, it seemed possible the nightmare was ending.
Then Josephine received a package.
No return address.
Inside was Dante’s watch.
The black luxury watch he had worn the night he sat in Andrew’s chair.
There was blood on the strap.
Beneath it, a note.
COME TO NAVY PIER.
MIDNIGHT.
BRING VITTORIO.
OR DANTE DIES.
Josephine called Vittorio.
He answered from the hospital.
Before she could speak, he said, “I received one too.”
“What?”
“A photograph.”
“Of Dante?”
“No.”
Vittorio’s voice changed.
“Of Carlo.”
Josephine waited.
“He’s standing beside Dante.”
“Where?”
Vittorio inhaled.
“On the boat where Michael was killed.”
Josephine closed her eyes.
History was trying to repeat itself.
She looked at the blood on Dante’s watch.
Then her phone vibrated again.
A video arrived.
Dante sat tied to a chair.
Blood ran from his temple.
Carlo stood behind him.
He leaned toward the camera.
“Bring my brother.”
Carlo smiled.
“And bring Michael’s daughter.”
The video ended.
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Then another message appeared.
THIS TIME, ONE MORETTI BLOODLINE ENDS.
