Chapter 6 - THE CROWN ON THE BULLET
We left Rose Kline in the protection of federal agents before sunrise.
She had a fractured shoulder but was alive. That became the only fact I allowed myself to hold on to during the drive back to Chicago.
My mother was alive.
David knew.
And a person using a black crown had just tried to kill the woman who could explain everything.
Dominic sat across from me in the SUV. His shirt was torn at the sleeve, and dried blood marked the side of his neck. He had refused medical treatment until I threatened to call Dr. Hart myself.
“You’re very intimidating,” he said.
“I learned from experience.”
“Your husband taught you how to threaten people?”
“No. He taught me what happens when I don’t.”
His face went cold.
I looked away. I had not meant to say it aloud.
The crown symbol was familiar to Dominic.
He had identified it as the mark of a private enforcement crew once used by the Bell family. They had started as bodyguards for politicians and ended as the people politicians called when they needed a witness frightened, a contract broken, or a body moved.
“The Bell brothers hired them?” I asked.
“Not directly. Men like that never leave receipts.”
“But the crown is their symbol.”
“It’s an old symbol. Several crews have used it.”
“You’re protecting someone.”
Dominic’s eyes met mine.
“I’m protecting the investigation.”
“That is not the same thing.”
For the first time, anger flashed across his face.
“You want me to tell you every criminal connection tied to your father’s death while armed men are hunting you? Fine. The black crown was once used by my uncle’s security division. It was dissolved ten years ago.”
“Once used?”
“Yes.”
“And now someone is using it again.”
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
We returned to the safe house before noon. Elena had transformed the library into an investigation room. Maps covered the walls. Bank records, photographs, and shipping manifests were pinned in overlapping rows.
In the center sat David’s silver flash drive.
Elena pointed to it.
“The files are encrypted with a rotating key. We unlocked the financial records, but the video folder is protected by a second password.”
“Can you break it?”
“Eventually.”
“We don’t have eventually.”
She gave me a tired look.
“You survived three years of abuse. You can survive an encryption system.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
Dominic placed the bullet on the table.
“The crown crew attacked Rose. Someone inside my organization leaked our location.”
Elena studied the evidence.
“How many people knew the route?”
“Four.”
“Names?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“My driver, my head of security, my uncle Salvatore, and Marco.”
“Who is Marco?” I asked.
“My cousin.”
The door opened behind us.
A lean man in a black coat entered without knocking. He had Dominic’s dark eyes but none of his restraint. A silver chain showed at his throat, and a small black crown was tattooed near his wrist.
Dominic drew his weapon.
“You weren’t invited.”
Marco smiled.
“Family doesn’t need invitations.”
His gaze settled on me.
“So this is the judge’s daughter.”
I felt Dominic move between us.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Marco laughed softly. “You’re becoming sentimental.”
“Leave.”
“Uncle Salvatore wants to see you.”
“He can call me.”
“He already did. You ignored him.”
Marco tossed a phone onto the table. The screen displayed a live video.
A man sat in a dark chair with his hands tied behind him. His face was bruised, but I recognized him.
It was the night guard from David’s building.
The man was supposed to be dead.
Marco leaned toward the screen.
“The guard is alive. For now.”
Dominic’s voice became lethal. “Where is he?”
“Come to the old Rossi foundry.”
“No.”
Marco’s smile disappeared.
“Then the old man dies, and the next message goes to Claire’s mother.”
I felt the room tilt.
“You know where my mother is?”
Marco looked at me.
“I know who has been hiding her.”
Dominic seized Marco by the collar and slammed him against the wall. The phone fell, but the video continued. The guard’s eyes widened.
“Who is protecting Margaret Pendleton?” I demanded.
Marco looked over Dominic’s shoulder.
“Ask the man who signed your father’s death certificate.”
Dominic’s hand tightened.
“The coroner?”
Marco smiled again.
“No. Your husband.”
Then the phone screen went black.
Nobody moved. Marco had entered the house without triggering a single alarm. That meant he knew the codes, the blind spots, and the habits of the guards. It also meant he had been close enough to watch me sleep if he wanted to.
The thought turned my stomach.
“How long has he been inside your organization?” I asked.
“Since childhood.”
“And you never saw this?”
“I saw ambition. I mistook it for loyalty.”
Elena replayed the video. Frame by frame, she magnified the guard’s face. He was alive, frightened, and looking toward something beyond the camera.
“There’s a reflection in the glass,” she said.
The image revealed a second man standing behind Marco. His face was hidden, but his hand rested on a cane with a silver handle.
Dominic went pale.
“Salvatore.”
“Your uncle?”
“He walks with a cane only when he wants people to underestimate him.”
I picked up the black crown bullet and placed it beside the gold ring.
“The crown and the scales,” I said. “Power and law.”
Dominic finally holstered his gun.
“We go to the foundry.”
“You said it was a trap.”
“It is.”
“Then why go?”
“Because the guard is alive, Marco has your mother’s location, and every minute we wait gives them time to move both.”
He handed me a bulletproof vest.
It was heavier than it looked.
“Wear it,” he said.
“I’m not hiding behind you.”
May you like
“I know.”
His voice softened. “That’s why I want you protected.”
