Chapter 10 - What Dominic Took

Dominic arrived at Port Meridian through the west gate.

He did not come alone.

Three black SUVs followed him.

Luca's men raised their weapons.

Camille's officers raised theirs.

For several seconds, the dock became a line of people waiting for someone else to make the first fatal mistake.

Dominic stepped out with empty hands.

“Put the guns down.”

Luca walked toward him.

“You knocked out my guards.”

“They tried to stop me.”

“You could have called.”

“You would have said no.”

“That has never stopped you before.”

Dominic looked at the open entrance to Warehouse Nine.

“You found the ledger.”

“Yes.”

“And Hale?”

“Alive.”

“Pity.”

Camille stepped forward.

“You are not helping yourself.”

Dominic smiled faintly.

“I stopped helping myself twenty years ago.”

Elena carried the ledger in an evidence bag.

Dominic's eyes went to it.

She noticed.

“Arturo said the last Ferryman would come for it.”

Luca looked at his godfather.

Dominic laughed.

“You think it's me.”

“I don't know what to think.”

“Good. Thinking is overdue.”

Vanessa came from the warehouse with Thomas on a stretcher behind her.

When Dominic saw Thomas, his expression turned cold.

“You.”

Thomas looked away.

Vanessa asked, “You knew my father was involved?”

“I suspected.”

“For how long?”

“Since your mother died.”

Vanessa's face tightened.

“And you did nothing.”

“I did several things. None were enough.”

Thomas whispered, “Dominic.”

“Don't.”

Elena said, “Who is the Ferryman now?”

Dominic looked at her.

“Hale?”

“He had the seat for eight years.”

“Had?”

Dominic nodded.

“Until last month.”

Luca stepped closer.

“Who replaced him?”

Dominic looked toward the river.

“I did.”

Silence swallowed the dock.

Luca's face became unreadable.

Camille reached for her cuffs.

Dominic lifted one hand.

“I took the seat to dismantle it.”

Hale laughed from where officers held him.

“That's what they all say.”

Dominic turned.

“You were finished, Graham. You just didn't know it.”

Luca's voice was low.

“You became the Ferryman and never told me.”

“If I told you, the network would know within a week.”

“You think my people report on me?”

“I know they do.”

“Owen?”

“Yes.”

Luca stared.

“You ordered him to the causeway?”

“No. Hale did.”

Hale shouted, “Liar.”

Dominic ignored him.

Elena asked, “Why take the seat?”

“Because the Ferryman alone gets the current routing list.”

“The network's members.”

“And their leverage files.”

Vanessa's eyes narrowed.

“The red files.”

“Hundreds of them.”

Camille said, “Where?”

Dominic nodded toward his SUVs.

“In three encrypted drives.”

Everyone looked at the vehicles.

Luca swore.

“You brought them here?”

“I brought them to Elena.”

“Why me?” she asked.

“Because Arturo's trust was the only structure none of us controlled.”

Dominic's gaze moved to the ledger.

“Carlo thought he could destroy the network by killing one man. Arturo understood better. He built Port Meridian so control would eventually fall to someone outside the organization.”

Elena almost laughed.

“I married Luca.”

“Yes. Arturo was furious.”

Luca looked at her.

“You knew him before we married?”

Dominic nodded.

“He made me promise never to tell either of you about the trust unless it activated.”

Elena felt anger rise.

“Everyone made promises around my life except me.”

Dominic accepted that.

“You're right.”

Camille said, “Drives. Now.”

Dominic gestured.

One of his men opened the rear compartment of the first SUV.

Inside were three black cases.

Then a shot cracked.

Dominic jerked.

Luca caught him before he fell.

Chaos erupted.

Camille's officers searched rooftops.

Elena dropped beside Dominic.

Blood spread across his shirt.

“Where did it come from?”

“Crane,” Luca shouted.

A sniper fired again.

The evidence case beside Camille shattered.

Hale screamed and tried to crawl behind an officer.

Rafael's boat appeared on the river and returned fire toward the crane.

The sniper vanished.

Dominic gripped Luca's sleeve.

“Listen.”

“Save your breath.”

“Luca.”

“No.”

“Your father asked me to protect you.”

“You did.”

“I protected the name instead.”

Luca's face broke.

Dominic coughed.

“Don't make my mistake.”

Paramedics ran toward them.

Dominic pushed something into Elena's hand.

A small flash drive.

“Master index.”

Camille shouted for a medic.

Dominic looked at Elena.

“Trust no copy you didn't make yourself.”

Then his eyes closed.

Luca shouted his name.

The paramedics worked.

Elena stood with the drive in her fist.

Across the dock, one of Dominic's SUVs caught fire.

Then another.

Explosions rolled through the vehicles.

The three black cases vanished in flames.

Vanessa stared.

“Someone knew.”

Camille looked at the burning evidence.

“Hale?”

Hale was on the ground, handcuffed and terrified.

Elena opened her palm.

The tiny drive Dominic had hidden from everyone remained intact.

“No,” she said.

Luca looked at it.

“Then who?”

Elena thought of the ledger, the trust, the dead, the lies, and every person who had known one fragment.

“Someone who knew Dominic would bring the drives to me.”

Luca's eyes narrowed.

Mateo arrived from behind the police line.

“Elena!”

She turned.

He was running toward her.

Relief showed on his face.

Too much relief.

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Elena stared at him.

And for the first time since dawn, she wondered why Arturo's lawyer had always known exactly when to appear.