Chapter 8 - THE WIFE WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BETRAY HIM
“They prepared my testimony before I was even married.”
Eleanor stood in Detective Brennan's office, staring at the forged statement.
The more she considered it, the more frightened she became.
Julian hadn't simply wanted a frightened woman standing beside Gabriel at the altar.
He had wanted a wife whose accusation could destroy her husband's reputation.
And if Eleanor refused to cooperate, Molly's disappearance gave him leverage.
Brennan examined the document.
“The signature may have been copied from your motel reimbursement form. We'll have a document examiner compare them.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Will that get Gabriel released?”
“It helps challenge this evidence. But the warehouse authorizations are still real.”
“I know.”
Brennan leaned back.
“There's something else you should understand. We believe Julian Cross was using the Ashland property for shipments that never appeared in the official freight records.”
“What kind of shipments?”
“We're still establishing that. But the financial transfers don't match the cargo manifests.”
“Eli Mercer discovered something.”
“That's one possibility.”
Eleanor looked at the faded receipt lying beside Brennan's notebook.
“Then why book Room 214 under Gabriel's name?”
“To create a false timeline, perhaps. But we need to establish who was actually using that room and why.”
Eleanor considered the words Eli had written.
Check who paid first.
Suddenly she remembered something.
“The corporate account wasn't the only payment.”
Brennan looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Eli paid cash to keep the reservation active after a billing problem. I remember putting his money in the drawer.”
“Do you have a record?”
“The cash receipt should be in the nightly register.”
Brennan immediately called the officer reviewing the motel records.
If the cash receipt existed, it could help establish when Eli was at the motel and why he was concerned about the reservation.
It wouldn't prove who set the fire.
But it could help investigators reconstruct the final hour of his life.
Nathan arrived at the police station that afternoon with a metal toolbox.
He carried it in both hands.
Eleanor met him outside Brennan's office.
“What is that?”
“Everything I should've turned over after the fire.”
Inside were old work orders, photographs, equipment receipts, and carbon copies of inspection notices.
Nathan had kept them because he feared someone would eventually blame him.
He simply hadn't had the courage to use them.
Brennan spread the papers across a table.
One photograph showed the north loading doors at Ashland.
A heavy chain crossed the handles.
Another showed the sprinkler control panel.
Several valves had temporary bypass tags.
Nathan pointed at the photograph.
“Those tags were supposed to come off before the building reopened.”
“Who authorized operations to continue?” Brennan asked.
“Julian's project supervisor.”
“Name?”
“Martin Vale.”
Brennan recognized him as a North Star contractor.
Nathan continued.
“Two days before the fire, Eli Mercer refused to sign the inspection report. He said the warehouse wasn't safe.”
“What happened?”
“Vale told us to finish the job and leave.”
“Did you remove the bypass?”
Nathan lowered his head.
“No.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Nathan looked toward her.
“I didn't know there would be a fire.”
She opened her eyes again.
“You knew there could be one.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
It was the first time he had stopped trying to make himself sound innocent.
And strangely, it was the first time Eleanor felt they might eventually find their way back to being brother and sister.
Brennan photographed the records and arranged for the originals to be taken into evidence.
Then she asked Nathan to provide a complete statement with his attorney present.
He agreed.
Gabriel was released under court-imposed conditions the following day.
Nathan's corrected testimony, the Detroit records, and serious questions about the forged documents had weakened the evidence supporting the murder allegations.
The investigation remained open.
Gabriel was required to cooperate with lawful requests for records and remain available to the court.
When Eleanor met him outside, he looked exhausted.
She handed him a paper cup of coffee.
“Black,” she said. “No sugar.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You remembered.”
“You drank three cups at the hospital.”
They stood together beneath a gray Chicago sky.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Gabriel looked at her walking boot.
“How's your ankle?”
“Better.”
“Good.”
Eleanor hesitated.
“They tried to make me testify against you.”
“I know.”
“I never would have.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You didn't know me.”
“I knew you hadn't done what that statement claimed.”
He lowered his gaze.
“That doesn't make me a good man.”
“No,” Eleanor answered.
He looked back at her.
“But it means you deserve the truth.”
Gabriel felt something unfamiliar.
Not forgiveness.
Something more difficult.
The possibility of becoming worthy of it.
The emergency family council met that evening.
Gabriel attended despite his attorney's advice to avoid unnecessary public confrontations.
He brought Simone.
Eleanor chose to come, too.
Nobody asked her to.
The meeting took place in a private dining room above an old Chicago restaurant.
Julian stood at the head of the table when they entered.
His expression changed when he saw Gabriel.
“So they let you out.”
Gabriel removed his coat.
“For now.”
Julian noticed Eleanor.
“Mrs. Moretti.”
She stopped.
“My name is Eleanor Shaw.”
A few men exchanged glances.
Julian smiled.
“Of course.”
Gabriel sat.
Simone placed several folders on the table.
Roman D'Amico looked between them.
“Let's hear what this is about.”
Julian spoke first.
He described the arrest.
The police investigation.
The public embarrassment.
The danger to their businesses.
Then he turned toward Gabriel.
“You've lost control of your people. Your judgment is compromised.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Parts of that are true.”
Julian looked surprised.
“I signed documents without reviewing them. I permitted collection practices that should have ended years ago. I approved a marriage without speaking to the woman involved.”
Gabriel looked around the table.
“Those failures are mine.”
Roman leaned forward.
“Then why should you remain in charge?”
“Because I'll cooperate with the investigation and put qualified independent people in control of the legitimate companies while it proceeds. And because I won't hand everything to the man whose accounts are now being examined.”
Julian's face hardened.
Simone opened the first folder.
She explained the manipulated Shaw debt.
Then the unauthorized relief-fund transfers.
Then the copied electronic signatures.
Several men shifted uncomfortably.
Julian interrupted.
“Administrative errors.”
Simone looked directly at him.
“Across nine separate transactions?”
He didn't answer.
Eleanor stepped forward.
“And someone forged my statement.”
She placed a copy on the table.
Julian barely glanced at it.
“Then take it up with the authorities.”
“I have.”
She looked around the room.
“I was threatened into marrying Gabriel. My niece was taken. My brother was frightened into signing things that weren't true.”
Julian crossed his arms.
“A tragic family situation.”
Eleanor's voice remained steady.
“No. It was a plan.”
Roman looked at Julian.
“Did you arrange the marriage?”
“Yes. Gabriel agreed.”
“Did you know about the girl's disappearance?”
“No.”
Gabriel spoke quietly.
“Then you won't mind answering Brennan's questions about North Star.”
Julian pushed back his chair.
“This meeting is over.”
Roman raised a hand.
“Sit down.”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Julian looked at the older man.
Then at the folders.
Finally, he sat.
But Eleanor noticed something troubling.
He wasn't looking at the financial documents anymore.
He was watching the door.
While the council argued, Vince examined security instructions issued for the original wedding.
He had requested the complete records from the contracted transportation company.
Most were ordinary.
Departure times.
Parking arrangements.
Vehicle assignments.
But one instruction had been entered shortly before the ceremony.
The wedding limousine was to leave St. Michael's separately from the other vehicles.
The escort cars were to take a different route.
Gabriel's limousine was assigned a detour through the industrial corridor near Ashland.
That was strange.
The wedding reception had been planned at a downtown hotel.
There was no reason to send the bride and groom toward the old warehouse.
Vince checked the authorization.
Julian Cross.
Then he examined the security detail assigned to the detour.
Two men from North Star.
Both had been connected to the transport used to move Molly.
Vince found a second instruction.
The cameras along the private access road were scheduled for maintenance during the estimated arrival window.
His stomach tightened.
He called Gabriel.
Gabriel stepped out of the council meeting to answer.
“Talk to me.”
“Boss, I found the wedding transportation instructions.”
“What about them?”
“Julian changed your route.”
“Where to?”
“Ashland.”
Gabriel looked through the dining-room window.
Traffic moved below.
People hurried beneath umbrellas.
The world seemed ordinary.
Vince continued.
“He separated your car from the security escort. The cameras were supposed to be down.”
Gabriel felt cold.
“Who was waiting there?”
“North Star personnel.”
“Why?”
Vince hesitated.
“I don't know yet. But it wasn't standard security.”
Gabriel turned.
Eleanor had followed him into the corridor.
She could tell from his expression that something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Gabriel told her.
She listened without speaking.
Then she looked back toward the dining room.
“Julian wanted us alone.”
Gabriel nodded.
“And Molly was supposed to stay missing until after the ceremony,” Eleanor said.
The pieces were beginning to fit.
The child had been used to force Eleanor down the aisle.
The forged testimony had been prepared to destroy Gabriel if necessary.
The wedding offered Julian an opportunity to move both of them somewhere without witnesses.
Gabriel looked at Eleanor.
“We need to tell Brennan.”
She nodded.
Then she looked through the doorway.
Julian's chair was empty.
His coat was gone.
Eleanor turned back toward Gabriel.
“He wasn't just planning to use me against you.”
Her voice trembled.
“He was planning for both of us to disappear after the wedding.”
May you like
Gabriel stared at the transportation instructions on Vince's screen.
The final destination was listed as the same loading yard where Eli Mercer had died.
