Chapter 7 - The FBI Agent I Trusted Was Secretly Working for the Enemy, and the Evidence in My Father’s Box Could Destroy Every Powerful Man in New York
Harper stared at Leo.
“What did you just say?”
He looked toward the alley entrance.
“Not here.”
“Leo, you can't say something like that and expect me to wait.”
“Someone is following us.”
A dark vehicle turned onto the street.
Leo grabbed her hand and pulled her toward a narrow passage between the buildings.
They ran until they reached a public parking garage. Harper's lungs burned, and the metal box dug into her ribs.
At the bottom of the stairs, they stopped beside a concrete pillar.
Leo bent forward, gasping.
Harper gripped his shoulders.
“Tell me everything.”
He looked exhausted.
“When Benny took me, he kept asking about Dad's watch. He wanted to know whether I had opened it.”
“Did you?”
“No. I didn't know it could open anything.”
“Then how do you know about the FBI?”
Leo swallowed.
“Because I heard Benny talking to someone on the phone. He called the man Agent Cross.”
Harper felt the world tilt.
“Michael?”
“I don't know if that was his name. Benny said the agent had arranged the original disappearance and made sure Dad's evidence never reached the prosecutors.”
Harper shook her head.
“No. Michael helped us.”
“Maybe he wanted the box.”
“He showed me the photograph of Dad.”
“Maybe he wanted you to find the archive.”
Harper wanted to argue.
She wanted to tell Leo that Michael had been the one who offered protection, who helped her understand the investigation, and who had stood beside her when everything began falling apart.
But she remembered something.
When Michael had first shown her the photograph of Daniel, he had known exactly where to stand so the image caught the light.
He had been prepared.
Too prepared.
She looked down at the box.
“We need to get this to Gabriel.”
Leo shook his head.
“What if Gabriel is working with them too?”
Harper thought about the restaurant.
Gabriel could have ignored her warning. He could have left her behind in the kitchen. Instead, he had put himself between her and Roman, taken a bullet, and continued trying to protect her family.
She didn't trust him completely.
But she believed his actions.
“We'll find out,” she said.
They left the parking garage through a side exit and called the number Gabriel had given Harper.
He answered on the second ring.
“Harper?”
“I'm with Leo. We have the box.”
A pause.
“Where are you?”
She gave him the location.
“Stay there. Don't speak to anyone else. I'm coming.”
“Gabriel, there's something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Michael Cross may be working with the Falcones.”
Silence.
Then Gabriel said, “I know.”
Harper closed her eyes.
“You know?”
“I suspected it after the hotel operation. Someone gave Roman our location before we arrived.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't have proof.”
She looked at Leo.
Her brother was watching her with wide, frightened eyes.
“Come quickly,” she whispered.
Gabriel arrived twelve minutes later with two security men.
He checked the area before approaching them.
When he saw Leo, his expression softened.
“You're the brother.”
Leo nodded.
“And you're Rossi.”
“Unfortunately.”
Despite everything, Leo almost smiled.
Gabriel turned toward Harper.
“Show me the box.”
She handed it over.
He opened it carefully, examined the documents, and then returned it to her.
“Don't let anyone take this from you.”
“What does it contain?”
“The truth.”
“That's what everyone keeps saying.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Because the truth is the one thing the people hunting you can't afford to let out.”
They drove to a private office above a closed bookstore in Brooklyn. Gabriel's security team checked the building while Harper and Leo waited inside.
A few minutes later, Gabriel returned with a laptop.
He connected the flash drive.
A folder appeared on the screen.
Inside were financial records, photographs, recorded conversations, and a document titled FINAL ACCOUNTING.
Gabriel opened it.
Harper watched the numbers appear.
Millions of dollars had moved through shell companies over more than a decade. Payments connected the Rossi and Falcone organizations to several shipping firms, private security contractors, and public officials.
Some transactions were marked with dates corresponding to disappearances and suspicious deaths.
One document contained a list of names.
At the top was Antonio Rossi.
Below him was Daniel Bennett.
And at the bottom was Vincent Moretti, the adviser Gabriel had seen in the archive.
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Vincent controlled the accounts after my father died.”
Harper studied the records.
“Then he was the Accountant.”
“Probably.”
Leo leaned forward.
“There's another file.”
He pointed to a folder marked FAMILY.
Harper opened it.
Inside was a scanned letter from their father.
It was dated eleven years earlier.
“Eleanor, I have discovered that Vincent has been moving money without Antonio's knowledge. He has also been using the Falcone organization to pressure witnesses into silence. If I expose him, he will come after the children. I have arranged a meeting with a federal agent who promises protection. I hope I am not making another mistake.”
Harper looked at Gabriel.
“Who was the agent?”
The next page contained a name.
Michael Cross.
The room fell silent.
Leo rubbed his face.
“So Benny was telling the truth.”
Gabriel closed the laptop.
“Maybe.”
Harper stared at him.
“What do you mean, maybe?”
“The letter proves your father contacted Michael. It doesn't prove Michael betrayed him.”
“But the records—”
“Could have been altered. We need to establish when they were created and whether the original documents are authentic.”
Harper felt frustration rising.
“You always find a reason not to believe what is right in front of you.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“And you want to believe every terrible thing the moment someone says it because you're frightened of being wrong.”
She recoiled.
The words struck a nerve.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Gabriel lowered his voice.
“I'm sorry.”
Harper looked away.
He continued, “I don't want to dismiss what happened to your father. I want proof strong enough that nobody can bury it again.”
Leo sat back.
“So what do we do?”
Gabriel looked at the screen.
“We find Vincent.”
“And Michael?” Harper asked.
“We let him think we don't know.”
Harper stared at him.
“You want to pretend everything is normal?”
“No. I want to find out who he's working for and what he knows about your father's disappearance.”
Leo pointed toward another file.
“There's a video.”
Gabriel opened it.
The image showed an old warehouse with a metal table in the center. Daniel Bennett sat on one side, his hands folded. Across from him sat a man whose face was hidden by the camera angle.
A voice spoke.
“You have the records?”
Daniel nodded.
“Most of them.”
“And the copies?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
Daniel looked directly at the camera.
“Somewhere nobody will think to search.”
The man across from him laughed.
“You're making a mistake.”
“Perhaps.”
“You have children, Daniel. A wife. You know what happens when people refuse to cooperate.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Don't threaten my family.”
“Then tell me where the records are.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“No.”
The video ended.
Harper covered her mouth.
Her father had been alive after the date of his supposed death.
The video timestamp was eleven years old, recorded three days after the car accident that had supposedly killed him.
Gabriel stared at the screen.
“Your father faked his death.”
Harper felt tears spill down her cheeks.
“Why would he do that?”
“To protect you.”
Leo shook his head.
“He could have told us.”
“Maybe he thought telling you would put you in danger,” Gabriel said.
Harper wiped her face.
“Or maybe he didn't trust us.”
Gabriel turned toward her.
“Harper, listen to me. Whatever your father did, it doesn't change what you deserve now. You deserve the truth. You deserve to know whether he's alive. And you deserve to make your own choices.”
She looked at him.
For the first time, she believed he understood what she had been fighting for.
Not money.
Not power.
Not revenge.
She wanted her family back.
A knock sounded at the door.
One of Gabriel's men entered.
“Boss, we have a problem.”
Gabriel stood.
“What?”
“Michael Cross is downstairs.”
Harper's blood ran cold.
“Does he know we're here?”
“He says he wants to help.”
Gabriel looked toward the laptop.
Then at Harper.
“Put the files away.”
Leo grabbed the box.
Harper slipped the flash drive into her pocket.
Gabriel adjusted his jacket and walked toward the door.
“Stay here.”
Harper caught his arm.
“Don't go alone.”
He looked at her.
“Trust me.”
She held his gaze.
“That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“Then watch carefully.”
Gabriel went downstairs.
Harper and Leo remained in the office, listening through the security system.
Michael's voice came through the speakers.
“Gabriel, we need to talk.”
“About what?”
“Harper.”
“She's safe.”
“Not for long.”
A pause followed.
Then Michael spoke again.
“Vincent Moretti has ordered her elimination.”
Harper felt her blood turn to ice.
Gabriel's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Why?”
“Because she has the records.”
“And how would you know that?”
Silence.
May you like
Then Michael said something that changed everything.
“Because I was the one who helped Daniel Bennett disappear.”
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