Chapter 6 - The Unholy Alliance
We took refuge in an abandoned boathouse two miles down the coast, where Nico met us with a clean vehicle and fresh satellite scramblers.
By mid-afternoon, the sun broke weakly through the grey clouds, illuminating the mahogany interior of the boathouse where Roman, Nico, and I had set up an encrypted laptop array.
The military-grade drive from my father’s case was fully decrypted, its contents glowing across three monitors.
"It’s worse than we thought," Nico reported, scrolling through thousands of transaction logs. "District Attorney Cross wasn't just taking kickbacks. He was using the Vescari family's legitimate shipping routes to move federal evidence back onto the black market."
"And when my father discovered it," I added, staring at a signed authorization memo dated six years ago, "Cross realized my father was going to present the ledger to the Department of Justice."
"Look at the secondary signature on the release forms," Roman said, pointing at the bottom of the screen.
My heart stopped.
Beside Victor Cross’s signature was the sleek, distinct seal of Vescari Logistics—signed by Roman’s uncle, Salvatore Vescari.
"Salvatore," Roman whispered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the table. "My father's own brother."
"Salvatore was the one who tried to take you out three nights ago," I realized, the entire web finally laying bare before us. "He knew you were investigating the missing four million dollars. He knew that if you found the Aegis ledger, you would realize he betrayed your family to buy immunity from Cross!"
Roman stood up slowly, an aura of cold, lethal terror radiating off him. The subtle warmth he had shown in the dunes vanished, replaced by the terrifying, unyielding Don of the Vescari syndicate.
"Salvatore called a emergency council meeting of the five Chicago families for eight o'clock tonight," Nico said quietly, reading a intercepted message on his tablet. "He’s going to announce that you’ve gone rogue, killed federal agents, and that the family leadership needs to be transferred to him immediately."
Roman pulled his coat back on, checking the action on his custom sidearm with chilling precision.
"Then we aren't going to hide anymore, Nico," Roman said softly. "We're going to attend my uncle's meeting."
He turned to look at me, his gaze softening just a fraction.
"Elena, I need you to take this drive to Judge Lawson under federal protective escort," Roman said. "You don't need to be in that room when I settle this."
I walked up to him, grabbed his silk lapels, and forced him to look me in the eye.
"I’m not leaving your side, Roman," I said firmly. "Cross and Salvatore destroyed my family. They destroyed yours. We finish this together."
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Roman looked at me for three long seconds, seeing the immovable steel in my eyes. A slow, dark smile touched his lips.
"Then let's go collect our debt," he said.
