Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-Nine

Next morning, the cabin was unusually quiet—of the kind that followed a very long, grave night. Fiona woke with a start, her body still taught, not relieved from the unresolved tension, as her mind went wide awake and on full alert. She flung off her covers and sat up in bed with a million one thoughts flooding back from yesterday. There was no time for the peacefulness of early morning. They were at war, and today was going to be a fateful day.

Fiona rinsed her face with cold water, dragged her hair into a ponytail so tight it hurt, then came out into the front room of the cabin. Julian was sitting at the table, drinking coffee, scrolling through some document on the computer. Emma and Victor were standing in the kitchen, talking in low tones, as Emma brewed another pot of coffee.

"Fiona?" She rasped from sleep.

"Morning," Julian replied, his attention on the screen in front of him. "You sleep at all?"

"Enough to keep me going," Fiona returned, pouring a cup of coffee for herself. She could see the bruising under everybody's eyes, testament to the strain this mission was putting on all of them.

Emma sauntered over and handed Fiona a folder. "I went through those records we pulled from Cross's network. There's something you need to see."

Shyly, Fiona accepted it from him and flipped it open. She saw many sheets with financial accounts, emails, and transaction records, yet one attracted her attention in particular. It was an extremely detailed report on one shell company connected to the operations of a Cross.

"This company has been used to filter money into different accounts, all belonging to influential officials in the city," Emma explained. "It's a political thing, the police, even some judges. It's a scheme to grease palms so that Cross never faces legal action."

Fiona's eyes narrowed as she read through the documents. "This is our leverage. If we can expose this, it brings him down."

Victor came closer and sat down by them. He looked graver than ever: "To get out in public is not going to be easy. Powerful people as these are; they would do anything to keep themselves and Cross safe. We have got to plan how we release this information carefully.".

"Yes," Julian nodded in agreement. "But if we tell the authorities about this, there's a good chance this will be buried. We just have to find someone whom we can trust, someone whom Cross hasn't got in his pocket."

She sipped her coffee, and the thoughts were hustling through her brain. "We could always alert the press. A story like this, when it breaks, will blow wide open. At least then it would be harder for the powers that be to cover it up when it's public."

"Gee, that makes it sound like a temptation, too, doesn't it? After all, a journalist can be bought just as easily. If we can only find one of those independents who supposedly holds out. . ."

"There is someone I know," Julian cut in, "a reporter—Sarah Mathis. For years, she has been running around this city, not backing off, investigating corruption when they tried to make it go away. I believe she is the only one who can take this story and play ball with it."

Fiona felt a flicker of optimism. "So we need to call her. But we should be careful. If Cross gets word that we're going to the press, he's going to come down on us with everything.".

Victor pushed his chair back and stood up, then started to pace, thinking. "We need to come up with some kind of diversion—something that'll keep Cross and his men busy while we're doing our thing. We could always leak some misinformation—try to make it look like we're about to hit one of his operations, force him to move some things around.".

Julian leaned back in his chair, re-evaluating the plan. "That might work. We can feed Cross's lieutenant that fake intel with the encrypted phone. It's risky, but if it pays off, it gives us the time we need to get the evidence to Sarah.".

Fiona stared across her team for a long, sweeping moment, the pregnant silence so heavy with consequence. "It is a dangerous gamble, but all in. We move forward with the plan. Julian, you get in touch with Sarah. Victor, start concocting that fake intel. Emma, pocket the comms and keep a tail on Cross's comms. We need to catch any kind of reaction from him in real time.".

They spent the whole forenoon preparing. Julian was writing an email deliberately exquisite in detail about their load to Sarah, with all the attached kinds of documents that would be the most incriminating. The message was encrypted and sent over to a secure server; from conception to delivery, the email must not be, in any way, traceable back to the source.

Victor had a very elaborate false report that would make it appear as though Fiona's people were about to raid a warehouse connected with Cross' drug operations. He sent that off, using the encrypted phone, to Cross' lieutenant, knowing that would get some results.

With tension, Emma watched over tensely through every line of the network traffic that passed, waiting for signals that their message had been taken and dealt with. Tense, she copulated around the keyboard as her fingers flew by at a breakneck speed while applying data manipulation.

The hours trudged by with a steadily increasing drum of tension in the cabin, for everyone was playing a dangerous game and the stakes really couldn't be higher. Finally, Emma's gaze finally raised from her screen. It wasn't encouraging.

"They've taken the bait," she said. "The men that Cross has at his disposal are getting ready. They've dispatched a team we suspect is making their way to the warehouse.".

Fiona was relieved and at the same time, very anxious. The diversion had worked, but now they could not afford to hang around long because Cross would quickly realize that this was a trap. "Julian, did Sarah manage to respond?"

Julian looked at his email and nodded. "Yes-Si-Indecided. She's in. She's asking to see us personally to go through the evidence and how we will proceed."

"Where?" asked Fiona.

"At a safe house she uses in the city. It's secure, but we'll need to be careful getting there," Julian replied.

Fiona stood, the resolve in her stiffening. "Then let's go. We can't afford to waste any time."

Quite literally, they were preparing for everything it could throw at them. Fiona crossed through her evidence again, making sure there was nothing omitted in the bundle she had with her. This was it now, their only chance to nail Cross and his network, all for nothing if they were caught before they could deliver it.

Preparing themselves to leave for Hemingway's, Victor halted Fiona just short of the door. "You really want to do this? We're going to walk right into the lion's den."

Fiona just gave him the same look right back, most determined. "We have no choice. This is the only way to bring Cross down. We are going to do this here and now."

Victor nodded, face grim. "Then let's do it."

The drive into the city was silent and filled with tension. The silence in the car was occasionally interrupted by the status update from time to time by Emma, who was monitoring her laptop. But Fiona did all, with the deep-down realization, it would not be long before they realized they had been duped.

They pulled up to the safe house, parked a few blocks from their target, and walked in from there. It was a totally nondescript building, much like all the other poxy buildings in that part of town. Fiona was on full alert and led the way.

Sarah Mathis waited for them in a small, dim chamber over the second stair. Sarah Mathis was a woman in her early forties, with a sharp eye and quiet determination combined. She nodded very slightly at them as a sort of greeting but cut to the chase.

"Let's see what you've got," drawled Sarah in a quite level but serious voice.

Julian pushed the folder closer to her, and she went through the files. Page by page, as she flipped through, one could see her face apprisingly tighten. Finally, when she looked up, flames licked at her eyes.

"This is massive," Sarah started. "If we could get this out, it would destroy Cross's entire network. But we have to be careful. There are some big people behind this, people who would do anything to hold this from seeing the light of day."

"Yes, we do understand; that's why we're here. We need somebody we can trust to handle this," Fiona added.

She studied them for a moment and then nodded. "I will get on with it right away, but you have to lay low. All this is going to blow up in our faces, and very soon, we're going to have things going really crazy."

Victor gazed out the window. His eyes continued scanning the street below. "We already caught the attention of Cross. It is simply a matter of time before he comes after us."

Sarah's face softened. "Then take care. I have seen people like Cross when they are cornered. Do not underestimate him."

Fiona shook Sarah's hand, a new sense of mission filling her. "We won't. Thanks, Sarah. You are our last hope now.".

As she stepped out of the safe house, into the world, it filled Fiona at once—with fear and with hope. They had made the first step, but Tara-dushan was facing an enemy as powerful as Cross. The road ahead was filled with danger; Cross wouldn't go down easily; and it would take everything they had—courage and slyness—as well as a lot of luck so that they pulled through what was up ahead.