Chapter 7 - THE SAFE HOUSE IN CAMBRIDGE
The townhouse in Cambridge was old, brick-faced, and unassuming from the outside.
Inside, it was a high-tech communications hub.
Multiple computer monitors glowed against the dark walls, displaying real-time financial feeds, police scanner frequencies, and live security camera feeds from across the city.
Abel dropped a set of keys onto the entryway table and immediately sat down in front of a bank of keyboards, his weathered fingers flying across the keys.
"Status report on the server upload?" Abel muttered to himself.
"Ninety-eight percent," an automated voice chimed softly from the main terminal speaker.
Elena stood by the front window, peeling back the heavy velvet curtain just enough to peer out at the quiet street.
"Is he going to be alright, Abel?" she asked, her voice trembling as she turned to look at the older man.
Abel didn't stop typing. "The boss has been preparing for a war with Richard Bennett since the day he buried his father, Miss Carter. Bennett thinks he's clever because he bought out a few federal judges. But he doesn't know that Dante spent the last three years turning Bennett's own accountants into our informants."
A bright green checkmark flashed across the central monitor.
UPLOAD COMPLETE.
ENCRYPTED FILES TRANSMITTED TO FEDERAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE AND SEC.
Abel let out a long, slow breath, leaning back in his leather chair. "It's done. Bennett's offshore accounts are frozen. The wire-transfer logs are in the hands of the U.S. Attorney General. By sunrise, Richard Bennett will be sharing a cell with the very men he paid off to burn down the south side."
Elena closed her eyes, a wave of profound relief washing over her.
Her father’s memory was finally vindicated.
The men who had stolen her childhood, who had left her and her mother to starve in a freezing apartment while they built mansions on the harbor, were finally falling.
But as she looked back at the blank computer screen, a cold pang of anxiety twisted in her chest.
"What about Dante?" she asked. "If the federal marshals searched the mansion... did they arrest him?"
Before Abel could answer, the secure landline telephone on the desk began to ring.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Abel picked up the receiver on the first ring, listening intently for several seconds without speaking.
His expression didn't change, but his shoulders stiffened.
"Understood," Abel said quietly into the mouthpiece. "We're on our way."
He hung up the phone and looked up at Elena.
"That was Dante," Abel said. "The federal prosecutor reviewed the files we sent. Bennett was arrested in the ballroom twenty minutes ago. But the U.S. Attorney wants Dante down at the federal plaza downtown to formally verify the transfer records."
"Is he in danger?" Elena asked, stepping forward.
"Not legally," Abel replied, standing up and grabbing his car keys. "The files clear Moretti Holdings of any direct involvement in the arson. But..."
"But what, Abel?"
"Vanessa Bennett is still at the mansion," Abel said grimly. "And she's screaming bloody murder, telling the state troopers that Dante had her father framed out of jealousy. She's armed with a court order to seize all Moretti assets until a full judicial review is completed."
Abel grabbed his jacket.
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"Come on, Miss Carter. The boss is going to need someone by his side when he faces the press."
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