Chapter 8 - Warehouse Nine
Abby entered alone.
At least, that was what Eleanor Price believed.
No police sirens.
No visible security.
No Julian.
Warehouse Nine smelled of rust and river water.
Thomas Mercer sat in a chair near the center.
His hands were free.
That surprised Abby.
Eleanor was not holding a gun.
That surprised her more.
She stood beside Thomas wearing a gray coat.
Sixty-eight.
White hair.
Perfect posture.
She looked like someone’s elegant grandmother.
Abby hated that.
“Where’s the tape?” Eleanor asked.
“Where’s my father?”
“Right there.”
“Can he leave?”
“When I have the tape.”
Abby held up a case.
Eleanor’s eyes followed it.
“You broke into Julian’s penthouse.”
“Yes.”
“You sent people after Noah.”
“I sent someone to retrieve property.”
“My mother’s property.”
“Cross property.”
“No.”
Eleanor smiled faintly.
“You sound like Marianne.”
“My mother was right.”
“About Harrison?”
“Yes.”
“Partly.”
There it was again.
Partly.
Eleanor explained that Harrison had created the theft scheme.
Vincent executed it.
Margaret discovered it.
Marianne exposed it.
But Eleanor had spent thirty years keeping Cross Meridian alive after the scandal.
She believed the Mercer trust was a disaster.
A low-level employee’s descendants could someday hold founder voting rights over a company they did not build.
“She recovered the money.”
“She did her job.”
“And lost her career because of it.”
“Many people lose careers.”
Abby stared.
“You really believe that.”
“I believe institutions survive because someone absorbs the cost.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
The honesty was monstrous.
Abby stepped closer.
“You let my family drown in medical debt.”
“I did not cause her cancer.”
“You knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what we were owed.”
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at Abby.
He had not known that part.
His face broke.
Eleanor continued calmly.
“Margaret was emotional after discovering Harrison’s betrayal.”
“Margaret was fixing it.”
“She overcorrected.”
“You stole from us.”
“I preserved the company.”
There it was.
The phrase powerful people used when they wanted wrongdoing to sound necessary.
Abby held out the case.
“Let my father walk.”
Eleanor nodded.
Thomas stood.
He moved slowly toward Abby.
Then Eleanor said:
“Stop.”
Thomas froze.
“Abigail brings the tape first.”
Abby looked toward her father.
“Dad.”
He understood.
He kept walking.
Eleanor’s calm disappeared.
“Thomas.”
He turned.
“You ruined my wife’s life once.”
His voice shook.
“You don’t get another turn.”
Then lights exploded through the warehouse.
Not police.
Fire alarms.
Sprinklers.
Eleanor spun.
Julian’s plan.
But Abby’s way.
They had not secretly followed her.
They had triggered the warehouse’s building safety system remotely at the agreed time.
Every exit unlocked automatically.
Thomas ran.
Abby moved toward him.
Eleanor lunged for the case.
Abby dropped it.
The plastic shattered.
Inside was not the original tape.
Just a copy.
Eleanor screamed.
“You stupid girl!”
Abby looked at her.
“No.”
Behind them, warehouse doors opened.
Police entered.
Eleanor stared at Abby.
“You said no police.”
“I said I would come alone.”
Abby’s voice stayed steady.
“I didn’t say nobody would come later.”
Julian had called the police before Abby entered.
With her permission.
That distinction mattered.
Eleanor was arrested.
Thomas hugged Abby so tightly she could barely breathe.
Julian stood thirty feet away.
He did not interrupt.
He waited until Abby looked at him.
Only then did he approach.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Your father?”
“He will be.”
Julian nodded.
Then Abby surprised herself.
She leaned against him.
Not forgiveness.
Not romance yet.
Just exhaustion.
He stood still.
No grabbing.
No claiming.
No assumption.
Abby closed her eyes.
“You listened.”
“Yes.”
“That’s new.”
“I’m trying.”
She almost smiled.
The police found more than enough at Eleanor’s properties.
Trust modifications.
Payments.
Security instructions.
Blackmail files.
Her ownership in hidden Cross assets.
Evidence she had kept the Mercer trust inactive for years.
But Eleanor’s arrest created a new problem.
Cross Meridian’s board panicked.
If the trust activated, $1.9 billion in assets could be disputed.
Lenders threatened action.
Investors demanded Julian step aside because the fraudulent modifications had used his signature.
The board scheduled an emergency vote.
Julian could lose control of his company.
Abby could potentially save him.
All she had to do was exercise a voting right worth more power than she had ever wanted.
May you like
And for the first time, Julian Cross was the one standing in front of something he desperately needed.
Waiting to see what Abigail Mercer would choose.
