Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WITH BIANCA’S FACE.
Cassandra Mercer stood behind Daniel
She had Celeste’s eyes.
Celeste’s voice.
Celeste’s smile.
But there was no hesitation in her expression.
No guilt.
Only control.
Cole stared at the screen.
“What is around Daniel’s neck?”
Julian studied the device.
A black band rested against Daniel’s throat.
Small lights blinked along its side.
Naomi answered through the earpiece.
“Possibly a biometric trigger.”
“Heart rate.”
“Movement.”
“Remote explosive.”
Cassandra spoke through the screen.
“It contains no explosive.”
“It releases a concentrated neurotoxin.”
Cole’s face became cold.
“If he dies, you die.”
Cassandra smiled.
“You cannot threaten someone whose identity does not officially exist.”
Julian looked around the cargo deck.
Armed men stood above them.
The federal agents disguised as medics had been forced to the ground.
First Officer Vale moved away from Cole.
A guard handed him a weapon.
Vale aimed it at Julian.
Cassandra continued.
“Mr. Rossi will enter Cargo Hold Three alone.”
“Detective Cole and the others remain on deck.”
“If anyone follows, Daniel receives the dose.”
Cole looked at Julian.
“No.”
Julian touched his hidden earpiece.
“Naomi, can you disable the collar?”
“Not without seeing the control system.”
“Can you access the ship?”
“External channels are blocked.”
“The server container is creating a closed network.”
Cassandra lifted a small device.
“This controls Daniel’s collar.”
“It also controls the Sovereign release protocol.”
Julian looked at Cole.
“I have to go.”
“She will kill you.”
“She needs my identity.”
“Until you open the container.”
Julian lowered his voice.
“Then you have until I open it.”
Cole understood.
Julian needed him to create an opportunity after entry.
Julian removed his medical jacket.
He placed his concealed weapon on the deck.
Then he walked toward the stairs leading below.
Vale followed with two guards.
The ship vibrated beneath his feet.
Each step carried him deeper into the hull.
The noise of the ocean disappeared.
Only engines and metal remained.
They reached Cargo Hold Three.
Dozens of containers formed narrow corridors.
One container stood apart from the others.
White.
Unmarked.
Refrigeration cables connected it to the ship’s power system.
Cassandra waited beside its door.
Daniel sat ten feet away.
His face was bruised.
His hair was longer than in Cole’s photograph.
He looked thinner.
But alive.
Julian stopped in front of him.
“Daniel?”
Daniel lifted his head.
His eyes were unfocused.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Julian.”
Daniel laughed weakly.
“I know who you are.”
“Everyone knows Julian Rossi.”
Julian looked at the collar.
“Are you hurt?”
“Only everywhere.”
Cassandra stepped between them.
“He has been uncooperative.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You told me my mother abandoned me.”
Cassandra smiled.
“She did.”
“No,” Julian said.
Daniel looked at him.
Julian continued.
“Her name is Martha.”
“She searched for you.”
“She believed you were dead.”
Daniel stared at him.
Cassandra raised the control device.
“Another family reunion can happen after the door opens.”
Julian looked at her.
“Why does Gabriel trust you more than Celeste?”
“He does not trust anyone.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then why serve him?”
Cassandra’s expression remained calm.
“Because he was correct.”
“About what?”
“That identity is the foundation of power.”
“People believe names.”
“Records.”
“Blood tests.”
“Official signatures.”
“Control those things and you control reality.”
Julian looked at Daniel.
“That is how you hid him.”
“We gave him a new family.”
“You stole him from his mother.”
“We created the life he received.”
Daniel pulled against the restraints.
“You destroyed every life I tried to build.”
Cassandra looked toward him.
“You destroyed those yourself.”
Daniel’s face filled with anger.
Cassandra had studied his weaknesses.
Addiction.
Debt.
Shame.
She used them exactly as Bianca had used Martha’s supposed confusion.
Julian recognized the method.
“You contacted him six months ago,” Julian said.
“Yes.”
“You told him about his adoption.”
“Yes.”
“You offered proof.”
“He wanted answers.”
“Then you brought him to Gabriel.”
“He came willingly.”
Daniel looked toward Julian.
“At first.”
Cassandra walked toward the white container.
A retinal scanner activated beside the door.
“Open it.”
Julian remained still.
“What happens when I do?”
“You enter.”
“The system confirms your identity.”
“You authorize transfer to Argent Dawn.”
“And Daniel?”
“He lives.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
“I expect you to understand the alternative.”
She pressed the control.
One light on Daniel’s collar changed from green to yellow.
Daniel gasped.
His entire body tensed.
Cole’s voice came faintly through Julian’s hidden earpiece.
“Do what she says.”
Daniel had somehow remained connected to the operation channel.
Julian looked toward the ceiling camera.
Cassandra could probably hear only the room.
Not his encrypted receiver.
He approached the scanner.
A light crossed his eyes.
IDENTITY CONFIRMED.
The container door unlocked.
Cold air rushed outward.
Julian entered.
Rows of black server towers filled the interior.
Lights pulsed across them like a living nervous system.
A chair stood at the center.
A biometric console surrounded it.
Cassandra followed.
Vale remained outside with Daniel.
The door stayed open.
“Sit,” Cassandra ordered.
Julian sat.
Metal restraints closed around his wrists.
He had not expected them.
Cassandra connected sensors to his chest and temples.
The console activated.
A synthetic version of Gabriel’s voice filled the room.
JULIAN ROSSI.
BIOLOGICAL DESCENDANT OF GABRIEL ROSSI.
LEGAL HEIR OF ALEXANDER ROSSI.
AUTHORITY VERIFICATION WILL BEGIN.
Cassandra stood behind him.
“Answer truthfully.”
“Why?”
“The system recognizes physical signs of deception.”
“If you lie, the transfer protocol locks.”
“If it locks, Daniel dies.”
Julian looked through the open door.
Daniel watched him.
The first question appeared.
WHO WAS YOUR FATHER?
Julian thought of Gabriel’s blood.
Alexander’s name.
The man with the silver ring.
The man who taught him to sail.
“My father was Alexander Rossi.”
The console scanned his pulse.
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
Cassandra’s expression tightened.
The second question appeared.
WHO GAVE YOU LIFE?
Julian looked toward Daniel.
“Martha.”
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
The third question appeared.
WHO OWNS ROSSI INTERNATIONAL?
“The employees and shareholders who built it.”
The system paused.
Cassandra looked worried.
Then the console responded.
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
Julian understood.
Gabriel had expected answers centered around blood and inheritance.
But Alexander’s profile inside the system recognized Julian’s values.
Perhaps the system was not only Gabriel’s creation.
Perhaps Alexander had altered it.
The next question appeared.
DO YOU LOVE BIANCA MERCER?
Julian stopped breathing.
The sensor lights changed.
Cassandra watched the monitor.
“Answer.”
Julian remembered Bianca beside the pool.
Her cold smile.
Her hand holding the syringe.
Her body stepping between him and Gabriel’s bullet.
Her confession.
The lake.
Paris.
The hospital.
He remembered loving someone who had partly existed.
A person created through manipulation.
But also a person who had sometimes broken free of it.
“Yes.”
The word hurt.
Cassandra smiled.
Then Julian continued.
“But love does not make her innocent.”
The system scanned him.
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
A new question appeared.
DO YOU FORGIVE HER?
Julian closed his eyes.
“No.”
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
Cassandra’s smile disappeared.
The next question appeared.
WOULD YOU SAVE HER?
Julian thought carefully.
“Yes.”
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
WOULD YOU TRUST HER?
“No.”
ANSWER ACCEPTED.
Cassandra stepped toward the console.
“This is taking too long.”
Julian looked at the final line.
WOULD YOU KILL GABRIEL ROSSI?
Outside, Daniel lifted his head.
Cassandra watched Julian closely.
Gabriel had designed the question to measure loyalty.
Alexander might have changed its purpose.
Julian answered.
“No.”
Cassandra smiled with relief.
Julian continued.
“I would make him live long enough to watch everything he built collapse.”
The system processed the response.
AUTHORITY CONFIRMED.
TRANSFER ACCESS GRANTED.
A map appeared.
Argent Dawn was less than ten nautical miles away.
The two vessels would meet within twenty-eight minutes.
Cassandra activated the transfer.
Julian watched data channels open.
The screen displayed two choices.
AUTHORIZE TRANSFER.
TERMINATE SOVEREIGN.
Cassandra placed her hand over the controls.
“Authorize.”
Julian looked toward Daniel.
His collar remained yellow.
Cassandra still held the trigger.
He touched AUTHORIZE TRANSFER.
She smiled.
Then a second security prompt appeared.
SECOND AUTHORITY REQUIRED.
Cassandra’s expression changed.
“Who?”
The screen displayed a name.
MARTHA ROSSI.
Julian stared at it.
Alexander had built one final protection.
Gabriel’s biological son could open the system.
But the woman Gabriel had spent decades trying to destroy could decide its fate.
Cassandra pressed the control device harder.
“Override it.”
“I cannot.”
“You are the authority.”
“Only one of them.”
Cassandra looked toward Daniel.
She pressed another button.
The collar light changed to red.
Daniel screamed.
His body convulsed.
Julian pulled against the restraints.
“Stop!”
“Override it.”
“There is no override.”
“Then call Martha.”
Julian looked at the communication panel.
Cassandra entered a secure frequency.
The shipyard command center appeared on the screen.
Naomi stood beside Martha.
Cole was no longer visible on the deck camera.
Julian hoped that meant he was moving.
Martha saw Daniel suffering.
Her face broke.
“My son.”
Daniel lifted his head toward the screen.
He stared at her.
Cassandra spoke.
“Martha Rossi.”
“Confirm the transfer.”
“Then both your sons live.”
Martha stepped closer to the camera.
“Daniel.”
Tears ran down her face.
“I never abandoned you.”
Daniel’s breathing shook.
“I know.”
“You cannot know.”
“Julian told me.”
Martha touched the screen.
“I searched for you.”
“I searched until Alexander convinced me Gabriel had killed you.”
Daniel began crying.
Cassandra increased the collar dose.
Julian shouted.
“Enough!”
Cassandra looked toward Martha.
“Confirm.”
Naomi whispered something to Martha.
Martha shook her head.
“No tricks.”
“Daniel will die.”
Julian understood the choice.
If Martha refused, Sovereign remained locked.
Daniel died.
If she confirmed, the database transferred to a criminal alliance.
Millions of lives could be destroyed.
Daniel looked at the screen.
“Do not do it.”
Martha sobbed.
“I just found you.”
“You did not find me to turn me into a weapon.”
Cassandra looked toward the collar monitor.
“His heart rate is falling.”
Martha closed her eyes.
Julian saw the moment she made the decision.
She leaned toward the microphone.
“My name is Martha Rossi.”
“Identity confirmation requested,” the system said.
Naomi placed Martha’s hand against a portable scanner.
The system confirmed her.
Cassandra smiled.
Martha continued.
“I authorize Sovereign Protocol Seven.”
Cassandra’s smile vanished.
The server room lights changed from white to red.
Julian looked at the screen.
PROTOCOL SEVEN ACCEPTED.
Cassandra stared at him.
“What is Protocol Seven?”
Julian did not know.
Then Alexander’s voice filled the container.
“Sovereign was created to manipulate identity.”
“Protocol Seven restores it.”
Every server began transmitting.
Not to Argent Dawn.
To courts.
Hospitals.
Banks.
International investigators.
Independent archives.
The system was releasing an audit trail.
Every alteration.
Every forged medical file.
Every changed birth certificate.
Every fabricated criminal record.
Every person erased by Gabriel’s network.
Cassandra rushed toward the controls.
Julian kicked the console.
Her hand missed the stop button.
The server room door slammed shut.
Daniel remained outside.
Cassandra was trapped inside with Julian.
Alexander’s voice continued.
“The truth must not belong to one government.”
“One company.”
“Or one family.”
“It must exist in enough places that no one can erase it again.”
Cassandra raised the control device.
“If I cannot stop the system...”
“I will kill Daniel.”
She pressed the trigger.
Nothing happened.
The screen above the door activated.
Cole stood behind Vale.
He held the first officer’s weapon.
Daniel’s collar lay broken on the floor.
Cole looked into the camera.
“You should have watched the man standing behind you.”
Julian almost laughed.
Alexander’s lesson had returned again.
Cassandra screamed.
She threw the control device across the room.
Then she pulled a blade from her boot.
She rushed toward Julian.
The restraints released automatically as Protocol Seven continued.
Julian blocked her first strike.
She cut his forearm.
He grabbed her wrist.
They crashed into the server console.
Cassandra was stronger than he expected.
She drove her knee into his stomach.
Julian fell.
She raised the blade.
Before she could strike...
The container wall shook violently.
Argent Dawn had reached the Meridian Crown.
Metal cables attached to the cargo ship.
A boarding bridge extended across the water.
Cassandra smiled.
“The buyers are here.”
Julian looked at the transfer screen.
Protocol Seven was only forty-one percent complete.
Outside, gunfire erupted.
May you like
Gabriel’s alliance was boarding the ship.
And the federal rescue team remained outnumbered.
