CHAPTER 7 – THE LAST GAME
CHAPTER 7 – THE LAST GAME
The room fell silent.
Only the steady beep of Diana Harper's heart monitor broke the tension.
Emmett leaned closer.
"What other child?"
Diana struggled to breathe.
Her lips barely moved.
"The... twins..."
Then her eyes closed again.
The doctors immediately sedated her and rushed her toward surgery.
Special Agent Sarah Whitaker turned to Emmett.
"Twins?"
Mrs. Ingrid looked just as confused.
"Luna never mentioned a brother or sister."
Neither had Diana.
For seven years, she had protected one child.
Or so everyone believed.
Tommy's phone rang.
He answered.
His face drained of color.
"What?"
Everyone looked at him.
Tommy slowly lowered the phone.
"Our people searched Diana's apartment."
"And?"
"They found a hidden room."
Emmett's pulse quickened.
"There were two beds."
Mrs. Ingrid covered her mouth.
"Oh, dear God..."
Tommy continued.
"Two school backpacks."
"Two toothbrushes."
"Two birthday drawings."
"But only one child."
Sarah frowned.
"Where's the second one?"
Tommy swallowed.
"Gone."
Two hours later...
Inside the FBI mobile command center...
Everything Diana had stolen was finally decrypted.
Maps.
Financial records.
Blackmail files.
Secret bank accounts.
Lists of missing children dating back almost fifteen years.
Victor Brennon hadn't merely built a criminal organization.
He had built an invisible empire.
Judges.
Police chiefs.
Construction companies.
Private adoption agencies.
Hospitals.
Banks.
Even elected officials appeared in the files.
Sarah stared at the screen.
"If this becomes public..."
"The city collapses."
Emmett disagreed.
"No."
"The city survives."
"The corruption dies."
Sarah looked at him for a long moment.
For years she had believed Emmett Cross incapable of caring about anyone beyond his own empire.
Tonight she saw something different.
Not innocence.
Never innocence.
But principles.
Lines he refused to cross.
Victor had none.
Across the city...
Victor Brennon entered an abandoned Catholic orphanage.
The building had officially closed twelve years earlier.
Unofficially...
It had become one of his safest hideouts.
A little boy sat quietly on a wooden chair.
Eight years old.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
He looked remarkably like Luna.
Victor smiled warmly.
"Hello, Ethan."
The boy didn't answer.
Victor placed a toy airplane on the table.
"You've been very brave."
The boy stared at the floor.
"My sister's coming."
Victor laughed softly.
"No."
"Your sister is bringing me something."
Back at the Cross Estate...
Luna woke in the secure room.
She looked around.
"Mr. Cross?"
Emmett entered carrying a mug of hot chocolate.
She smiled weakly.
"You remembered."
"I said I would."
She accepted the mug with both hands.
After several quiet minutes, Emmett asked,
"Luna..."
"Has your mother ever sung you a song?"
Her eyes brightened.
"Every birthday."
"Do you remember it?"
She nodded.
Without thinking, she began to sing.
It sounded like an ordinary lullaby.
Simple.
Gentle.
Mrs. Ingrid smiled.
Sarah looked confused.
Tommy shrugged.
Only Emmett noticed something strange.
Every line contained numbers.
Dates.
Directions.
The lyrics repeated patterns no nursery rhyme should have.
He stopped her gently.
"Can you sing it again?"
Luna did.
Tommy suddenly froze.
"Boss..."
"I know that rhythm."
He grabbed a notepad.
As Luna sang, Tommy wrote numbers beside each verse.
Coordinates.
Bank vault numbers.
Access codes.
When she finished...
Everyone stared at the page.
Sarah whispered,
"It's a cipher."
Not just any cipher.
It pointed to one location.
A forgotten church beneath Chicago's oldest cemetery.
Victor had been right.
The final evidence had never been stored digitally.
It had been hidden physically.
Seven years earlier.
Inside a place no criminal would willingly search.
A graveyard.
That night...
Emmett assembled only six people.
Tommy.
Sarah.
Four trusted men.
No police convoy.
No armored vehicles.
If Victor knew they were coming...
Ethan would die.
The old church stood abandoned beneath falling snow.
Its stone walls leaned with age.
Inside...
Dust covered broken pews.
Luna quietly walked toward the altar.
"I've been here before."
Everyone looked at her.
She touched one loose stone beneath a candle stand.
"It opens."
Emmett pulled the stone free.
Inside lay a rusted metal box.
No larger than a shoebox.
Sarah carefully opened it.
Inside were dozens of memory cards.
Paper files.
Original signatures.
DNA reports.
Photographs.
And one sealed envelope.
Written across the front:
To whoever finally ends this.
Sarah looked up.
"We got him."
Before anyone could celebrate...
Applause echoed through the church.
Victor stepped from the shadows.
Dozens of armed men surrounded every exit.
Victor smiled.
May you like
"Thank you."
"I've been looking for that box for seven years."
