The Signature He Misread

Chapter 4 The Federal Raid

The town car stopped hard enough to throw Dante against his seat belt. An armored FBI vehicle blocked the driveway.

Two more came through the trees behind us and closed the only route back to the estate.

Red laser dots settled on Dante's bodyguards. They raised their hands and stood still.

"What the hell is this?" Dante shouted. "I'm Dante Moretti! I want my lawyer. You have no right!"

The rotors drowned him out. The lead vehicle opened, and a man in tactical gear stepped onto the drive.

Julian Cross.

I recognized his walk before I could make out his face. In my last life, Julian had run toward the burning room alone. Today, **FBI** stretched across his vest, and a full team moved at his signal.

Julian left Dante shouting in the back seat. He found me through the window and came to my door.

He unlocked it before opening it. Cold morning air rushed into the car.

His first glance went to my wrists. He checked for restraints and bruises before looking at my face. It took only a second, and no one else had bothered to check. Then he held out his hand.

"Elara Vance, I'm Senior Agent Julian Cross. We have reason to believe you're a material witness in immediate danger. We're offering you federal protection."

Around us, agents kept moving while he waited for my answer.

I took his hand and stepped out.

"Elara, don't you dare!" Dante scrambled across the seat. "You belong to me! This is our family. You can't do this!"

I turned back. Wind blew my hair across my eyes. Dante clutched the open door and looked from the agents to me. No one moved to obey him.

Between two beats of the rotors, I reached into my sleeve and took out the USB drive.

I held it out to Julian.

"This has the unedited Vance ledgers and the offshore accounts," I said. "It also has Sienna Rossi's confession about my sterilization, plus proof that Dante murdered my father to take the family."

Dante's hand slid off the door. He sank against the seat, staring at the drive in Julian's palm. The unedited Vance ledgers had left him nowhere to hide.

Julian passed the drive to an evidence officer. "Dante Moretti, you're under arrest for racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, and multiple financial crimes."

Two agents pulled Dante from the car and cuffed his hands behind his back. The metal click carried between beats of the rotors. He didn't fight. He kept staring at me while they read him his rights.

In my first life, I had watched Dante through a burning door while he stood safely beyond the flames. Now federal agents walked him toward a locked truck, and I stayed beside Julian.

Julian came to stand beside me.

The agents put Dante in the armored truck. He twisted around for one last look before the doors closed between us.