said.
“I wasn’t ready to lead.”
Cross’s smile returned.
Danny placed the ruined contract on the desk.
“I thought the title was the job.”
He walked out before Cross could answer.
The debate hall was filled before sunset.
Mae’s opponent stood beneath bright television lights, surrounded by advisers and city officials.
Cross sat in the front row wearing his command uniform and gold ring.
Outside, protesters shouted that Mae had corrupted a police investigation.
Inside, campaign staff whispered that donors were leaving.
Mae entered through the main doors rather than the protected side entrance.
Lena walked beside her.
Chris and Kristina followed.
Baez took a position near the stage while Sean monitored the building’s network from the control booth.
Danny was nowhere in sight.
The moderator opened by asking Mae whether she intended to withdraw.
“No,” Mae said.
Her opponent smiled.
“Even after your daughter removed evidence from an active crime scene?”
Lena’s jaw tightened.
Mae faced the audience.
“My daughter was nearly killed.
A detective investigating the weapon used against her was driven into the Charles River.
The people demanding my silence are the same people asking you not to examine why.”
Cross rose from his seat.
“This is becoming an attack on an ongoing police investigation,” he announced.
“For public safety, I must ask that the debate be suspended.”
Two uniformed officers approached the stage.
The room erupted.
Mae did not move.
Cross climbed the steps and extended a hand toward her microphone.
Then the giant screen behind him flickered.
Sean had replaced the debate feed with Brian’s cloud video.
The audience watched the dark truck force Brian’s car across the bridge.
They heard the impact.
They heard the voice inside the cab say Danny would take the promotion after Brian was gone.
Cross turned toward the control booth.
“Shut that off!”
The video froze on the gold command ring.
Every camera in the hall swung toward Cross’s hand.
He pulled it behind his back too late.
Danny entered from the rear doors with the state police investigator, two financial-crimes detectives, and Brian Rodgers in a wheelchair.
Brian was bruised and weak, but conscious.
The room fell silent as he was pushed down the center aisle.
Cross stared at him as though he were seeing a ghost.
Brian raised one hand and pointed.
“He was in the truck.”
Cross recovered quickly.
“This man suffered oxygen deprivation.
His testimony is unreliable.”
Baez stepped onto the stage.
“Then perhaps the truck driver’s testimony will help.”
A second image appeared on the screen: a recorded interview with Harbor Shield employee Evan Pike.
Pike admitted that Cross ordered him to stop Brian from reaching Mae’s headquarters.
Cross had promised to erase Pike’s prior charges and pay him through a security consulting account.
Cross shook his head.
“Fabricated.”
The financial-crimes detective opened a folder.
“We recovered the payment authorization from your private server.”
“I never used a private server.”
Sean’s voice came through the hall speakers.
“That’s interesting.
Nobody said where it was recovered.”
A murmur moved through the audience.
Cross stepped backward.
His hand moved toward the inside of his jacket.
Danny reached him first.
He caught Cross’s wrist, turned him away from the crowd, and removed a small pistol from beneath his coat.
The officers who had approached Mae stopped moving.
