Chapter 7: Everything That Was Hidden
By ten o'clock, Gabriel had three attorneys in the brownstone's main conference room, two federal contacts on standby, and Mia Carver's report printed in full on the table in front of him.
It was forty-one pages.
The attorneys looked at it the way people looked at something they wished they could un-see.
"This is comprehensive," the senior attorney, a woman named Reyes, said carefully.
"She works fast," Marco said from the doorway.
"This isn't just Sterling." Reyes turned to page twelve.
"This alderman — Kowalski — his name appears in three separate transaction chains.
If these financial connections are accurate—"
"They're accurate," Gabriel said.
Reyes looked at him over her glasses.
"How confident are you in the source?"
Gabriel thought about a woman who had navigated to a safe house from a three-year-old insurance invoice and written a name on her wrist before losing consciousness.
"Completely," he said.
Reyes turned to page nineteen.
Then page twenty-three.
Her expression shifted from careful to something approaching genuine alarm.
"Gabriel.
If Sterling has been using the shipping routes as a pass-through for Kowalski's interests, and if Kowalski has been blocking the port authority reviews that would have exposed it—" She set the report down.
"This isn't just a business dispute.
This is a federal matter."
"I know."
"You need to be very careful about how you proceed.
If you move on Sterling directly—"
"I'm not moving on Sterling directly." Gabriel looked at his federal contact's number on his phone.
"I'm delivering a report and a server full of recordings to people whose job it is to move on Sterling directly."
Reyes sat back.
"The recordings from Joliet," she said.
"You have them."
"We will by noon."
"And Vincent?"
The room went quiet.
Gabriel looked at the table.
Vincent was in a secure room two floors above them.
He had not asked for an attorney.
He had not asked for anything since the night before except, once, quietly, whether Leo was all right.
Marco had told him yes.
Vincent had nodded and not spoken again.
"Vincent will cooperate," Gabriel said.
"Fully.
With everything." He looked at Reyes.
"Arrange it."
"Gabriel—" Reyes began.
"He made his choices.
He answers for them." Gabriel's voice didn't waver.
"But he answers to the right people, in the right way, with counsel present.
Not in a basement.
Not quietly.
Properly."
Reyes studied him for a moment.
"All right," she said.
The door opened.
Marco leaned in.
"Sterling's attorney just called.
Sterling wants a meeting.
In person.
He says he has information about Kowalski that he'll only share face to face."
"He wants to trade," Reyes said.
"He wants to survive," Gabriel said.
"Tell his attorney that any information Sterling has can be delivered in writing to my legal team by three o'clock.
If it's useful, we'll discuss terms.
If it's not—" He picked up the forty-one-page report.
"We already have everything we need."
Marco nodded and stepped back.
Reyes looked at the report again.
"Who is this woman?" she said.
"The accountant."
"Mia Carver.
She's been in the finance office for three years."
"She built this in six hours.
From memory and open-source records." Reyes shook her head slowly.
"Does she know what she's worth?"
Gabriel looked at the first page of the report.
At the top, in plain font, Mia had written: *Prepared for G.
Romano.
All figures verified.
All sources documented.
All conclusions conservative.*
"Not yet," he said.
He stood, picked up the report, and walked to the door.
"Get the federal contacts on a call at noon," he said over his shoulder.
"And someone bring Ms.
Carver a proper breakfast.
Not tea.
Food."
He heard Reyes say something to Marco behind him, too quietly to catch.
Marco's response was clear enough.
May you like
"I know," Marco said.
"I know."
