Chapter 9 - The Ghost of ZurichForty-eight hours later, Roman’s private jet touched down on a private airstrip outside Zurich under a blanket of heavy, freezing fog.
We didn't travel as tourists. We traveled as an apex predator and its mate, backed by a security detail that could have overthrown a small European principality. The dossier had led us to an exclusive alpine estate overlooking Lake Geneva—owned by a dormant Swiss holding company tied directly to Judge Arthur Davies and, strangely enough, an old associate of Caleb Reynolds’s late father.
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place with terrifying clarity. Caleb’s family hadn't just fallen apart by accident; their financial ruin had been orchestrated by a syndicate trying to launder money through the Continental—using Caleb as an unwitting pawn, and me as collateral damage.
We breached the alpine estate at midnight.
The security guards stationed outside didn't even have time to draw their weapons before Roman’s men neutralized them with silent precision. We kicked open the heavy oak doors of the study, where a roaring fireplace cast long, dancing shadows across the room.
Sitting in a leather armchair by the fire, holding a glass of cognac, was a man who looked startlingly like Roman—older, with silver streaks at his temples, but bearing the exact same piercing gaze.
Julian Costa smiled, raising his glass. "Little brother. I wondered when you’d figure it out."
Roman stopped dead in his tracks, his hand resting instinctively on his holster. "You died, Julian. We held a funeral."
"A very convincing one, wasn't it?" Julian chuckled, standing up slowly. "When you control the shipping lines and the judges, faking a watery grave is remarkably easy. I needed to step out of the light so I could build something bigger. Something that doesn't rely on dirty cash in underground lounges, but controls the very governments that try to regulate us."
"You used my name," Roman growled, taking a step forward. "You used my accounts to funnel dirty money through Davies."
"I used a stepping stone," Julian corrected dismissively, his eyes briefly flickering over to me standing beside Roman. "And it looks like you brought a new pet to the party. Sadi, isn't it? The disgraced accountant’s daughter. Tell me, Sadi, does Roman pay you well enough to risk your life in an Alpine bunker?"
Before Roman could lunge across the room, I stepped in front of him, my hand resting calmly on his chest to hold him back. I looked straight at Julian Costa with a cold, absolute composure that made the older man’s smile falter.
"Julian," I said, my voice echoing clearly in the silent study. "You spent five years hiding behind ghost companies and stolen identities because you were afraid of what Roman would do if he found out you betrayed the family. But you made one critical mistake."
May you like
Julian raised an eyebrow, amused despite himself. "And what's that, little girl?"
"You left your financial records on an unencrypted server in Zurich," I smiled, pulling a sleek encrypted flash drive from my pocket and tossing it onto the desk in front of him. "And twenty minutes ago, our auditing team transferred every single cent of your offshore accounts into the Continental’s primary treasury. You're not a ghost anymore, Julian. You're officially bankrupt."
