Page 151 of Blind Prophet

“I was blind for so long,” I say, my words blending with the wind. “To what really mattered. To what was coming. No more.”

“No one can see everything,” she counters. “There’s always a different angle. Always.”

She’s comforting me, standing by me, even as the world burns from my blindness.

I kiss her as the helicopter descends, lights beaming over the murky ocean, its rotors scattering the mist around us like a veil that’s finally been lifted from my eyes.

CHAPTER38

CAROLINE

Five days later

The last week has been a whirlwind of activity.

Geoffrey Cromwell was detained by an Arrow team when he landed in Mexico and was handed over to the FBI.

Working with Nick Ivanov’s team, Interpol, and intelligence agencies from around the world, we’ve been gathering evidence against him. It’s a challenging task. He had broad access to all of Halston’s accounts, and it’s impossible to know what he did versus what Halston did. There are no cameras in Halston’s office, and even if there were, unless we had a view of the computer screen, Geoffrey’s presence in Halston’s office proves nothing.

The news has been flooded with recaps of the attacks by a domestic terrorist group on US soil, and the connection to Halston Moore and his unknown financial advisor have been picked up on only detailed, extensive articles covering the event, and even then, all mentions were caveated with words such as “alleged” and “suspected.”

Financial donations and investments through shell companies are being tracked to better understand Cromwell’s connections to extremist groups and foreign governments.

The president informed Dorian that he didn’t believe it was a good time for him to step into the public spotlight, and Dorian agreed. Three other names are currently being rumored for consideration as the next chief of staff.

Geoffrey never distributed the AI-generated video of Dorian accepting the chief of staff position, so there’s no cleanup in that regard, but I’m certain there are law enforcement and intelligence groups investigating Geoffrey’s connections to the president.

The syndicate, a group of men Dorian’s father worked to coalesce, disbanded. Dorian said that Geoffrey’s attempt to assume a leadership position, posing as his father, awakened the group of industry titans to the weakness in the group’s structure. None of the sector leaders desired a boss, and yet in the face of chaos, the egalitarian structure proved ineffective. Dorian doesn’t seem bothered. He says he’ll maintain his relationships during annual conferences and events, and that if he ever needs to lean on any of the members, he’s confident they’ll come through, or at the very least, negotiate a mutually beneficial deal. He also believes that when the group began working with criminal organizations to maximize global influence, they lost legitimacy, and if not legitimacy, integrity.

Dorian has spent most of the week between Colorado, overseeing the helicopter recovery, and in DC, meeting with senators who were debating opening a congressional investigation. While he welcomes an inquiry, he doesn’t believe a public inquisition will occur. He’s convinced that Geoffrey was working with other players who have yet to be uncovered, and he also suspects some of the individuals within the US political sphere are complicit.

He also believes that if the FBI, or any other intelligence agency, uncovers evidence tying Geoffrey to anyone within other countries, they may choose to classify the information, ensuring only those with the highest security clearance will ever know the truth.

Dorian is suspicious of Liam Sullivan because he’s the one who recommended Luke to Arrow Tactical and because he also has connections to Geoffrey Cromwell, but so far, all of those connections appear to be based on frequenting some of the same social clubs.

At this point, the Arrow team believes Liam’s connections are coincidental. Jack Sullivan informed Ryan that he supported all efforts into the investigation, but that he thinks his brother is innocent, even if he’s too trusting of those he meets and takes a liking to. The story Liam’s telling is that he met Luke at a bar in Hawaii. They hit it off, kept in touch, and when he needed work, he recommended him, completely unaware that he had any connections to Geoffrey Cromwell. And, in truth, there’s nothing in Luke’s background report that would have red-flagged him. However, we found payments from a shell company to Luke going back years, and I’ve been told they traced the shell company to Geoffrey, which means Luke has been working for Geoffrey since he left the military. We can’t ever fully know Luke’s motives, but it is conceivable that his motives were entirely monetary.

Dorian

I have some bad news.

It’s Friday evening, and I’m at home, waiting for Dorian’s estimated arrival time so I can pick him up from the airport. A sinking feeling hits, and I’m almost certain I know what he’s going to say.

Me

?

Dorian

Winter storm tracking across the country. It’s looking like I won’t make it in.

There’s no denying the disappointment that knocks my euphoria down a notch. While this week has been an incredibly busy work week, the regular texts and calls from Dorian have extended a buzz that’s both exhilarating and unnerving. I suppose it’s fitting that reality would step in to remind me what life is like with a high-profile executive.

Me

Tomorrow?

Dorian

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