Chapter 36 The Secret Billionaire Behind My Fall
Harper's Pov,
Marcus called five days later at seven in the morning.
I was still half asleep on Maya's couch when my phone started buzzing, and for a second I thought it was another reporter trying to get a comment about Richard's defamation threat.
But the caller ID said Marcus Chen and I was awake instantly.
"Tell me you found something," I said instead of the usual ‘hello.’
"I found something." His voice had that edge to it that made my heart start racing. "Harper, how much do you know about Brianna Cross's family?"
"Not much. I know her dad's rich. She's always posting Instagram stories from his yacht or whatever."
"Rich is an understatement. Robert Cross is a commercial real estate developer worth about $900million. He's built half the luxury condos in downtown Seattle." Marcus paused and I could hear him typing.
"And six months ago, he donated $500,000 to District Attorney Patricia Hammond's re-election campaign."
My stomach dropped to the floor.
"Five hundred thousand??"
"It's the single largest donation she received. And it's part of public record, so this isn't speculation. Robert Cross gave the DA half a million dollars." More typing.
"Now here's where it gets interesting. Brianna filed her civil lawsuit against you on September 15th. The DA's office opened a criminal investigation into your assault charge on September 22nd. One week later."
"That's not a coincidence."
"No, it's not. Because typically, criminal investigations into assault cases take weeks or even months to initiate, especially when the alleged victim wasn't seriously injured and there's clear video evidence of mutual combat. But yours was fast-tracked through the system in seven days." Marcus's voice got harder.
"Harper, someone with influence pushed to escalate your charges. And the most likely candidate is the man who just donated half a million dollars to the DA's campaign."
I sat up fully now, my brain racing. "So Robert Cross is bankrolling this whole thing. Not just Brianna's lawsuit. The criminal charges too."
"That's what it looks like. I'm still connecting the dots, but the timeline is too clean to be random. Brianna files her lawsuit, daddy writes a check to the DA, and suddenly you're facing felony charges that could send you to prison for five years." He paused again.
"This isn't justice Harper, this is revenge with a price tag."
"Can we prove it? Can we prove Robert Cross influenced the criminal investigation?"
"That's the tricky part. Campaign donations are legal. There's no smoking gun email where he says 'I gave you money, now prosecute Harper Sinclair.' But the pattern is damning. The timing is damning. And when combined with Richard's coordination with the DA's office, it starts to look like a conspiracy."
I thought about Jennifer Walsh, the Assistant DA handling my case. The one who went to law school with Richard's wife.
"Marcus, what if Richard connected Robert Cross to Jennifer Walsh? What if he's the middleman who coordinated this whole thing?"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to prove. I'm looking for any communication between Richard and Robert Cross. Phone records, emails, anything that shows they were in contact before your charges were filed." More typing.
"Robert Cross is careful though. He's a billionaire who's been playing this game for decades. He doesn't leave obvious trails."
"But Richard does."
"Richard absolutely does. The man documented everything like an idiot. I'm going through his financial records now looking for payments to anyone connected to Robert Cross. Lawyers, consultants, investigators. Anyone who might have facilitated this connection."
"How long will that take?"
"Could be days, or even weeks. Depends on how deep the paper trail goes." Marcus paused.
"But Harper, even if I can't prove direct coordination, what I've already found is huge. A billionaire donating half a million dollars to the DA right before his daughter's alleged attacker gets hit with criminal charges? That's going to raise serious questions about whether this prosecution is legitimate or just weaponized justice."
"Will Monica be able to use this?"
"She can definitely bring it up. Whether the judge allows it is another question. But at minimum, it creates reasonable doubt. It shows that powerful people with money and connections wanted you prosecuted regardless of the actual evidence."
I stood up and started pacing Maya's living room. "What else did you find?"
"I'm still digging into the Titans connection. David Morrison's phone records show multiple calls with Richard Moss starting three weeks before he contacted Crew's mom. They were coordinating the pressure campaign before you even knew it was coming."
"Can you prove what they talked about?"
"Not yet. But the frequency and timing of the calls is suspicious. Morrison doesn't normally communicate with agents from other teams. But suddenly he's having hour-long phone conversations with Richard right when you and Crew go public with your relationship?" Marcus laughed bitterly. "It's not subtle."
"What about Emma Rodriguez? Did you find anything connecting her to Robert Cross?"
"Emma was paid by Richard, not Robert. But I did find something interesting. Richard paid Emma $75,000 total over three months. That's way more than he initially claimed. And the payments were structured to avoid triggering financial reporting requirements. Anything under ten thousand doesn't get flagged. So he paid her in increments of $9,900."
"That's money laundering."
"It's structuring, which is illegal if the intent is to avoid reporting. And it suggests Richard knew what he was doing was shady and was trying to hide it." Marcus's voice got excited.
"Harper, this is the smoking gun we needed. Richard didn't just hire Emma to spy on you. He paid her under the table in a way that suggests consciousness of guilt. That's huge."
"Will it be enough?"
"Combined with everything else? Yeah, I think so. We've got Richard coordinating with the DA's office. We've got Robert Cross donating half a million dollars right before your charges were filed. We've got Morrison taking advice from Richard on how to pressure you. And we've got illegal payment structuring to a witness." He paused.
"Harper, you were right. This is a conspiracy. And I can prove it."
I sank back down onto the couch, my legs suddenly weak. "When can you have the full report ready?"
"Give me two more weeks. I want to chase down a few more leads, make sure everything's airtight. Your trial is in five weeks, right?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll have everything to Monica with three weeks to spare. That gives her time to file motions, challenge evidence, whatever she needs to do." Marcus's voice softened.
"You did the right thing hiring me. I know you spent your last money on this. But it's going to pay off."
"Thank you, Marcus."
"Don't thank me yet. Thank me when you're acquitted." He hung up.
I sat there staring at my phone, trying to process what I'd just heard.
Robert Cross.
Brianna's billionaire father.
He wasn't just bankrolling her civil lawsuit. He'd donated half a million dollars to the DA right before criminal charges were filed against me.
So he wasn't doing this to get justice.
This whole thing was about a rich man using the legal system as a weapon to destroy the person who'd embarrassed his daughter.
"Harper?" Maya appeared in the doorway, still in her pajamas. "I heard you on the phone. What happened?"
"Marcus found the connection. Brianna's father donated $500,000 to the DA's campaign right before I got charged with felony assault."
Maya's eyes went wide. "Holy shit!"
"It gets better. Richard's been coordinating with the DA's office and David Morrison. And he paid Emma $75,000 in structured payments to avoid financial reporting requirements." I looked up at her. "Marcus can prove it's a conspiracy."
"Harper, this is huge. This changes everything."
"Does it? Robert Cross's donation is legal. There's no law against donating to a DA's campaign."
"But the timing makes it look corrupt as hell. And combined with everything else Marcus found, it creates a pattern." Maya sat down next to me.
"You just proved that a billionaire weaponized the criminal justice system to get revenge on you for defending yourself against his daughter. That's not going to play well with a jury."
"Assuming the judge lets us present it."
"Monica will find a way. This is too big to ignore." She grabbed her laptop.
"We need to tell her immediately. She needs to start preparing motions to introduce this evidence."
I called Monica and put her on speaker.
"This better be important," she said without preamble. "I'm in court in an hour."
"Marcus found proof of the conspiracy. Brianna's father donated $500,000 to the DA right before I was charged. Richard paid Emma 75,000 in structured payments. Morrison coordinated with Richard before contacting Crew's mom. It's all connected."
Silence on the other end.
Then she said: "Send me everything Marcus has. Every document, every phone record, every financial transaction. I need it today."
"I'll have him send it directly to you," I replied.
"Harper, this is good. This is really good. But we need to be strategic about how we use it." Monica's voice was sharp with focus now.
"The prosecution is going to argue that Robert Cross's donation is irrelevant to your case. They'll say campaign contributions don't prove corruption and that his daughter's lawsuit is separate from the criminal charges."
"But the timing—"
"The timing creates an inference. But inference isn't proof. We need to connect the dots more explicitly." She paused. "Is Marcus still investigating?"
"He said two more weeks for the full report."
"Good. Tell him to focus on any communication between Richard Moss and Robert Cross. If we can prove they coordinated, that's game over for the prosecution." Another pause.
"And Harper? Don't talk about this with anyone except Maya and me. If the DA finds out we're planning to expose Robert Cross's involvement, they'll try to bury it before trial."
"Understood." I said firmly.