Cornelius Crane Novels & Stories

He answered call after call without looking at me. “What’s happening?” I pulled my robe tighter, hoping maybe if I clung to something familiar the world would remain steady. His voice had a quiet in it that made my stomach drop. “Stock crash.” My brain lagged. “What do you mean—stock crash?” He turned and I saw the dark that wasn’t in his eyes alone. “Walter Crane orchestrated a leak. Confidential reports, fabricated losses, whispers of fraud. Investors are panicking. Harrington Tower’s stock is free-falling.”

A new man replaces the old. Elias Crane. His picture gleams in fresh ink. It was clean-cut, poised, the golden heir with that same Crane look of command. The words beneath his photo read: Elias Crane — The Future of Crane Industries. My jaw tightens. I can feel my nails digging into my palms. The workers laugh at something one of them says, the sound blending with the city noise. I don’t hear the words. All I hear is the echo of old applause, the flash of cameras, and cheers.

“Then he’s got her ambition too.” She stared at the scorched crates, the black sunburst logo burned into the metal. The symbol looked like it was watching her. “Find out who he is,” she said. Lena coughed behind them, still pale from smoke inhalation. “Already on it. The archives mention a man named Silas Crane — one of Cassidy’s original financiers. He disappeared three years before she took power.” Vincent frowned. “Crane… I’ve heard that name. Industrial magnate. Used to run steel plants outside the city. Ruthless.”

“I don't know how I feel about surprises, Charlotte, “ he said, stooping down to the bag and emptying its contents onto the floor. I nearly gagged as soon as a head rolled out of the bag, a trail of slimy, blackened blood following after it. I did my best to swallow whatever had travelled to my throat back, doing my best to remain unaffected. Declan stopped the head from rolling with his foot. He kicked it forward, looking at the charred face of the person. “He was a hard cockroach to kill. My men had to use fire to take him out, and I lost good men for it”, I said. Declan squatted down in front of the head and poked at it with his fingers, seeming to be oblivious to all my side comments. I

He said softly and took her hand gently. Hannah lifted her head in surprise. “She had heard that name before. She could not believe it. She was standing next to the first son of the Crane automobile company. Nicolas had been abroad for years before returning to the city and as such was not well known in the city, but she knew about him from one of Grace’s journalistic research. Realizing this, she was even more puzzled, wondering how the son of the billionaire family was involved in a messy situation like this. “You’re the heir of the Crane family.” She whispered and quickly shook off the man’s hand, realization dawning on her again.

she said and looked at me. Madeline gave me the same confused look I wore on my face. “Crane Industry helped me get the building together after an incident happened with Clinton's Empire which almost destroyed the building,” she said some more and everyone's attention was on me. “Clinton Empire abandoned my mansion but Crane Industry came to my rescue,” she said and smiled wryly. She was handed a glass of champagne, “to Crane Industry for their amazing work,” “To Crane Industry,” the crowd cheered and I could hear Katherine's voice behind me.

“Come in, Crane. Iris leave. You have new duties to attend to. Go find Emmett and begin starting the process to take over as head of my staff. Remember, you do not have authority or anything to do with my personal slave. If I find out you have gone against my commands there will be consequences. I’m trusting you to follow orders and do your job properly.” I can tell Iris wants to protest, but instead she is smart and leaves the room. Crane approaches my desk. He gives me better reports than Nora. Nora just tells me Clara is fine, but that’s it. Crane gives me better reports, but today is important because it’s about the time he said she should be healed. “Tell me, Crane, how is my slave?” I

Crane smiled. “No. You burned a contingency. I, on the other hand, was already gone.” Elias clenched his fists. “You sent the boy to bait me.” “No,” Crane said. “He sent himself.” The boy didn’t flinch. “He’s not lying.” Crane turned to Elias. “I see you’ve evolved. More defiant. Still slow to understand.” Charlotte stepped between them. “You’re dead, Crane. The world thinks you’re dead. Why crawl out now?” Crane’s eyes gleamed.

The name on the access log was Evelyn Crane. Arthur Crane's mother. She was eighty-one years old and had been a silent partner in the family legal practice for fifty years before retiring a decade ago. Her name appeared in the Kingsley legal directory because she had drafted the original family charter in 1974 — a piece of institutional history so remote that nobody had thought to question her continued, nominal access to the firm's client files.

Most likely, he would torture him or his servant until he was given the stone. Carson picked up the phone and called Ted. He put in an order and told Ted to get it to him by tomorrow night, and he would give him a little extra. Ted loved to blow stuff up, and he was an arsonist, which would be satisfactory enough for him, but the extra money wouldn’t hurt either. He started calling in the cavalry so they would be here tomorrow night when the flamethrowers arrived. This way, Ewan could go over his plan and not have to wait for everyone to arrive.