Chapter 11 - The Call From Shore.
Marianne’s confession changed every face on the deck.
Lena stared at her aunt, waiting for the correction that never came.
“You spoke to him three days after the Meridian disappeared.”
Marianne nodded once.
“By phone.”
“Where was he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Marianne looked toward the lighthouse.
“He told me the official story had to stand.”
Lena’s voice sharpened.
“The official story said he was dead.”
“I know.”
“And you agreed?”
Marianne’s eyes closed briefly.
“Yes.”
Lena took a step back as though distance might make the answer easier to understand.
“You let me believe he was dead.”
“I believed it would keep you alive.”
Noah moved beside Lena without touching her.
Captain Mercer looked stunned.
“You never told me Elias contacted you.”
Marianne turned on him.
“You had already been removed from the investigation and threatened with prosecution for falsifying the manifest.”
“What prosecution?” Lena asked.
The captain’s jaw tightened.
Marianne answered.
“Someone accused Grant of deliberately concealing Noah’s presence aboard.”
Captain Mercer gave a bitter laugh.
“I did conceal it after the fact.”
Lena looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your father ordered me to keep Noah’s name out of the public report.”
Noah frowned.
“You never told me that.”
“I was trying to keep a seventeen-year-old boy from being blamed for a disappearance he did not cause.”
Lena looked at Marianne.
“And my father called you.”
“Yes.”
“Did he ask about me?”
Marianne’s face broke slightly.
“First.”
Lena looked away.
The ocean wind pushed her hair across her face.
“What exactly did he say?”
Marianne swallowed.
“He said, ‘Tell Lena I loved her before you tell her anything else.’”
Lena’s eyes burned.
Marianne continued.
“Then he said someone had gained access to Whitmore accounts, shipping records, and private family documents.”
“Who?”
“He refused to name them.”
“Why?”
“He said phones were not safe.”
Noah looked toward the lighthouse.
“Did he mention the island?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Marianne’s hands tightened together.
“He said if anyone asked about the island, I was to deny knowing it existed.”
Lena stared at her.
“And tonight you tried to stop us from going there.”
“Yes.”
“Because you are protecting him?”
Marianne did not answer.
Lena felt the implication before she could say it.
“You think he might still be alive.”
Marianne’s silence was louder than words.
Noah looked at Captain Mercer.
The captain’s face had lost all color.
“Elias would be sixty-four now.”
Marianne nodded.
Lena’s phone rang.
The sound made everyone jump.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Lena answered.
“Hello?”
A man’s voice spoke softly.
“Ms. Whitmore, you need to leave that yacht.”
Lena looked at Noah.
“Who is this?”
“My name is Marcus Dain.”
Marianne went rigid.
Lena remembered the name from the investigation receipt.
“Your father was Graham Dain.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“The investigator.”
“Yes.”
Marianne stepped toward Lena.
“Hang up.”
Lena raised a hand to stop her.
Marcus continued.
“I know what Sterling told you.”
“You don’t know anything about what I’ve been told.”
“I know he told you about the trust.”
Lena’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“Because he has been trying to acquire it for two years.”
Noah shook his head sharply.
“Put him on speaker.”
Lena did.
Marcus’s voice filled the deck.
“Noah Sterling is not helping you recover your father’s property.”
Noah answered.
“Then tell her what I bought from Vale Maritime for one dollar.”
Marcus paused.
Lena looked at Marianne.
She looked equally surprised.
Marcus’s voice returned.
“You bought an option agreement.”
Noah’s expression hardened.
“You do know.”
Lena stepped closer.
“What option agreement?”
Noah answered without taking his eyes off the phone.
“The right to block any private buyer for twenty-four hours.”
“You bought that from Marianne?”
“Yes.”
Marianne stared at him.
“I never signed an option agreement with you.”
Noah looked at her.
“Yes, you did.”
“No.”
Celeste came onto the deck with her laptop.
“The signature was executed through Vale Maritime’s legal agent.”
Marianne’s face changed.
“Marcus.”
The phone went silent.
Lena felt the pieces shift again.
“Marcus, did you sell Noah an option in my aunt’s name?”
His tone remained calm.
“I executed a protective transaction.”
“For whom?”
“For Lena.”
Noah laughed once.
“You charged us one dollar because you needed the transaction to exist on paper, then leaked it to Marianne as evidence that I was buying her assets.”
Marcus did not answer.
Lena stared at the phone.
“Why are you telling me to leave?”
“Because the yacht is heading toward the same location where your father disappeared.”
“We are anchored.”
“Then you are closer to danger than I thought.”
A second light appeared on the horizon.
Captain Mercer reached for binoculars.
Marcus continued.
“I have a vessel ten minutes from you.”
Lena looked at the distant light.
“That’s yours.”
“Yes.”
“I can take you back to shore.”
Noah stepped closer.
“Lena, don’t.”
Marcus heard him.
“That is exactly what he said fifteen years ago when investigators wanted to question him alone.”
Noah’s face tightened.
“That is a lie.”
Marcus ignored him.
“Ms. Whitmore, ask Sterling to show you the original passenger manifest from the Meridian.”
Lena looked at Noah.
He did not move.
Marcus continued.
“Not Grant Mercer’s personal log.”
“The official manifest.”
“Ask him whose name appears beside his.”
The call ended.
Lena stared at Noah.
“Whose name?”
Noah’s eyes lowered for the first time all night.
Lena’s voice became quiet.
“Whose name is beside yours on the manifest?”
Noah finally looked up.
May you like
“Your mother’s.”
The Black Gift Box |
