Chapter 8 - The Fire Alarm)
There was no fire.
That discovery should have been comforting.
It was not.
The alarm had been triggered manually from the engine room control panel.
By the time Captain Morris and two engineers reached the compartment, no one was there.
Lucas had used the warning to create chaos.
In that chaos, Vanessa disappeared from Olivia's suite.
Again.
"How does she keep getting away?" Danil demanded.
Captain Morris did not answer.
He did not need to.
Vanessa knew the yacht better than most guests.
And someone on the crew was helping her.
Emily stayed with Sophie in the main lounge while guests were moved to one side of the deck.
Rumors spread rapidly.
Some people believed the yacht had suffered a mechanical failure.
Others had heard police were coming.
Olivia sat alone on a white sofa, staring at nothing.
Her engagement party had collapsed around her.
Her fiancé had left her side to call his parents.
Emily almost felt sorry for her.
Then Olivia approached.
"Can I talk to Sophie?"
Sophie hid behind Emily.
Olivia stopped.
"It's okay."
Emily looked at Sophie.
The girl shook her head.
Emily said, "Not now."
Olivia's face crumpled.
"I didn't know."
"Know what?"
"Any of this."
Emily believed her.
But belief was not enough tonight.
"Then help us."
Olivia looked toward the hallway.
"My sister had a key."
"The gold one?"
Olivia nodded.
"She wore it after she married Danil. I thought it was jewelry."
"What does it open?"
"I don't know."
Sophie whispered, "Mommy's box."
Olivia looked at her niece.
"I saw that box once."
Danil approached.
"When?"
"At Vanessa's house."
His face hardened.
"Which house?"
"The cottage in Jamestown. The one she owned before she married you."
"I thought she sold it."
"She told you she did."
Emily nearly laughed.
Everything Vanessa told Danil seemed to require a second investigation.
Danil noticed Emily's expression.
He did not defend himself.
"Address?"
Olivia gave it to him.
Danil sent it immediately to the Coast Guard officer coordinating from shore.
Then Olivia said something that changed the investigation.
"Lucas stayed there."
Danil looked at her.
"When?"
"Last summer."
"You knew?"
"I thought he was a consultant."
"You knew his name?"
"No. Vanessa called him Luke."
Danil turned away.
Emily saw anger in every line of his body.
Not just toward Vanessa.
Toward himself.
He had ignored too much.
Trusted too easily.
Explained away things because the alternative would have required him to admit that danger existed inside his own house.
Sophie tugged his sleeve.
Danil looked down.
"Did Mommy know Vanessa?"
The question stopped him.
"I don't know."
Sophie looked toward the laptop Caleb was carrying.
"Maybe she said."
Caleb searched the Hannah archive again.
There were thirty seven audio files.
Most were short notes about financial records.
Several mentioned Lucas.
One mentioned a woman identified only as V.
Danil listened.
Hannah's voice came through.
"Lucas introduced me to a woman named Vanessa Cole at the Newport Foundation dinner. He says she handles private asset structures. Something about her questions bothered me. She asked what would happen to the company if both Danil and Sophie were gone."
Danil's knees nearly gave way.
Emily stared at the screen.
The recording was dated thirteen days before Hannah's death.
Vanessa had known Hannah.
Vanessa had known Lucas.
Vanessa had specifically asked about the consequences if Danil and Sophie disappeared.
Three years later, she was Danil's wife.
Caleb whispered, "Jesus."
Sophie looked confused.
Emily crouched beside her.
"You don't need to listen to any more of this."
"But it's Mommy."
"I know."
"I forgot her voice."
The words broke something in Danil.
He turned away.
Emily saw him wipe his eyes.
Sophie watched him.
Then, very slowly, she walked toward her father.
Danil knelt.
He did not reach for her.
Sophie touched his hand.
"I'm mad at you."
"I know."
"You didn't believe me."
"I know."
"You hit Emily."
His face tightened.
"I know."
"That's bad."
"Yes."
Sophie looked at him for a long time.
Then she said, "You have to say sorry."
Danil looked at Emily.
She crossed her arms.
He stood.
"Emily."
She waited.
"What I did was wrong."
No excuse.
No mention of stress.
No claim that Vanessa had manipulated him.
He continued.
"I hit you because I was angry and because I believed I had the right to control a situation I didn't understand. I didn't."
Emily watched him.
"You could have hurt me worse."
"Yes."
"You could have taught Sophie that adults get to hit people when they're angry."
Danil looked at his daughter.
"Yes."
"You don't get forgiven because you're rich or sorry."
"I know."
Emily studied him.
Then she nodded once.
"Good. Keep knowing that."
A strange sound came from Caleb's laptop.
He turned.
"Someone is trying to access the archive."
"Lucas?"
"Yes."
"Can he delete it?"
"Not if I disconnect."
He pulled the network cable.
The attempt stopped.
Captain Morris rushed into the lounge.
"We found the crew member helping them."
"Who?"
"The waiter."
Emily remembered the young man who had disappeared when Danil first asked about the camera.
Morris continued.
"His name isn't the one on the catering list. Fake identification."
"Where is he?"
"Locked himself in a utility room."
Danil looked toward the corridor.
"Lucas?"
"No. Another man."
Emily felt Sophie's fingers tighten around hers.
Then a crew radio crackled.
A voice said, "Mr. Grant, we found Mrs. Grant."
Danil grabbed the radio.
"Where?"
"Upper rear deck."
"Is she alone?"
A pause.
"No."
"Who's with her?"
The answer came quietly.
"Lucas Vale."
May you like
Another pause.
"And he has your daughter’s blue lockbox."
