Chapter 7 - What August Buried at Sea
The man in the crew uniform identified himself as Elias Ward, deputy security director.
Captain Moreau had sent him through a service corridor after the main elevators were disabled.
Clara examined the photograph.
August stood on the deck of the original Augusta. Richard was perhaps twenty-five. The other man was older, broad-shouldered and unsmiling.
“Victor Vale,” Richard said.
“Adrian’s father?” Sienna asked.
“Yes.”
Elias pointed to the back of the photograph.
A handwritten note read: Found in Archive Locker Seven.
“Why bring this to me?” Clara asked.
“Because Locker Seven was opened ten minutes ago using your credentials.”
“Adrian.”
“Most likely.”
Clara looked at Richard.
“What does the sentence mean?”
Richard sat on the edge of the bed.
For the first time, he looked old.
“Victor was not August’s partner. He was his investigator.”
“Investigating what?”
“Me.”
Evelyn made a quiet sound.
Richard continued.
“I was running a private investment fund using maritime clients. Victor discovered that I had redirected insurance reserves.”
“You stole from the company,” Clara said.
“I borrowed money.”
“Did you repay it?”
“No.”
“How much?”
“Initially? Eight million.”
Sienna stared.
“Initially?”
Richard looked toward the window.
“The losses grew.”
Clara forced herself to remain calm.
“What did Grandpa do?”
“He removed me from operations. Victor recommended prosecution. But August refused because public charges would destroy the company and the family name.”
“So he created the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And chose me.”
Richard’s mouth twisted.
“He used you as a lock.”
Clara thought of the compass.
“A lock against you?”
“Against anyone associated with me. He believed I would manipulate Evelyn, and he knew Sienna could be manipulated through Evelyn.”
Sienna looked wounded.
Richard did not apologize.
“He placed voting control in your name because you were away at university and had no involvement in my accounts.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He intended to. Then he became ill.”
“And after he died?”
“I searched for the activation key.”
“The pendant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I had it.”
“I knew he gave you something. You refused to discuss his final visit.”
Clara remembered Richard searching her bedroom after the funeral. He claimed he was looking for insurance documents.
“You spent eleven years trying to access the trust.”
“I spent eleven years trying to protect what should have been mine.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You told me the inheritance vanished.”
“I told you what you needed to hear.”
Something inside Evelyn broke quietly.
Clara might once have tried to comfort her.
She did not.
Elias received an update through his earpiece.
“The bridge has regained partial control. Adrian accessed the executive archive but has not reached the navigation room.”
“Why does he want the compass?” Clara asked.
Richard answered.
“Because the trust is not just ownership documents.”
“What else?”
August’s old ledger suddenly seemed heavier in Clara’s hands.
Richard lowered his voice.
“There is an offshore reserve.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“August moved assets after discovering the theft. Ships, property, patents, insurance settlements. Some estimates placed the reserve above one billion dollars.”
Sienna sat down slowly.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Clara felt no excitement.
Only dread.
“What happens if Adrian gets access?”
“He can’t activate the trust without you.”
“He submitted a marriage certificate.”
“That would give him temporary spousal standing if the beneficiary were declared incapacitated.”
Clara looked at Richard.
“Was that your plan?”
Richard did not answer quickly enough.
Sienna stood.
“You were going to declare Clara incapacitated?”
“It was a legal strategy.”
“You said the trust would be divided.”
“It would have been managed.”
“By Adrian?”
“By me.”
Clara finally understood why the family had excluded her from the cruise.
They expected her to remain home while documents bearing her name were activated aboard the ship.
Her money had financed the operation meant to steal her inheritance.
Richard looked at her.
“I needed Adrian because Victor designed the trust security. Adrian inherited his father’s technical records.”
“And what did Adrian need from you?”
“Access to the family.”
Sienna wiped her face.
“You gave him me.”
Richard’s expression remained cold.
“I gave you a future.”
“You gave him my name.”
The cabin phone rang.
Elias answered.
Captain Moreau spoke briefly.
Elias looked at Clara.
“Adrian has requested a meeting in the old navigation room. He says he has a hostage.”
Evelyn grabbed Sienna.
“Who?”
Elias hesitated.
“He transmitted a live image.”
He turned the phone screen toward them.
Naomi Beck was tied to a chair beneath the original brass wheel of the Augusta.
Behind her stood Adrian.
And beside him was an elderly man Clara had never seen.
Richard recognized him immediately.
May you like
He whispered one name.
“Victor.”
