CHAPTER 7: THE LAST VOYAGE
Victor did not appear surprised to see us.
That frightened me more than anger would have.
He had expected me.
Celeste stepped forward.
“Let Nathan go.”
Victor studied his daughter.
“You still believe loyalty will save you.”
“I don’t want your kind of loyalty.”
Nathan looked at me from the chair.
His confidence was gone.
“Evelyn, help me.”
I almost laughed.
After everything he had done, he still believed my compassion was something he could demand.
Victor walked toward me.
“You look like Helena.”
“Do not say her name.”
“She was brilliant. Unfortunately, she confused morality with strength.”
“You murdered her because she exposed you.”
“I stopped her because she would have destroyed everything we built.”
“You mean everything you stole.”
Victor’s smile faded.
He held up a remote control.
Red lights appeared along the walls of the cargo compartment.
He had rigged the vessel to burn its records and sink before investigators could seize it.
“If I release this switch,” he said, “the evidence disappears.”
Celeste moved closer to him.
“So do you.”
“I have escaped worse.”
Nathan began struggling against the chair.
“Victor, listen to me. I can still fix this.”
Victor looked at him with disgust.
“You could not control one woman.”
Nathan’s eyes found mine.
For the first time, he understood that Victor had never respected him.
Nathan had sacrificed his marriage, his company, and his freedom for a man who considered him disposable.
I touched the sapphire pendant still hanging around my neck.
Victor noticed.
“Recording me?”
“Transmitting you.”
His gaze sharpened.
I continued speaking.
“The ship’s location, your confession, and the explosives have already been sent to federal agents.”
Victor pressed the remote.
Nothing happened.
Celeste raised a small electronic component in her hand.
She had removed the receiver while Victor focused on me.
His face twisted with rage.
He lunged toward her.
Nathan threw his body sideways, knocking Victor off balance with the chair.
The compartment erupted into chaos.
Federal agents entered from both stairwells.
Victor ran toward the upper deck.
Celeste followed.
I reached Nathan and cut the rope around one wrist.
“Get me out of here,” he begged.
“You are not leaving with me.”
“Evelyn, please.”
I stopped.
He had never said that word when I was the one asking for mercy.
“Tell the investigators everything,” I said. “That is the only help you’re getting.”
On the upper deck, Victor reached the railing.
A helicopter hovered over the harbor.
Agents surrounded him.
Celeste stood several feet away.
“It’s over,” she said.
Victor looked at his daughter.
Then he looked at me.
“You think your father is better than I am?”
“No.”
My answer surprised him.
“He admitted what he did. You built your entire life around blaming everyone else.”
Victor lifted his hands.
The agents arrested him.
Nathan was carried from the ship under guard.
As he passed me, he whispered, “I loved you once.”
I met his eyes.
“No, Nathan. You loved what you thought you could take from me.”
By sunrise, Victor Monroe was in federal custody.
But when investigators searched the ship’s records, they found a final transaction authorized three hours earlier.
Blackthorn Manor had been transferred to an unknown company.
The purchaser’s identity was hidden behind an encrypted trust.
Only one name appeared in the authorization notes.
May you like
HELENA VALE.
My dead mother had just purchased my home.
