Chapter 11 - The Marina
Arthur kept walking.
Reed’s team was positioned in vans beyond the marina entrance, but the fog made visual coverage almost useless.
Lucas lifted the pistol slightly.
“Phone.”
Arthur tossed it onto the dock.
“Wallet.”
Arthur obeyed.
“Now the wire.”
Arthur’s stomach sank.
Lucas laughed.
“You people watch too much television.”
Arthur peeled the microphone from beneath his shirt and dropped it.
“Where’s the file?”
“Where’s the money?”
“Escrow account. Four million. You get the code when I see the original evidence.”
Lucas studied him.
“You really loved her, didn’t you?”
“Rebecca?”
“Who else?”
Arthur stepped closer.
“What happened to her?”
Lucas’s jaw tightened.
“She should have minded her own accounts.”
“They were her accounts.”
“She found transactions she didn’t understand.”
“She understood enough to scare you.”
Lucas raised the gun.
“Careful.”
A boat engine rumbled somewhere in the fog.
Arthur glanced toward the sound.
A small cabin cruiser drifted into view.
Elena stood at the wheel.
For the first time since this began, she looked tired.
“Get on,” she said.
Lucas motioned with the gun.
Arthur boarded.
The boat moved into the river.
Arthur realized Reed’s team would lose him within minutes.
“Elena,” he said, “you told me you had proof.”
“I do.”
“Who cut the brake line?”
She looked at Lucas.
Lucas said, “Don’t.”
Elena ignored him.
“Graham.”
Arthur’s chest tightened.
“Pike?”
“He tampered with the car.”
“On whose order?”
Silence.
Arthur looked at her.
“Yours?”
Elena’s eyes flashed. “I wanted Rebecca scared. I wanted her to stop pushing the audit. I never told anyone to kill her.”
Lucas swore.
Arthur heard the distinction.
“You ordered someone to sabotage her car.”
“I told Graham to make it fail in the driveway. He said he could loosen something. She was supposed to miss a meeting and think twice.”
“But she drove onto the highway.”
Elena looked away.
“And died.”
“I didn’t know he cut the line completely.”
Arthur’s voice shook. “You knew for five years.”
“I knew after.”
“And you married me.”
Elena met his eyes.
“That was not the original plan.”
The words were worse than denial.
Arthur stared at her.
“What was the original plan?”
Lucas grabbed Elena’s arm. “Enough.”
She jerked free.
“Arthur deserves one honest answer.”
She looked at him.
“After Rebecca died, your company bought Laurent debt at a discount. You saved us without realizing it.”
Arthur felt cold.
“So you married me to stay close to the money.”
“At first.”
Lucas stepped forward.
“Give us the account code.”
Arthur said nothing.
Lucas pressed the gun against his ribs.
“Now.”
Then a voice came from the dark cabin behind them.
“Don’t hurt my dad.”
May you like
Arthur turned.
Evan stepped into the light.
