Chapter 4 - THE PRICE OF KEEPING A PROMISE
"Stop it."
Elena's voice cut through the recording.
Adrien pressed the button.
The office became silent.
Elena stared at Grace.
"You were there."
Grace nodded.
"Yes."
"You took me home."
"Yes."
"Because somebody paid you?"
Grace recoiled.
"No."
Elena laughed once, a terrible little sound.
"Then tell me why my father believed somebody close to me had betrayed him."
Grace took a shaky breath.
"Because I was supposed to."
Adrien frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Grace looked at the floor.
"Carlo Bellini asked me to pretend I had agreed to help Vincent."
Elena felt something cold move through her chest.
"Why?"
"Because Vincent was watching everyone Thomas trusted. Carlo believed somebody inside the cooperative was feeding information to him. He needed Vincent to think Thomas was isolated."
"Did my father know?"
"Not at first."
Elena closed her eyes.
She remembered that night.
Rain against the kitchen window.
Grace's blue car parked at the curb.
Her father kneeling to button her coat even though she was old enough to do it herself.
He had kissed her forehead.
Then he told her to listen to Grace.
She had been angry because he was missing her school concert.
Those were her last words to him.
You always care more about the docks than about us.
The memory had haunted her for twenty-three years.
"Did he know I was upset?" she whispered.
Grace's tears spilled.
"He did."
Elena pressed the silver watch against her chest.
"Did he say anything?"
Grace nodded.
"He said you'd understand when you were older."
Elena looked away.
She did understand now.
And it hurt worse.
Adrien moved toward the recorder.
"We need the rest."
Grace shook her head.
"Not until you understand what happened that night."
She sat in the leather chair, suddenly looking all of her sixty-one years.
"Thomas and Carlo planned to expose the illegal fees. They had already secured promises from independent operators. The cooperative would own the warehouses, loading equipment, and access rights."
"Then why didn't they register it?" Adrien asked.
"Because the financial records showed somebody had pledged those same assets as security for private loans."
Elena frowned.
"Who?"
Grace looked toward the photograph.
"Carlo believed it was Vincent."
"And Thomas?"
"He believed the records had been altered to make Vincent look responsible."
Adrien folded his arms.
"So they disagreed."
"More than that. Thomas accused Carlo of hiding something."
Elena thought of the recording.
Her father had sounded angry.
But not frightened.
"Play the rest," she said.
Adrien pressed the button.
Carlo's voice emerged.
"If you walk out now, Thomas, you won't make it home."
Her father answered.
"Then let the truth come out while I'm still standing."
A door opened on the tape.
Footsteps.
Then another voice.
A woman's.
"Thomas, please listen."
Grace covered her mouth.
Elena stared at her.
"That's you."
Grace nodded.
On the tape, Thomas spoke again.
"Grace, take Ellie home. Whatever happens, don't bring her back here."
Then a scraping sound.
Carlo said, "They're coming."
The recording ended abruptly.
Elena waited.
Nothing followed.
"No," she whispered. "There has to be more."
Adrien turned the cassette over.
Both sides were blank after the interruption.
Marco examined the recorder.
"The original tape may have been cut."
Grace looked at Elena.
"Vincent's men arrived minutes later."
"What happened?"
"Carlo sent me out through the kitchen with your father."
Elena froze.
"My father left?"
Grace nodded.
"He was alive when we reached the service entrance."
"Then why didn't he come home?"
Grace could barely speak.
"Because a car was waiting."
Elena gripped the desk.
"What car?"
"A dark green sedan. Thomas recognized the driver. He told me to go back inside and make sure you were safe."
"Did you see the driver?"
"No. The rain was heavy."
Elena felt fury rise.
"You never told my mother?"
"I told her Thomas left alive."
"She said nobody would answer her questions."
Grace lowered her head.
"Because I didn't know where he went."
Adrien looked troubled.
"Why would my father seal the office afterward?"
Grace looked at him.
"He was protecting what remained of the cooperative."
"By hiding everything?"
"He thought exposure would cause a war."
Adrien rubbed his forehead.
"My father spent the rest of his life telling me that peace was worth almost any price."
"And people like my father paid it," Elena said.
He accepted the words.
"Yes."
They searched the office for another hour.
Inside the leather notebook, Adrien found references to three waterfront accounts.
Elena recognized two business names from the settlement Vincent had brought.
The third was unfamiliar.
Blue Harbor Holdings.
Its initials had been written repeatedly in the margins.
BHH.
Beside one entry, Thomas had drawn a small blue flower.
Elena touched the mark.
"The same flower as my watch."
Grace nodded.
"Thomas designed that symbol for the cooperative."
Adrien studied the notebook.
"Then Blue Harbor Holdings was probably connected."
"Can we find out who owned it?"
"I can have our accountant examine the public records."
Elena gave him a sharp look.
"Your accountant?"
Adrien met her eyes.
"You're right. Someone independent."
She was surprised he agreed.
He continued.
"I know you don't trust me. But this happened inside my family's business. That makes it my responsibility to help uncover it."
Elena wanted to tell him responsibility wasn't the same as innocence.
Instead, she said, "Then start by canceling tonight's agreement."
Adrien looked toward the dining room.
"That could reopen the waterfront dispute."
"Signing it could destroy the businesses my father tried to protect."
He considered her words.
Then nodded.
"You're right."
For the first time that evening, Elena felt a small measure of relief.
It vanished when they returned to the dining room.
Vincent was standing beside the table, speaking to the other men.
The settlement lay open.
And every signature line was filled.
Adrien stopped.
"What have you done?"
Vincent smiled without warmth.
"The families agreed. You're the host, Adrien. Not a voting member."
"You cannot transfer those rights without verification."
"Perhaps not. But the signatures authorize tomorrow's operational changes."
Elena looked at the paper.
"Tomorrow?"
Vincent nodded.
"At six in the morning, the new management begins."
He turned to her.
"Since you're so concerned about your little friends, you might want to tell them."
Adrien stepped forward.
"You're not enforcing anything tomorrow."
Vincent's smile faded.
"You should be careful."
Elena heard footsteps behind her.
Ruth Delaney stood in the restaurant entrance.
Her gray coat was wet from the rain.
In her hand was a folded notice.
"Elena," she said, her voice shaking, "they've posted eviction orders on the repair shops."
Elena hurried toward her.
"What?"
Ruth handed her the notice.
It carried the name Blue Harbor Holdings.
And at the bottom was a signature.
May you like
A signature Elena knew better than her own.
THOMAS WARD.
