Chapter 3 - The Man Behind the Debt
The next morning, Mara returned to Costa Marine.
She expected to feel relieved.
Instead, every corner frightened her.
The old office.
The repair sheds.
Her mother's roses.
The boat lifts.
Everything looked the same.
Yet nothing was.
Dominic arrived shortly after sunrise.
Mara watched his black SUV cross the yard.
He stepped out wearing a dark coat.
She hated how quickly her pulse changed whenever she saw him.
“Your father's accounts are clean.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“I checked.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes.”
“Legally?”
“Yes.”
She crossed her arms.
“Then what did you find?”
“Gambling debts.”
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing linked to the company.”
She exhaled.
“So he really lost it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why target me?”
Dominic looked at the waterfront.
“Because Costa Marine is valuable.”
“It's not worth that much.”
“The property is.”
“Because of the tunnels.”
“Yes.”
He walked toward the old shed.
Mara followed.
“What is under there?”
Dominic stopped.
“Your mother found something.”
“What?”
“She found original shipping records.”
“From when?”
“Before Costa Marine existed.”
Mara stared.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
He pointed to the shed foundation.
“This was once part of the old port.”
“My mother never said.”
“She didn't want you involved.”
“Again.”
He looked at her.
“You're angry.”
“Yes.”
“You have every right.”
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes it harder to stay angry.”
A faint smile appeared.
Mara immediately disliked how much she liked it.
“What was my mother looking for?”
Dominic answered.
“A missing shipping registry.”
“What is that?”
“Documentation proving who controlled the original waterfront leases.”
Mara frowned.
“Why does it matter now?”
“Because the leases may still have legal value.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning the person who controls the records may have a claim over the land.”
She looked at him.
“Who?”
Dominic was silent.
Mara stepped closer.
“Who?”
“Your family.”
She froze.
“What?”
“Your grandfather's company controlled this waterfront.”
Mara's mouth fell open.
“My grandfather?”
“He sold the rights.”
“To whom?”
“Mercer Maritime's predecessor.”
Mara shook her head.
“So my family sold the land.”
“Partially.”
“But Mom still owned it.”
“Because the transfer was never completed.”
Mara looked toward the yard.
Everything she believed about Costa Marine had been built around a half-finished transaction.
Dominic continued.
“Your mother discovered the transfer was invalid.”
“Which means?”
“Costa Marine may have been illegally absorbed into a larger company decades ago.”
Mara stared.
“And you knew.”
“I knew pieces.”
“You could have taken the property.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because your mother refused.”
She smiled bitterly.
“She really did hate you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“She respected me.”
Mara's expression changed.
“You sound certain.”
“She told me.”
“About what?”
“That if you ever had to choose between me and the truth, choose the truth.”
Mara stared.
For a second, she couldn't breathe.
That sounded exactly like her mother.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
“Repeat that.”
Mara watched.
He hung up.
“What?”
“Someone accessed the yard's old security system last night.”
“Who?”
“Your father's account.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Dad?”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He opened the security log.
A name appeared.
Graham Pike.
Mara stared.
“But Pike doesn't work for the yard.”
“He doesn't have to.”
“What did he access?”
“Your mother's old office.”
They ran there.
The office had been locked since Ellen's funeral.
Mara entered.
Dust coated everything.
Her mother's desk.
Her books.
Her old coat.
A framed photograph of Mara at nineteen.
Dominic walked to the filing cabinet.
“One drawer is open.”
Mara frowned.
“That was always locked.”
They searched.
Inside was a hidden compartment.
Empty.
Except for one scrap of paper.
Bluebird.
Mara frowned.
“What is Bluebird?”
Dominic went still.
“You've seen the word before?”
“No.”
He took out his phone.
“The company uses Bluebird as an internal project code.”
“For what?”
“Acquisitions.”
“Which acquisitions?”
He searched.
Then his eyes narrowed.
“Costa Marine.”
Mara stared.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
The year her mother died.
“So Dominic…”
“Yes?”
“Someone planned to take the yard before Mom died.”
“Yes.”
“Was it you?”
“No.”
She studied him.
“I believe you.”
He looked surprised.
“You do?”
“I think you're arrogant.”
“That seems fair.”
“And controlling.”
“Also fair.”
“And terrifying.”
“Occasionally.”
“But I don't think you're lying.”
Something in his expression softened.
“Mara.”
“Yes?”
“I didn't come into this to take your yard.”
“Why did you come?”
He looked toward her mother's photograph.
“To finish what she started.”
Before Mara could ask what that meant, a gunshot cracked outside.
Dominic grabbed her.
He pulled her behind the desk.
Security rushed into the room.
Another shot.
Then silence.
A bullet had shattered the photograph of Ellen.
Mara stared at the broken glass.
Dominic's arm remained around her.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
His face was inches from hers.
For a second, they forgot the danger.
Then Mara whispered:
“Let me go.”
He did.
Slowly.
They stood.
Outside, security found a shell casing.
But no shooter.
On the ground was another note.
You are looking in the wrong place.
Dominic read it.
Then Mara noticed something underneath.
A photograph.
Her father.
Standing beside Graham Pike.
And beside them—
Dominic's older brother, Julian Mercer.
May you like
Dead for twelve years.
Dominic's face went white.
