Chapter 8 - THE FIRST BETRAYAL
Vivian refused to name the man she had seen beneath Pier Nine.
She insisted the information was her only guarantee of protection.
Celeste wanted to force the truth from her.
Admiral Reed stopped her.
“Fear makes people reveal too little or too much,” he said.
“We need to know which one she is doing.”
Vivian was placed under guard in a guest room.
Arthur remained in Amelia’s study.
He looked older than he had at the beginning of the evening.
Celeste stood beside the fireplace.
“You knew Mom was investigating Julian.”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“She believed he was approving unregistered shipments through Warren terminals.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I confronted him.”
“What happened?”
“He showed me documents with my signature.”
Arthur looked down at his hands.
“They connected me to every shipment.”
“Were the signatures forged?”
“Some were.”
The answer struck Celeste harder than a complete denial.
“Some?”
“I approved contracts without reading the final routing instructions.”
“You let Julian use your name.”
“He was my son.”
“So was I.”
Arthur looked at her.
For the first time that night, shame entered his expression.
“You were never easy to control.”
“That was your problem with me?”
“That was what frightened me.”
Arthur walked toward Amelia’s portrait.
“Your mother was the same.”
“She kept asking questions.”
“She refused to protect the company when she believed it had become corrupt.”
Celeste felt anger rise through her.
“You mean she refused to protect you.”
Arthur did not defend himself.
“On the night she died, she called me from Pier Nine.”
He swallowed.
“She said she had found proof that Julian’s operation involved someone inside the Navy.”
Reed’s posture changed.
“Did she give you a name?”
“No.”
“She asked me to meet her.”
“Did you?”
Arthur looked toward the floor.
“No.”
Celeste’s voice became cold.
“You left her there.”
“I thought she was trying to frighten me.”
“She died forty minutes later.”
Arthur wiped a hand across his face.
“I have lived with that choice every day.”
“That is not punishment.”
Celeste moved toward the door.
“It is comfort disguised as guilt.”
Reed followed her into the corridor.
An agent approached them quickly.
“Admiral, Vivian is gone.”
The guest room window stood open.
A guard lay unconscious on the floor.
May you like
On the bed, someone had written a message in red lipstick.
JULIAN KNOWS ABOUT DAWN.
