Chapter 6: A Wife in Red

Elias arrived at the marina carrying one small bag.

The black equipment bag had contained clothing, a camera, and a bottle of whiskey with an unbroken seal. Owen had photographed the contents before returning them. Adrian had complained about the inspection. He had not taken the bag off the yacht.

Elias paused at the gangway. Daniel stood near the aft deck in a navy shirt, looking every inch the hired security man. Owen waited above him.

“You can still walk away,” Owen said quietly.

Elias looked past him. Selene stood under the upper-deck awning in a red dress, waving as if they were leaving for a holiday.

“I know.”

He boarded.

For the first hour, the trip looked almost ordinary. Owen took the yacht out past the harbor markers. A deckhand served coffee. Selene spoke about a hotel they had visited when they were newly married. Elias remembered the trip. Their room had been so small they could reach the bathroom door from the bed.

“You said we’d own one someday,” she told him.

“I said we’d build one.”

“You always correct that story.”

“Because we did build it.”

She smiled, but her eyes moved toward the wheelhouse.

Adrian arrived by launch shortly before noon, at the agreed pickup point. Elias met him on the aft deck.

“I didn’t expect you,” Elias said.

Adrian stepped aboard with practiced ease. “Selene told me you knew.”

“I know now.”

“That’s a start.”

He wore a pale shirt and white trousers. He looked as relaxed as he had at the café while handing Selene the folder.

At lunch, Adrian brought up East Point within ten minutes.

“The buyer’s still interested,” he said. “They might even improve the offer.”

“No.”

“You haven’t heard the new figure.”

“I haven’t authorized you to negotiate.”

Adrian set down his fork. “Selene said you might be willing to listen.”

“Then she was mistaken.”

Selene reached for her glass. “I wanted us to talk without an audience from your office.”

“We have one now,” Elias said.

Adrian gave a short laugh. Selene did not.

Elias stood. “I’m going to speak to Owen.”

He found Daniel near the stern. The security man showed him his phone, keeping the screen low.

Launch remains available. Kate and Jonah in position. Owen knows.

Elias nodded once. He had also sent Beth the promised midday check-in. If he missed the next one, she would contact the investigator.

He went to the wheelhouse. Owen pointed to the chart.

“Adrian asked me to stop at waypoint four,” he said. “I told him you would decide.”

“Keep moving past it.”

“That may force the issue.”

“I know.”

A sharp voice rose from the deck below. Selene’s.

When Elias came down, she and Adrian were standing beside the cabin door. Adrian held a small black camera in his hand. It was one of the cameras Owen used to record activity on the aft deck.

“I asked him why I’m being filmed,” Selene said.

“It’s a security camera,” Elias replied.

“On a private anniversary trip?”

Adrian opened the camera housing and removed its memory card.

“Put it back,” Elias said.

“Why? Is there something you wanted us to say?”

Owen stepped onto the deck. “That belongs to the vessel.”

Adrian slipped the card into his pocket. “Then you can ask for it when we dock.”

The deckhand stood frozen beside the cabin. Owen told him to go inside and stay there. Daniel remained by the rail, watching Adrian’s hands.

Elias knew other cameras were still running. Owen had confirmed their locations before departure. He did not look toward them.

“I found the East Point agreement,” Elias said to Adrian. “You requested a certified copy.”

Adrian’s smile thinned. “A business dispute. Talk to your lawyer.”

“I have.”

Selene stepped between them. “Elias, stop.”

“Did you know he used my signature?”

“I knew he had an offer.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

The engines changed pitch. Owen had slowed the yacht, but they were still moving. Through the open side of the deck, Elias saw empty water in every direction.

Selene folded her arms. “You came here to accuse me.”

“I came because you asked me to.”

“You brought Daniel. You had Owen record us. How long have you been planning this?”

Elias looked at her. “Long enough to hope I was wrong.”

For an instant, grief crossed her face. He recognized the woman who had sat beside him in the leaking first hotel, making lists of everything they would repair. Then Adrian put a hand at her back, and she stepped away from Elias.

“You never trusted me with the company,” she said.

“I trusted you with my home.”

“You gave me a beautiful house and expected that to be enough.”

“What did you want?”

“To stop waiting for whatever you decided I deserved.”

Adrian glanced toward the wheelhouse. “We’ve talked enough.”

“No,” Elias said. “Selene and I haven’t.”

He saw her look at Adrian before she answered. “You want me to say I knew about the marina? Fine. I knew.”

“And Sunday?”

She took a breath. “I arranged a day on our boat. You turned it into an interrogation.”

“Why bring Adrian out here?”

“Because you won’t sell while you can still call East Point yours.”

The words hung between them. Elias waited, but she said no more.

A thud came from the starboard passage. The deckhand reappeared at the cabin door, pale.

“Captain,” he called, “the tender’s delivery crate is open.”

Owen turned toward him. Adrian moved at the same moment, reaching for the deckhand’s arm. Daniel caught Adrian’s wrist.

For a few seconds, all four men struggled in the narrow space. Elias started toward them. Someone struck him hard from behind.

He hit the deck on one knee. A second blow drove the air out of him. By the time he could raise his head, Adrian had broken free. The deckhand was inside the cabin again, the door slammed shut.

Elias looked back. Selene stood behind him, holding the heavy metal handle from the equipment bag. Her hand shook.

“You hit me,” he said.

Her face was white. “You were going to ruin everything.”

Adrian seized Elias’s arms. Daniel moved toward them, but Selene pointed the handle at him.

“Stay where you are,” she said. “I mean it.”

Daniel stopped. Elias could see Owen at the passage to the wheelhouse. He was alone, too far away to get to them before Adrian forced Elias against the rail.

“You told me she wouldn’t do it herself,” Adrian said, breathing hard.

“I didn’t think she would,” Elias replied.

Adrian bound Elias’s wrists with a length of cord from his bag. Selene watched. Somewhere below them, metal scraped against metal.

The chain and anchor had been brought aboard after Owen’s last inspection.

Adrian attached the chain around Elias’s ankles. He worked quickly, checking the fastening twice.

Selene came close. Wind lifted the hem of her red dress.

“Twelve years,” Elias said. “Was any of it real?”

Her eyes filled, but she did not look away. “Some of it.”

“Then stop him.”

“You’ll take everything from me if I do.”

Elias had the sudden, terrible wish that she had simply lied. It would have been easier to endure than hearing her weigh his life against what she might lose.

Owen called from the wheelhouse passage, “Selene, step back from him.”

Adrian pulled Elias toward the open side gate. Daniel followed, keeping his hands visible. The yacht rolled gently beneath them.

Selene’s fear hardened into a decision.

“Do it,” she said.

Adrian shoved the anchor over first.

It struck the water with a deep splash. The chain raced after it, rattling across the deck. Elias braced against the rail and twisted toward Daniel. For one brief second, their eyes met.

Then the chain snapped taut around Elias’s ankles and dragged him over the side.