Chapter 4: The First Betrayal

Elias called Daniel before he called the police.

“Where did you get the order?”

“Owen found it in the delivery packet. The chain and anchor are due at the south yard tomorrow morning.”

“Can he refuse the delivery?”

“He can. But Adrian will know we’ve seen it.”

Elias sat on the edge of the bed. Selene was asleep beside him, one hand resting on his pillow. He looked at that hand as Daniel waited for an answer.

“Have Owen photograph everything when it arrives,” Elias said. “He isn’t to put either item aboard.”

“And you?”

“I’m calling the investigator.”

By breakfast, the investigator had the supply order. He asked Elias whether there was an innocent reason for the purchase.

“The

Meridian

already has anchors,” Elias said. “This one was ordered separately, under my former adviser’s name, for a trip my wife arranged without telling me he’d be there.”

“I understand why you’re concerned. Keep sending us anything that changes.”

It was an honest answer. It left Elias no safer.

At ten, Beth called from Ward Coastal.

“You need to come in.”

Two board members were waiting in the conference room when he arrived. So was Martin Price, the company’s finance director. Martin had worked for Elias for nine years. He would not meet Elias’s eyes.

A paused video filled the wall screen: Elias outside the January dinner, one hand against a wall, his balance unsteady.

“This was sent to us this morning,” said board member Claire Bennett. “Along with a letter from Selene.”

Elias looked at Martin. “You brought them here?”

“I thought they should see it before the press did.”

“Selene sent this to you?”

“She says she’s worried about your judgment,” Claire said. “She also says you accused her of plotting against you.”

“I asked why Adrian Vale had been in my house.”

Claire’s expression tightened. “Did you?”

“Yes. Because someone used an account from that house to put my name on a marina sale I never approved.”

Elias laid Beth’s copy of the agreement on the table. He showed them the account log and Adrian’s request for a certified copy.

Martin leaned forward. “Adrian told me you’d changed your mind about East Point.”

“And you believed him without asking me?”

“You’ve reversed decisions before.”

“Name one signed sale agreement I’ve reversed.”

Martin looked down.

Elias explained the video. He told them the restaurant and his physician could confirm why he had left. Claire listened, but the letter from Selene lay in front of her, covered with notes.

“What exactly are you asking us to do?” she said.

“Preserve the records. Stop anyone acting on that sale. Revoke Adrian’s remaining access, if he has any.”

“That part is straightforward,” Claire said. “But until we’ve reviewed everything, Martin will need a second approval on major transactions.”

Elias wanted to protest. The company was his life’s work. Giving up even temporary control because Selene had written a convincing letter felt like letting Adrian inside it.

Then he thought of the forged agreement.

“Fine,” he said. “Put the restriction in writing. Apply it to everyone, including Martin.”

Martin’s head lifted. “Why me?”

“Because Adrian told you about a sale that wasn’t authorized, and you said nothing.”

Claire agreed to the review. Elias left the room with Beth, who shut his office door behind them.

“Martin leaked the video,” she said.

“He might have received it with Selene’s letter.”

“He opened the company archive containing the original dinner footage at eight this morning. I checked while you were inside.”

Elias took a breath. “Can you prove what he did after that?”

“Not yet. I can preserve the access record.”

“Do it. Don’t confront him.”

Beth folded her arms. “You lost signing authority in there.”

“Temporary sole authority.”

“You know what I mean.”

He did. Selene and Adrian had made him look unreliable enough that his colleagues were measuring every word he said. Martin had helped them do it.

His phone rang. Selene.

“How was the meeting?” she asked when he answered.

Elias stopped beside the window. “Which meeting?”

“I heard the board wanted to see you.”

“From Martin?”

“From Claire. She called to ask whether I was all right.”

Elias watched Beth’s expression change.

“You sent them a letter,” he said.

“I was scared for you.”

“You should have spoken to me.”

“I have tried. You follow me. You question who comes to our house. Last night you stayed awake staring at me.”

He had thought she was asleep.

“I found a document signed in my name,” he said.

“Then report it. But don’t turn me into your enemy because you’re under pressure.”

She sounded tired and wounded. Elias remembered how often that voice had brought him back from a hard day. For a moment, he wanted to tell her about the anchor order and ask her to explain it.

Instead he said, “I’ll see you tonight.”

After the call, Beth showed him another access record. Martin had opened the full dinner video, then downloaded the short edited clip from a separate folder Adrian’s old team had used.

Elias forwarded both records to the investigator.

Before he could leave, a message arrived from Owen. The delivery had come early. He had photographed the unopened packing list, the chain, and the anchor. Adrian had called twice to ask whether the equipment was aboard.

Owen had told him it was being inspected.

A second message arrived a minute later.

Selene wants Martin Price added to Sunday’s shore contact list. Did you approve that?

Elias read it twice.

Martin would be the person told first if something happened at sea. By the time Beth read the message over his shoulder, Elias understood why Adrian had worked so hard to make the board doubt him.