Chapter 6 - Rebecca’s Choice
When the ferry reached the mainland, Rebecca was waiting.
Alone.
Vincent stepped off.
She looked at Anna.
Then Thomas.
Then Henry.
Then Vincent.
“I’m sorry.”
Vincent didn’t answer.
Rebecca held out her phone.
“Adrian called me again.”
“What did he want?”
“He wants the original manifest.”
Vincent held it inside his coat.
“Why?”
“He says it proves nothing.”
Vincent stared.
“Then why does he want it?”
Rebecca looked down.
“He said if I bring it to him, he’ll leave my father alone.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
Vincent asked:
“And what did you say?”
Rebecca looked at her father.
Then at Vincent.
“I told him no.”
Thomas’s face changed.
Rebecca continued.
“For once.”
Vincent looked at her.
No ring.
No red gown.
No party.
Just a woman standing at a harbor with a choice already made.
“Where is Adrian?”
“At the old Bellini shipyard.”
Henry frowned.
“Closed fifteen years.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He told me to come at noon.”
Vincent checked the time.
11:18.
Thomas said:
“It’s a trap.”
Vincent replied:
“Everything is.”
Anna looked at Rebecca.
“Did he threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Evidence against my father.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“He has plenty.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“He said he could make it look like you killed Michael.”
Vincent stared.
“How?”
“Bank transfers.”
“Travel records.”
“A false witness.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Adrian always kept backup stories.”
Vincent looked at Rebecca.
“You were going to go alone?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my father spent most of his life choosing fear.”
She looked at Thomas.
“I didn’t want to inherit it.”
Thomas looked away.
Vincent’s expression softened slightly.
“Good answer.”
They went to the shipyard together.
Not alone.
Vincent.
Rebecca.
Thomas.
Anna.
Henry.
And me.
I had stopped pretending I was uninvolved.
The shipyard smelled like rust and salt.
Adrian stood inside an empty warehouse.
Sixty-one.
Gray at the temples.
Black coat.
Black-stone ring.
He smiled when he saw Vincent.
“Nephew.”
Vincent held up the original manifest.
“You were on the ferry.”
Adrian looked at Henry.
“You finally showed him.”
Henry nodded.
“Yes.”
Adrian sighed.
“You old men become sentimental.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Did you kill Julia?”
Rebecca stopped breathing.
Thomas looked at Adrian.
Anna stared.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“No.”
“Did you pay her doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep him quiet.”
“About what?”
“She was sick.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
“That’s not what Michael wrote.”
“Michael wanted someone to blame.”
“Did you change the autopsy?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at Vincent.
“Because Julia died from medication she wasn’t prescribed.”
Silence.
Anna whispered:
“What medication?”
Adrian looked toward Thomas.
Thomas went pale.
Vincent noticed.
“What?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
Adrian smiled.
“Ask him.”
Vincent turned.
Thomas whispered:
“I brought it.”
Rebecca stared.
“Dad?”
Thomas began crying.
“Julia called me.”
“She was panicking.”
“She couldn’t sleep.”
“She asked for something to calm her.”
Vincent stared.
“You gave her drugs.”
“I gave her pills.”
“Unprescribed.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know they could kill her?”
“No.”
Adrian interrupted.
“But I did.”
Everyone turned.
Vincent’s face went cold.
Adrian continued.
“I switched the bottle.”
Silence.
Thomas looked horrified.
“You told me they were the same.”
“They weren’t.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Vincent whispered:
“You used Thomas to deliver them.”
Adrian nodded.
“Yes.”
“So you killed Julia.”
Adrian tilted his head.
“She took the pills.”
Vincent moved.
Thomas grabbed him.
“Vincent!”
Adrian smiled.
“There he is.”
Vincent stopped.
He looked at Thomas’s hand on his arm.
Then at Adrian.
“No.”
He stepped back.
“You don’t get to decide what kind of man I become.”
Adrian’s smile faded.
Rebecca’s phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She held it up.
Live video.
Anna’s house in Maine.
Someone inside.
Vincent looked at Anna.
She stared.
Adrian smiled again.
“You brought everyone here.”
“Yes.”
“But you left something behind.”
Anna whispered:
“Michael’s files.”
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