Chapter 7 - THE ISLAND OF GHOSTS

Saint Orison appeared through the morning fog like the remains of a forgotten war.

Black cliffs surrounded most of the island.

A narrow dock extended from the southern shore.

Above it stood the abandoned communications station, a concrete building wrapped in rusted antennas and salt-stained glass.

Our official boat stopped two miles away.

Celeste would be watching the harbor.

My father and I approached in a smaller vessel operated by Daniel Cross.

Federal teams remained beyond radar range.

Rebecca coordinated the operation from the command ship.

The music box rested inside a waterproof case beside me.

It was real.

The biometric key was not.

My father’s technicians had copied the visible components while leaving the hidden cylinder aboard the command vessel.

Celeste would receive enough to believe she had won.

Not enough to access the archive.

As we reached the dock, loudspeakers crackled above us.

“Elias.”

Celeste’s voice traveled across the empty station.

“You look older than your photographs.”

My father scanned the cliffs.

“Release Nathan.”

A laugh echoed from the speakers.

“You always begin with demands.”

“That habit is why Lillian hated working with you.”

My father’s jaw tightened.

I touched his arm.

Celeste wanted anger.

We could not give it to her.

“Where is Nathan?” I called.

A metal door opened at the top of the dock.

Conrad Price stepped outside.

Celeste’s attorney was no longer wearing a suit.

He carried a rifle and wore tactical gear.

That answered several questions about his role.

“Place the box on the dock,” he ordered.

“Show us Nathan first.”

Conrad raised one hand.

Two men dragged Nathan through the doorway.

He could stand, but barely.

His face was swollen.

A plastic restraint secured his wrists.

When he saw me, shame passed across his expression.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said.

Celeste appeared behind him.

She wore a long black coat.

A pistol rested casually in her hand.

“You see, Amelia?”

“Even your husband understands that rescuing him is foolish.”

“I didn’t come to rescue my husband.”

Nathan flinched.

I kept my eyes on Celeste.

“I came to recover a federal witness.”

Her smile faded.

“You sound like your father.”

“You spent years trying to make me feel ashamed of that.”

“It didn’t work.”

Celeste descended the steps.

Nathan remained between the armed men.

“Give me the box.”

“What is inside the Meridian archive?”

“The truth.”

“Whose truth?”

“Everyone’s.”

She moved closer.

“Your father built Vale Dominion by gathering secrets.”

“My father built a system.”

“Victor wanted to sell access to that system.”

“Your mother stopped him.”

Celeste’s voice sharpened.

“My father created Meridian to survive Elias Vale.”

“Your father created Meridian to move criminals and stolen money.”

“History is written by the person who controls the records.”

She extended her hand.

“Give them to me.”

I placed the case on the dock.

Conrad retrieved it.

He scanned the silver box and nodded.

Celeste ordered her men to push Nathan forward.

Nathan stumbled toward us.

For one moment, I thought the exchange might succeed.

Then Conrad opened the box.

The melody began playing automatically.

A red light flashed beneath the dancer.

Celeste’s face changed.

“This is a copy.”

My father moved in front of me.

Celeste raised her pistol.

The first shot struck the dock near our feet.

Daniel pulled us behind a concrete barrier.

Gunfire erupted from the station.

Nathan dropped to the ground.

The federal teams moved sooner than planned.

Boats emerged through the fog.

A helicopter crossed the cliffs.

Agents flooded the southern shore.

Celeste grabbed Nathan and pressed the pistol against his side.

“Call them off.”

Rebecca’s voice sounded through a hidden earpiece.

“Keep her talking.”

I stepped from behind the barrier.

My father tried to stop me.

I moved beyond his reach.

“You still need me,” I said.

Celeste pulled Nathan closer.

“I need your biometric scan.”

“Then killing me would be inconvenient.”

She stared at me.

“Walk toward the station.”

I obeyed.

Every step carried me farther from my father.

Closer to the woman who had planned my destruction.

When I reached Nathan, he looked at me with desperate eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Save it for the courtroom.”

Celeste pushed him aside.

Then she seized my arm and dragged me through the steel door.

Before it closed, I looked back at my father.

May you like

The housekeeper was supposed to be invisible. Instead, Sophia Hale becam...

Victoria: You will never get a single cent of this family inheritance! M...

The billionaire father was told his son had died. Then the maid smashed...

He had once failed to follow my mother.

This time, he followed me into the darkness.