Chapter 4 - The Town That Wouldn't Look Away
Within minutes, thirty locals surrounded the road.
Fishermen.
Mechanics.
Dockworkers.
Sheriff Barnes arrived last.
He stepped from his cruiser.
“Gwen.”
“Morning.”
Barnes looked at the black SUVs.
Then Victor.
Then Adrian.
Then Gwen.
“I assume there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.”
“No.”
“Thought so.”
Victor smiled politely.
“Sheriff, this is a private family matter.”
Barnes looked around.
“You brought armed security onto private property.”
Victor's smile weakened.
“They're licensed.”
“Maybe. But Maine has this funny tradition where strangers don't get to invade Gwen Miller's property before breakfast.”
Gwen nodded.
“We're sentimental.”
Victor turned toward Adrian.
“Come home.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Not with you.”
Victor lowered his voice.
“You're embarrassing the family.”
“You tried to kill me.”
The crowd went silent.
Victor laughed.
“You're delirious.”
Adrian reached into his damaged shirt pocket.
He removed something small.
A memory card.
Marcus stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“From the helicopter.”
Gwen remembered.
When she pulled Adrian free, his fist had been closed around something.
She had assumed it was debris.
Victor's face changed.
Adrian held up the card.
“The flight recorder stored maintenance diagnostics locally.”
Victor stared.
“You don't know what's on it.”
“No.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“But judging by your face, I should probably find out.”
Victor stepped forward.
Barnes moved between them.
“That's enough.”
Victor stopped.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
More police.
Adrian turned to Gwen.
“You planned this?”
“I called one fisherman.”
“One?”
“News travels fast when people are bored.”
Victor backed toward his SUV.
“This isn't over.”
Adrian's expression became cold.
“For you, it is.”
Victor left.
But Adrian knew better than to celebrate.
That evening, Gwen found him sitting outside her workshop.
His bandage had been professionally replaced.
Marcus had brought a doctor.
She handed Adrian coffee.
“You're still here.”
“So are you.”
“I live here.”
“Good argument.”
She sat beside him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Gwen asked, “What happens now?”
“We analyze the card.”
“And Victor?”
“If it proves what I think it proves, he loses everything.”
“You mean prison?”
Adrian looked toward the ocean.
“If the evidence reaches the right people.”
Gwen studied him.
“You really are mafia.”
He sighed.
“I knew we'd eventually have this conversation.”
“Do you hurt people?”
Adrian looked at her directly.
“I've done things I'm not proud of.”
“That's not an answer.”
“No.”
Her expression hardened.
He continued.
“But the organization I inherited isn't the one my father built. I've spent years moving our businesses legitimate.”
“Victor doesn't like that.”
“No.”
“Because crime pays better?”
“Because crime gives men like Victor power.”
Gwen stared at the water.
“Then why not walk away?”
“Because walking away leaves him everything.”
That answer she understood.
Sometimes abandoning something broken didn't solve the problem.
Sometimes you had to repair it.
Marcus approached.
“We recovered the data.”
Adrian stood.
“And?”
Marcus handed him a tablet.
“Maintenance authorization was changed forty-eight hours before departure.”
“Authorized by?”
Marcus looked at Gwen.
Then Adrian.
“Victor Salerno.”
Adrian's face became unreadable.
Gwen stood.
“That's enough, isn't it?”
“For an investigation.”
Marcus shook his head.
“But there's more.”
He opened another file.
“A payment.”
“To whom?”
“The maintenance contractor.”
Adrian read the screen.
His eyes narrowed.
Marcus said, “Victor paid him through a shell company.”
Gwen exhaled.
“Then it's finished.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor knows we have this.”
Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Boss.”
“What?”
Marcus lowered the phone.
May you like
“Victor disappeared.”
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