Chapter 13 - Monica’s Bargain
Monica entered the private observation lounge just after midnight.
Anna sat with her back to the windows.
Monica stopped in the doorway.
For the first time in twenty-eight years, she saw the cousin she had helped erase.
“Hello, Monica.”
Monica’s knees nearly failed.
“You’re really alive.”
Anna’s expression did not change.
“You knew that.”
“I knew in 1998.”
“And in 2006 when you signed the affidavit?”
Monica looked away.
“Yes.”
Adrian stood beside Anna.
Helen remained near the opposite wall.
Monica’s eyes went to her empty neck.
“I’m sorry about the locket.”
Helen laughed once.
“No, you aren’t.”
Monica flinched.
“You’re sorry it belonged to someone important.”
Silence.
Helen continued.
“If it had belonged to my mother, you would still think throwing it into the ocean was funny.”
Monica’s eyes lowered.
That accusation landed differently than the corporate ones.
Because it was true.
Anna said, “Where is Pike’s file?”
Monica stared.
“Charles told you?”
“He left a recording.”
“My father never knew about that tape.”
“Apparently Charles had secrets too.”
Monica almost smiled.
Then stopped.
“The file is in Nassau.”
“Where?”
“A private vault.”
“Whose name?”
“Mine.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve controlled evidence for how long?”
“Since 2010.”
Anna stood.
“What is in it?”
“Pike’s notebooks.”
“About the crash?”
“Yes.”
“Payments?”
“Yes.”
“Orders?”
Monica swallowed.
“One.”
Everyone froze.
“A written instruction?” Naomi asked through video.
Monica nodded.
“From Walter.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What does it say?”
“I don’t remember exact language.”
“Try.”
Monica closed her eyes.
“Prevent A.S. from delivering Meridian material. Permanent solution authorized if recovery fails.”
Anna’s face drained of color.
Helen sat down.
Adrian whispered, “Permanent solution.”
Monica nodded.
“The note has my father’s initials and Pike’s receipt notation.”
“Why didn’t you destroy it?”
Monica looked at Anna.
“Because I knew someday I might need protection from him.”
Anna’s laugh was cold.
“You watched him hunt me for decades and kept the proof as insurance for yourself.”
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked everyone.
Monica began crying.
“I’m not going to pretend I was brave.”
Anna walked closer.
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“You benefited from my death.”
“Yes.”
Monica wiped her face.
“I was sixteen when I learned what my father could do.”
“And thirty-four when you were still lying.”
Monica looked down.
“I know.”
Adrian asked, “Why throw the locket?”
Monica breathed out.
“My father told me if Helen still had it, she was probably still in contact with Anna.”
“So you were looking for it.”
“Yes.”
“Why not simply report it?”
“I wanted Helen frightened.”
Helen stared.
Monica looked at her.
“I thought if I humiliated you, you’d quit at the next port.”
“You could have cost me the last thing Anna gave me.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Helen’s voice hardened.
“You know the sentence. You don’t know the cost.”
Monica had no answer.
Anna asked, “What do you want in exchange for the Pike file?”
Adrian snapped, “She doesn’t get to bargain.”
Anna looked at him.
“Everyone bargains.”
Monica said, “I want my father prevented from touching my assets.”
Naomi answered.
“We can’t guarantee that outside legal process.”
“I want security.”
“Possible.”
“I want prosecutors told I cooperated.”
“They’ll be told the truth.”
“And I want Adrian to stop trying to destroy me publicly.”
Adrian laughed.
“You framed Helen for theft.”
“That was my father.”
“You filed the complaint.”
Monica looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Helen spoke.
“Take the deal.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“I didn’t say forgive her.”
Helen looked at Monica.
“I said get the file.”
Anna nodded.
Adrian hated it.
Then agreed.
Not immunity.
Not protection from consequences.
Security.
Counsel.
Accurate credit for cooperation.
Nothing more.
Monica provided vault credentials.
Nassau authorities and outside counsel arranged lawful retrieval the following morning.
The Pike file existed.
Inside were handwritten surveillance logs covering Anna’s movements after the crash.
Payments from Walter-controlled accounts.
Copies of intercepted letters.
Photographs.
And the instruction Monica remembered.
Walter’s initials appeared beside it.
Forensic handwriting analysis would take time.
But the document’s age, paper and surrounding records were consistent with 1998.
The strongest evidence yet.
Then Adrian made his next mistake.
He authorized a public statement.
Naomi objected.
Anna objected.
Helen objected.
He did it anyway.
The statement said Sterling Oceanic had uncovered credible evidence of historic wrongdoing and that the company would cooperate with authorities.
No names.
No Anna.
No Walter.
Adrian believed transparency would calm lenders.
Instead markets interpreted it as confirmation of massive undisclosed liability.
Blackwake announced it might withdraw.
Two banks froze a revolving facility pending review.
Travel media exploded.
Bookings fell fourteen percent in forty-eight hours.
Walter seized the moment.
He called an emergency board session.
This time the vote passed.
Seven to four.
Adrian Sterling was placed on temporary leave as chief executive.
He remained a shareholder.
He remained aboard.
But operational authority transferred to an interim committee chaired by Walter.
Adrian stared at the resolution.
Naomi stood beside him.
“You were warned.”
“I know.”
“Why did you issue the statement?”
“I thought telling the truth would help.”
“Truth and timing are different disciplines.”
He looked toward Anna.
She said nothing.
That was worse.
The interim committee immediately ordered the Aurora Crown to proceed to Miami.
It also terminated Lucas’s special security authority and directed Helen to leave the ship at the next port.
Then Walter sent Anna a message.
Not hidden.
Not anonymous.
Direct.
You came back too late.
Attached was the Blackwake closing schedule.
Forty-eight hours.
May you like
If the transaction closed, billions in fleet assets would move beyond Sterling Oceanic.
And Adrian no longer had executive authority to stop it.
