Chapter 15 - When Grace Walked Away Again
The federal interview lasted six hours.
Nathan answered every question.
He did not invoke privilege except where his lawyers instructed.
He explained the subsidiary.
The off-book phrasing.
The legitimate research.
The later misuse of the same vendor structure by Rhodes.
Investigators did not accuse him.
They did not clear him either.
That uncertainty became another headline.
WHITMORE CEO QUESTIONED IN $61 MILLION FRAUD PROBE.
Mia saw it at school.
A parent had left a news alert open on a phone.
That evening she asked:
“Are you a thief?”
Nathan stopped.
Grace was standing behind her.
“No.”
“People say you are.”
“People don’t know yet.”
“But you know.”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t they believe you?”
Nathan sat beside her.
“Because sometimes figuring out the truth takes longer than saying something scary.”
Mia considered that.
“Rebecca said judges believe things if you say them enough.”
Grace’s face tightened.
Nathan shook his head.
“She was wrong.”
Mia looked at him.
“Was she?”
He had no easy answer.
Later, Nathan discovered Grace packing.
Again.
“What happened?”
She did not look at him.
“I’m taking Mia to your father’s house for two nights.”
“Why?”
“Because the reporters found my sister’s address.”
Nathan’s anger rose.
“At you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll increase security.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“What is?”
Grace finally turned.
“This family has become a battlefield.”
“I’m fixing it.”
“No. Police are fixing parts. Lawyers are fixing parts. You are still trying to personally fix everything.”
“I’m her father.”
“And Mia needs her father, not a commander.”
Nathan stiffened.
Grace continued.
“She listens to every phone call. She sees every guard. She asks whether Charlotte is going to jail. She asks whether you’re going to jail.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stop making the investigation the center of the house.”
“That’s easy to say.”
“Yes.”
Grace’s voice softened.
“And hard to do.”
Nathan looked at Mia’s empty chair.
“What if I stop and Marcus wins?”
Grace shook her head.
“There. That.”
“What?”
“You still think if you stop moving for one second, everyone dies.”
Nathan stared.
“That’s what Olivia meant.”
He looked away.
Protecting someone means controlling the situation.
Grace continued.
“I’m taking Mia to Edwin’s. Not because you’re dangerous. Because she needs two days where nobody says Mariner, trust, board, Rebecca, prosecution, or evidence.”
Nathan wanted to refuse.
His whole body wanted control.
Instead he said:
“Okay.”
Grace stared.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to call Edwin twelve times?”
“Probably six.”
“Nathan.”
“Twice.”
“Once.”
He smiled weakly.
“Once.”
Mia left with Grace.
The house became unbearable.
Nathan walked into Olivia’s old home office.
He found himself reading her letter again.
Then Maya arrived.
“You’re alone?”
“For forty-eight hours.”
“Good. We have a disaster.”
“Excellent.”
Daniel Rhodes had changed his story.
After beginning cooperation, he now claimed Nathan knew about certain vendor diversions.
“Why?”
“Marcus reached him.”
“How?”
“Not directly. We suspect through Rhodes’s family.”
Nathan leaned back.
“They threatened him?”
“Or paid him.”
“So our strongest financial witness is compromised.”
“Yes.”
“And Charlotte?”
“Her cooperation helps, but defense lawyers will call her self-interested.”
“She is.”
“Exactly.”
Nathan stared at the ceiling.
“What proves the money trail without them?”
“Original vendor approval records.”
“We have those.”
“Some.”
Rhodes had apparently used approval PDFs generated from WMG’s procurement server.
Several critical originals were missing.
Maya continued.
“The auditors believe an offline backup exists.”
Nathan almost laughed.
“Where?”
“Your yacht.”
“Everything is on my yacht.”
“Because WMG’s former security policy mirrored executive backups to Aurelia whenever you worked onboard.”
Nathan stood.
“Then get them.”
“We tried.”
“What?”
“The backup array was removed.”
Nathan froze.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Who accessed the server room?”
“Captain Shaw is checking.”
Nathan called immediately.
The captain answered.
“Nathan.”
“Who went into the server room?”
Silence.
“Eric?”
“We have a camera gap.”
Nathan’s stomach turned.
“How?”
“The local feed was manually disabled for nine minutes.”
“By whom?”
“Someone with engineering access.”
“Crew?”
“Four people.”
Nathan remembered the lesson cabin.
Dark status light.
Disabled cameras.
Again.
Captain Shaw continued.
“One deckhand remembers seeing Rebecca near the service stairwell the week before her arrest.”
“That was weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“But the array disappeared last night.”
Another person had continued her work.
Nathan asked:
“Is Charlotte aboard?”
“No.”
“Rhodes?”
“In federal custody.”
“Marcus?”
The captain hesitated.
“His yacht docked at Goat Island last night.”
Nathan went cold.
Mariner Crown’s 220-foot yacht, Imperium.
Less than a mile away.
Maya immediately called investigators.
Then Nathan’s phone received a message.
Unknown number.
A photograph.
The missing backup array sitting on a polished black table.
Beside it was Olivia’s blue notebook.
Not the original—police had that.
A photocopy.
Message:
YOU KEEP DIGGING UP THE DEAD.
LET’S DISCUSS THE LIVING.
Nathan showed Maya.
Another message arrived.
A photograph of Mia leaving Edwin’s house with Grace earlier that afternoon.
Taken from across the street.
Nathan’s blood froze.
Maya said, “Call Grace.”
He did.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then Grace called back.
“We’re fine.”
“Get inside.”
“What?”
“Now.”
She heard his voice.
No argument.
A minute later Edwin confirmed they were secure.
Nathan forwarded everything to Detective Chen and federal agents.
The sender was traced through layers of routing.
No immediate location.
Then a final message appeared.
MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.
AURELIA.
COME WITH THE ORIGINAL PROCUREMENT FILES.
NO POLICE.
Nathan stared.
Maya said, “You are absolutely not doing that.”
Nathan looked toward Newport Harbor on the map.
Marcus was nearby.
The missing backup server was nearby.
The conspiracy’s remaining proof was nearby.
And someone had photographed his daughter.
The threat had crossed every line.
May you like
Nathan said:
“We’re not waiting until midnight.”
