Page 190
“Guilt is an anchor forged from questions no one was brave enough to answer.”
—James Sinclair
“I was supposed to be on the Mariner’s Crown that night.”
Mom’s confession silences the conference room.
On the security feed, police officers rush into Hazel’s apartment. They check the two unconscious officers in the hallway before searching every room.
Simon is already gone.
I turn away from the monitor.
“Why were you supposed to be there?”
Mom lowers herself into a chair.
Nathan remains beside her, but he doesn’t touch her this time. He waits for her to decide whether she needs him.
“Donald Cross contacted me three days before your father died,” she says. “He claimed there was a problem with one of the accounts I managed for James.”
“You worked for Grandpa?” Ivy asks.
“Part-time. After Hazel was born, I helped with the charter accounts from home. James hated paperwork.”
“He hated anything that kept him off the water,” Thomas says.
Mom gives a sad nod.
“Donald said he had discovered payments made through a Sinclair account to a company connected to Blackwater. He asked me to meet him aboard the Mariner’s Crown and bring copies of James’s financial records.”
“Why you?” Storm asks. “Why not Grandpa?”
“Donald said James was responsible for the missing money.”
Thomas grips the arms of his chair.
“James never stole from anyone.”
“I knew that. But Donald showed me copies of transfer documents with James’s signature.”
“Forged,” Nathan says.
“Yes.”
“You believed him?” I ask.
Mom looks at me.
“I didn’t believe James stole the money. I believed someone was trying to make it appear that he had.”
“So you agreed to meet Donald.”
“I wanted to learn what he knew.”
“Alone?”
“I didn’t tell your father.”
