Chapter 5 - The Man at the Boardroom Table
Charles Wynn had held Ethan the day he was born.
He had delivered the eulogy at Michael Parker’s funeral.
He had spent every Christmas with the Parker family for nearly two decades.
Now his signature sat beneath Richard’s on the document authorizing Claire to be buried before sunrise.
Claire called him from the hospital.
He answered on the second ring.
“Claire?”
She said nothing for three seconds.
Charles began crying.
“Oh God.”
“You knew I was alive?”
“No.”
“You signed my burial authorization.”
“Richard told me—”
“I saw your signature.”
“He said the cemetery needed a board representative because the family plot belonged to the Parker estate.”
“You didn’t think a 7:00 a.m. burial was strange?”
“I didn’t read it carefully.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“A living woman almost went into the ground because you didn’t read carefully?”
“Claire, please.”
“Come to the hospital.”
Silence.
“Charles?”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Another long silence.
Then Charles whispered:
“They’re watching me.”
The call ended.
Detective Ortiz immediately attempted to trace it.
Charles’s phone went dark.
Two hours later, his car was discovered at a train station.
No Charles.
No luggage.
No sign of a struggle.
Nora looked toward Claire.
“He’s running.”
Claire shook her head.
“Or Richard is removing people.”
That evening, Ethan sat alone near the hospital window staring at the photograph Nora had brought.
His father.
The marina.
Three white circles.
Three knocks.
Open the first door.
He turned the photograph over.
Nothing.
He looked at the front again.
Then he noticed Michael’s wristwatch.
The time was frozen at 8:17.
Ethan showed Claire.
“Was Dad’s watch broken?”
She examined the picture.
“No.”
“What happened at 8:17?”
“I don’t know.”
Nora looked up from her papers.
“What date was the photograph taken?”
Claire checked the handwritten date.
September 14.
Nora opened her laptop.
Michael died on September 21.
Exactly seven days later.
Ortiz searched the marina’s old records.
One thing appeared.
On September 14 at 8:17 p.m., Michael Parker had used his security badge to enter Storage Building 3.
He remained inside for eleven minutes.
No one else entered.
Nora looked at Ethan.
“Three knocks.”
Building Three.
Claire whispered, “The Harbor Ledger.”
The next morning, Ortiz drove Claire, Ethan, and Nora to the old marina under police protection.
The property had been abandoned for years.
Rust covered the gates.
Storage Building 3 stood at the far edge of the water.
Three faded white circles remained on its door.
Ethan touched them.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Nothing happened.
Ortiz examined the lock.
“It was replaced recently.”
That was wrong.
The marina had been closed for five years.
Someone had been here.
Police broke the lock.
Inside were rotting shelves, old boating equipment, and water-damaged boxes.
Ethan noticed three metal hooks on the rear wall.
The center hook was slightly crooked.
He pulled it.
A section of wooden paneling released.
Behind it sat a small waterproof case.
Claire covered her mouth.
Michael had hidden it seven years earlier.
Inside were several flash drives.
A handwritten ledger.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And a digital voice recorder.
Ethan pressed play.
His father’s voice filled the empty building.
“If Claire is hearing this, then something happened to me.”
Claire gripped the shelf.
Michael continued.
“Richard Hale has been moving money through Parker Meridian subsidiaries for at least three years.”
Ortiz began recording the playback.
“The amount is larger than I first thought. Possibly forty million dollars.”
Ethan looked at his mother.
Michael’s voice shook slightly.
“He has help.”
A page turned.
“Dr. Owen Kessler.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Paul Danner at Evergreen Memorial.”
Ortiz looked sharply toward Nora.
Then Michael spoke the next name.
“Charles Wynn.”
Claire staggered backward.
Nora caught her.
Michael continued.
“I don’t know how deeply Charles is involved.”
The recording crackled.
“But if anything happens to me, do not assume an accident.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
Then came the final sentence.
“And if Richard ever gets close to Claire, understand this—”
A loud metallic crash interrupted the recording.
Everyone turned.
The marina door slammed shut.
Ortiz drew her weapon.
A second later, gasoline began pouring beneath the door.
May you like
Someone outside struck a match.
And Michael Parker’s hidden evidence went up in flames.
