Chương 13
“Mr. Royce, did you know about the Halcyon Star records?”
“Are you cooperating with federal investigators?”
“Did your company cover up crew deaths?”
Celeste’s shoulders tightened.
Damian moved in front of her, blocking the cameras.
“Do not answer,” Ruth said.
One reporter shouted, “Mr. Royce, are you protecting your daughter or your company?”
Damian stopped.
Ruth grabbed his sleeve. “Keep moving.”
He looked at the reporter, a young woman holding a microphone beneath the hospital awning. Her question was crude, public, and unanswerable.
It was also the correct question.
He got into the car without speaking.
Celeste stayed at Damian’s Manhattan townhouse because her apartment address had become public. The townhouse was narrower and less grand than the estate, though it contained enough unused rooms to make normal life seem theoretical.
Bell established rules: no alcohol, limited screens, regular sleep, light walking, no work, and immediate medical attention if symptoms worsened.
Celeste broke the screen rule within an hour.
Damian found her at the kitchen counter reading coverage of Peter’s arrest on a tablet. The townhouse cook had left soup in a covered pot and a note saying it needed salt.
“You’re supposed to rest.”
“I am sitting.”
“You’re supposed to avoid screens.”
“I turned down the brightness.”
He took the tablet.
“You’re becoming Miriam.”
“She has useful qualities.”
“That may be the first nice thing you’ve said about her.”
“She isn’t here.”
He tasted the soup. It did need salt.
Celeste watched him add too much, then dilute it with water.
“Have you called Marcus?”
“He hasn’t answered.”
“Leave a message.”
Damian stirred the soup.
“Dad.”
He set down the spoon and called again.
Voicemail.
This time he spoke.
“Marcus, I asked whether your position was secure enough to tell me the truth. It was a contemptible question. Your position should not determine whether you are permitted honesty. I am sorry.”
He paused.
Celeste motioned for him to continue.
He turned away from her.
“I also blamed you for information being used against Celeste when the responsibility began with my own reporting structure. I am not asking you to return the call immediately. I am asking you to call when you are willing.”
He ended the message.
Celeste nodded. “Acceptable.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
“You rarely are.”
They ate soup at the kitchen counter. Neither mentioned Peter for almost ten minutes.
Celeste complained that the townhouse refrigerator made a whining sound. Damian said it had made the sound for years. She asked why he had not repaired it. He said he had never noticed.
“That,” she said, “is the company.”
“It is a refrigerator.”
“I know. I’m concussed, not poetic.”
He looked at the appliance.
The sound was faint but persistent.
He called the property manager the next morning.
Marcus returned the call at seven fifteen.
“I heard your message,” he said.
Damian stood in the townhouse study overlooking the street. “And?”
“And I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“You could say whether you accept the apology.”
“That would make it easier for you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not ready.”
Damian gripped the phone more tightly. “Understood.”
Marcus seemed surprised by the answer.
“I’ve been placed on administrative leave,” he said. “The special committee is reviewing my access decisions.”
“I can speak to Elena.”
“Don’t.”
“I can explain—”
“That is what people say before making something worse.”
Damian looked through the window. A sanitation truck blocked the street. Two workers argued about a parked car.
“What will you do?” he asked.
“Cooperate. Hire my own lawyer. Try not to read comments online.”
“Are there comments?”
“There are always comments.”
A pause followed.
Marcus said, “Peter’s people are suggesting I arranged the camera outage and stole the master credential.”
“They’re lying.”
“Probably.”
“Not probably.”
“You don’t know.”
“I know you.”
“That has not prevented you from using me when it was convenient.”
Damian said nothing.
Marcus continued, quieter, “I don’t mean the schedules or calls. That was my job. I mean you made me the person who told everyone no, delayed access, softened orders, absorbed anger, and pretended the decisions were administrative. Then when Celeste came to the house, I did what I always do. I managed information. I didn’t ask whether the system itself was dangerous.”
“You are not responsible for her attack.”
“I am responsible for my choices.”
The sentence sounded like Celeste.
Damian sat behind the desk. “Will you come speak with her?”
“Does she want me to?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say so?”
Damian hesitated.
Marcus gave a tired laugh. “Ask her.”
Celeste did want him to come.
He arrived that afternoon carrying a paper bag from a bakery she liked. Before entering the room, he asked whether she could tolerate visitors. Before sitting, he asked whether the lamp was too bright. His carefulness irritated her after three minutes.
“Marcus, I have a concussion. I’m not a glass ornament.”
“I have had an unusually educational week regarding assumptions.”
She opened the bag. “You bought six pastries.”
“I did not know which one you wanted.”
“You have ordered breakfast for me for nine years.”
“I thought people might be tired of me deciding what they want.”
Damian stood near the window, wisely silent.
Celeste chose an almond croissant. Marcus took coffee. Damian took nothing until Celeste pushed a pastry toward him.
“Eat.”
He ate.
Marcus told them that the special committee’s forensic review had found his stolen master token inside Grant Mercer’s operations locker.
Grant claimed it had been planted.
“By Peter?” Celeste asked.
“Possibly.”
“Or Grant,” Damian said.
“Or someone with access to the locker,” Marcus replied.
“Grant controlled the room.”
“So did his deputy on alternate shifts. Eight officers had key access. We should stop making the exact mistake Peter expects.”
Damian looked at him.
Marcus lifted one shoulder. “My position is already insecure.”
Celeste hid a smile behind the pastry.
May you like
The forensic review produced a more troubling result two days later.
The internal Halcyon Star records had not been altered solely after the fire. Maintenance risk classifications had been downgraded repeatedly over eighteen months. The practice affected at least nine vessels.
