Chapter 12 - Harbor Point
Edmund Reed died on October 7 four years earlier when his private helicopter crashed near Harbor Point, Maine.
The official investigation blamed mechanical failure.
Alexander had never questioned it.
Until now.
Detective Hayes requested the archived federal report.
Daniel called the family aviation manager.
Alexander contacted everyone who had been involved.
Within hours an old detail surfaced.
The helicopter’s maintenance contractor had changed eleven days before the crash.
Who approved the change?
Camille Laurent.
Alexander stared at the document.
“She managed Dad’s travel.”
Daniel nodded.
“That isn’t proof.”
“No.”
But neither man believed in coincidences anymore.
Hayes entered the office carrying a folder.
“Thomas Keene interviewed one of the mechanics after the crash.”
Alexander looked up.
“Why?”
“No official reason.”
“Was Keene still working for Dad?”
“Officially, no.”
“Who paid him?”
Hayes placed a bank record on the desk.
Marcus.
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“What did the mechanic tell him?”
“We’re trying to locate him.”
“Name?”
“Samuel Dyer.”
Daniel searched his phone.
“No current listing.”
Hayes continued.
“There’s another link.”
Alexander waited.
“Your father was scheduled to meet Charles Wentworth two days after the crash.”
“About Lily?”
“We believe so.”
Daniel swore softly.
If Edmund was about to formalize or reveal the trust, his death benefited anyone trying to keep Lily hidden.
Alexander hated where that logic led.
Camille.
Marcus.
Keene.
Potentially all three.
But Hayes remained cautious.
“We are not calling Edmund Reed’s crash homicide.”
“Yet.”
“Correct.”
Alexander glanced at Lily playing with blocks in the adjoining room.
She had refused to be separated from him after Hope was taken.
“Any progress on the audio?”
Hayes nodded.
“The sound behind Marcus’s call was a railway crossing bell.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Where?”
“Still narrowing.”
“And the horn?”
“Freight train.”
“How many possible locations?”
“Dozens.”
Alexander cursed.
Hayes continued.
“The metallic sound may have been marine-related.”
Daniel looked at the Harbor Point map.
“Dock?”
“Maybe.”
Alexander stared at the coast.
Marcus knew Harbor Point.
Keene had investigated there.
Could Hope be near the site of Edmund’s death?
Too obvious.
Unless the location meant something else.
Lily suddenly appeared in the doorway.
“Mommy took us there.”
Alexander turned.
“Where?”
She pointed at the map.
“Harbor Point?”
She nodded.
“When?”
“Summer.”
“What did you do?”
“We met Grandpa.”
Alexander stopped breathing.
Daniel whispered.
“Dad?”
Lily looked confused.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“The old man.”
Alexander crouched.
“What old man?”
“Mommy called him Mr. Sam.”
Samuel Dyer.
The missing mechanic.
Hayes immediately moved closer.
“Lily, what did Mr. Sam look like?”
“White hair.”
“Glasses?”
“Yes.”
“Did he have a beard?”
“A little one.”
Hayes showed her an old license photograph.
Lily pointed.
“Him.”
Alexander stared.
Rachel had found the mechanic.
“What happened at Harbor Point?”
Lily thought.
“Mommy talked to him.”
“About what?”
“I played.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“Mommy got mad.”
“What did she say?”
Lily frowned.
“She said, ‘You knew.’”
Alexander and Hayes exchanged a look.
“What did Mr. Sam say?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Anything?”
Lily’s face brightened slightly.
“He gave Mommy a red thing.”
“A red thing?”
“Like a tiny computer.”
USB drive.
Alexander’s pulse quickened.
“Do you know what happened to it?”
“Mommy hid it.”
“Where?”
Lily shrugged.
“Secret place.”
Alexander nearly groaned.
Rachel had collected evidence everywhere.
“Did she tell you?”
“No.”
Lily paused.
“But I saw.”
Everyone went silent.
“Where?”
“In Hope.”
Alexander stared.
“What?”
“In her elephant.”
Hope had a stuffed elephant.
Pink.
Always in the diaper bag.
The kidnappers had taken Hope.
Had they taken the toy too?
Rebecca was called.
“Yes,” she said.
“The elephant disappeared with her.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Marcus had the drive.
Unless he didn’t know.
Hayes immediately asked Lily, “Where in the elephant?”
“Inside the ear.”
“Could you see it?”
“Mommy cut it and sewed it.”
Alexander pictured the toy.
He had seen Hope holding it.
Marcus now had both child and evidence.
“That’s why Rachel always kept the elephant with Hope.”
Hayes nodded.
“And why Marcus may not know where the drive is.”
Alexander’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
Marcus.
“You’re wasting time.”
Alexander glanced at Hayes.
“I’m working on the trust.”
“You have four hours.”
“I need proof Hope is alive.”
Silence.
Then video request.
Alexander accepted.
Hope appeared.
Sitting on a mattress.
Crying.
Pink elephant in her hands.
Alexander’s heart stopped.
“Hope.”
The baby looked toward the phone at the sound.
Her crying slowed.
Alexander nearly collapsed.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
Marcus moved the camera away.
“That enough?”
“Let me talk to her.”
“She’s eleven months old.”
“She knows my voice.”
A cruel laugh.
“Does she?”
Alexander forced himself calm.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“If you want the trust, keep her safe.”
“I have.”
“Feed her.”
“She ate.”
“She needs formula.”
“I know.”
Alexander noticed something behind Hope.
Blue wall.
A round porthole-style window.
Metal floor.
Not a warehouse.
A boat.
Hayes saw it too.
She began writing.
Alexander kept Marcus talking.
“Where’s Camille?”
“Why?”
“She’s part of this.”
“She’s finished.”
“What does that mean?”
Marcus smiled briefly as he turned the camera toward himself.
“She chose you over me.”
Alexander’s stomach tightened.
“And?”
“So she’s no longer useful.”
The call ended.
Hayes immediately shouted.
“Coast Guard.”
Daniel stared at the frozen image.
“It’s a boat.”
“Likely.”
“Harbor Point?”
Hayes pointed to the window.
“Maybe commercial vessel.”
Alexander studied Hope’s elephant.
“She has the evidence.”
“Marcus may not know.”
“We need to get there before he finds it.”
A Coast Guard search began.
Boats.
Marinas.
Shipyards.
Anything matching interior details.
Two hours passed.
Then three.
Marcus’s deadline approached.
Alexander’s attorney prepared fake transfer documents.
At 5:32 p.m., Hayes received a call.
She put it on speaker.
“We identified the vessel.”
Alexander stood.
“Where?”
“Registered to Thomas Keene.”
The dead investigator.
“Location?”
“Transponder off.”
“Last signal?”
A pause.
“Harbor Point.”
Alexander looked at Daniel.
Everything led there.
Hayes grabbed her coat.
“We move now.”
Then Lily spoke.
“Daddy.”
Alexander turned.
She was holding Rachel’s notebook.
Police had given back copies.
“What?”
Lily pointed at a page.
A drawing.
Rachel had sketched a lighthouse.
Beneath it:
S.D.
HP.
BOATHOUSE 4.
Hayes stared.
“Samuel Dyer.”
Alexander’s pulse surged.
“He has a boathouse.”
They searched property records.
There it was.
Samuel Dyer.
Harbor Point Marina.
Boathouse number four.
Police mobilized.
Alexander began moving toward the car.
Hayes blocked him.
“No.”
“My daughter is there.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I’m going.”
“You’ll stay behind tactical.”
He nodded.
That was the best compromise she would get.
Twenty minutes later, they approached Harbor Point through heavy fog.
Police vehicles kept lights off.
The marina appeared ahead.
Dark.
Silent.
Boathouse four sat at the far end.
A vessel was tied inside.
Keene’s boat.
Alexander’s heart pounded.
Tactical officers moved.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then a gunshot cracked through the fog.
Alexander surged forward.
Hayes caught him.
“Stay back!”
Another shot.
Then shouting.
Alexander heard a baby screaming.
Hope.
He tore free.
“Alexander!”
He ran.
Inside the boathouse chaos exploded.
An officer had Marcus pinned behind a stack of crates.
Another covered the boat.
A man lay wounded near the dock.
Old.
White-haired.
Samuel Dyer.
And on the deck of the boat sat Camille.
Hands tied.
Blood on her temple.
Holding Hope against her chest.
Alexander froze.
Camille looked at him.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I got her away from him.”
For one impossible moment nobody moved.
Then Camille held the baby out.
Alexander ran to her.
Hope reached for him.
He took his daughter.
She pressed her wet face against his neck.
Alexander closed his eyes.
“I’ve got you.”
He kissed her hair again and again.
“I’ve got you.”
Behind him officers dragged Marcus from hiding.
Marcus laughed even while handcuffed.
“You think this is over?”
Alexander turned.
Marcus looked toward the pink elephant.
His smile faded.
He had finally noticed the repaired seam in its ear.
Alexander noticed him noticing.
So did Hayes.
She grabbed the toy first.
Cut the stitches.
And pulled out a red flash drive.
Marcus’s face went gray.
Hayes looked at him.
“What’s on this?”
Marcus said nothing.
But from the floor, Samuel Dyer laughed weakly.
“The truth.”
Alexander looked at him.
Dyer coughed.
Then whispered.
May you like
“About Edmund.”
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