Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WANTED HIS FATHER'S SECRET
Charles Vale was the son of Dr. Ambrose Vale.
That was the first truth.
The second was uglier.
Ambrose had disappeared aboard the Morning Star three years earlier.
The ship drifted back into Greyhaven Harbor without crew.
No bodies were found.
No official cargo existed.
The insurance company declared the vessel abandoned after legal claims expired.
Charles never purchased it back.
Why?
Because he believed it was empty.
Until Eliza found the glowing cargo.
Charles demanded access.
Eliza refused.
Sheriff Beck sided with the law.
“The deed of sale includes all fixtures and abandoned contents not separately claimed before sale.”
Charles’s jaw tightened.
“My father’s private property is not abandoned.”
“Then prove a claim was filed.”
It wasn’t.
Charles looked at Eliza.
“You have no idea what you found.”
“No.”
“That makes you dangerous.”
Eliza stared.
“To who?”
He almost smiled.
“My father was developing a new type of electrical storage medium.”
Eliza looked toward the hidden compartment.
“The glowing powder?”
“Yes.”
“What is it worth?”
Charles paused.
That pause told her everything.
A lot.
He offered five hundred dollars for the ship.
Eliza laughed.
One thousand.
No.
Five thousand.
Eliza’s heart almost stopped.
Still no.
Charles’s tone changed.
“You’re a factory girl.”
Eliza’s face hardened.
“Yes.”
“You cannot operate a research vessel.”
“I can own one.”
“You cannot understand the science.”
“Then I’ll hire someone who can.”
“With what money?”
Eliza looked toward the gold bars.
Charles saw the glance.
His face changed.
“What else did you find?”
Eliza said nothing.
That night, someone tried to break into the ship.
Eliza was sleeping in the wheelhouse with a borrowed revolver beside her.
She heard the hatch move.
Footsteps.
Then whispers.
She stayed still.
Two men entered.
One said:
“Find the ledger.”
Not the gold.
May you like
The ledger.
That told her what truly mattered.
