Chapter 13 - The Cold Waters
The heavy steel gate guarding the ocean entrance dropped with a thunderous splash, sending a wave of icy seawater washing over the boathouse floor.
Ethan delivered a crushing right hook to Julian’s jaw, knocking the impostor backward over the edge of the dock. Julian fell with a loud splash into the deep, surging water of the boathouse slip.
Julian surfaced frantically, gasping for air as the strong ocean tide pulled him toward the heavy iron bars of the closed gate. “Ethan! Open the gate! The tide is rising! I can’t swim with this coat on!”
Ethan stood at the edge of the dock, bleeding from his shoulder, his chest heaving as he looked down at his adoptive cousin.
“Where is Clara?” Ethan demanded, his voice hard as stone.
“She’s... she’s at the main house!” Julian choked out, struggling against the current. “In the study! She has the original land deeds in the safe!”
Ethan reached down, grabbed a floating life preserver ring tied to a thick hemp rope, and tossed it into the water toward Julian. Julian grabbed it desperately, clinging to the foam ring as the water swirled around him.
Ethan tied the rope securely to an iron cleat on the dock, leaving Julian safely floating in the slip, unable to escape or reach the platform.
“Stay there,” Ethan said coldly. “The police can pull you out when they arrive.”
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He turned to Emma and Sophia, who were standing together near the desk, holding the leather-bound will and the cassette tapes.
“We’re finishing this tonight,” Ethan said, reaching for a clean rag on the workbench to bind his bleeding shoulder. “At the main house.”
