I caught my husband kissing my older sister in my mother’s kitchen while twenty people celebrated my father’s sixty-fifth birthday in the next room. / Chapter 105 / 120

Chapter 105 - The Iron Key of Cuttyhunk

"You are out of your mind if you think you're going out onto that shoal alone," Liam said, his voice echoing sharply against the cathedral ceilings of the library.

He paced the length of the room, his eyes dark with protective fury. Outside, the storm had transformed into a gale, wind howling around the eaves of the house like a pack of wolves.

"The timer on the trust has twenty-four hours left," I replied, holding the cold iron key in my palm. "If Arthur sees a federal cutter or an assault team approaching that island, he triggers the liquidation clause. We lose the only chance to prove he’s alive, and the contract on our lives becomes irrevocable."

"Then we don't use a cutter," Vance intervened, pulling open a satellite chart of the Elizabeth Islands on the center monitor. He zoomed in on an isolated outcropping of black rock four miles south of Cuttyhunk. "The Iron Spire. Decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1952. Private property since 1958. The current records show it as an abandoned navigation beacon owned by Thorne Maritime Trust."

"It has a subterranean harbor," Liam observed, studying the topological contours of the reef. "An old submarine tender dock carved into the granite. If Arthur is there, he controls the approach channels. Any surface vessel within three miles will be spotted by infrared radar."

"Then we go in beneath the surface," Liam continued, turning to Vance. "You have access to the maritime tactical units out of Newport. Sub-surface swimmer delivery vehicles. Two operators, zero radar signature."

"No," I said firmly, stepping between them. "Arthur anticipates tactical intervention. He’s spent forty years studying federal response protocols. The moment he senses military interference, he detonates whatever fail-safe he has installed. He wants *me*."

Liam stepped close to me, catching both of my hands in his. His grip was warm, strong, and fierce with desperation. "I almost lost you when Julian and Eleanor tried to destroy you. I watched you bleed through the trial. I am not letting you walk into that monster's cage alone, Maya. I won't survive it."

"You won't be far," I said softly, looking into his eyes. "You and Vance will trail the beacon. But I have to make the initial landfall. Arthur’s arrogance is his only blind spot. He thinks I am still the submissive daughter who broke into tears when she found her husband with her sister. He thinks he can break me into his image."

I pressed the iron key against his palm, closing his fingers around it.

"Let him think he's winning," I whispered. "That's when he drops his guard."

Vance watched us for a long moment before nodding slowly. "We run a shadow insertion. Maya enters via the northern tender dock on a private runabout. Liam and I will insert via closed-circuit rebreathers ten minutes behind her through the submerged drainage flume. If Arthur makes a hostile move, we breach."

Liam looked at the key, then back into my eyes. The battle within him was brutal, but finally, he exhaled a ragged breath and nodded.