The Dry Dock Ledger
Returning to his deceased sister's isolated Oregon boatyard to wrap up her estate, Julian Vance expects only dust and painful memories. Instead, he uncovers an orphaned youth hiding in the dry dock with a cryptic ledger and evidence of a corporate environmental crime—a dangerous secret Clara had sworn to protect.
Fictional story. Contains mild themes of grief, corporate corruption, and suspense.Chapter 1: The Fog over Blackwood Cove
The salt mist off Blackwood Cove always smelled of rusted iron, crushed pine needles, and wet granite. As I killed the engine of my heavy pickup, the late afternoon tide was pounding against the pilings of my late sister’s coastal boatyard, sending a rhythmic thudding vibration through the steering wheel. Two years had passed since Clara drowned off Sentinel Reef, yet the weathered cedar shingles of her workshop remained standing against the Pacific winds, faded to the dark gray color of storm clouds.
I am thirty-eight years old, a timber restorer by trade, accustomed to reading the health of a building through the tightness of its joints and the sound a wooden mallet makes against aged white oak. In conference rooms across Portland, clients describe me as methodical, quiet, and impossible to rush. They see a craftsman who measures three times before drawing a saw. They do not see a grieving brother who delayed probate court filings for twenty-four months simply because driving up this gravel access road felt like opening a wound that refused to close.