The Echo at Mill Creek
When a coastal storm exposes a deadly corporate oversight, executive Arthur Pendelton must choose between a multi-million-dollar merger and the lives jeopardized by his company's silence.
Fictional story. Contains depictions of storm emergencies, hypothermia, and corporate ethics conflicts.Chapter 1: The Pier at Low Tide
The rain along Cascade Sound drove sideways across the windshield, blurring the navigation lights of Iron Point into smears of amber and red. Inside the soundproofed cabin of the executive hybrid, the silence was broken only by the hum of climate control and the low chime of incoming messages. Arthur Pendelton adjusted his cufflink, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and checked the digital clock on the dash. It was 1:15 p.m. In forty-five minutes, the board of Pendelton Logistics would finalize a forty-two-million-dollar buyout of the regional freight terminal—a deal three years in the making.
Outside, the storm had turned the two-lane causeway into a standstill of diesel trucks and harbor utility vehicles. High tide was sweeping in two hours early, driven by a winter storm that was sending whitecaps over the granite sea wall. Harlan, who had driven Arthur through twelve years of corporate acquisitions without an unprompted opinion, shifted the car into park. "State police closed the spit bridge, Mr. Pendelton," Harlan said softly. "An overflow near the old municipal lock gate has flooded the southbound lane."