The Secret Island
CHAPTER 45: The Flight

"What happened to Martin? And where are you taking me?" Celine wasn't certain about the destination the stranger said he would take her to. She was stunned by the information. He introduced himself as Joe. A familiar name she remembered as Martin's friend. The man seemed trustworthy enough, but still...

"Everything that happened was difficult to explain. I'm here to see you today because I think you have the right to know. I can't stand seeing Martin on that stage anymore. Once you meet him, please promise you won't get mad." "I don't get it...." His presence was baffling, and his words made her even more confused. What exactly does the man mean?

"What happened to Martin?" She started to have a bad feeling about this. Her small hands trembled, and she thought of the worst case possible that may happen to the man she loved.

"To give you some comfort, I can confirm that he is safe."

"And why hasn't he...why hasn't he come back to see me?" She asked softly, perhaps to Joe, perhaps to herself. Her voice was loud enough to convey her disappointment. But before she could understand the situation, Joe added.

"It was my fault. I stepped in too late to help him." Joe pursed his lips tightly. He said with guilt. He accomplished his assigned tasks too late. No matter how much he planned and how intelligent he thought he was, he finished the mission too late to save Martin. And his mistake ruined the life of his best friend.

"The Martin you are about the meet will not be the same as the man you knew. But I have to tell you that before he became this new version of himself, he sent me this for safekeeping." The man reached into his backpack and brought up the familiar blue cap...

Her heart sank the instant she saw it, and her tears welled up once more. Although the color had faded, she knew she was not mistaken. It was the same cap she bought him, the same one that we both had. The only gift she had given him. Martin...what had happened to you?

****

Joe didn't tell her much. She didn't have that much information after talking to the man. In contrast, to her surprise, he knew her too well.

He knew how she met Martin. He knew why she came to this country every year. He knew her personal life-her business, her best friends, and almost everything that the public would know as she posted some information on social media. Joe presented her with an option to go to New York with him. We could leave on his private jet he said belonged to his father. The plane left from Rome the next day.

It was as if he traveled across the ocean just to ask her this one question:

"Will you go see Martin with me?" He said with worry in his voice.

"I don't want to meddle in you guys' business, but I can't stand it. I can't stand seeing him in this sad directionless life. He didn't do anything wrong."

Everything happened fast after that.

Celine hesitated a long while whether she should agree to this stranger's invitation. She was like a girl lost in the dark without light. She was a girl falling in love with the imagination.

It was either let go of Martin or a chance to see him again.

She agreed to the latter.

Anything was better than waiting without hope in her personal purgatory.

The decision was the beginning of the flight across the ocean.

Throughout the duration of the flight, Joe initiated most of the conversation. He was a charming man who knew how to keep the conversation going. It was her that could not reciprocate his enthusiasm. She was worried.

Concern and confusion battled each other in her head. There must be a reason for Martin's disappearance. Had anything happened to Martin? What really happened? Joe told her Martin had no part in him coming to see her. She only had unanswered questions.

Joe tried to answer as many questions from her as possible.

The long flight gave her time to ask the many questions that had been plaguing her mind.

Who is Martin? Where is he? What happened to him?

Joe seemed surprised that she didn't know much about Martin. How could she know? He didn't tell her much.

"Martin and I have been friends since our undergrad years. And we worked together on Wall Street. Asset management, mostly. We did everything to earn as much profit as possible. Things were business as usual. But with the conflicts among the partners and executives, one innocent man was killed. And later, I found out he wasn't the first...."

"Our works affected many people's livelihood. All the hostile takeovers and taking advantage of the legal loopholes. There was price manipulation of assets, and some involved the pump and dump scheme-we did it all for profit. People lost their jobs, and no one at the company cared. People who sued the company had questionable disappearances as well. Martin and I were unaware of what we had been a part of...."

Celine sat quietly, trying to take in all the information. This was probably the source of Martin's nightmare.

"I was a corporate vigilante. I transferred some money from the company's cash flow, one billion dollars, to a secret account I set up in Switzerland and escaped. I was in hiding for many months while trying to find evidence to arrest all the partners involved. They deserved to go to jail."

Joe stopped. Suddenly he closed his eyes and frowned. She could sense his stress.

"I wasn't careful in my revenge. And Martin had to pay for my carelessness."

Celine's heart sank as soon as she heard that. She tried to understand the information. The hostile corporate games were not something she was used to.

"Was that the reason Martin went to the island?"

Joe stared at her.

"Because we were friends. He was blackmailed into leading a task force to find me and the missing money. The company sent him to Italy to help him with the recovery process. That was part of it. But they knew I was in Italy during those times. But I knew they sent him as bait to lure me in to see him."

"Martin was sent to find you?"

"Yes, and he intended to fail the mission."

Her throat was parched. She didn't understand much. All this was new and confusing-who Martin was, the crime, the new world she had no idea of.

"He risked his life to ensure that I could accomplish our secret mission."

"What?"

"He stayed longer at the company and acted as a double sky to send me more information about the fraud and the murders the partners committed. He secretly sent that to me."

"And was the mission a success?" She clenched her fists, hoping for the best. She knew it went well to an extent. Joe was here with her after all.

He nodded, and that made her smile.

But his expression darkened.

"But I was late...."

"I don't understand."

"They forced Martin to sign a document confessing that he was the one who embezzled the money."

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"It took me time to gather evidence to convict those evil bastards and negotiate with the FBI for Martin's release. We need to fight the case in court since Martin also unknowingly took part in the crime. It took a lot of time for me to get Martin out of jail. It was too late."

"What do you mean?" Her voice trembled uncontrollably. And Joe's sad eyes didn't help.

"He was jailed for a white-collar crime for two years because of me. And once he was out, Martin has not been the same."

"Whatever happened in there broke him. He is a different man."

"But at least he is safe? Nothing severe happened to him?" Celine was impatient and wretched about what she heard. But at least she hoped Martin was fine.

Joe touched her arm to comfort her.

"Yes, he is safe."

The long flight ended. Joe brought her to a hotel he had booked for her. He paid for the whole thing, saying it was his apology for being part of the reason Martin couldn't go see her sooner.

It was noon when they arrived at JFK airport. He asked her to rest first, and he would take her to see Martin in the evening.

But someone who had been waiting for four years could no longer wait.

"Are you making me wait again?" She asked wearily, a hint of anger in her voice. The question that Joe didn't respond to.

"I have been waiting for him without any clue about the future. It has been a directionless pursuit. I just traveled across the ocean with only one intention-to see him."

Celine looked into Joe's eyes.

"And...are you making me wait again?"

No matter who Martin had become, no matter what happened to him, she would try to understand if he was willing to explain.

Because she had had enough, all this waiting was enough.