Chapter 28 - The Beacon Archive
The stone-and-glass cabin above the Hudson looked different in the late afternoon light, its massive glass windows catching the amber glow of the setting sun as it dipped below the jagged silhouette of the Catskill Mountains.
Inside, the potbelly stove was humming with a steady, comforting warmth. Alistair Vance sat in his old leather armchair by the bookshelf, puffing contentedly on his briar pipe while sorting through a stack of newly recovered maritime ledgers that had arrived via diplomatic pouch from Washington an hour earlier.
"So," Alistair said, peering over the top of his tortoiseshell glasses as Dominic and Casey walked through the front door, shaking the light autumn dust from their coats. "The university endowment is in receivership, Harrison is sharing a holding cell with Arthur Sterling in Brooklyn, and the Department of Justice has officially expunged your record as an unindicted co-conspirator."
"And my mother's medical fund is completely secure, independent of any federal restitution accounts," Casey added, dropping her bag by the stone hearth and warming her hands near the iron stove.
Alistair chuckled, blowing a ring of blue smoke toward the cedar rafters. "A most satisfactory conclusion to a rather unorthodox doctoral defense. What are your plans now, my dear? The Sorbonne in Paris has been looking for a chair in comparative maritime linguistics for three years."
Casey looked across the room at Dominic, who stood leaning against the kitchen counter, quietly pouring two cups of strong black coffee from an old copper percolator. He caught her eye, holding her gaze with an intensity that made the room feel suddenly smaller, warmer, and infinitely more permanent than any university seminar hall ever could.
"I think," Casey said softly, a slow, quiet smile spreading across her face, "I'm done with formal academia for a while. There's a lot of archival research to be done right here in the Hudson Valley."
May you like
Dominic walked over, handing her a steaming ceramic mug before resting his hand gently on her shoulder.
"Good," Dominic said quietly, his voice low and steady. "Because the history of this river is deep, Casey—and we've only just turned the first page."
