Chapter 5 Flames in the shadows

Élise, heavy thoughts, walked through the lively streets of the local market. For once, she had decided to move away from Antoine's workshop and her stuffy secrets. She needed a moment to breathe, to think. However, deep down, she knew that she would not escape the shadows of her investigation for a long time.

The market was noisy, filled with voice, laughter and the smell of freshly caught fish. The stalls were full of colorful fruits, handicrafts and sea trinkets. An elderly woman cried out to attract customers to her homemade jam stand, while a young boy, a basket under his arm, ran between passers -by, shouting joyful greetings.

It was there that she crossed Mireille, an old friend of her mother, known to be a pillar of gossip in the community.

- Well, Élise! said Mireille, her face illuminated with a malicious smile. You have become a real foreigner! It's been a while since I saw you. Always so pretty, my dear.

- Hello, Mireille, replied Élise, trying a smile. I have been... busy, lately.

Mireille folded her eyes, as if she read in her soul.

- Yes, it shows. You don't look quiet. Does something bother you? You know, I'm still here if you need to speak.

Élise hesitated for a moment. Should she try to extract information from Mireille? The old woman always seemed to have an ear in each house of Rivemarine.

-Have you heard of ... something strange at the port lately? she asked cautiously.

Mireille leaned her head, intrigued.

-Strange, do you say? Well, there are always rumors, my darling. It seems that a man was seen around the abandoned hangar. They say he doesn't live here ... maybe a stranger.

- A stranger? Do you know who is it?

Mireille shrugged with an enigmatic smile.

- We say a lot, Élise. But be careful. When the waves are too calm, this is often where the storm arrives.

Élise left the market with a mixture of frustration and curiosity. Mireille was perhaps just a gossip, but her words were strangely echoing.

Instead of going home directly, she made a detour through the Rivemarine library. It was an old building, almost forgotten by modern inhabitants, but Élise had always liked to seek comfort among the dusty books.

The librarian, Benoît, a discreet man with round glasses and a soft voice, politely greeted her.

- Élise. What a surprise. What can I do for you today?

- Hello, Benoît. I'm looking for ... old cards. Maritime cards, to be precise.

Benoît gave him a curious look but did not ask questions. He guided Élie towards a shelf filled with old rollers and cartographed books.

- These cards date for the most part of the last century. Maybe you will find what you are looking for here, he said, leaving it alone.

Élise crossed the cards for long minutes until a particular attention draws her attention. It showed the sea routes around Rivemarine and neighboring ports, but what struck it was a barely readable annotation near the port of Valmont: "Red Zone. Danger. Guardians. "

She frowned. What did this mention mean? She mentally noted to come back later to study this track.

Leaving the library, Élise fell face to face with Jean-Luc, a former classmate from his secondary school. He wore a dirty cap and a worker uniform, and his face displayed that jovial smile that she knew her well.

- Élise! So what, what a surprise! he exclaimed.

She sketched a forced smile, little humor to chat with an old friend.

-Hi, Jean-Luc. How are you ?

- Oh, you know, the job, the children, all that ... and you, then? I heard you will investigate ... things at the port?

Élise jumped slightly.

- Who told you that?

"Oh, everyone is talking about you," he replied with a wink. You know, small town, large ears.

This remark put her uncomfortable. Was she closely monitored?

Later in the evening, Élise decided to return to the hangar where she had found the cash register. She had taken care to make sure she was not followed, but a feeling of being watched did not leave her.

She entered the dark and lit a small flashlight. To his surprise, the hangar seemed to have been cleaned. The boxes had disappeared, and the ground wore recent traces of travel.

A noise behind her made her freeze.

"You shouldn't be here," said a deep voice.

Élise turned quickly to face a man whom she had never seen before. He was large, imposing, and wore a worn leather jacket. His gaze was piercing, almost threatening.

- Who are you ? She asked in a firm tone, although she feels her heart beat everything.

The man sketched a smirk.

- Just someone who spends a message. Stay far from this case. It's not your war.

Before she could answer, the man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving her alone in the dark.

Back home, Élise collapsed in her chair. Faces, words and mysteries were turning in his mind, forming a spiral that seemed to have neither beginning nor end. Antoine, Mireille, Benoît, Jean-Luc, and now this stranger ... All seemed linked, in one way or another, to the secrets of Rivemarine and the disappearance of Thomas.

She knew she was dangerously approached by the truth. But a part of her began to wonder if she was ready to face all that this truth implied.

Rivemarine was awakened under an uncertain sky. The waves, usually quiet, seemed to wear a strange agitation in them, as if the sea itself was aware of the secrets that Élise was trying to dig up. The spirit still weighed down by her recent discoveries, she decided to go to a place where she could think. This is how she found herself on the pier, where it all started with Samuel.

Samuel, this man plagued by regrets he had never really explained, remained an essential piece of the puzzle. She knew he had answers, but so far, he had only revealed fragments, fuzzy clues that left him more questions than certainties. However, she was convinced that there was a part of him who wanted to help him - a game that brought too heavy weight to be supported alone.

By advancing towards the pier, Élise saw Samuel sitting on a wooden bench, the elbows placed on her lap and her gaze fixed on the horizon. He seemed lost, like a shadow of himself. She hesitated for a moment, then approached gently.

"Samuel," she said, "her voice betraying an emotion that she had not planned.

He looked up and watched it for a moment before responding.

-I knew you would come, he whispered.

Élise took place next to him, silence stretching like a mist between them. She waited for him to speak, but he seemed to fight against his own demons, his fingers playing nervously with a pendant he wore around his neck - a silver star, identical to that of Thomas.

-This pendant, she said finally. Where did you get it?

Samuel looked at her for a moment, then looked down.

-It was ... a gift, he whispered. Of Thomas. Before everything happens.

These words struck Élise as a blow.

- Did you know Thomas? she asked, her voice trembling.

Samuel nodded, but he didn't answer immediately.

- We worked together ... for a while. But I never told her ... why I was really there.

- Why were you there? repeat Élise.

Samuel inspired deeply, as if he gathered the courage to say what he had kept in him so long.

- I was not a simple sailor, Élise. My role was... something else. I watched, I reported. The people for whom I worked had interests ... in what the seawater was transporting. But I did not plan that Thomas would find himself in the middle of all this.

Élise felt her heart getting carried away.

-What did you transport?

Samuel shook his head.

- I didn't know exactly. I was not allowed to know. But I saw things ... Caisses with strange symbols, documents that I could not understand. And Thomas ... Thomas saw something he should never have seen.

Samuel seemed to be taken by a whirlwind of emotions that he could not contain.

- They didn't want witnesses, Élise. They didn't want people who asked questions.

- Who are you talking about? Who are "they"?

- Powerful people. People who control more things than you can imagine.

Samuel stopped, eyes filled with regret.

- I didn't do anything to help him. I should have. But I didn't do anything.

The silence between them became almost unbearable. Élise felt a wave of anger and sadness invade her, but she knew that she couldn't give up.

- So why are you helping me now? she finally asked.

Samuel looked up, his gaze planted in his.

-Because you are like him, he replied gently. You want the truth, even if it hurts you.

These words left Elise speechless.

Samuel got up suddenly, breaking the moment.

"There is someone in Valmont," he said. Someone who could help you. But be careful, Élise. You play with flames.

Élise remained a single moment on the pier, watching the waves burst against the rocks. She knew she couldn't ignore what Samuel had just told her. He had given him a new track, but he also offered him an overview of his own internal fights, of his guilt which devoured him.