Chapter 4 - The Woman in Cabin 814
Gregory had been married before.
Her name was Natalie Price.
According to Gregory, he had never married because he spent his twenties building his career.
According to Margaret, Natalie married him at twenty-seven.
Their honeymoon took place on another Hartman-linked cruise ship.
Natalie disappeared on the third night.
The death was ruled an accidental fall overboard.
Her body was never recovered.
“She owned property,” Margaret said. “An apartment building in Tampa and a logistics company inherited from her father.”
“What happened to them?”
“Gregory inherited everything.”
A cold pressure settled beneath my ribs.
“Was there an investigation?”
“Edwin controlled the evidence.”
Margaret explained that security footage from the relevant deck was reported corrupted.
A witness changed her statement.
A crew member who heard shouting was dismissed.
The cruise company settled quietly with Natalie’s family.
Gregory became wealthy enough to launch Hartman Maritime with Edwin.
Then they expanded.
Shipping.
Cruise investments.
Port security.
Private medical facilities.
Each enterprise solved a problem they had created.
Margaret found Natalie’s journal years later.
In it, Natalie described Gregory becoming controlling immediately after marriage.
Demanding passwords.
Restricting calls.
Threatening discipline.
The language matched what he said to me.
He had not invented the bat ritual for our honeymoon.
He was reenacting a system.
“Did he use the bat on Natalie?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Whose blood is on it?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“Mine.”
Edwin had used the bat years earlier when she attempted to leave with financial records.
Gregory watched.
He was nineteen.
Afterward, he helped clean the room.
“My son told me Dad was teaching us both a lesson.”
Margaret looked down.
“I kept hoping he would become different.”
That hope had protected Gregory longer than any lawyer.
She gave Agent Mendes account numbers and passwords to encrypted files.
The files showed payments made after Natalie’s disappearance.
One to a ship security officer.
One to a port investigator.
One to a notary who authenticated estate transfers.
All originated from a Hartman account.
The security officer was still working aboard our ship.
His name was Martin Redd.
He served as deputy chief under Adrian Wolfe.
When confronted, Redd fled toward the engine decks.
He used his access badge to lock fire doors behind him.
Security teams pursued.
Redd was captured near a lifeboat station carrying cash, an emergency radio, and passenger identification belonging to Edwin Hartman.
Edwin remained missing.
Redd eventually confessed that Edwin boarded disguised as a maritime auditor.
He occupied a crew cabin near the bridge.
His role was to coordinate the removal of Margaret’s evidence.
Gregory’s role was to control me and secure my signatures.
The honeymoon attack was supposed to frighten me into granting him financial authority.
If I resisted, Edwin would decide whether I returned to shore.
“What about Natalie?” Agent Mendes asked.
Redd requested an attorney.
That silence was answer enough.
The captain ordered all external decks closed.
Coast Guard vessels moved toward us.
The ship reversed course toward Florida.
Passengers received vague announcements about mechanical delays.
Meanwhile, officers searched for Edwin.
They found his crew cabin empty.
A false beard.
Uniforms.
Satellite phone.
No man.
At dusk, the ship’s internal communications failed.
Lights flickered.
Emergency power activated.
Samuel Pike, still receiving treatment, said the outage was not mechanical.
“Someone accessed the auxiliary control room.”
Only senior crew and maritime management had that authority.
Edwin.
Chief Wolfe sent teams below.
I remained in a secured passenger lounge with Margaret and Leah.
Gregory was confined two decks above.
Or so we believed.
A guard called at 7:42.
Gregory’s holding room was empty.
The officer watching him lay unconscious.
Father and son were both loose on a darkened ship.
Then the emergency speaker above us activated.
Gregory’s voice filled the room.
“Ashlynn.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I need you to bring my mother to the main theater.”
I looked at the speaker.
“If you don’t, people get hurt.”
A second voice joined him.
Edwin.
May you like
“Welcome to the family.”
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