Chapter 3 - The Woman on My Yacht
I did not reply to Lauren immediately.
Trust had become expensive.
Three hours earlier, I had trusted my husband.
Now my daughter was in intensive care.
I showed Daniel the messages.
“Could Grant be using her?”
“To contact me?”
“Yes.”
“Possible.”
“Could she be trying to protect herself?”
“Also possible.”
I hated answers like that.
I called Lauren.
She answered in a whisper.
“Mrs. Vance?”
“Where is Grant?”
“Upstairs.”
“Does he know you contacted me?”
“No.”
“Why did you?”
A pause.
“Because he lied to me.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“I didn’t know he was married.”
I looked toward Chloe.
“Your photograph was public.”
“I posted it before I knew.”
“How did you find out?”
“He got drunk.”
Of course.
Lauren continued.
“He kept calling you his business partner. Then your marina manager contacted the captain and called you the sole owner.”
“What did Grant say?”
“He got furious.”
“About the yacht?”
“About losing access to your money.”
That sounded like Grant.
“What else?”
“He said you were trying to trap him.”
“With what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Lauren, why did you ask me not to tell him you contacted me?”
Her voice dropped.
“Because there’s a gun in his bag.”
I stood.
“Are you in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you get away from him?”
“We’re offshore.”
“Go to the captain. Stay around crew members.”
“He told the captain not to turn around.”
“He does not own that vessel.”
“I know that now.”
I immediately called the captain.
“Captain Reeves.”
“Mrs. Vance.”
“Turn The Sovereign around.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Keep Lauren Pierce away from Grant if she requests it.”
A pause.
“Understood.”
“And Captain?”
“Yes?”
“If Grant attempts to interfere with navigation, secure him away from the bridge.”
Grant called thirty seconds later.
I answered for the first time.
“Evelyn!”
His voice exploded through the phone.
“Where are you?”
“What the hell have you done?”
I almost smiled.
Not How is Chloe?
Not Why did the hospital call me?
Money.
Always money.
“I asked where you are.”
“On the yacht, obviously.”
“With Lauren.”
Silence.
Then he sighed.
“Okay. Fine. You caught me.”
Caught him.
As if infidelity were the center of the universe.
“You left Chloe alone.”
Another silence.
This one was different.
“How do you know that?”
I felt every muscle in my body tighten.
Not Is Chloe okay?
Not What happened?
How do you know?
“Where is our daughter, Grant?”
He hesitated.
“At home.”
I closed my eyes.
He was lying.
Even now.
“No,” I said quietly. “She isn’t.”
Silence.
“Where is she?”
“You tell me.”
“Evelyn, stop playing games.”
“Where is Chloe?”
His breathing changed.
Then he said something I would remember for the rest of my life.
“Did Rosa find her?”
The hospital room disappeared around me.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
“Find her?”
Grant said nothing.
“You said Chloe was at home. What exactly did Rosa need to find?”
“That's not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?”
“I meant—”
He stopped.
I waited.
Grant recovered quickly.
He always had.
“Evelyn, you’re twisting my words because you’re angry about Lauren.”
I looked at my daughter.
“No, Grant. Lauren is rapidly becoming the least important thing about you.”
I ended the call.
My hands were shaking.
Daniel called minutes later.
“We identified the man from the house.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Marcus Hale.”
The name meant nothing to me.
“He’s not practicing medicine anymore.”
“Why?”
“His license was suspended two years ago.”
“For what?”
“Improper prescription handling and falsified records.”
I sat down slowly.
“Why was he in my house?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find the connection to Grant.”
“I’m working on it.”
I looked at the screenshot again.
Grant.
Marcus Hale.
Medical case.
Disabled cameras.
A daughter who nearly died.
Then Lauren texted.
Grant knows I spoke to someone.
Another:
He’s searching my room.
I called Captain Reeves.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Lauren sent one final message.
Something’s burning.
I stared at the words.
I called again.
No answer.
Daniel came through on another line.
“Evelyn, marina control just received an emergency transmission.”
“What happened?”
“It’s The Sovereign.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“There’s a fire aboard.”
I looked at Chloe.
Then at the monitor.
My husband was on my burning yacht.
The woman who might know why he had abandoned our daughter was trapped there with him.
May you like
And for the first time that day, I understood that whatever Grant had started inside our home had followed him onto the water.
And now someone might be trying to destroy the evidence before the yacht ever returned to shore.
