Chapter 2 - The One Phone Call
I placed both pills on my tongue.
Lucas watched.
That was the first thing I noticed.
He didn't hand me the medication and walk away the way a loving husband might.
He watched.
Carefully.
Almost clinically.
“Water,” he said.
I lifted the glass.
The instant Lucas turned to place the pill bottle on the nightstand, I shifted the tablets against the inside of my cheek.
Then I swallowed the water.
When he looked back, I opened my mouth slightly and gave him a weak smile.
“Happy?”
His expression softened.
“Very.”
The word chilled me.
Lucas sat beside me and brushed his fingers through my hair.
There had been a time when that touch made me feel safe.
Now every muscle in my body wanted to recoil.
“You know I love you, right?” he whispered.
My throat tightened.
“Of course.”
He smiled.
“I knew you'd say that.”
He kissed my temple and stood.
“I'll let you sleep.”
I waited until the door clicked shut.
Then I ran to the bathroom and spat the pills into a towel.
My knees almost gave out.
The medication already in my system was strong enough.
I didn't know how long the earlier dose would affect me.
Inside the medical case, I found something else I hadn't noticed before.
Activated charcoal packets.
Electrolyte solution.
A printed emergency card.
My father's security people had prepared the yacht like a floating fortress.
I mixed the charcoal with water and forced myself to drink.
It tasted awful.
I didn't care.
Then I examined the recorder.
A blinking red light confirmed everything in the room was being captured.
Good.
If I survived, Lucas wouldn't be able to rewrite what happened.
If I didn't survive...
I stopped that thought.
No.
I was surviving.
A vibration came from beneath the pillow.
My phone.
One encrypted message.
PLAY SICK. TRUST NO CREW EXCEPT BLUE WATCH.
Blue watch?
I stared at the message.
Seconds later, it deleted itself.
I had no idea what “blue watch” meant.
Then someone knocked.
Not Lucas.
Three soft knocks.
A pause.
Two more.
I didn't answer.
The door opened slightly.
A woman stepped inside.
She wore the yacht's white crew uniform.
Dark hair.
Around thirty.
I remembered seeing her serving breakfast.
Her name tag read ELENA.
She carried clean towels.
“Mrs. Sterling?”
I stared.
She closed the door.
Then she lifted her sleeve.
A blue watch.
My breath left me.
She crossed the room quickly.
“Your father's team received the beacon.”
“You work for him?”
“For the yacht's security contractor. Lucas doesn't know.”
I almost collapsed with relief.
“Can you get me off the boat?”
“No.”
My relief vanished.
“Why not?”
“Because if we extract you now, Lucas knows he's been exposed. He may trigger the attack on your parents early. We need the conspiracy documented.”
I stared at her.
“You want me to stay here?”
“We want everyone alive.”
“What about me?”
“We keep you alive.”
Her answer was calm.
Confident.
I wanted to believe her.
“What happens at midnight?”
“That depends on what Lucas does.”
She opened a towel and revealed a tiny flesh-colored earpiece.
“Put this in.”
I did.
“There are two people aboard who are ours. Me and Chief Engineer Marcus Hale.”
“The captain?”
Elena's expression changed.
“Do not trust Captain Rowan.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“We don't know yet.”
A sound outside the room.
Elena immediately began folding towels.
The door opened.
Gertrude entered.
“Oh.”
She smiled when she saw Elena.
“Still cleaning?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Leave us.”
Elena nodded and pushed the cart out.
As she passed me, her eyes flicked toward my right ear.
Then she disappeared.
Gertrude closed the door.
She walked toward me with maternal concern.
“My poor girl.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I smiled weakly.
“I'm okay.”
“No, you're not.”
She sat beside me.
Her perfume smelled exactly as it had on my wedding day.
Jasmine and amber.
She held my hand.
“You're ice cold.”
“I think the sea hates me.”
Gertrude laughed.
“Don't worry. By tomorrow, none of this will matter.”
I almost stopped breathing.
She squeezed my fingers.
“Lucas says you should rest until tonight.”
“What's tonight?”
Her eyes brightened.
“He wants to show you the stars.”
Of course he did.
The stars.
The aft deck.
One little push.
I let my eyelids droop.
“That sounds nice.”
Gertrude smiled.
“He's such a romantic.”
She kissed my cheek.
Then she left.
The moment the door closed, Elena's voice came quietly through my earpiece.
“You did well.”
My lips barely moved.
“I want them all in prison.”
“Then keep acting.”
The next few hours became psychological torture.
Lucas returned with tea.
I pretended to drink it but poured most into a plant.
Roderick visited around seven and asked if I was feeling better.
I pretended not to remember speaking with him at breakfast.
That made him relax.
At eight, Lucas brought dinner.
Soup.
The same soup he had admitted drugging earlier.
I lifted a spoonful to my lips, then deliberately let my hand tremble.
The soup spilled onto my robe.
Lucas laughed softly.
“Poor thing.”
He helped me clean it.
When he looked away, I poured some into the blanket.
By nine-thirty, I was performing complete disorientation.
By ten, Lucas began sending messages from his phone.
I watched through half-closed eyes.
At 10:17, he stepped into the bathroom to take a call.
The recorder caught his side.
“Yes.”
Pause.
“No, she can barely stand.”
Pause.
“Midnight.”
Pause.
“You'll receive confirmation after.”
He ended the call.
Someone else was involved.
Then Elena whispered in my ear.
“We intercepted movement on the yacht's satellite terminal.”
I stayed still.
“Someone transmitted your medical records twenty minutes ago.”
Why?
I didn't ask aloud.
Elena continued.
“It was sent to an insurance contact in Zurich.”
Of course.
Lucas wasn't simply planning murder.
He was preparing paperwork.
At eleven-fifteen, thunder rolled somewhere beyond the windows.
The yacht began rocking more heavily.
The storm was arriving.
Lucas changed into a navy sweater and dark trousers.
Then he sat beside me.
“Hey.”
I opened my eyes slowly.
“Lucas?”
“Yes, baby.”
“I don't feel good.”
“I know.”
He sounded almost tender.
“Fresh air will help.”
There it was.
My pulse climbed.
He pulled me upright.
My legs buckled intentionally.
He caught me.
“Easy.”
As Lucas helped me into the corridor, the yacht lights dimmed briefly.
The storm growled outside.
I caught a glimpse of Elena near the galley.
She didn't look at me.
Neither did the gray-haired engineer walking behind her.
Blue watch.
Marcus Hale.
I wasn't alone.
But Lucas didn't know that.
He guided me toward the stairs.
Halfway up, Roderick appeared.
“Everything set?”
Lucas nodded.
Gertrude followed behind him holding a rain jacket.
She smiled at me.
“We thought we'd all enjoy the storm.”
All three of them.
They were coming.
Good.
More witnesses.
More evidence.
More danger.
At 11:42, we reached the upper deck.
Rain struck the windows sideways.
The yacht pitched violently.
Captain Rowan stood near the bridge entrance.
He looked directly at Lucas.
Then gave one small nod.
My blood went cold.
The captain was part of it.
Elena had been right.
Lucas held me tighter.
“Almost there.”
The aft deck doors waited twenty feet ahead.
Beyond them, black ocean.
No rail cameras.
No crew.
No witnesses.
Exactly as they had planned.
Then my earpiece crackled.
Elena's voice.
“Change of plan.”
My stomach clenched.
“What?” I whispered.
Lucas looked down.
“What did you say?”
I let my head fall against his chest.
“Nothing.”
Elena spoke again.
“Captain disabled the exterior cameras.”
That wasn't surprising.
Then she said something that was.
“And he's armed.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Lucas opened the aft deck door.
Wind exploded around us.
Rain hit my face.
Gertrude laughed nervously behind us.
Roderick said, “Make it quick.”
The ocean churned below.
Lucas moved me toward the railing.
Eleven fifty-eight.
Two minutes until midnight.
May you like
And somewhere behind me, a captain with a weapon had just turned this murder plot into something far more dangerous.
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