Chapter 4 - MY HUSBAND STOPPED PRETENDINGWe crawled through darkness until my palms were raw.
The maintenance passage was barely wide enough for my shoulders. Pipes ran along one wall. Electrical cables lined the other. Every few feet, emergency light spilled through metal grates beneath us.
Behind us came shouting.
Adrian.
Mercer.
Another voice I didn't recognize.
They were searching.
"They'll seal the lower decks," Maya whispered.
"Where does this lead?"
"Forward crew storage."
"Is that good?"
"No."
Wonderful.
The hatch opened into a linen closet.
Maya climbed down first.
I followed.
We listened.
Nothing.
Then a woman's voice drifted from the hallway.
Vanessa.
"You said she was unconscious!"
Adrian answered angrily.
"She fooled me."
My heart hammered.
"You gave her the dose?"
"I watched her take it."
"Apparently not."
A slap echoed.
Then Vanessa said, "Don't touch me."
I exchanged a look with Maya.
Whatever fantasy Adrian and Vanessa shared was already cracking.
Good.
Angry people made mistakes.
We moved toward the crew stairwell.
Our goal was the engine-room emergency transmitter. If we could restore power to the hidden communications system, David could receive the rest of the video evidence and rescuers could track us.
The problem was reaching it.
Adrian's voice suddenly came over the yacht intercom.
"Claire."
I stopped.
His tone was calm again.
Almost gentle.
"Sweetheart, I don't know what you think you heard, but there's been a misunderstanding."
Maya rolled her eyes.
I almost admired his audacity.
"I know you're frightened. Come upstairs so we can talk."
I whispered, "Does he really believe this will work?"
"Men like him usually do."
Adrian continued.
"Maya is confused. She's been having problems with Captain Mercer for months."
That was a new strategy.
Blame Maya.
Then his voice hardened slightly.
"Come back to me."
The speakers went silent.
Maya whispered, "He's buying time."
"For what?"
"The yacht changed course twenty minutes ago."
I stared at her.
"Changed course where?"
"I don't know."
We reached a small service terminal displaying navigational data.
Maya tapped it.
Coordinates appeared.
Her face changed.
"What?"
"We're heading east."
"So?"
"There are reefs and shallow banks that direction."
"Would Mercer risk the yacht?"
"Not unless he planned to abandon it."
That thought settled like ice in my chest.
They didn't need to explain my death if everyone aboard disappeared.
"What about the crew?"
Maya's jaw tightened.
"Ten crew members. Most aren't involved."
"Then we warn them."
"Not yet. Mercer controls communications, locks, and alarms. Panic could make things worse."
"We cannot let ten innocent people sail into whatever he's planning."
"We won't."
We reached the engine-room level.
A young deckhand stepped around the corner.
Leo Grant.
Twenty-six.
Australian.
He froze when he saw us.
"Mrs. Vale?"
I grabbed Maya's arm.
Leo looked from me to her.
"Captain's looking everywhere for you."
Maya didn't answer.
He lowered his voice.
"What's going on?"
Could we trust him?
There was no time to investigate everyone.
So I took a risk.
"Adrian and Mercer are planning to kill me."
Leo stared.
"That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
"Captain Mercer?"
"Yes."
Leo looked genuinely horrified.
Then he said something unexpected.
"I saw him disable the rescue beacon."
Maya and I exchanged a glance.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.
"He told me it malfunctioned."
"Can you restore it?"
"Maybe."
Suddenly footsteps sounded above us.
Leo looked toward the stairs.
"Go."
"What about you?"
"I'll tell them I didn't see you."
Maya grabbed his shoulder.
"If you can, quietly warn Chief Engineer Patel. Nobody else yet."
Leo nodded.
We ran.
The engine room roared around us.
Chief Engineer Arun Patel was crouched beside a control panel.
He spun around.
"Mrs. Vale?"
"Maya told me you can restore auxiliary power."
His eyebrows tightened.
"Restore? Nothing is wrong with auxiliary—"
He stopped.
Maya pointed toward the dark emergency communications breaker.
Someone had manually disconnected it.
Arun stood slowly.
"Who did this?"
"Mercer."
His expression changed.
"What is happening?"
I told him.
Not everything.
Enough.
Arun didn't hesitate.
"Lock the door."
Maya did.
Arun opened the panel.
"Give me five minutes."
We didn't have five minutes.
Someone immediately tried the engine-room door.
Three knocks.
"Arun."
Captain Mercer.
Arun continued working.
"Patel, open up."
No response.
Mercer tried the handle.
"That's an order."
Arun called back, "Fuel-pressure issue. Give me a minute."
Silence.
Then Adrian's voice came through the door.
"Claire?"
I stopped breathing.
"So this is where you're hiding."
Maya whispered, "He knew."
Adrian chuckled.
"You always were terrible at improvising, darling."
Something slammed into the door.
Again.
Metal groaned.
Arun kept working.
"Thirty seconds."
"That's not five minutes," I whispered.
"I was trying to sound conservative."
Another impact.
One hinge bent.
I spotted a heavy wrench.
Picked it up.
Maya grabbed another.
The door slammed again.
Adrian shouted, "Claire, if you force me to come through this door, this becomes unpleasant."
I finally answered.
"More unpleasant than murdering me?"
Silence.
Then Adrian laughed.
There it was.
No more pretending.
"You weren't supposed to hear that."
"Clearly."
"You've misunderstood the situation."
"You said you'd push me overboard and inherit my money."
"That's a simplified version."
I almost couldn't believe him.
"There's a complicated version of murder?"
Arun whispered, "Ready."
A green light appeared.
Somewhere above us, equipment hummed back to life.
The hidden satellite transmitter.
We had power.
But Adrian heard it.
"What did you just turn on?"
The next impact nearly ripped the door open.
Arun pointed toward another exit.
"Go!"
Maya and I ran.
Behind us, the engine-room door crashed inward.
Shouting exploded.
Arun yelled something.
Then a punch landed.
I turned.
Maya shoved me.
"Keep moving."
We entered a machinery corridor.
My father's satellite phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.
Signal restored.
David.
I answered while running.
"Claire."
"We're exposed."
"I know. Your first video uploaded."
Thank God.
"Authorities?"
"Coast Guard cutter diverted. Private maritime security is closer. Approximately forty-five minutes."
Forty-five minutes.
It might as well have been forty-five days.
"David, Mercer changed course toward shallow reefs."
"I see it. Claire, there's something else."
"What?"
"The document you signed."
My chest tightened.
"What about it?"
"My office found an electronic copy."
"And?"
"It isn't an inheritance amendment."
"Then what is it?"
"A durable financial power of attorney."
I stopped.
Maya nearly collided with me.
David continued.
"It gives Adrian broad authority over several personally held accounts if you are incapacitated."
"Not dead?"
"No."
Suddenly Adrian's plan made more sense.
He didn't necessarily need my death to get access to money.
He needed me legally incapacitated first.
The drugs.
The medical authorization.
Everything.
"How much could he access?"
"Potentially sixty-two million before fraud controls stop him."
My throat went dry.
"David..."
"I'm already freezing everything."
Then I heard typing.
"Done."
A strange feeling moved through me.
For the first time that night, Adrian had lost something.
"There's more," David said.
"What?"
"Someone attempted a transfer twenty-three minutes ago."
"Adrian?"
"Destination account belongs to a holding company."
"Whose?"
David paused.
"Captain Evan Mercer."
Maya's eyes widened when I repeated it.
Then a voice came from the darkness ahead.
"That's unfortunate."
Captain Mercer stepped into the corridor holding a flare gun.
Adrian emerged beside him.
Blood marked one knuckle.
Behind them stood Vanessa.
Adrian looked at the phone in my hand.
Then at me.
"No more games, Claire."
Mercer raised the flare gun.
Adrian smiled.
"Give me the phone."
I stared at the man I had married six days earlier.
"No."
May you like
His smile disappeared.
"Then I guess we stop pretending this was supposed to look like an accident."
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