Chapter 2 - The Woman In The Maintenance Corridor

Flynn lifted my wrist.

I kept my breathing slow.

He checked my pulse like a doctor.

Then he whispered, “Perfect.”

The storm shook the windows.

He left the cabin door open behind him.

I heard him speaking into his phone.

“She’s out.”

A pause.

“No. Lydia?”

Another pause.

“Handle her separately.”

My fear sharpened.

Lydia.

Flynn stepped into the corridor.

I opened my eyes.

The emergency lights glowed dim red.

I slipped out of bed, pulled on deck shoes, and moved toward the bathroom.

Lydia was supposed to hide in my walk-in closet until Flynn came.

She was gone.

I checked the closet.

Empty.

Her phone lay on the floor.

I picked it up.

A new message showed on the lock screen.

From Fiona.

Your aunt Margaret is on the sat line. Come quickly.

A trap.

I cursed under my breath.

I slipped into the hallway.

Flynn was already gone.

The yacht rocked hard.

I moved toward the crew stairs, staying low.

A shadow stepped from a service doorway.

A hand covered my mouth.

I drove my elbow backward.

“Easy,” a woman whispered.

I twisted.

She released me.

The woman wore black crew trousers and a gray technical jacket.

I had never seen her before.

“Who are you?”

“Quiet.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Nora Bell.”

“That means nothing to me.”

“It should mean nothing.”

She pulled me into the maintenance corridor.

I reached for the sewing scissors.

Nora saw the movement.

“If I wanted you dead, Mrs. Mercer, I would have let your husband take you upstairs.”

I froze.

“You know.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Because I’ve been listening to them for four days.”

“Are you crew?”

“No.”

“Police?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Your father hired me.”

I stared at her.

“My father?”

“To investigate Flynn before the wedding.”

A wave hit the yacht.

The corridor groaned.

I held the wall.

“That makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense if your father didn’t trust him.”

“He gave us the yacht.”

“He gave you the yacht.”

“Why didn’t he stop the wedding?”

“Because I didn’t have enough.”

“For what?”

“Proof.”

My voice rose.

“Proof that my husband wanted to murder me?”

Nora grabbed my wrist.

“Lower your voice.”

I yanked away.

“Lydia is missing.”

“I know.”

“Where is she?”

“With Captain Ruiz.”

My stomach dropped.

“Is he involved?”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he called me twenty minutes ago.”

“You trust him?”

“For now.”

“That is not good enough.”

“It is all we have.”

I stared at her.

“Where is Lydia?”

“Engine control room. Mateo locked her in for safety.”

“Take me there.”

“No.”

“Nora.”

“Flynn expects your body in the aft corridor within five minutes.”

“Then we have five minutes.”

“He knows the yacht better than you think.”

“So do I.”

She frowned.

“My father gave it to me.”

“You’ve spent six days aboard.”

“I spent nine months choosing the refit.”

That changed her expression.

I continued.

“There is a photography storage room behind the lower lounge.”

“Yes.”

“It has a hidden access hatch to the tender bay.”

“Yes.”

“Flynn doesn’t know.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I had the cabinet built.”

Nora almost smiled.

“Good.”

“What is your plan?”

“Get you to Mateo.”

“And then?”

“Turn toward Puerto Rico and call authorities when we reach reliable satellite coverage.”

“That takes hours.”

“Yes.”

“Flynn will know.”

“Yes.”

“And my parents?”

Nora’s face hardened.

“We warn them as soon as possible.”

I showed her the photos from Flynn’s phone.

She looked through them.

“Who is N?”

“I was going to ask you.”

She enlarged the messages.

“I don’t know.”

“Flynn’s parents do.”

“Maybe.”

I told her about the conversation.

The power of attorney.

The Aspen road.

Nora listened without interrupting.

When I finished, she said, “Your father was right about one thing.”

“What?”

“This is bigger than Flynn.”

Before I could respond, footsteps approached.

Nora killed the small flashlight.

We pressed ourselves against the wall.

Flynn’s voice came from the corridor beyond.

“Evelyn?”

He sounded gentle.

I almost admired it.

Then Aidan said, “Why isn’t she in the cabin?”

“I don’t know.”

“You said she was unconscious.”

“She was.”

“You checked?”

“Yes.”

Fiona whispered, “Lydia must have moved her.”

Flynn snapped, “Find both of them.”

The footsteps separated.

Nora touched my shoulder and pointed toward a ladder.

We climbed.

At the top, she opened a narrow hatch.

Wind exploded into the passage.

We emerged behind a row of storage lockers near the lower lounge.

Water streaked across the windows.

The yacht rolled.

I heard Fiona calling my name somewhere above.

“Evelyn, darling!”

Nora whispered, “She’s good.”

“My mother-in-law?”

“At sounding human.”

We reached the photography room.

I entered a code.

Nora raised an eyebrow.

“Your birthday?”

“No.”

“What is it?”

“My mother’s.”

We stepped inside.

I pulled aside a cabinet panel and revealed a low steel hatch.

Nora blinked.

“Your father’s security team missed this.”

“Then they should refund him.”

For the first time that night, I almost felt like myself.

We crawled into the narrow access tunnel.

Halfway through, Nora’s phone vibrated.

She checked it.

Mateo: They know Lydia is missing. Aidan is headed down.

Nora typed back.

Lock engine control.

A response came.

Already done.

Then another.

Someone has override key.

Nora swore.

“Move.”

We reached the tender bay.

The sea boomed against the hull.

A crew member stood near the equipment rack.

I stopped.

His name was Eli.

Twenty-three.

He had served us breakfast that morning.

He stared at me.

“Mrs. Mercer?”

Nora stepped forward.

“Where’s Mateo?”

Eli’s expression changed.

“I don’t know.”

He reached toward his belt.

Nora shoved me behind a storage crate.

Eli pulled a radio.

“Found her.”

Nora lunged.

He moved faster than I expected.

They slammed into the wall.

The radio fell.

I grabbed it.

Eli shouted.

“Flynn! Tender bay!”

Nora kicked the radio from my hand.

“Run!”

I opened the inner bay door.

Wind tore through the space.

A rescue tender hung secured above the waterline.

“What are you doing?” Nora yelled.

“Creating a problem.”

I hit the manual deployment alarm.

A siren screamed.

The mechanical winch began lowering the tender.

Eli stopped fighting.

“What did you do?”

The tender dropped six feet and swung violently.

An automatic safety alert flashed across the yacht systems.

Nora understood.

“Bridge has to respond.”

“Exactly.”

Captain Ruiz’s voice erupted over the radio.

“All hands, tender deployment alarm. Secure lower bay.”

Footsteps thundered above.

Flynn shouted from the corridor.

“Evelyn!”

I looked at Nora.

“He knows.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“He was going to hunt quietly.”

She picked up a fire extinguisher.

“Now everyone hears him.”

The bay door burst open.

Flynn stood there.

His shirt was soaked from rain.

His expression was no longer charming.

“Evelyn.”

I backed toward the far wall.

“What are you doing down here?”

“Enjoying the honeymoon.”

His eyes moved to Nora.

“Who the hell are you?”

Nora lifted the extinguisher.

“Bad timing.”

Flynn laughed once.

Then Aidan appeared behind him.

His face changed when he saw Nora.

“You.”

Nora’s eyes narrowed.

“You know me?”

Aidan recovered too slowly.

Flynn turned.

“Dad?”

Aidan said, “She was at the hotel in Nassau.”

Nora stared at him.

“You noticed.”

“I notice people who watch my family.”

I looked between them.

“How long have you known?”

Aidan ignored me.

“Flynn, get her.”

Nora pulled the extinguisher pin.

Flynn moved.

She sprayed a white cloud directly into the doorway.

Aidan cursed.

Flynn stumbled back.

“Go!” Nora shouted.

I ran toward the equipment ladder.

We climbed to the next deck.

Behind us, Flynn coughed and screamed my name.

At the top, we reached the central service hall.

Mateo was coming from the opposite direction with Lydia.

I nearly collapsed.

“Lydia.”

She ran into me.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I’m not.”

Mateo locked the bulkhead behind us.

His face was grim.

“We have a serious problem.”

“You think?”

“The steering system has been switched to auxiliary control.”

Nora said, “Who has access?”

“Bridge crew and owner override.”

I stared at him.

“Owner override?”

He nodded.

“Your office supplied Flynn a temporary executive access profile after the wedding.”

“My office?”

“Someone did.”

The yacht turned suddenly.

All of us hit the wall.

Mateo cursed.

“That’s not me.”

“Where are we heading?” I asked.

He checked a navigation display.

“Southwest.”

“Toward what?”

He looked at me.

“Open water.”

Lydia whispered, “Why?”

Mateo answered.

“Because whoever took control does not want us reaching land.”

Nora said, “Can you regain it?”

“From engineering.”

A heavy knock hit the bulkhead.

Flynn’s voice came through.

“Evelyn.”

I looked at Mateo.

“How long?”

“If Aidan knows the system? Fifteen minutes.”

The knock came again.

Flynn sounded calm.

“Baby, open the door.”

I stepped closer.

“Why?”

“Because you’re confused.”

I almost laughed.

“You drugged me.”

“You’re sick.”

“I heard you.”

Silence.

Then his voice changed.

“Open the door.”

“No.”

“You have nowhere to go.”

I looked at Nora.

She was staring at the navigation screen.

Then she asked Mateo, “What is directly southwest of us?”

He zoomed the chart.

“Nothing for hundreds of miles.”

“Any vessels?”

He checked radar.

“One.”

“How far?”

“Twenty-three nautical miles.”

“What kind?”

He frowned.

“Cargo.”

Nora looked at me.

“Then we don’t need land.”

I understood.

“We need witnesses.”

Mateo nodded slowly.

“If I can send a distress signal.”

“Can you?”

“Not from here.”

Another blow hit the door.

Metal bent.

Mateo grabbed a wrench.

“We need the bridge.”

Lydia looked terrified.

I took her hand.

Then Flynn shouted through the door.

“Evelyn, listen to me. If you make this public, your father dies.”

I closed my eyes.

There it was.

The threat.

Not hidden.

Not overheard.

Spoken.

Nora quietly raised her phone.

Recording.

I looked at the door.

“Say that again.”

Silence.

Then Flynn laughed.

“You heard me.”

“What happens to my father?”

“You know what happens.”

Nora gave me a small nod.

Keep him talking.

“Who is waiting in Aspen?”

Aidan shouted, “Flynn, stop!”

Too late.

Flynn answered.

“Someone your father should have paid years ago.”

That sentence changed everything.

Nora’s face went still.

Mateo whispered, “What does that mean?”

I did not know.

But Nora did.

She lowered the phone.

“Evelyn.”

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“What?”

“Your husband isn’t the person who started this.”