Chapter 6 - My Best Friend Had Been Waiting for Me to DieVanessa backed away from me.
Grant picked up the broken recorder and tossed it into the sea.
“There,” he said. “Problem solved.”
Evelyn looked at me.
Her expression didn’t change.
But I knew what she was telling me.
Backup cameras.
The deck lights.
The life-ring cabinet.
Everything was still being recorded.
Grant didn’t know.
Neither did Reed.
“Take her downstairs,” Reed said.
Grant frowned.
“No.”
“She knows.”
“Which is why this ends now.”
Reed lowered his voice.
“Coast Guard patrols this area.”
“She goes over. We raise the alarm at dawn.”
“You’re improvising.”
“I’m correcting a problem.”
I tried to control my breathing.
The survival belt pressed against my waist beneath the torn dress.
If Grant threw me overboard, I had a chance.
A small one.
But Evelyn?
Grant glanced at her.
“What do we do with Evelyn?”
Reed answered immediately.
“She stays quiet.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Evelyn smiled coldly.
“You’ll have to find out.”
Reed’s jaw tightened.
That was when a distant sound cut through the night.
Not a helicopter.
Not yet.
An alarm.
Soft.
Electronic.
Coming from the bridge.
Reed froze.
Evelyn smiled.
“What did you do?”
He grabbed her.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
The alarm continued.
Reed swore and ran toward the bridge.
Grant looked from him to Evelyn.
“What is that?”
She shrugged.
“Sounds important.”
Grant grabbed my arm.
“We’re moving.”
He dragged me toward the stern.
I fought him.
“Let go!”
Marcus seized my other arm.
Devon stood frozen.
“Devon,” I shouted. “If you help him, you go down for murder.”
Grant snapped, “Shut up.”
I looked directly at Devon.
“You haven’t done anything yet that you can’t come back from.”
His face changed.
“Don’t listen to her,” Marcus said.
“She’s right,” Devon whispered.
Grant stared at him.
“What?”
Devon stepped backward.
“I signed up to clear the deck. That’s it.”
“You took my money.”
“I didn’t sign up for this.”
Grant released me long enough to shove Devon.
“You think you can walk away?”
Devon pushed him back.
That was my chance.
I ran.
Marcus lunged.
Evelyn threw herself into him.
All four of us collided near the table.
A champagne bucket crashed.
Glass shattered.
I slipped, caught the railing, and kept moving.
Grant chased me.
“Claire!”
I reached the aft stairs.
Then Grant tackled me.
We hit the deck.
Pain exploded through my shoulder.
He rolled me onto my back.
“You should have stayed sick,” he hissed.
I slapped him.
He struck me across the face.
The world flashed white.
Then someone yanked him away.
Devon.
“Enough!”
Grant punched him.
Marcus pulled Evelyn backward.
Chaos erupted.
Then suddenly—
All the exterior lights turned on.
Bright white illumination flooded the deck.
Grant stopped.
Everyone stopped.
A voice blasted from the yacht’s loudspeaker.
Captain Reed.
“Evelyn Shaw, report to the bridge immediately.”
Evelyn laughed.
Grant’s face darkened.
“He knows.”
“Yes,” Evelyn said.
“What?”
“That someone sent a distress signal.”
Grant looked at me.
“You.”
I said nothing.
He came toward me.
Then another sound appeared.
Far away.
Low.
Rhythmic.
A helicopter.
Grant heard it too.
His face changed completely.
For the first time that night, he looked afraid.
Evelyn smiled.
“You should probably start practicing your grieving-widower face.”
Grant stared at the sky.
Then he did something none of us expected.
He ran.
Not toward the bridge.
Toward the tender garage below deck.
“Marcus!” he shouted. “Come on!”
Marcus followed.
Reed’s voice exploded from the loudspeaker.
“Grant! Get to the tender!”
They planned to escape.
I started after them.
Evelyn grabbed my arm.
“No.”
“He’ll get away.”
“Let him.”
“What?”
“The Coast Guard will intercept him.”
A door slammed below deck.
Engines started.
Seconds later, the yacht’s smaller speedboat dropped into the water.
Grant and Marcus disappeared into darkness.
Captain Reed joined them.
The helicopter sound grew closer.
I finally allowed myself to breathe.
Then Devon whispered:
“There’s something you need to know.”
Evelyn turned.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Grant wasn’t planning to disappear alone.”
My stomach tightened.
“I know about Vanessa.”
Devon shook his head.
“No.”
He swallowed.
“Vanessa is already on the yacht.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“She boarded last night.”
“That’s impossible.”
“She came aboard from another vessel after you went to sleep.”
“Where is she?”
Devon looked toward the private lower cabins.
“Grant told us she was staying hidden until after you were gone.”
The betrayal cut through me with astonishing precision.
Vanessa had been aboard the yacht.
While I slept beside my husband.
While I took his pills.
While they waited for me to die.
I started toward the lower deck.
Evelyn called after me.
“Claire.”
I kept walking.
“Claire, wait.”
I opened the first cabin.
Empty.
Second.
Empty.
Third.
Locked.
I pounded once.
“Vanessa.”
Nothing.
“Open the door.”
Silence.
Then the lock clicked.
The door opened slowly.
Vanessa Pike stood in front of me wearing one of my husband’s shirts.
Her face was white with fear.
For fifteen years she had been my best friend.
She had held my flowers at the wedding.
She had hugged me before I boarded the yacht.
Now she looked at the bruise forming across my cheek.
And whispered:
“Claire, I can explain.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
May you like
I stepped inside.
“You can confess.”
