Chapter 32
Ellie was just getting into bed when there was a knock on the hotel room door. "Who is it?" she called. It couldn't be any of the men. They'd only just left.
A familiar voice said, "Ellie? Can I come in?"
Suzi!
Ellie sprang out of bed and opened the door. "Oh, my God. Suzi, what are you doing here?"
Her former colleague gave her a hug, then walked into the hotel room, closing the door behind her. She looked different. On the rig, she'd worn cute little dresses, but now she was wearing distressed denim jeans with holes in the knees, a Metallica T-shirt, and big, clunky boots. Her eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner, and the stud in her nose was now a small hoop.
"I had to come and see you," she said. "I had to make sure you were okay."
Ellie was touched. "Thank you, but you really didn't need to come all the way to see me. A phone call would have been fine."
"So, what happened?" Suzi asked, perching on the edge of the bed. "Tell me everything."
Where to start?
"It was awful." Ellie told her about the explosion. "I was coming back from the Discoverer when the oil rig blew up. It was like this massive fireball in the sky. I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
"Terrible," murmured Suzi.
"Thank God Billy managed to get the remaining staff members into the second inflatable. Otherwise, there would have been multiple fatalities. As it was, we nearly lost Boomer and Phoenix." She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears at the memory. She didn't think she'd ever get over that.
"They're okay?" Suzi asked.
"They are now, but it was touch and go for a while there. Phoenix had a concussion and scrapes and bruises, but Boomer nearly got blown up. He was unconscious for a while, and his face got all messed up."
"Poor guy," Suzi said. "Serves him right for meddling like that."
"What?" Ellie stared at her, confused by the reaction.
Suzi released her hand. "I really like you, Ellie, but you know what your problem is? You ask too damn many questions."
Ellie stared at her for a long moment. Slowly, the pieces fell into place. "No," she finally whispered. "Not you too."
Suzi rolled her eyes. "Well, of course me, stupid. How else were we going to position the rig at those coordinates? Any geologist worth a dime would have recognized the difference in morphology if they'd looked at a chart of the seafloor. I'm not that dumb."
Holy shit.
Suzi.
As the horrifying truth sank in, several anomalies began to make sense. Like why Suzi had left the morning of the blast. "Your father didn't have a bad fall, did he?" she asked.
"Of course not. My parents are long dead. It's just me and Jasper."
"Jasper?"
"My son. He's ten."
"I didn't know?—"
"How could you?"
Ellie gawked at her, still unable to believe her roommate, a woman she thought was a friend, was capable of this. "How could you risk all those lives?"
"I tried to get everyone off," Suzi said. "I told Henderson to order two helicopters that morning instead of the usual one. It could have been much worse."
Ellie didn't know what to say.
"Plus, I got you off, didn't I?" Suzi added. "You were supposed to get rescued and go home. Instead, you stayed around to speak to the authorities."
"They came after me," Ellie hissed, finding her voice. "Whoever blew up the rig sent a team of mercenaries after me to finish the job."
Suzi sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry about that. It's not the way I wanted it to be, but I'm afraid I didn't have any say in the matter. You knew too much, so you had to be silenced."
"Who got to you?" Ellie asked after a beat. "Who made you do this?"
Suzi stood up, her hands trembling. "You don't know what it's like, Ellie. My son, he's sick. He needs constant medical care, and the bills just keep piling up. I've taken out loans, maxed out my credit cards, but it's never enough."
Ellie's heart sank. "Why didn't you say anything? I could have tried to help you."
Suzi gave a snort. "What could you have done? You weren't in any better situation than me. We both got the job because we were young and inexperienced. I could be manipulated into using forged survey reports, and you should have just done what you were supposed to and kept the operation going."
"Why?" Ellie asked again. "Why did they want to keep it going when there was no oil?"
"You're so naive. Henderson and his organization were making a killing on the markets. News of a potentially lucrative discovery in the eastern Gulf. Investors were falling over themselves to get a piece of that pie."
"They were going to sell before Xonex pulled the plug on the drilling operation?"
"Six months, and Xonex would announce there were no reserves. Mass panic. The share price would fall, but they'd be out by then."
"It's appalling," Ellie whispered.
"It's a game," Suzi said. "You wouldn't have been affected anyway. Not much. You'd get another job somewhere else. This would just be a blip on your resume. You don't have to worry about choosing between paying for your child's medication or keeping a roof over your head."
"They offered to help with the medical bills?" Ellie said, edging closer to the door. If she could just get past Suzi and make a run for it, she'd have a chance at calling for help.
Suzi couldn't prevent her eyes from welling up. "They said they'd take care of everything. All my debts, the medical bills, even set up a trust fund for my son's future care. All I had to do was help them with this one thing."
Ellie shook her head in disbelief. "But at what cost, Suzi? You've destroyed so many people's lives, their careers."
"I had no choice," she snapped. "It was either that or watch my son suffer. What would you have done, Ellie? If it was your child?"
Ellie fell silent, her mind reeling. She couldn't even begin to imagine the desperation Suzi must have felt. "I don't know," she whispered. "But there had to be another way."
Suzi laughed bitterly. "Easy for you to say. You've never been in my shoes. Never had to make the choices I've had to make." She reached into her handbag, her eyes hardening. "But none of that matters now. What's done is done."
Ellie's eyes widened as Suzi pulled out the syringe. "Suzi, what are you doing?"
"I have to finish what I started."
Panic surged through her veins, and Ellie felt herself go numb. Not again. Please, not again. "You don't have to do this."
"I'm sorry, Ellie," Suzi's voice was ice. "But I do. They'll take everything from me if I don't. My son… I can't let that happen. I won't."
Ellie stared at the syringe in Suzi's hand. It was half-full of a clear liquid. "You're going to inject me?"
"I'm finishing the job," Suzi said. "You're the last loose end. You and that good-looking boyfriend of yours. But don't worry, Henderson's taking care of him."
"It was Henderson who set the bomb, wasn't it? It was him I saw speeding away that day when I was returning from the Discoverer."
"Well deduced, my friend." Suzi took the cap off the syringe.
"Help!" Ellie shouted, scrambling for the door. "Somebody help me."
Suzi pushed her onto the floor. For a small woman, she was remarkably strong.
"Shut up," she spat. "No one’s coming. Your soldier bodyguard is on the other side of the complex."
Ellie gripped her wrist to prevent her from injecting her with whatever was in that syringe, but Suzi was too strong. The needle came closer. "Suzi, stop. This is madness."
"You shouldn't have asked for those satellite images," Suzi snarled. "You could have just done your stupid job, and none of this would have happened. But you had to poke your nose in, didn't you? You had to find out the truth, and now look where it's got you?"
With a final heave, Suzi jammed the needle into her arm.
Ellie screamed and tried to fight Suzi off, but it was no use. Suzi had pushed down on the syringe, and Ellie felt the needle pierce her skin.
Suddenly, the hotel room door burst open, and Phoenix charged in, his eyes blazing with a fury Ellie had never seen before. His face was contorted with rage, a vein pulsing in his temple as he took in the scene before him. "Get away from her!" he roared, his voice raw with emotion as he lunged at Suzi.
Suzi jumped back, startled by the sudden intrusion, and as she did so, Ellie managed to whip out the syringe—but it was too late. Some of the liquid had already entered her bloodstream, and she could feel it beginning to take effect.
Phoenix grabbed Suzi by the arms, his grip so tight it was sure to leave bruises. He slammed her against the wall with such force that the pictures hung nearby rattled on their hooks. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, his voice a low, menacing growl. Ellie had never seen him like this before, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered by the sight of her in danger. His eyes were wild, almost feral, as he glared at Suzi with a look that could only be described as murderous.
Suzi struggled against his grip, but Phoenix held her fast.
"Phoenix…" she murmured as her vision began to blur, and she felt her limbs growing heavy. She tried to finish her sentence, but her tongue wouldn't cooperate.
Phoenix threw Suzi against the wall so hard she crumpled into a heap on the floor. Then he rushed over to help her. "Ellie? Ellie, stay with me!"
But she couldn't. Her eyes were closing.
"What was in that syringe?" Phoenix demanded, turning back to the dazed Suzi. "What was it?"
His voice was so loud, echoing in Ellie’s head.
"You're going to tell me exactly what it was," Phoenix snarled, as Ellie fought the darkness creeping in from the edges of her vision. She could hear his voice, but it sounded distant, as if he were calling to her from underwater. She tried to fight the heaviness pulling her under, but it was too strong.
Just as she was about to slip away, she felt Phoenix's arms around her, lifting her from the bed. "Stay with me, Ellie," he pleaded, his voice breaking. "I can't lose you. Not now. Not like this."
He held her close as he carried her out of the room, shouting for someone to call an ambulance. Ellie forced her eyes open, struggling to focus on his face.
"Phoenix," she whispered.
"I'm here, Ellie. I'm not going anywhere. Just hold on, okay? Help is coming."
Ellie tried to nod, but it was too much effort. She just had to close her eyes, to sleep for a while. She was so tired.
"Ellie, stay with me," she heard Phoenix say, but she couldn't.
Not anymore.
With a sigh, she gave in to the darkness.