Chapter 3
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU talking about?” Tatiana cries, sitting on the end of the bed with her hands on her lap, staring in horror.
I know how she feels; I myself still feel numb.
“Look, we don’t know for sure what’s happening, but it doesn’t sound good,” Aggie tries to reassure her.
“You think?” Tati mutters. “They’re going to fucking do something awful to us.”
My heart skips a beat.
“Do you think we should talk to the security guys?” Aggie goes on, taking a deep breath. “Maybe they can help.”
“We can’t risk it,” I say, shaking my head. “We just can’t. I’ve seen the movies where people go to the wrong man and end up in more trouble. We don’t know who is in on this, and who isn’t.”
“How the hell are we supposed to get off this fucking boat?” Tatiana pushes to her feet, her eyes frantic.
She doesn’t handle stress well at the best of times.
“I don’t think getting off the boat is a good idea. We have no idea where we actually are. I think we need to reroute it, try and get somewhere, anywhere but where they’re taking us,” I suggest.
“How do we do that?” Aggie asks. “Hold a gun to the captain’s head?”
I raise a brow.
It’s not a bad idea.
“We don’t know how to fire a gun,” Tati squeaks. “Besides, where would we even find one?”
“We need a weapon, at the very least,” I say quietly. “Something to make the captain listen.” I feel the idea settle in my chest with icy certainty. “We can do it. We just have to be smart.”
“We could try and get one of the security guards’ weapons, they have them clear as day,” Aggie points out. “They are probably our only chance.”
“We could steal a knife from the kitchen,” Tati throws in, weakly.
“We will be too easily overpowered with a knife,” I shake my head, offering her a careful but warm smile. “I think Aggie is right, we need to try and get the security guards’ weapons.”
“But how?” Tati questions, crossing her legs beneath her on the bed.
“Well, they’re certainly not going to just hand them over,” I mutter, more to myself than to them.
“So don’t ask. Steal it.” Aggie flips her hair over her shoulder like we’re playing a game of truth or dare.
I hate how fast my mind starts to strategise.
If I could get into his room while he showers or sleeps, maybe I could find wherever he keeps it.
“Okay,” I say. “But if we do this, we need a plan. Where we’re going, what we say to the captain... Once we show the gun, it’s all or nothing.”
Tati nods, but her face is paler than it usually is.
“Let’s do this,” Aggie says, her voice and demeanour strong, but I can see the fear in her eyes.
We talk fast, coming up with a plan. I’ll slip out after midnight, when the boat is dark and half the staff are in their cabins or, hell, drunk on the spoils of whatever payday they’re getting for selling us off.
I will go to Ace’s room and ask to talk to him.
Once he lets me in, I will find a weapon somehow.
Aggie will keep watch from above near the emergency stairs, texting me if anyone comes. Tati will feign a medical emergency and get the guards’ attention on the main deck if we need a distraction.
It feels insane, half-baked and desperate, but we have nothing else.
For the rest of the night, I pace my room until I hear the engines drop down for the night, letting the yacht glide through the water at a slow but steady speed.
Adrenaline soaks my skin. I change into black leggings and a big jumper.
I can’t text anyone, so I wait until 12:30 as planned, before leaving.
I slip my feet into soft-soled sneakers and crack my door. Corridor empty. Carpet muffles everything. With each step down the staircase, my pulse gets harder, louder, as though my body is convinced I’ll slam directly into disaster.
Ace’s room is at the end of the first floor. The door, heavy mahogany, is closed, but I can see a faint slash of light underneath. My hand shakes so hard I have to pause and gather myself before reaching out and knocking.
It takes a minute, and then the door swings open.
Ace fills the frame wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweats, hair damp and messy, a tattoo curling up over one collarbone and disappearing across his chest. He is built the way men in movies are built, the kind you notice even when you are terrified and carrying a secret and have absolutely no business noticing anything at all.
He is fucking spectacular.
“Hey,” I say, voice breathier than I want. “Sorry to bother you, but can I talk to you for a second?”
He steps aside, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, but he lets me in. “Yeah, but if you’re looking for tequila, the answer is no.”
I laugh, weakly.
I step in and stare around the room. It isn’t as nice as ours, but it is comfortable. I’m sure Ace has seen worse; this is probably a vacation for him, too. He closes the door behind me, then leans against it, arms folded, watching.
“What’s going on?” he asks, voice quiet but not gentle.
I can’t do small talk, not now. I take a breath and let my anxiety do the talking. “I have a bad feeling,” I say, looking up at him through my lashes. “You know my dad, right?”
Ace raises a brow. “He hired me, didn’t he?”
Right.
“Then you know he doesn’t do nice things. I just don’t feel good about this. I feel like he’s doing something awful, and I want to go home.”
He doesn’t move, but a muscle in his jaw jumps. “What gives you that idea?”
I shrug. “It’s just a feeling, but it’s enough to make me unable to sleep.”
He doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “Look,” he finally speaks, “you and your friends are safe, that’s what we’re here for.”
“Okay,” I say, stepping closer to the desk. “Sorry, I know I’m being strange, but I honestly can’t sleep.”
“You’re overthinkin’ it. I’ll go check things out, if it makes you feel better. Make sure there is nothin’ weird goin’ on.”
“Really?” I whisper, not entirely an act, but a genuine response.
“Yeah, give me twenty minutes, I’ll go and see what’s happening out there.”
“You could bring back some whiskey, if you wanted...”
He gives me a look. “You’re dreamin’, lady. You’re not drinking after your last effort. Just sit tight, I won’t be long.”
I sit on the edge of the bed, hands pressed together.
He gives me one last look over, then leaves. I give it a minute, maybe two, before I slide off the bed. I carefully shuffle through his things, looking through his backpack, in his drawers, but I don’t find anything.
Heart racing, I kneel down and look under the bed, where I see a briefcase. I yank it out and flip it open. There it is, a black gun, small but deadly. I reach down, lifting it into my hand. It’s heavier than I thought, and I carefully tuck it in my pants, praying it won’t go off.
I take some bullets, stuffing them in, too, and then I slide the case back under the bed. I carefully rush around the room, making sure everything is tidy and looks the way he left it, then I sit on the edge of the bed again, just as Ace returns.
“Nothin’ I could see, everything appears normal. I’ll keep an eye out.”
I tuck my hands in my lap so he doesn’t see them shaking with adrenaline. “I’m sure I’m just overreacting, I probably need sleep.”
“You want me to walk you back?”
I shake my head and stand. “No, it’s okay. Thanks... for opening the door.”
His eyes lock onto mine and something electric shoots through me.
“Anytime,” he murmurs.
God damn.
I need to get out of here. I rush out the door.
He stands in the hallway, watching until I round the corner.
I hold my breath and speed-walk all the way to my cabin, resisting the urge to clutch my waistband.
I slam the door the second I’m inside, then look down at my trembling hands.
I am ignoring my pounding heart, because it isn’t beating over the fact that I just stole a gun, oh no, it’s beating because of the man I just stole it from.
After another shaky breath, I lift the gun and stare at it.
I imagine firing it and want to gag—could I even do it?
I replay all the movies in my head. Don’t you have to cock it first, or flick off the safety?
I turn it in my palm, feeling the edges and the hard, cold certainty that I have absolutely no clue how to use the thing I’m now responsible for.
I hide it under my mattress, between the fitted sheet and the memory foam.
I text the girls, telling them I got it.
Then, I take a deep breath and flop backwards.
I lie on the bed, listening to the quiet thrumming of a million-dollar yacht gliding through the dark water, and wonder if I am even going to be able to pull this off.
I’m not aggressive by nature, which means if confronted, I may very well break.
I guess I’m left with only two choices: get the hell off this boat, or face whatever is on the other side.
I know which one I choose.
“IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK,” Tatiana breathes, staring through the glass at the captain.
Both Aggie and I look to her, confused.
We have been planning this all day, the perfect moment. Now we’re here, ready to carry that plan out, and Tatiana has decided that we can no longer do it. The question is, why?
“What are you talking about?” Aggie whisper-hisses, curling her fingers around Tati’s arm and pulling her around the corner.
I follow.
“Firstly, there are buttons all over the place. There will be more than one panic button, or radio button, or something to call for help. Secondly, he has a gun in his waistband, I can see it. I have no doubt he is far more efficient at aiming a gun than we are. And thirdly, if he actually refuses and we have to shoot him, the whole boat will come for us. If he does as we are told, it could be hours we are trying to hold him up, which will also mean the whole boat will come for us because there is no way we can re-route an entire boat without raising attention and even then, he could lead us anywhere. There has to be another way.”
My heart skips as Aggie stares over at me. “Dammit, I think she’s right.”
I think she is, too.
But if not this, then what?
Aggie glances at the captain again, then back to us, her jaw working. “We need a distraction,” she whispers, “something big. Something that gives us what we want, but doesn’t get anyone hurt.”
I stare at her. “Like what, set off the fire alarm?”
She shakes her head, but there’s a glint in her eyes that is somewhat terrifying. “Bigger. We need to stop this boat, and I think the only way to do that is to have an emergency signal go off so we can be rescued. That will throw any plan they have way off.”
Tatiana’s mouth drops open. “Um, no thanks. I’m not into shipwrecks.”
Aggie waves her hand, brushing it off. “No, not like that. But, like—maybe the boat becomes damaged, nothing major but enough to have them call an emergency. It’s scary, sure, but in this day and age we will be rescued quickly and those lifeboats are nice.
I can mix something up from the cleaning room. ”
I hate to admit it, but she’s onto something.
I raise my brows. “You mean, like, a... bomb?”
Aggie nods, her face oddly serene. “I was top in chem, you know? Gave my teacher an ulcer.” Her expression softens for just a second. “I can mix something to explode, not enough to hurt anyone, but enough for them to have to call an emergency and take us to land.”
For the first time all day, Tatiana actually looks hopeful. “You could do that? Like, really?”
Aggie nods. “Easiest thing in the world. But we would have to be fast, and well prepared. We’d need to set it off and run.”
My stomach twists. It’s a mad plan, absolutely insane, but it’s the only thing that feels possible. The only one that risks our lives a little less than the others.
“Okay,” I whisper, feeling the decision settle like falling glass. “But if we do this, there’s no turning back.”
Aggie doesn’t hesitate as she nods. “I’d rather risk doing this than wait and see what’s waiting for us when we dock. Wouldn’t you?”
We both look to Tatiana, and she nods.
It’s settled then.
Aggie looks at me. “You still have the gun?”
I nod, pressing my lips together. I don’t want to admit where I hid it. It’s so cliché it’s embarrassing.
Tatiana exhales, a shuddering little breath. “So, it’s bombs away, huh.”
I snort.
Aggie laughs. “Don’t worry, girls. We got this.”
We slip away from the hall we were hiding in, Aggie leading the way.
Down the service stairs, through the narrow corridor lined with laundry bags and carts stacked with towels.
Aggie walks like she’s done this a hundred times, never hesitating.
She finds the locked supply closet, and from somewhere in her bag, produces a bobby pin.
She looks back at me, half smiling. “Saw it on YouTube. Turns out it’s mostly true.”
I press my lips together, narrowing my eyes, but in less than a minute, she pops the cheap lock and we’re inside.
I’ll be damned.
I look around; it’s a large room, wall to wall with shelves.
Mostly, it contains towels and sheets, but there are also rows of shelves with cleaning products.
Aggie grabs what she needs and finds a bag to put it all in.
She pauses, eyes darting around, then grabs a few masks from a box near the bottom shelf.
“We’ll do it right before midnight,” she says. “Everyone will be asleep. We’ll make sure we pack some things in the lifeboats. It might be swift rescue, but if it isn’t, we don’t want to be left with nothing if we have to get in them. So make sure you have what you need.”
That doesn’t sound terrifying at all.
Tatiana draws in a ragged breath. “And then what?”
Aggie shrugs. “We hope the distress call goes through, and I dunno, maybe the fucking Navy shows up.”
Here’s hoping.
“Do you think it will take long? We are a fair distance out,” I ask, nerves settling in my stomach.
Aggie gives me a reassuring smile, but I’m not sure I buy it. “Look, the technology on this boat is elite. The safety features would be incredible. They will send a distress call, and we’ll be fine. Come on, let’s not overthink it.”
It’s hard not to, but she’s right.
We just have to hope everything is up to scratch.
Though my father wanted us sold, so I am quite certain it is.
He wouldn’t risk anything happening to his money.