Chapter 42
With one foot on the deck, one hand on the rail, and the other pulling Vanessa’s head down to the railing, I managed to pull myself up. But I had to let go of her hair to grab onto the side rail.
Free of my grasp, she took a moment to shake it off and regroup.
Before I could climb over the side railing, she came at me with a right cross.
Her fist clocked me in the face, twisting my head aside. I managed to maintain my grip on the side railing.
I came back with a palm strike to her face. The blow knocked her head back, and blood gushed from her nose.
That infuriated her. "You fucking bitch!”
She snarled and charged again. Vanessa swung hard.
This time I ducked.
Her fist whooshed overhead.
The momentum carried her forward.
From the side, I hammered my elbow against her ear, then grabbed the back of her tank top and pulled it over her head.
While she fiddled with that, I climbed over the railing, spun around, and squared off against her.
She turned around, straightening herself out. With tousled hair and blood dripping from her nose, she looked like a demon.
There was no backing down for her. The truth was out, and she would have to get rid of me.
Vanessa charged hard and swung another right.
I blocked it with my forearm, then finished with a palm-strike uppercut to her chin.
It snapped her jaw shut and rattled her teeth.
She staggered back against the side railing and lost her balance on her heels.
I did the only thing I could do. I charged forward, wrapped up her legs, and helped her over the balcony. She screamed as she tumbled over and splashed into the water.
So close to the boat, she got sucked underneath and disappeared.
I peered over the balcony, looking for any trace of her, but she was gone. Lost in the obsidian swells. I cringed at the thought of her getting chewed up in the propellers. But there was also a part of me that thought she deserved it.
My heart pounded, and my ears throbbed. No doubt Vanessa had spiked my drink with something earlier. But for the moment, I was clearheaded and high on life.
Declan burst into the room, followed by Pete. Breathless, with wide eyes, Declan screeched, "What happened?"
I swallowed hard. "She fell overboard.”
"Fell!?”
"She tried to kill me!”
Pete said, "I saw everything from the upper deck. We got here as fast as we could.”
Declan rushed onto the balcony and looked over the railing.
Vanessa was long gone.
"Stop the boat! Send a tender to find her.”
“Aye, sir.” Pete rushed out of the stateroom.
I didn’t really want to be left alone with Declan.
"Vanessa found out Anya was pregnant," I said before hobbling toward the door.
Declan stayed on the balcony, looking out over the sea. He hung his head. The wind whipped across the balcony, and the rain started to come down.
I stumbled back to my stateroom, slipped inside, and latched the deadbolt. I fell onto the bed, still shaking.
The Vesper’s engines came to a halt, and the crew sent a search and recovery team to look for Vanessa. The captain notified the local Coast Guard and Port Authority.
It took the local authorities several hours to mount a full search and rescue operation. During that time, the crew of the Vesper continued to look for Vanessa, but turned up nothing. The storm made things difficult and increasingly dangerous for the tender out on the water.
They returned to the boat and left it to the professionals.
Anything could have happened to Vanessa underneath the boat—a head injury, carved up by the props, a simple drowning.
Declan eventually knocked on my cabin door. “It’s me. Can we talk?”
"I'm not sure there's anything to say," I replied.
"I know you probably think I'm a terrible person," Declan said.
"It really doesn't matter what I think anymore."
"I swear to you, I didn't know what she had done.”
I climbed out of bed and moved to the door. I lingered, thinking about opening it, but I didn’t trust anyone.
"I couldn't stop seeing Anya,” Declan said.
“There was something about her. It was never going to go anywhere.
I just… The circumstances under which we met prohibited anything meaningful.
I… I was in love with her, but I wasn't going to marry her. She was an escort for crissakes. I loved Vanessa, too, but it was different. I thought if we hurried up and got married, I would stop fooling around. But I was just lying to myself.” He paused.
“I went on a trip with Anya. Out of the blue, Vanessa showed up in Corazón Bay. By that time, she had gotten suspicious. I had Anya pretend to be crew. And I made arrangements to get her off the Vesper in Corazón Bay and fly her back to Miami. But I guess she never left the boat. Vanessa must have killed her, then disposed of the body while we were underway.” Declan paused.
"I know you probably don't believe a word of what I'm telling you. But it's the truth."
"What difference does it make now?”
"I don't know. I just needed to get it off my chest. It's a lot to carry.” He paused. “I’ve instructed Captain Curran to return us to Corazón Bay. I’ve arranged for a private charter to take you back to Coconut Key. I’m sorry.”
I packed my things. I don’t know what Vanessa had put into my drink, but I had a hell of a headache now.
At least I had my wits about me. I couldn’t get off the boat fast enough.
I’d had my fill. I certainly didn't want to hang around long enough for the local police to start asking questions. But even if they did, they didn't seem too eager to solve cases around here. As far as they knew, Vanessa’s disappearance was a tragic accident. I don’t think Declan wanted anyone snooping around more than necessary.
Was the story he told me the truth? Had he been involved in Kate’s death?
Who knows? Maybe he was right about the whole justice thing. But Karma caught up with Vanessa.
It was morning by the time we made it back to the marina. I had managed to get a few hours of sleep.
Pete knocked on my door pretty early, but I was up and ready to go. When I pulled open the door, he said, "I just came by to get your bags."
"Thank you."
"Some vacation, huh? I don't expect you’ll be coming back to this boat anytime soon.”
I shook my head. "No.”
“That’s too bad, but understandable.” Then he muttered, "Between you and me, I'm glad you're not the one who went overboard."
I chuckled. "Me too."
I think Pete was a little sweet on me.
He took my bag, and I followed him up to the main deck. "If you'd like to eat breakfast before you go, I'll have this waiting for you and take you to your car when you're ready."
"I'm ready to go now."
Luciano and Sophia stepped to the aft deck to see me off. They both gave me a hug.
"I'm sorry to see you go," Luciano said. “But I'm glad to have met you. You have made this adventure much more interesting."
"Indeed," Sophia said with a smile.
"If you’re ever looking for a different career path, you'll always have a place in my organization.”
"Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Just out of curiosity, are you still going to do the deal with Declan?”