Chapter 9 - The Box on the Rear Deck)
Wind swept across the upper rear deck.
The yacht had slowed almost to a stop.
Coast Guard lights were visible in the distance, still several minutes away.
Lucas Vale stood beside the railing.
He was tall, thin, and completely calm.
Vanessa stood beside him.
Between them sat a blue metal lockbox.
Emily recognized the gold key hanging from Vanessa's neck.
Captain Morris wanted everyone to remain inside.
Danil ignored him.
Emily wanted Sophie to stay in the lounge.
Sophie refused.
"It belongs to Mommy."
Danil looked at Emily.
Emily shook her head.
"No."
Sophie began to protest.
Emily crouched.
"Listening to you means protecting you, even when you're angry at me."
Sophie looked toward the rear deck.
"But Daddy is going."
"He is an adult."
"Adults can be stupid."
Emily almost smiled.
"Tonight has definitely proved that."
Danil heard.
For the first time all night, something almost human crossed his face.
"Stay with Emily."
Sophie looked at him.
"Come back."
He nodded.
"I will."
Emily grabbed his sleeve before he left.
"Don't do anything heroic."
Danil looked at her.
"That's unusual advice."
"Heroic people make stupid choices when there are cameras and law enforcement five minutes away."
He looked toward Lucas.
Then nodded.
Danil walked onto the rear deck with Captain Morris and Caleb several steps behind him.
Emily watched through the glass doors.
Lucas smiled when Danil approached.
"You look like your father when you're angry."
Danil stopped ten feet away.
"Give me the box."
Lucas touched its lid.
"Hannah was always very sentimental."
Vanessa looked toward the approaching Coast Guard vessel.
"We don't have time."
Lucas glanced at her.
"You had three years."
Vanessa's face tightened.
Danil heard.
"So that's what this was?"
Lucas smiled.
"What?"
"You used her."
Vanessa turned toward him.
"Don't."
Lucas laughed.
"She thinks we were partners."
"Shut up."
"You married him. You got access. You found the box. And you still couldn't get him to sign a clean control agreement."
Vanessa stared.
"You needed me."
"I needed a door."
Danil looked between them.
Emily understood before Vanessa did.
Lucas had never intended to share power.
Vanessa was part of his plan.
Not the final beneficiary.
Lucas picked up the blue box.
"You know what Hannah's problem was?"
Danil said nothing.
"She believed evidence mattered more than leverage."
"She was right."
"Was she?"
He held the box above the railing.
Sophie screamed from behind the glass.
"Mommy's box."
Danil turned.
Sophie had slipped past Emily.
She stood at the door.
Lucas saw her.
For the first time, his smile changed.
Recognition.
"Hello, Sophie."
Emily moved in front of the child.
"Don't talk to her."
Lucas looked amused.
"And you're the waitress."
"Catering server."
"Is there a difference?"
"Tonight there is."
Vanessa snapped, "Throw the box."
Lucas looked at her.
She repeated, "Throw it."
Danil took one step forward.
Lucas lifted it farther over the water.
"Stay where you are."
Danil stopped.
Coast Guard sirens grew louder.
Vanessa looked desperate.
"Lucas."
He studied her.
Then he said, "Do you know why Hannah died?"
Danil's face went still.
Vanessa whispered, "Don't."
Lucas smiled.
"She wasn't supposed to."
Everyone froze.
Danil's voice barely carried over the wind.
"What did you say?"
Lucas looked toward the water.
"The plan was to scare her."
Vanessa began backing away.
"You said nothing happened."
Lucas continued.
"I followed her because she had copies of the contract. She drove too fast."
Danil's fists clenched.
"Did you hit her car?"
Lucas did not answer.
That answer was enough.
Vanessa suddenly ran.
Not toward the stairs.
Toward Lucas.
She grabbed the blue box.
They struggled.
The box slipped.
Danil moved.
Lucas caught it with one hand just before it fell over the railing.
Vanessa struck his arm.
He shoved her backward.
She hit a lounge chair and fell.
Captain Morris rushed forward.
Lucas climbed onto the lower rail.
Caleb shouted, "Don't."
Lucas looked toward the dark water.
Then toward the Coast Guard vessel.
He had nowhere to go.
He lifted the box again.
Danil said, "If you throw it, Hannah's files still exist."
Lucas smiled.
"Not all of them."
Sophie cried out.
Emily held her tightly.
Danil took another step.
Lucas opened his hand.
The blue box fell.
It struck the water.
Sophie screamed.
For one second it floated.
Then it disappeared beneath the waves.
Lucas laughed.
Danil did not move.
The Coast Guard boarded less than three minutes later.
Lucas was detained.
Vanessa was separated from everyone else.
The fake crew member was removed from the utility room.
Guests were kept aboard while statements began.
It should have felt finished.
It did not.
Because when Caleb returned to Hannah's cabin, he found something strange.
The empty compartment beneath the floor was slightly deeper than the blue box.
Caleb measured it.
Then he reached inside.
His fingers touched metal.
A second hidden panel lifted.
Underneath it was a small memory card sealed inside plastic.
Hannah had hidden a backup.
May you like
On it was one final recording.
And when Danil heard the first sentence, he realized Hannah had known exactly whom Vanessa was long before her death.
