Chapter 424
Chapter 424:
“But sir, he’s still alive,” a guard hesitated.
“Did I stutter p>
The guards moved to obey. As they cut the zip ties from the chair to drag the limp body to the railing, the rest of the crew rushed forward with buckets of water and brushes, desperate to scrub away the evidence before the blood stained the expensive teak.
Lucian walked toward Skye, buttoning his cuffs.
“I need to wash. Wait here p>
He disappeared into the master suite.
Skye let out a breath she felt she had been holding for an hour.
She was shaking, but her hand was tight around the transponder hidden in her pocket.
The splash was heavy, a grim punctuation mark to the violence. Zeke was gone, swallowed by the Pacific’s indifference.
Skye leaned against the bulkhead, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a cold, clammy dread.
She had crossed a line today. She wasn’t just a survivor anymore; she was a participant.
Tessa, the young maid, hurried past Skye, clutching a bundle of soiled towels. Her face was pale, eyes fixed on the deck, terrified of drawing attention.
Skye reached out and grabbed Tessa’s wrist.
The girl gasped, dropping a towel. She looked at Skye as if she were a ghost.
“Please, Miss,” Tessa whispered, trembling. “I didn’t see anything p>
Skye pulled her into the shadow of the awning, out of the camera’s direct line of sight.
“You saw everything, Tessa. And you know it could be you next p>
Tessa began to cry silently. “I just want to go home. My contract ends in a month p>
“You won’t make it a month,” Skye hissed, her voice low and urgent. “Lucian is unraveling. Today it was Zeke. Tomorrow, if the coffee is cold or a shirt isn’t pressed… do you think he’ll hesitate p>
Tessa shook her head, terror widening her eyes.
Skye pressed the small black transponder into Tessa’s hand. It was warm from Skye’s grip.
“Hide this,” Skye commanded. “Put it in the dirty laundry basket in the lower hold. The deepest part of the ship. Press the side button three times fast, three times slow. S.O.S p>
іո𝘀𝘵а𝘯𝗍 𝖺𝖼𝗰e𝗌𝗌 𝗈n 𝖻𝗲.𝖼𝗼𝗆
“I can’t…” Tessa tried to pull away.
“If you don’t,” Skye said, her voice turning to pure ice, channeling every ounce of ruthless CEO energy she possessed, “I will tell him you unlocked the jewelry case for Zeke. I will tell him you were his accomplice p>
It was a cruel lie. A necessary evil.
Skye watched the color drain from Tessa’s face.
“Do it, and this signal brings the people who can stop him. Do it, and you go home alive p>
Tessa looked toward the bathroom door where Lucian was washing Zeke’s blood from his hands. She looked at the dark ocean.
She nodded—a jerky, desperate motion.
“Go p>
Tessa scrambled away, clutching the device hidden in the towels.
Skye sank into a deck chair, closing her eyes, feigning exhaustion.
Ten minutes later, deep in the bowels of the ship, amid the hum of the laundry machines, a tiny LED light on the transponder blinked green.
Once. Twice.
Thousands of miles away, in a darkened server room, a dot appeared on a screen.
“We have a ping,” Felix Carter shouted, spilling his coffee as he lunged for the keyboard. “It’s a manual distress code. Sector 4 p>