Chapter 369
Chapter 369:
They looked nothing like ordinary passengers. It felt as though they had been waiting for her — as though they had known she was coming.
None of them replied.
At a silent signal from the one in front, they rushed her all at once, closing in like a pack.
She spun around in a panic and threw herself back into the water. The masked men followed instantly, splashing in behind her. A quick glance back revealed a mass of dark shapes in pursuit. Cold dread crept up her spine.
She kicked hard, forcing her exhausted body forward — swimming straight toward Colton. He was dangerous, but at least he would not kill her.
She was already at her limit. The men boxed her in quickly, their eyes ruthless and filled with lethal intent. Her heartbeat thundered.
Sav𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝗎𝘳 𝘧a𝘷оr𝗂𝘵e 𝗇о𝗏𝖾𝗅𝘴 𝗈ո.сo𝗆
What was happening?
They tightened the circle.
Just as despair threatened to swallow her, someone broke through the surface nearby. She saw only his back — but she knew instantly.
“Colton!” she screamed.
Her cry carried far across the still night and gentle waves.
He turned.
Kristine caught the shock flashing across his face, and noticed Elyse held tightly against him. Elyse’s eyes were shut, her face pale in the moonlight.
As if she sensed Kristine’s stare, Elyse’s lashes quivered. Slowly, she opened her eyes. When she saw Kristine, her body trembled and she clutched Colton even tighter. “Colton — I’m terrified p>
His body went rigid. He looked down at the fear in Elyse’s eyes, and it pierced him. When he looked back at Kristine, there was only icy distance.
Then he turned away, swimming toward land with Elyse still in his arms.
It all unfolded in moments.
For one brief second, hope bloomed in Kristine’s chest — then was crushed completely.
She had been foolish. After she had abducted Elyse and drugged her, Colton likely wanted her gone. Perhaps these men had come on his orders.
As they closed in, a trace of bitter amusement flickered in her eyes. If this was how it ended, she refused to accept it quietly.
She shut her eyes, drew in one last breath, and plunged downward.
If her life was ending, she would decide how.
A stream of bubbles drifted upward in her wake.
The men exchanged glances. Nearly a minute passed before the realization struck. One by one, they dove in after her.
Beneath the surface stretched a vast, silent world — coral, clownfish, jellyfish, shifting colors in the deep. Kristine was nowhere to be found. The ocean below lay still, eerily undisturbed.
Inside the battered cruise ship, Colton lowered Elyse onto the deck and immediately spun toward Bobby. “Where is the doctor p>
Kristine hadn’t been bluffing. She had actually drugged Elyse, exactly as she’d said she would. When Colton finally found her, Elyse had been drifting in the water, completely unconscious. Had he arrived a moment later, she might not have survived.
His eyes turned to ice, and his heart grew heavier with every passing second. He realized that the Kristine he once knew was gone — destroyed, in no small part, by his own choices.