“You need to rest for a bit,” Beth says. “Another hour or so isn’t going to hurt anything. I’ll wake you in a while, and you can help me winch Emma up.”
Emma nods in agreement. Reluctantly, I sink against the leather couch. Emma puts her hands on her hips and twists toward Beth.
“I’m going back on deck to see if Russell needs help with anything. Can you see if you can get a weather report on the radio?”
“Okay.” Beth moves to the small desk in the corner and then flicks on the radio while Emma goes upstairs.
From the couch, I watch Beth spin a knob while static bleeds through the speaker. She turns up the volume and changes the frequency until a man’s voice crackles through the radio. Another voice comes through the radio, but it’s hard to make out what they’re saying.
Beth sits up straight and reaches aimlessly for the missing radio mic, then swears.
The sounds cut out, leaving us in silence aside from Beth’s continual flip of the switches.
I sit up, fighting the nausea that rises with me. “What happened?”
“Shit,” Beth mutters, throwing me a distressed look. “The radio stopped working.”
Emma comes down the companionway. “We lost power at the helm. Do you guys have it down here?”
Beth whips around. “No, it just went out.”
Emma comes down the steps, looking over Beth’s shoulder at the radio. “One of the fuel tanks was running low, so I switched to the second tank. But then I lost power.”
Russell appears at the top of the companionway. “Second tank?” His brows furrow in confusion. “I only filled one before we left.”
Emma turns toward him, placing a hand on her hip. “The controls said there were two.”
Beth twists in her seat, giving Russell a sidelong look filled with quiet skepticism.
Russell shakes his head. “Nojan didn’t tell me that.”
Emma frowns. “Why the hell would he not tell you that?”
Russell comes down a step. “I don’t know, but Nojan only told me to fuel the boat when we stopped at the fueling station on our way out of the marina. You were there, remember?”
I rack my brain, trying to recall if Nojan told him there were two tanks. I remember Nojan telling him to fuel up, and I heard nothing about a second tank. But I’d been distracted by the thought of leaving the girls and still having to tell them about Matt’s leaving me. I study him, looking between Beth’s and Emma’s wary gazes. Maybe Beth was right. We need to incapacitate him before it’s too late. Pain stabs at my skull, and I sag against the couch, wishing we had formed a plan to subdue Russell before I went up the mast.
“Maybe Nojan didn’t realize it either. This boat’s brand new. He’d never sailed it before.”
Emma crosses her arms. “Where are the tanks?”
Russell motions behind him with his head. “Under the bed in my stateroom. I’ll check them.”
Beth trails his movement with a distrusting gaze.
Emma follows after him. “Not alone, you’re not. I’m coming with you.” She glances at Beth. “Beth, can you keep watch at the helm?”
Beth looks to me before going up. “You okay down here without me?”
I try to get up, hating my helplessness. But the galley spins. Begrudgingly, I collapse against the couch cushions. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Try to rest,” Beth adds.
I close my eyes as Beth pads up the steps, meaning to close them for only a moment. Beneath me, the hull creaks. What if Courtney reallywasthe one who penned that note? Could it be possible that she’s somehow survived? I try to imagine her hiding somewhere in the belly of the boat, waiting to kill the rest of us, one by one.
Or just me, I realize, now that Gigi is gone. Gigi and I would be the two Courtney would be seeking revenge on most, except that we’d all left Courtney behind to search for Beth’s van. I catch a whiff of a familiar scent, one that takes me back in time. A flowery scent mixed with sandalwood fills my nose.Courtney.
I should get up. Tell the others. But my body doesn’t respond to my commands. I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought. Before I can dwell on it, I’m pulled into a dreamless, listless sleep.
