“Beth!”
I fumble to unhook my tether and scramble down the steps. I dash past the galley and throw open the door to my stateroom. My heart plummets. Our empty bed is unmade. Beth’s phone lies on top of the comforter on her side of the bed.
My knees buckle. I rest my palm against the wall as it sinks in that Beth is gone. My eyes brim with tears, but I’m swarmed with too many emotions to know exactly what I’m feeling. I’d already decided that she was dead to me, but now I’m losing her for the second time.
As much as I want to hate her, I can’t stop the tears from streaming down my face.
“No, no, no.” This can’t be happening. She can’t be gone.
Heavy footsteps sound down the companionway steps as I slide my hand under my pillow. I lift it up, staring at the white sheets. I check under Beth’s pillow, but there’s no gun.
“Is she here?”
I whip around at the sound of Russell’s voice in the doorway behind me, snatching my arm out from under Beth’s pillow and placing it at my side. Emma is behind him, peering over his shoulder at our empty stateroom.
“Oh, shit,” she says.
“Check the bathroom,” I tell Emma. “Just in case.”
Emma calls Beth’s name and opens the door to the bathroom closest to our stateroom. It’s empty.
Emma checks the second bathroom—also empty—as my mind swirls with what likely happened, the scenarios making me dizzy. Beth must’ve taken Russell’s gun and confronted him about killing Nojan and Gigi, and then he killed her. But as I stare into Russell’s green eyes, I realize that doesn’t make sense. Beth accusedmeof killing them.
Did Beth have a change of heart? Didshetake Courtney’s diary from Emma’s room, and Russell caught her? Before I can accuse him, Emma does it for me.
She grabs him by the shirt collar and shoves him against the wall hard enough to make me flinch.
“You killed her, you sick bastard,” Emma sneers through gritted teeth.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Present: Day Six at Sea
Russell raises his hands in defense. “No, I didn’t. I swear.”
“You had to have.” Emma narrows her eyes. “Palmer and I were asleep. Beth was on watch when we went to bed. You were the last one to see her when you changed shifts. Plus, you just admitted to believing Beth had the most motive to hurt Courtney. There’s no one left to blame this time, Russell.”
My mind runs wild, imagining their confrontation. Was Beth alive when she hit the water? Where is she now? I picture her lifeless body bobbing face down atop the waves. Or is she lying on the ocean floor? Either way she’s alone. And dead.
“I took your gun,” I blurt, figuring there’s no point in hiding it now. “Beth must’ve found it and confronted you with it. And you killed her.”
Like me, Beth had never held a gun before in her life. I doubt she’d even know how to take the safety off. Given his size and military training, it would’ve been so easy for Russell to overpower her. He couldn’t have shot her—we would’ve heard it. I picture him bludgeoning her in the head with a winch handle before dragging her body over the side. Inwardly, I curse Beth for being so stupid.
Emma gapes at Russell. “You had a gun? Were you planning to shoot us?”
Russell shakes his head. “No. I mean, yes, I had a gun. I always carry one with me. It’s more of a habit than anything, after serving in the military for so long, and I only brought it on board as a precaution since I knew at least one of you is a killer.”
“What happened to Beth?” I ask, as Emma seems to be debating whether to believe him.
“I don’t know. Get off me.” Russell forcibly shakes out of Emma’s white-knuckle grip on his shirt. “I woke up to my alarm in the night and called out to her that I was coming to relieve her after I went to the bathroom. When I was in there, Beth knocked on the door and said she was going to bed.” He looks between me and Emma. “There was no confrontation. I didn’t even see her.”
I study Emma after she releases his shirt, recalling how chipper she was this morning after her supposed overdose last night. Could the voice Russell heard have been Emma’s? It’s not like he knows us that well to tell the difference.
“I’ve been on watch ever since,” Russell adds. “So that blood had to have been there before I went on deck last night. Both of you oroneof you”—his gaze skirts to mine—“must’ve killed Beth before I took watch. Which means whoever I heard outside the bathroom was actually Beth’s killer.”
He has to be lying,I think, as Emma takes a step back and crosses her arms. I face her, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking. Unless ... Did Beth take the diary last night and read something damning about Emma? Did Emma kill Beth to get the diary back?
Except that doesn’t make sense.Iwas the one who confessed to being responsible for Courtney’s death.
