Chương 8
The latch held.
“Where’s Lila?” I asked.
“Open the door.”
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite answer tonight.”
His mouth twitched.
For one insane second, I saw the man I had married.
He used to make that exact expression when I said something he found annoyingly funny.
Then he reached through the opening and tried to lift the latch with his fingers.
I slammed the door against his hand.
He cursed and jerked back.
The door shut.
I twisted the main lock.
A second later, he hit the wood hard enough to shake the frame.
“Evelyn.”
I ran to the window.
There was no exit.
The glass was reinforced.
The balcony outside could only be accessed through a sealed door controlled electronically.
No power.
No release.
The bedroom had become exactly what Daniel called it without saying the word.
A cage.
Flynn struck the door again.
“Stop making this harder than it has to be.”
I almost laughed.
“What does easy look like?”
He stopped.
I stood in the red darkness, shaking.
“You drug me until I can barely stand.”
Silence.
“You forged my authorization.”
More silence.
“You planned to throw me overboard.”
This time, he answered.
“You don’t understand.”
The phrase was so predictable that anger burned through my fear.
“Then explain it.”
“Not through a door.”
“You were happy to plan my death through a staircase.”
His breath came sharply from the other side.
I had hurt him.
The realization disgusted me.
Some buried reflex still noticed his feelings.
“I never wanted this,” he said.
“Which part?”
“Any of it.”
“Interesting.”
“Evelyn.”
“Was killing my parents the part you didn’t want, or just the paperwork?”
He hit the door again.
“Keep your voice down.”
That told me more than anything.
He was afraid someone would hear.
I moved closer.
“No.”
“Ev.”
“No.”
I raised my voice.
“Help!”
His palm slammed against the door.
“Shut up.”
“Help!”
Footsteps sounded somewhere down the corridor.
Flynn swore.
Then another voice called from farther away.
“Mr. Callahan?”
Marcus.
Flynn answered instantly.
“She’s having a panic attack.”
I shouted, “He’s trying to kill me!”
The footsteps stopped.
Silence followed.
Marcus said, “What?”
Flynn lowered his voice.
“She’s disoriented.”
“I’m not disoriented.”
“Evelyn, stop.”
“He drugged me.”
Marcus did not answer.
Flynn moved away from the door.
I could hear the two men speaking too quietly for me to understand.
Then Marcus said, louder, “You said she’d be asleep.”
Everything went still.
Flynn answered through clenched teeth.
“She was supposed to be.”
My breath caught.
Marcus swore.
“What the hell did you give her?”
“Not now.”
“You said nobody was getting hurt.”
The corridor went silent again.
A different shape of fear entered me.
Marcus had not known.
Or he had not known everything.
Flynn said something low and urgent.
Marcus answered, “No.”
The word came harder.
“I’m done.”
“You’re already in it.”
“I disabled cameras.”
“Yes.”
“I changed access permissions.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t sign up to kill somebody.”
I pressed both hands to the door.
Flynn’s voice became eerily calm.
“You took twenty thousand dollars.”
“For privacy work.”
“You used stolen credentials.”
“You gave me those credentials.”
“Which means when this gets investigated, whose name appears first?”
Marcus said nothing.
Flynn continued.
“Yours.”
I could almost see the realization happening on the other side.
The replacement crewman had thought he was doing dirty work.
Illegal work, probably.
But not murder.
Flynn had built the plan in compartments.
Daniel had been right.
A crash sounded in the corridor.
Someone grunted.
I heard shoes scrape against the floor.
Then Marcus shouted, “Get off me.”
The door shook as a body struck it.
I backed away.
There was a brief, ugly struggle.
No dramatic punches.
Just breath, swearing, fabric pulling, something metal hitting the wall.
Then another person joined them.
Aidan.
“Hold him.”
Marcus yelled, “Don’t touch me.”
Flynn said, “Quiet.”
“Fuck you.”
A muffled impact followed.
Marcus groaned.
I screamed for help again.
Aidan shouted through the door, “Evelyn, this is not what you think.”
I stared at the wood.
Of all the lies available to him, he had chosen the stupidest.
“Then what is it?”
No answer.
I laughed once, breathless.
“That’s what I thought.”
Aidan muttered something to Flynn.
Footsteps retreated.
Someone dragged another person with them.
Marcus’s shoes scraped along the floor.
Then silence returned.
I stood alone again.
The power remained out.
I checked the hidden panel.
Dead.
The red floor lights flickered.
I found Flynn’s tablet.
Without power, it was still running on battery.
I pressed the side button.
The lock screen appeared.
Three missed messages from Kara.
One new message preview.
Please answer me.
Then another.
I checked the document.
Her next message came before I finished reading the first.
The POA does not transfer beneficial ownership.
I stared at the words.
A third message appeared.
If Evelyn dies, you do NOT automatically control Sterling assets.
My heartbeat changed.
Not relief.
Confusion.
Flynn had told his parents the money would become theirs.
Kara was telling him that was false.
Another message.
Call me now before you make this irreversible.
I picked up the tablet.
Daniel had warned me not to access it.
Daniel was gone.
I swiped upward.
Passcode.
Six digits.
I tried our wedding date.
Wrong.
Flynn’s birthday.
Wrong.
My birthday.
Wrong.
I stopped.
Three failed attempts were already too many.
The screen dimmed.
I set the tablet down.
Kara kept messaging.
One preview appeared only partially.
Your father lied to you about the trust and I can prove—
The message vanished beneath another notification.
I leaned closer.
Flynn’s father.
Aidan had texted him from somewhere aboard.
M is secured.
Proceed with E now.
M.
Marcus.
I grabbed the tablet and moved toward the bathroom.
If they came through the door, I wanted something between us.
A heavy banging sounded again.
Not at my door.
Farther down the corridor.
Then shouting.
May you like
A woman’s voice.
Lila.
