Chương 9
“Captain!”
My chest tightened.
Another voice roared over hers.
“Get away from that panel.”
The lights flickered.
Went dark.
Returned red.
Then white.
Full power snapped back across the room.
The air-conditioning restarted.
The tablet chimed.
The hidden speaker glowed green.
I lunged for it.
“Daniel.”
His answer came instantly.
“Evelyn, move away from the door.”
“What happened?”
“Captain Mercer restored emergency power.”
“Lila was shouting.”
“We know.”
“Is she okay?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I almost screamed at the phrase.
Daniel continued before I could.
“Listen carefully.”
“I found messages on Flynn’s tablet.”
“Do not touch it anymore.”
“Kara says the power of attorney doesn’t give him the money.”
Daniel paused.
“Repeat that.”
“She says if I die, he doesn’t automatically control Sterling assets.”
Voices erupted behind him.
I heard someone say, “Get legal on this now.”
Daniel returned.
“What else?”
“She said Flynn’s father lied to him about a trust.”
The line went quiet.
Then Daniel said, “That changes the motive structure.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your husband may be acting on false information.”
“That doesn’t make me safer.”
“No.”
A pounding hit my door.
This time the frame groaned.
Flynn shouted, “Open it now.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Do not.”
Another impact.
The secondary latch bent slightly.
I backed into the bathroom.
“How long until help?”
“We have a Coast Guard aircraft inbound and surface support closing.”
“That doesn’t help with the door.”
“Captain Mercer is moving toward you.”
“What about Marcus?”
“We picked up audio suggesting he’s restrained near the service corridor.”
Another crash.
Wood splintered around the latch.
Flynn shouted, “Evelyn, they’re lying to you.”
I almost answered.
Daniel stopped me.
“Don’t engage unless it buys time.”
Flynn hit the door again.
The latch screws pulled halfway out of the frame.
I grabbed the heaviest thing I could find, a brass lamp from the bedside table.
It was ridiculous.
Too awkward to swing.
Too heavy to hold properly.
I kept it anyway.
“Daniel.”
“I’m here.”
“If he gets in?”
“Move toward the bathroom, lock that door, make noise, and do not let him move you to another location.”
Another hit.
One screw tore free.
Flynn’s voice came through the widening gap.
“You think your father’s security people are protecting you?”
I froze.
Daniel said, “Ignore him.”
Flynn laughed.
“They’ve been recording your bedroom for three days.”
My skin prickled.
I looked at the hidden panel.
“Daniel?”
“Designated security zones do not include private sleeping or bathroom areas.”
Flynn heard me talking.
The pounding stopped.
Then he said very softly, “So that’s who you’re talking to.”
I closed the panel too late.
Silence.
A second later, Flynn laughed again.
Not warmly this time.
“Of course.”
He sounded almost relieved.
“The old man’s panic button.”
My pulse stumbled.
He knew what the system was.
Maybe not before.
Now he did.
Flynn moved away from the door.
I waited for another blow.
It never came.
“Daniel, he stopped.”
“I heard.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I moved toward the peephole.
The corridor looked empty.
Then I saw something near the bottom of the door.
A shadow.
Flynn was crouching.
A thin metal object slid through the gap beneath the door.
I stepped back.
“What is that?”
Daniel said nothing.
A sweet chemical smell entered the room.
Not strong.
Faint.
Almost fruity.
I stared at the metal tube.
“Daniel.”
His voice changed instantly.
“Move to the bathroom now.”
I grabbed Flynn’s tablet without thinking.
“What is it?”
“Now, Evelyn.”
The smell grew stronger.
I ran into the bathroom, slammed the door, locked it, and shoved a hamper against the bottom gap.
The ventilation fan hummed overhead.
I climbed onto the counter and reached for the small vent control.
My fingers slipped once.
Twice.
Finally I closed it.
Outside, something heavy struck the bedroom door.
Once.
Twice.
Then the frame gave way.
I heard men enter.
Flynn’s voice came through the bathroom wall.
“Find her.”
I held the brass lamp in one hand and Flynn’s tablet in the other.
A new message flashed across the screen.
Kara again.
This one was long enough for the preview to show almost everything.
Flynn, your mother changed the trust documents last month.
Do not listen to Aidan.
They are using you too.
For several seconds, the words refused to become meaning.
They are using you too.
Outside the bathroom, someone opened drawers.
A cabinet door slammed.
Flynn said, “She has to be in here.”
Another man answered, “Then get the door open.”
Aidan.
I stared at the tablet.
My hands had begun to sweat so badly that the glass shifted against my palm.
The message from Kara remained on the screen.
Flynn, your mother changed the trust documents last month.
Do not listen to Aidan.
They are using you too.
The bathroom handle moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then Flynn knocked.
Not hard.
“Evie.”
I almost laughed at the tenderness.
“Open the door.”
I said nothing.
“Whatever you think is happening, it’s bigger than you understand.”
Aidan said something behind him.
Flynn snapped, “Shut up.”
That was new.
I pressed the tablet against my chest.
Daniel’s speaker was twenty feet away in the bedroom, useless to me now.
Unless I opened the bathroom door, I had no contact with him.
No contact with anyone.
Flynn knocked again.
“Evelyn, please.”
“Back away from the door.”
My voice shook.
He heard it.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“You put something under the bedroom door.”
“That wasn’t lethal.”
The answer came too quickly.
Aidan swore behind him.
I closed my eyes.
Not lethal.
He had admitted it without meaning to.
“What was it?”
“A sedative aerosol.”
My stomach turned.
“You tried to gas me.”
“I was trying to keep you from panicking.”
I looked at the brass lamp in my hand.
“You planned to throw me overboard.”
Silence.
Then Flynn said, “That was before.”
The sentence was so insane that for a second I forgot to be afraid.
“Before what?”
May you like
Another pause.
Before he could answer, Aidan said, “Stop talking to her.”
