Hoax

  Where were we? Still in South Carolina?

  Liam got to the dock just as a motor on one of the boats started, causing him to start jogging. “Come on,” he called over his shoulder.

  Blake and I hurried along after him. It was a surreal moment and fear seized me. After all I’d been through, I was afraid of these new people, and here I was running toward them. I trusted only Blake. I’d already been thrown into the middle of the ocean once. How could Blake be sure these people wouldn’t do the same?

  Still, being with him was better than being left behind, so I hurried to get beside him. I reached for his elbow, something familiar to hold on to as we jogged to the slip.

  Blake shifted his arm, rubbing our sweatshirts across each other and then touched my hand, causing a slight electric zap between us.

  He held on anyway. Our flip-flops slapped loudly along the wood of the dock.

  Liam slowed at a motorboat with an open helm toward the front. There were already two men there, their shadowy figures moving, adjusting things. One was fiddling with the controls, the other stopped to watch Liam and us. When we got closer, he went to the starboard aft of the ship and started unwinding a rope from a post. I didn’t recognize either of them and kept blinking, looking for familiar features, but they wore dark clothes like us, and my dried-out eyes blurred when I tried to focus.

  Liam jumped on board, then turned back and motioned to us. “Come on,” he said. He grabbed my hand as I took a large step to cross from the dock and over the boat’s rail. He held on to me until I had both feet on the deck.

  Blake jumped in after. The moment he touched down, the engines began to roar and the boat started moving, at first sideways away from the dock, and then out toward the river.

  “It’s best if you two stay inside until we get to the ship,” Liam said, urging us toward a narrow set of stairs that went down into the hull. Below deck were a galley and a small seating area that smelled of must and dampness with a hint of fish. The fridge was one of those tiny dorm room types. The counter had a microwave, a small sink, and an electric hot plate.

  “Have a seat,” Liam said, motioning to the table. It had a thin plaid tablecloth over it. “There might be something in the fridge if you’re hungry, but something easy. Don’t bother thinking about cooking anything; once we’re there, you’re going to have to climb up quickly.”

  Climb up? Then I realized with a big cruise liner, we’d probably have to get up alongside the ship. And then what? They’d throw down a rope ladder? I didn’t know anything about boats, so I wasn’t really sure how this would work.

  Liam left to go up top. Over the drone of the motor, I could hear footsteps above us. I settled into the bench seat in the table, wedging myself in. I tried to sit back, but it was too upright and uncomfortable. I grunted.

  “It’s not so bad,” Blake said, looking around, then opening cabinet doors. He found a box of saltine crackers and pulled it out. He took a sleeve from it and returned the box before bringing the packet to the table. “Wait until we’re back on the yacht. Maybe we’ll take another hot bath.”

  “No more baths,” I said. “I just want a rinse and then to go to sleep.” I reached over, taking one of the crackers from him. I put it in my mouth. It was stale but I ate it anyway. “And I want a steak. And eggs. And coffee.”

  “Do you want to eat or sleep?”

  “I can do both.”

  Blake chuckled and ate a couple of crackers. “Sweetheart, I love the way you think.”

  My skin heated and I shared a look with him. Were we a couple now? Did he still hold to what we’d talked about, about us not being exclusive?

  What did I want? I wanted to be sweet with him because I really felt we were close.

  As tired as I was, as terrified as I felt about going back and discovering who had thrown us overboard, the relationship situation loomed in my brain. I was unsure of myself, something I didn’t like.

  Too tired to worry about it now.

  He smiled at me and then reached out and held my hand. That was all. No promises. He was there. He’d continue to be there. For now, that had to be enough. We needed each other to get to the bottom of who’d tried to kill us, before anything else.

  I leaned back as much as I could and then, when that didn’t work, bent forward, leaning on the table. I was breathing in more of that fish smell, but at the moment, I didn’t care.

  I was busy in my head, trying to prepare myself to meet Corey and the others again. Would I be able to tell when I saw them if they had been behind us going overboard?

  Would I have the nerve to face them? What would I say?

  I was about to find out.

  Returning

  The small boat rocked against the tide, meeting waves. Inside the cabin, I became hyperaware of my stomach, paranoid about seasickness. The stale crackers settled into my stomach, feeling more like I’d swallowed a tight ball. I wasn’t sure if eating more would make the feeling go away, or if I should stop just in case I puked.

  After a half hour, Liam returned and turned the light out, saying they wanted to approach the boat in the dark. That sounded dangerous; how were they supposed to navigate like that? What if we bumped into something?

  “The fewer people who see us coming in, the better,” he said and left us again. I heard voices overhead. I couldn’t pick out exactly what they were saying over the sound of the motor running, but it made me wonder who those other men on board were.

  There were three distinct voices. Could there be more than that? Paranoia was going to wear me down. I assumed Liam and his friends would have killed us by now if they wanted, but we were defenseless, weak.

  I moved to sit on the steps.

  My shadow, Blake followed. “Eager to go?”

  “I just want this over with,” I said.

  “It might take time.”

  I didn’t want it to take time. I wanted whoever had tried to kill us six feet under, or floating facedown in the water.

  We sat close together, waiting for word from the others to go up. Liam had left the door open, and the specks of stars above caught my attention. In the dazed state I was in, it was easier to watch those stars.

  The step was hard against my butt, almost grinding the sand into my skin even through the sweatpants. With what little room we had, I was pressed up against Blake. It was a bit chilly, and I could feel heat radiating from his body. He didn’t seem to mind me leaning against him, stealing what warmth I could as we waited in the dark, everything silent except for the motor.

  “Do we have a plan?” I whispered. “Other than the food and the nap?”

  “The first step is getting on board without too many people noticing,” Blake said. “I think we’ll have an advantage. Someone is bound to assume we’re dead. Let’s let them keep thinking that.”

  “But Corey knows we’re alive,” I said. “And Axel and the others…”

  Blake shifted and his hand found my shoulder in the dark, drawing me in close. “I know I was suggesting before that they could have done this, but you were the one to tell me they couldn’t have.”

  I shivered as I remembered being in the water, the cold, sinking into complete darkness, and the promises I’d made to make things right. That didn’t mean I could ignore that I might have pissed someone off enough to throw us over.

  “At this point, I can’t afford to eliminate them,” I said, dropping my head into my hands. “I don’t want to believe it, but if we’re going back, I can’t risk your life looking the other way.”

  “I didn’t mean to make it sound like it was them for sure.”

  “But you did say there were only a few who knew about our tracker boxes. During dinner, they gave me a tracker right before I went to look for you. It was snapped off of me while I was fighting; he knew what it was.”

  His hand tightened, holding me more firmly against him. I pressed my cheek into his shoulder. “You know them better than I do, d
arling,” he said. “Do you think they would do such a thing to you?”

  Dark thoughts plagued my brain, and I pushed a palm against my forehead. Distance and time away from the others had me second-guessing everything I’d done. I didn’t want to believe they would try to kill us, but what if one of them had snapped?

  “I can’t stop thinking it might be,” I said. “I don’t want to believe it, but…”

  Blake made a noise in his throat like a cough and a grumble at the same time. “They aren’t my favorite people, but I don’t really think they’re the murdering type.”

  “You’re the one who suggested it in the first place.”

  “I know. And I was angry and jealous. I still am, but I can’t let that mask my judgment and assume guilt without real facts. They had plenty of chances to kill me prior to last night.”

  I thought about when Brandon and I had been kidnapped, or the time when I’d shot Marc in the leg. There were times I’d messed up bad and they’d still never asked me to leave.

  “Maybe they knew we’d survive and just wanted us off the boat?”

  “That was a hell of a risk to take if they wanted us to live through it. Reckless and stupid if they did.”

  Maybe that was true. Reckless was more my style than theirs, but I kept the thought to myself. I didn’t like this mulling over questions without being able to get answers.

  I also didn’t like thinking these thoughts about the guys. When I thought it might be Axel or Brandon, I pictured their faces and the wave of guilt washed over me again for even considering them.

  “So how do we find out for sure?” I asked.

  “We start with finding out where people were when we took a swim. It’ll help when we can get to the boat and I can talk to Doyle.”

  “Oh boy,” I said and made a face, even though he couldn’t see it. My throat was already closing up at the idea of getting a lungful of smoke…and attitude.

  “He’s our best shot,” Blake said.

  “How do you know he didn’t do it? Maybe Doyle has some revenge kick going.”

  “He couldn’t have thrown you over, let alone me. He’s not that strong. Besides, you would have smelled him a mile away. And didn’t you talk to him while looking for me after I was already overboard?”

  That was true, I didn’t remember a smoke scent like the one that always lingered like a cloud around Doyle.

  Suddenly, the sound of the motor ceased, startling me. I jerked my head just as the boat lurched the opposite way, knocking the back of my head into wood.

  Pain seized me instantly along the crown of my scalp. I bent forward, well away from whatever I’d hit, and covered the spot with my hand. I seethed, feeling the heat spreading over the top of my head.

  Blake hovered over me. “Honey, you’re fixin’ to get laid up if you keep knocking your noggin.” He touched my arm softly.

  I warded him off. “Don’t!” My head throbbed, and I was biting my tongue not to curse up a storm. It felt wet, and I assumed I was bleeding to death, but I didn’t want him to touch it and make it hurt more.

  “Let me just make sure you don’t need stitches.”

  “You can’t see it in the dark.”

  “Hey!” Liam’s voice came from above in a harsh whisper. “You two ready?”

  I pushed myself up to stand, this time lifting my arms around my head protectively to feel out where the walls were, finding the banister I’d bashed my head on.

  Blake went up first and then dropped a hand down toward me. I took it, letting him guide me up the stairs, keeping my other hand protectively over my head.

  As we got above deck, I caught sight of lights from the massive cruise ship nearby. Those were the only lights we had to navigate by.

  I’d never been on a ship as large as that cruise liner before yesterday. It was several stories tall and, from sea level, seemed even bigger than it had when we’d first boarded. Inside, it was like a floating hotel and mall all in one.

  The small boat was harder to navigate in the dark, but it was Liam who met me once I was on deck, and he motioned for me to hang on to the rail. We skirted around the edge of the deck. The air now was heady with ocean saltiness and metallic from the boat.

  My body tensed. I pictured all the people that had been on board as if they’d witnessed what happened to me and had even approved. It was strange to return somewhere I wasn’t wanted. Wasn’t my style. Was it too late to turn back?

  The little boat pulled up alongside, dangerously close from my perspective. The cruise ship seemed so stable while we rocked back and forth with the waves pushing us, making it appear we might knock into the ship.

  I wondered if there would be a ladder of some sort, a rope one that would unfurl down to us and we’d have to climb it. I counted windows up the side, imagining each one was like the floor of a building, looking for where we might scramble over a railing somewhere. How exactly were we going to get on this thing?

  The boat drifted closer to the ship. Liam directed us, pointing at what I thought was just the hull.

  A panel opened on the cruise ship and swung down, creating a doorway, and the panel was now like a plank sticking out over the water. It had a yellow safety railing around it. Lights were shining from inside the now-opened hull of the ship and two men stood inside, waiting as the plank settled into place. The men—backlit by the lights behind them—came out, stopped by the railing. Our boat rocked around the water and I was worried we’d run into the ship.

  From the outlines, I suspected the two men were Corey and Avery. At least, I hoped it was Corey and not Brandon. I couldn’t see his eyes yet to be sure. They were wearing all black, like us, except their clothes were slacks and buttoned shirts. Avery’s hair was slicked back, as if wet.

  Corey Henshaw was nineteen, normally bright-eyed and friendly. He was a nerdling: a hot geek. He could do most math without a calculator, and he played and made video games. He was much taller than me, with wide shoulders, and had a country-boy charm that I absolutely adored.

  Corey found my face, looking my direction, and from that point on, his gaze never wavered.

  Whoever was steering our boat turned it just enough to line up with the ship opening. We were close enough that Liam could tie the boat to the larger vessel. It kept the smaller boat from drifting too far with the waves.

  Corey leaned over the rail, looking down at us and waving. “Hey,” he called out and then pointed to me. “Reach for me. I’ll bring you up.”

  Corey tugged, and I climbed, hauling myself up. Avery assisted when he could reach my elbow. The moment I could rest my weight on the cruise ship, it became much easier to climb up.

  Once I was on the ship, Corey kept an arm around my waist, guiding me away from the edge and back into the ship.

  I kept checking Corey’s eyes, worried I might be mistaken and it was his brother. Anger hovered just under the surface in him.

  Once we were just inside of the ship, he turned to me. “Are you okay?” he asked me, concern dripping from his tone. He brushed my hair from my cheek, but it was hard and crusty and barely moved. When he couldn’t budge it much, he went for wiping at my cheeks and forehead, dusting off the sand. “Are you hurt?”

  “Fine,” I said, although I had a killer headache, thanks to bumping my head earlier. I fought off the desire to demand a quiet place to rest and drugs to put me to sleep.

  I wasn’t sure I could sleep yet. I wanted to inspect every little nook and cranny of the ship to find out who had done this to us. “I just need a shower. And food. And maybe some aspirin. Does anyone else know we’ve come on board yet?”

  “Axel’s waiting to hear when you’ve arrived,” he said. “But he’s dealing with some passengers right now, so he’s sort of stuck until he can get away.”

  “We need to check in with Doyle first anyway,” I said.

  Corey raised an eyebrow. “What? Why? Axel told me to let him know right away when you were on boa
rd.”

  “Can Doyle hear?”

  “I guess so. Avery has an earpiece.”

  The waves had tugged the smaller boat away, and they were trying to get it closer before Blake could follow me onto the ship. Avery was waiting for him but looked at us when Corey said his name.

  “Can Doyle hear me?” I asked Avery. When he nodded, I said, “Have him tell Axel we’re a little delayed. Just give us a few minutes.”

  “What’s going on?” Corey asked.

  “I’ll tell you in a minute,” I said, looking toward Avery.

  Avery relayed my message. The waves finally gave us a break and the boat managed to get close enough again.

  Blake climbed and Avery reached for him, steadying him as he jumped the rail. He released him once he was standing solidly on the ship.

  Blake bent forward, breathing heavily. The black sweatshirt drooped over his hand as he pressed it to his side.

  Avery backed away from the rail, keeping an eye on Blake. “You okay?” he asked. “Did you pull something?”

  Blake waved him off, swallowed, and shook his head. “No. Don’t worry about me. I’m just a little tired.” He stood, but as he walked away from the rail, his movements were stiff. There was a slight limp to his walk. “I just need a shower and a nap.”

  Avery looked at me once, checking in. His brown eyes asking me questions.

  I glanced away quickly. It was the leg I’d shot Blake in. It hadn’t been that long ago but in the past few days, he’d seemed perfectly fine. Now that he was tired and probably sore from the long swim, he limped more. I still felt he’d deserved it at the time, but now that I knew him better, I wished I’d just nicked him instead of gotten him full-on.

  “Do either of you need a doctor?” Avery asked.

  “No,” I said. Now that time had passed, I knew I wasn’t bleeding or dying from hitting my head. If anything it was just a bump. I’d live. I just had a headache. “We just need to go see Doyle for a minute.”

  Avery tilted his head to one side, focused on the rail as he seemed to be listening. “Doyle said something I don’t think I should repeat, but I’m pretty sure he means ‘okay.’ I’m getting the hang of him.”