Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 737(@200wpm)___ 590(@250wpm)___ 491(@300wpm)
So much for thinking the waterworks were over.
Wiping a few more tears, I press the phone close to my burning face. “I’ll come, I’ll come. Very soon.”
“You’d better,” he clips.
I kiss the air as I hang up, and a tiny shred of agony in my chest eases a little.
Taking myself out of the family equation was necessary for too many reasons, but they’ll definitely see more of me if I make it out of this alive.
I slip the phone back in my pocket just as the ship pitches and Shepherd bursts in.
He slowly staggers past, grabbing at whatever he can find for support as he makes his way forward.
Ice beads on the back of my neck when I get a good look at him.
Crud.
I’ve never seen him like this.
He’s pale. His eyes are wide and dark and trying like mad to hold it together.
The unexpected sight chills me to the core.
The peace I found calling my family vanishes, replaced by the crackling radio from the comm system again.
It sounds like another storm warning, what I assume are Coast Guard warnings about the dire weather barreling our way.
“Well? What’s the verdict?” I ask, dreading the answer.
But I have to know.
His expression is not that of someone who’s fixed our problem.
Everything that’s happened between us takes a back seat now.
We’re in real danger. Shepherd knows it and he isn’t trying to hide it anymore.
Maybe he can’t, and that scares me more than ever.
I’m on my feet before I know what I’m doing, gripping Molly’s leash tightly, crossing over to where he’s standing.
“What is it, Shepherd? Tell me,” I demand.
But the moaning wind and the punishing wave crashing over us steal my words.
Everything tilts and I start to slide—until he reaches out, using his better traction to keep me from slamming into a bulkhead.
I grip a whining Molly with all my might, holding the leash like a rope while her little nails scrape the deck for support.
It’s a solid thirty seconds before we stop tilting.
“We found George down below, knocked out from sliding around and breathing in fumes. The fuel line was cut.” He says the words with slow, deadly precision, leaving no room for any misunderstanding.
My heart hammers instantly.
Oh, no.
I want to misunderstand.
The fuel line? Cut? As in... someone sabotaged the engines and there’s no way to fix them to get us out of this?
But before I can ask anything else, Shepherd pushes the young man at the control aside. “Get the hell below deck now. It’s up to the automated system now, since we know it works. We need to take cover.”
Then he’s got me by the hand, and we’re running to the back of the ship as fast as Molly can keep up.
The waves look like slow-moving mountains leering in from the windows.
Insidious and black, glistening in the dense grey hellscape that’s going storm-green like someone broke the sun.
You might almost be tempted to think it’s beautiful in a terrible, chaotic way. But this is slow, unrelenting death itself and it’s heading for us.
I shake my head as we stare at it, not comprehending.
“Holy hell,” I mouth. “What now?”
Shepherd tears his gaze away from the sea to look at me. The darkness, the grimness of his face shakes my gut as my heart leaps into my throat.
Dread turns me to stone.
“Shepherd?” I whisper urgently.
“Hold your dog, Dess. It’s about to get very fucking choppy. This was no accident,” he adds, his voice boiling with rage.
No accident.
We’re stranded in a nightmare some lunatic planned.
Suddenly, I think I understand why Meghan sent me that message.
I think she also made our mistake and underestimated Adriana Cerva. The woman wants us dead, and there’s a horrible chance she’s going to get her way.
21
A Little Indecisive (Shepherd)
I didn’t know it was possible to feel like shit stacked this high.
It’s one blow after the next.
First telling Destiny that I wanted her to leave the company, leave my life—
No, wanted is too strong a word.
I didn’t fucking want it.
It’s simply the right thing to do, and I wish she’d understand. Even if the hurt in her eyes is turning me inside out.
What the hell ever.
Emotional torture is the least of our worries and she seems to realize that.
I watch how Destiny pushes her feelings aside, giving small tells that show me just how difficult this is. The way her throat tightens, the nervous sweep of her hand through the husky’s fur, the slow, measured breaths that swell her chest.
The three rapid blinks.
Her luscious mouth turning into a thin pale line, robbed of its color.
The way she exhales tells me she’s trying to air out her emotions.
Her eyes are still clear, though, and they’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Hell, all of her.
If this storm reaches up and drags us to the bottom of the sea, I’ll go down with her on my mind.