“By midnight, she’ll barely be able to stand,” my husband said. “I’ll take her onto the aft deck. One pu:sh, and everyone will believe she went overboard.”
I gripped the stair rail to keep from falling. Three days into our honeymoon, I had come out of our suite looking for medicine because I felt too sick to sleep. Lucas was downstairs with his parents, discussing how to get rid of me.
A champagne glass clinked against another. Then his father, Roderick, asked, “And her money?”
Lucas answered without hesitation. “The paperwork is signed. We’ll handle the trust once she’s declared dead.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth. The yacht was a wedding gift from my father, and somewhere beyond its windows lay miles of dark water. I had no idea who among the crew might hear me if I called for help.
Only that morning, Lucas had sat beside my bed and brushed the hair from my forehead. He told me the dizziness was seasickness and promised it would pass. I had wanted to believe him. Since we left San Diego, I had slept through most afternoons and struggled to remember conversations from the night before.
Every evening, Lucas gave me two small white pills. He said a doctor had recommended them for nausea and sleep. I never saw a prescription bottle.
On the lower deck, his mother spoke next. “Are you certain she’ll take them tonight?”
“She already did,” Lucas said. “I put more in her soup.”
My stomach lurched. At dinner, he had brought a tray to the suite himself. I had eaten half the soup before giving up because the room would not stop spinning.
Roderick asked whether the captain would notice if Lucas took me outside during the approaching squall.
“The crew will be busy securing the decks,” Lucas replied. “I’ll say she wanted air. By the time anyone realizes she’s missing, there won’t be anything to see.”
I tried to step backward. My foot caught the edge of the stair tread, and I held my breath until the voices below continued. Lucas and his parents were still talking as if the plan were settled.
Then his mother mentioned my parents.
“Her father will demand an investigation,” she said.
Lucas gave a short laugh. “He’ll have other problems soon enough.”
Roderick told him to lower his voice. I strained to hear, but someone moved a chair across the deck and covered their next words. I had heard enough to know my parents might be in danger too.
I had trusted Lucas when we married. I had signed documents before the wedding because he said they would make travel and household decisions easier. He had assured me my family’s attorneys had reviewed everything. Now I could not remember whether I had asked them myself.
I turned toward our suite, using the wall to steady me. My thoughts moved slowly, but I knew I could not confront Lucas or wait until midnight. I needed to tell someone beyond the yacht what I had heard.
My father had insisted on installing an emergency satellite communicator in a concealed compartment beneath the suite’s vanity. I had teased him for worrying too much when he showed me how to use it. Lucas didn’t know it was there.
I reached the suite and closed the door gently behind me. The pills were on my bedside table, beside a glass of water. I left them untouched and knelt in front of the vanity.
The compartment opened. Inside, the communicator’s screen was dark. I pressed the power button and waited while a signal indicator appeared.
Before I could enter the emergency code, the handle of the suite door began to turn.
The door opened while I was still kneeling beside the vanity. I pu:shed the compartment shut and reached for the wastebasket, pretending I had dropped something behind it.
Lucas came in carrying a glass of water.
“There you are,” he said. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I woke up feeling sick.”
He looked at the untouched pills on my bedside table. “You should take those. They helped last night.”
“I’ll try in a minute.” I sat on the edge of the bed, hoping he would blame my shaking hands on nausea.
Lucas set the water beside the pills and watched me. Until that afternoon, I had found his attention comforting. Now I remembered his voice below deck: By midnight, she’ll barely be able to stand.
“Dad wants us downstairs for a drink,” he said. “But I told him you needed rest.”
“That was kind of you.”
He leaned down to kiss my forehead. I held still. When he left, I waited until his footsteps faded before opening the compartment again.
The communicator connected to a satellite after two attempts. I entered the emergency code my father had taught me and selected maritime threat. Then I typed as carefully as I could: Lucas and his parents discussed drugging me and pushing me overboard tonight. They also mentioned a threat to my parents. Do not contact the yacht. Alert authorities and verify my parents are safe.
I added the yacht’s name and my cabin number. When the screen showed message sent, I pressed it against my chest for a moment. Someone outside the yacht knew where I was, but I had no idea when help could reach us.
I called my father through the device. He answered on the fourth ring.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“I’m dizzy. Lucas has been giving me pills, and I heard him say he put something in my dinner.” My voice shook as I told him what I had overheard.
Dad wanted to call the captain immediately. I asked him not to contact anyone aboard until he had spoken with the authorities. I didn’t know whether the captain was involved, but Lucas had expected the crew to be occupied when he took me outside.
“I’m calling for help from shore,” Dad said. “Keep the communicator with you. Don’t take anything else he gives you.”
I ended the call before Lucas could return. I hid the device beneath a folded sweater and took a photograph of the two pills beside the water glass. I had no proof of what was in them, but I wanted a record of what he had asked me to swallow.
A soft knock came at the suite door. I froze, then heard Valery, one of the yacht’s stewards, ask whether she could clear the dinner tray. I let her in. She lifted it from the table, then paused when she saw me holding onto the bedpost.
“Should I get the ship’s medic?” she asked.
I wanted to say yes. But I had no idea what Lucas would do if he learned I had asked for help.
