Only calculation.
He kissed my forehead.
“Midnight isn’t far away.”
Then he left.
I waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then a shadow appeared beyond the balcony glass.
A woman.
She raised one finger to her lips.
I nearly screamed.
She opened the balcony door.
“Don’t make a sound,” she whispered.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Valery.”
She stepped inside.
“I work on this yacht.”
“You heard them?”
“I’ve been watching them for weeks.”
My heart stopped.
Valery reached into her jacket and pulled out an identification card.
“I’m an undercover investigator.”
She looked at the communicator in my hand.
“You sent the emergency signal?”
I nodded.
“Good.”
She lowered her voice.
“Because if we wait until midnight, you won’t survive.”
I stared at her.
“What do we do?”
“Leave.”
She pointed toward the rear of the yacht.
“There’s an emergency raft on the lower aft deck. We have less than an hour before they start searching for you.”
