Chapter 7 - Ryan Locks Everyone In
The engines pushed the yacht forward with sudden force.
Daniel and I slid across the grated platform. He caught the railing with his uninjured hand while I landed hard against the hatch rim.
Pain tightened across my lower abdomen.
For a terrifying second, everything inside me went still.
Then my baby kicked.
Once.
Hard.
I almost sobbed with relief.
Leonard aimed the pistol through the dark.
“Daniel, step away from her.”
Daniel pressed his wounded arm against his side.
“You were going to kill me too.”
“I was going to make you wealthy.”
“You were going to make me temporary.”
Vanessa pulled at the engine room door.
“It’s locked.”
Ryan’s voice came through the intercom again.
“All of you wanted pieces of my wife.”
My blood turned cold at the possessive way he said it.
“Now you can explain yourselves together.”
Leonard moved toward the control panel.
Daniel blocked him.
“If you override those locks, Ryan will shut down the steering.”
“He cannot operate the yacht alone.”
“He can if he installed remote controls.”
Leonard’s expression changed.
He had underestimated Ryan.
That gave me no comfort.
The man who had pushed me into the ocean was not breaking from the conspiracy because he regretted it. He was seizing control of it.
Vanessa pounded on the door.
“Ryan! Let me out.”
“Why?” he asked.
Her confidence disappeared.
“You love me.”
He laughed.
The sound filled every speaker on the yacht.
“Vanessa, you laughed while my pregnant wife fell into the ocean.”
“You told me to.”
“And now you can testify to that?”
She stepped back from the door.
Ryan continued.
“Leonard planned the finances. Daniel manipulated the network. Emily interfered with the engines. Clara recorded the murder attempt.”
He spoke as if arranging pieces on a board.
“I only need one version left when we dock.”
Leonard raised the pistol toward the intercom speaker.
“What are you planning?”
Ryan ignored him.
“Clara, I know you survived.”
I stayed silent.
“You always hated being underestimated,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I married you.”
The engines accelerated.
The yacht tilted over a wave.
Vanessa grabbed the table.
“You married her for money.”
“No. I married her because Leonard said she was controllable.”
Leonard’s jaw hardened.
Ryan continued.
“He was wrong.”
My necklace vibrated.
Helen’s voice returned, quieter.
“The return channel opens for six seconds after each vibration. Speak only when necessary.”
I covered the diamond with both hands.
“Where are you?” I whispered.
“Safe enough.”
“Who is receiving the recording?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Can you contact the Coast Guard?”
A pause.
“Not yet.”
Anger rose through my fear.
“Not yet?”
“The people monitoring emergency channels include someone tied to Leonard.”
The yacht slammed across another wave.
Daniel lowered himself against the wall.
Blood had soaked the shoulder of his shirt.
I tore a strip from my cover-up and wrapped it tightly around his arm.
He winced.
“You should leave me.”
“I have heard enough men decide who gets left behind.”
Leonard watched us.
His pistol remained lowered but ready.
“Clara,” he said, “Ryan is taking us to Pier Four.”
“How do you know?”
“Because that is where Locker Three is.”
My hands stopped.
Emily had said the same thing without naming the location.
“What’s inside?”
Leonard smiled faintly.
“The only document capable of proving you are not entitled to the Mercer estate.”
“Then why didn’t you destroy it?”
“Because forged evidence is strongest when hidden somewhere the victim considers secure.”
Daniel looked at him with disgust.
“You planted it.”
“I curated it.”
Vanessa stared toward the intercom.
“What will Ryan do when we arrive?”
Leonard looked at the locked door.
“Burn the yacht.”
The words silenced everyone.
The engine room ventilation shut off.
A chemical smell entered through the lower ducts.
Not smoke yet.
Fuel.
Ryan was flooding the bilge with diesel vapor.
My necklace vibrated.
Helen’s voice said, “Clara, you have twenty-three minutes before Pier Four.”
“Can you stop him?”
“No.”
“Then tell me how to get out.”
“Locker Three contains more than Leonard knows.”
“What?”
“Your mother’s original confession.”
Leonard heard the last word.
His face transformed.
He raised the gun at me.
“What confession?”
Before I could answer, the mechanical room door unlocked with a heavy click.
Ryan’s voice came through the speaker.
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“Leonard, bring Clara to the upper deck.”
📖 Discover why Ryan suddenly wants Clara alive on the upper deck—and what her mother confessed inside Locker Three in CHAPTER 8. 👇
