Page 69 of Secrets Beneath the Waves
The sound of laughter and splashing greeted her as she slipped through the crowd. She grabbed a towel from a chair and wrapped it around her shoulders like she belonged there.
Ellie kept her head low and made her way to the hotel entrance. She decided to wait in the lobby rather than risk going out on the street.
She messaged Matthew.
Where are you?
He messaged back that he was in the vicinity. She told him to pick her up in front of the hotel.
As she waited, unease gnawed at her. Her mind replayed the last hour—the precision of the men’s movements, their uncanny ability to predict her every escape route. These weren’t mere thugs; they were professionals. Trained. Lethal.
Matt pulled under the porte-cochère at the entrance of the hotel, his face etched with concern. She jumped in and slammed the car door behind her. She looked in every direction for any sign of the men.
“Drive!” she barked, her voice trembled but was firm. “Let’s get out of here.”
He sped off, stealing a glance at her face and her bloody knees. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
Her hands shook as she stared straight ahead.
“What’s going on?” he asked with urgency in his voice.
“I just killed someone. My first one.”
CHAPTER
SIX
Ellie thoughtthat killing a man would feel different. When she heard her dad and mom talking about it, it sounded glamorous. Exciting. Euphoric.
At the moment, she felt none of those things.
Memories of her mother’s training sessions flashed through her mind: precise movements, calculated strikes, no room for emotion. One thing she hadn’t spent much time talking to her about was the aftermath.
Ellie couldn’t seem to shake the image of the man’s face as the life drained from his eyes.
Did I enjoy it? Was there a thrill?
She recoiled from the thought, horrified by the possibility.
Her hands gripped the seatbelt across her chest as Matthew’s car sped away from the hotel. Adrenaline still pulsed through her like water through an open dam. Her body was on the verge of shaking uncontrollably.
Matthew glanced at her sideways, his brow furrowed in concern. “Ellie,” he said. When she didn’t respond, he tried again, more firmly this time. “Ellie, talk to me. What happened back there?”
“Nothing.”
She kept glancing behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. What she needed was a concoction her mother taught her to calm the adrenaline. A mixture of soda and an energy drink.
“You said you killed a man.”
“Take me to my house.” Her throat felt like sandpaper, and when she spoke, her voice cracked.
She could make the drink there. Too risky to stop at a convenience store.
“I think I deserve to know what happened. Don’t you?”
“The less you know, the better.”
Matthew scoffed. “We’re kind of past that, don’t you think? I’m driving the getaway car. That makes me an accomplice.”
