Page 41 of No One Aboard
He wouldn’t sell the boats, he wouldn’t get a land job, he wouldn’t work for one of the yachting idiots, he wouldn’t take out a loan, he wouldn’t sell the boats...
Something had to give. But he couldn’t for the life of him decide what, so instead he turned up the volume of the television and propped his feet on the table.
“...reminding viewers that the state is currently on hurricane watch. Hurricane Ida is expected to make landfall in three to four days,” the news anchor was saying.
Hurricane Ida, huh? Poor Madden. It couldn’t be easy having her dead partner’s name plastered all over the news.
Jerry made a mental note to find out how to secureThe Old Eileenagainst the coming storm. WithSheila 2.0he usually just tied a couple extra dock lines and bought beer.
Jerry surfed to another news channel.
“...and still no sign of the passengers ofThe Old Eileen,though police are racing to uncover clues about the body of the unidentified male found in the search site. Friends and teachers of the Cameron twins have come forward to express their horror...” The reporter pointed beside her where two photographs had popped up on-screen. They were yearbook photos of the Cameron twins. Tia Cameron was in a school uniform, hiding behind a curtain of long dark hair. Rylan Cameron had a thin smile that didn’t reach his large, sad eyes. They were just kids. Jerry hovered his thumb over the remote but couldn’t tear himself away.
Those kids had lived here on this boat. And now...
The reporter continued, never seeming to take a breath. “We have heard from a family friend that Nicolás de la Vega was not meant to even be crewing for the Camerons that week, and in fact Ernie Carmichael changed his mind about the trip at the last minute. We have a brief statement from Mr. Carmichael, who was a personal friend to both Francis and Alejandro.”
The screen flashed to what looked to Jerry like the outside of a miniature mansion. A pudgy man in a golf polo shook his head at the camera. “I can’t even imagine what might have happened to them, to those poor kids. I just keep thinking if my mother hadn’t fallen, if I’d been onboard too... maybe I could have stopped this from happening. Or, I—I don’t know, maybe I’d be gone too.”
“How long have you known the Camerons, Mr. Carmichael?” a man asked from behind the camera.
Ernie Carmichael adjusted the microphone clipped to his collar. “I was there at the beginning stages ofPrometheus Wire. Thirty years ago, right? He was my boss, a groomsman at my wedding. Good guy. I just hope wherever they are, they are safe. I don’t believe for a second that the, er, the body that was found is him. Or any of them. I think they’re all still out there.”
Jerry turned off the television.
I think they’re all still out there.
All but one, right? Even then, the odds couldn’t be good. Still, maybe he was wrong.
Maybe one of these days the coast guard would scoop a boatful of shivering millionaires out of the water, and Jerry would end up having champagne on deck with the captain who’d be more than grateful for Jerry looking after his beautiful ship. Those two kids would be home playing up top with the hose like Lainey and Ricardo were now.
As Jerry’s ex-wife used to say,Everythingcomes out in the wash. And with a hurricane brewing, they were all about to get one hell of a cleanse.
Chapter 21
Lila Logan Cameron
Call sign: Cassiopeia
Day 3 at Sea
Lila didn’t dare approach her husband until Alejandro was belowdecks and his nephew was at the wheel. She trailed Francis to the primary suite.
She knew what she wanted to say, had spent the last half hour getting tipsy on hibiscus tequila and rehearsing the words in her head after the twins had gone to their room.
This is madness, Francis. The longer we delay telling the authorities about the accident, the worse it looks for us. All of us.
Lila had flirted with scandal, and she’d found it to be a selfish and rather uncouth lover. Already, the untimely death of a woman who worked for the family was enough to make waves. If Lila’s name could snag an entire article under suspicion she’d had undisclosed lip injections, then an experienced sailor’s drowning on her family boat going unreported would certainly make nasty headlines.
Francis must see reason. Her husband might defy common maritime laws, but he was still a rational man. To ignore this hiccup and continue on their family vacation could be catastrophic down the line. Surely he knew that? She settled on reminding him in such a way that it would seem like his idea.That was the key with powerful men; Lila knew that from decades of show business and marriage.
She parted her lips to croon his name, start the conversation out light when he turned without warning and pressed his mouth over hers.
Lila’s half-baked words smoothed into a sigh. She hadn’t tasted Francis’s lips in ages. The scent of sea salt from the dive had replaced his carefully chosen cologne. She dissolved into him, letting his arms bear her weight and carry her to the bed. What had changed? What had made him see her? She hated to question it, but she had to because there was another flavor in his kiss, one that resurrected that boyish, ambitious man from years ago.
Triumph.
“Francis,” she breathed as he loomed over her on the bed, his jaw grazing her throat. He inhaled heavily, and she imagined that he was reacquainting himself with the scent of her hair.
