Chapter 7: Abandon Ship
Chapter 7: Abandon Ship
The crew moved quickly.
Fire doors sealed.
Emergency pumps activated.
Life rafts were lowered.
Captain Hayes ordered all guests to gather on the upper deck.
Ethan refused to leave without evidence.
“The recording, the documents, the medical samples—everything goes with us.”
“The yacht may explode,” the captain warned.
“Then move faster.”
Victoria stood handcuffed beside a railing.
She watched the crew carry Margaret toward a rescue raft.
“You think the evidence matters?” she said. “Northstar owns the authorities at Port Haven.”
Ethan stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the police chief answers to my uncle. The harbor master is on our payroll. By the time we reach shore, your mother will be blamed for all of this.”
Captain Hayes grabbed Victoria’s arm.
“Save it for the police.”
Victoria smiled.
“Which police?”
The first raft launched.
Dr. Park, Margaret, and several guests descended toward the water.
Ethan remained aboard with Captain Hayes and Mason.
A crew member ran from the server room carrying a waterproof case.
“We recovered the internal drives.”
An explosion shook the yacht.
Flames burst through a lower window.
“Go!” Captain Hayes shouted.
They headed toward the final raft.
Then Ethan noticed a small blinking light beneath the VIP table.
A wireless transmitter.
He pulled it free.
Mason examined it.
“This was broadcasting.”
“To whom?”
“Probably someone nearby.”
Captain Hayes scanned the dark water.
A black speedboat appeared beyond the stern lights.
It had been following them.
Three armed men stood aboard.
One raised a rifle.
Bullets struck the railing.
The guests screamed.
“Down!” Ethan yelled.
The speedboat accelerated toward Margaret’s raft.
Victoria began laughing.
“You really thought Leo was working alone?”
Captain Hayes dragged Victoria behind cover.
Ethan grabbed an emergency flare launcher.
The black boat closed in.
Margaret’s raft had no engine powerful enough to outrun it.
Ethan fired.
The flare struck the water in front of the attackers, forcing them to turn sharply.
Their speedboat slammed into floating debris from the yacht.
One man fell overboard.
The others fired blindly.
Mason took control of the final rescue tender.
“Get in!”
Ethan jumped aboard with the evidence case.
Captain Hayes pushed Victoria in after him.
The tender sped toward Margaret’s raft as the yacht burned behind them.
Then Leo emerged from beneath a tarp in the bow.
May you like
He pressed a pistol against Ethan’s back.
“Give me the case.”
