Chapter 2 - SOMEBODY CUT THE POWER
Darkness swallowed the room.
A woman screamed somewhere in the hallway.
Then the ship’s emergency lights flashed red.
“Everybody stay where you are!” Agent Hale shouted.
I heard movement near the floor.
Daniel.
I reached down.
Nothing.
“He’s moving!”
A security officer switched on a flashlight.
Daniel was gone.
The bathroom door stood open.
Captain Reynolds cursed.
“That bathroom doesn’t have another exit.”
I crossed the room.
The ceiling panel above the shower was hanging open.
Hale looked up.
“Maintenance access.”
The captain’s face hardened.
“Passengers don’t know those passages exist.”
“Apparently Daniel does.”
We climbed into the corridor outside.
Chaos was spreading through Deck Eleven.
Doors opened.
Passengers stepped into the hall wearing robes and pajamas.
Crew members were shouting instructions.
The ship had lost power only in one section.
Our section.
“That wasn’t an accident,” I said.
Hale nodded.
“No.”
I grabbed his arm.
“You knew Daniel was dangerous. Why was I allowed to board this ship with him?”
Hale’s expression tightened.
“Because until tonight, we didn’t have enough to arrest him.”
“So I was bait?”
“No.”
“That sounded exactly like bait.”
Hale lowered his voice.
“Rebecca Lane wasn’t the only woman.”
The hallway suddenly seemed colder.
“How many?”
“Three that we know of.”
I stared at him.
“All married to Daniel?”
“Two married. One engaged.”
“And all disappeared?”
“Yes.”
Rage rose through my chest.
“You let me walk down an aisle with him.”
“We contacted you.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Hale froze.
“We sent an agent.”
“I never met an agent.”
His eyes changed.
That worried me more than anything else.
“Who knew the meeting location?” I asked.
“My supervisor. Two field agents. Me.”
A security officer came running toward us.
“Captain!”
“What?”
“We found someone in the service stairwell.”
Daniel?
The officer shook his head.
“Female crew member. Unconscious.”
We followed him down one deck.
A young woman in a housekeeping uniform lay beside a maintenance cart.
Blood ran from a cut above her eyebrow.
Hale knelt.
“She’s breathing.”
I noticed something clenched in her hand.
A torn piece of paper.
I gently pulled it free.
Four numbers were written in black ink.
8146.
Captain Reynolds frowned.
“That’s a cabin number.”
“Whose cabin?” I asked.
He checked his tablet.
Then his face drained of color.
“Rebecca Lane’s.”
I stared at him.
“Rebecca disappeared three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“So why is her cabin number on this ship?”
May you like
The captain swallowed.
“Because this is the same ship.”
