Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER LEFT
The Ocean Sovereign had been renovated twice, renamed once, and sold to a different cruise line.
But it was the same vessel.
The same decks.
The same narrow service corridors.
The same dark ocean below.
“Take me to 8146,” I said.
Captain Reynolds hesitated.
“It’s currently a storage room.”
“Then open it.”
Hale looked at me.
“Claire, this is an active investigation.”
“And Daniel just crawled into your walls.”
He couldn’t argue with that.
We went down to Deck Eight.
Cabin 8146 sat at the end of a quiet hallway.
The captain unlocked it.
The room smelled like dust and cleaning chemicals.
Old chairs were stacked against one wall.
Boxes of linens filled another.
I walked toward the balcony.
Something felt wrong.
“Why was this cabin removed from passenger use?”
Reynolds cleared his throat.
“After Rebecca disappeared, there were… complaints.”
“What kind?”
“Passengers reported noises.”
Hale gave him a look.
“You’re telling us ghost stories?”
“No. Plumbing. Scratching behind the wall. We assumed damaged pipes.”
I tapped the wall beside the bed.
Solid.
Then farther down.
Hollow.
I tapped again.
Hollow.
“Help me move this cabinet.”
A security officer pulled it away.
Behind it was a narrow maintenance panel.
Someone had recently removed the screws.
Inside was a passage barely wide enough for one person.
Hale shined his flashlight.
There were scratches on the metal.
Not random scratches.
Letters.
R.
E.
B.
My chest tightened.
Rebecca.
We climbed inside.
Twenty feet down, I found a bracelet.
Old.
Silver.
Hale picked it up with gloved fingers.
“We have a photograph of Rebecca wearing one like this.”
Then I saw dried brown stains farther along the wall.
Blood.
Captain Reynolds whispered a curse.
A noise echoed ahead.
Metal scraping metal.
I signaled everyone to stop.
Footsteps.
Running.
I went first.
The passage opened near a service elevator.
A shadow vanished around the corner.
“Daniel!”
I chased him.
Down the stairs.
Across an empty crew corridor.
He was fast.
But fear makes people sloppy.
He glanced back.
That cost him.
I grabbed his jacket.
Daniel spun and drove an elbow toward my face.
I blocked it.
He shoved me into the wall and ran.
Then someone stepped between us.
A crew member.
Daniel stopped.
The man handed him something.
A handgun.
“Get back!” I shouted.
Daniel raised the weapon.
Hale appeared behind me.
“Federal agent! Drop it!”
Daniel laughed.
Then he pointed the gun at my chest.
May you like
“You should’ve stayed an administrative consultant, sweetheart.”
A shot exploded through the corridor.
