Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN ON THE YACHTThey found the yacht three hours later.
It was docked at a private marina outside Nassau.
David recognized the photographs immediately.
It was the same yacht he had rented.
The same white hull.
The same upper deck where Julianne had poured champagne into his glass.
But now the yacht was empty.
Except for one thing.
A bloodstain.
Inside the owner's cabin.
David stared at the photograph.
“Whose blood?”
“We're testing it,” Donovan said.
“Ethan?”
“Maybe.”
“Julianne?”
“We don't know.”
Maya stood beside the window.
She seemed unusually calm.
David looked at her.
“What are you thinking?”
“That Ethan didn't run.”
David frowned.
“What?”
“He was taken.”
Donovan turned.
“Why?”
Maya pointed at the photograph.
“The blood is in the cabin.”
“So?”
“If Ethan was leaving voluntarily, he would have taken his passport, phone, and cash.”
Donovan checked the inventory report.
“All missing.”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
She zoomed in.
“Look at the chair.”
There was a small tear in the leather.
Behind it, something had been shoved into the seam.
A piece of paper.
Donovan's team extracted it.
A handwritten sentence.
Maya read it.
“Ask David what happened in Room 19.”
Everyone turned toward him.
David frowned.
“What is Room 19?”
Maya's expression changed.
“You don't remember?”
“No.”
“You stayed there before our wedding.”
David stared.
A luxury hotel.
Seven years ago.
Room 19.
His face suddenly went pale.
“I wasn't alone.”
Maya didn't blink.
“Who were you with?”
David searched his memory.
Then it hit him.
His old business partner.
Thomas Vance.
His younger brother.
David whispered,
“Thomas.”
Maya asked,
“What happened to him?”
David looked at her.
“He died.”
Donovan's eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Maya walked toward him.
“That's what they told you.”
David stared.
“What do you mean?”
Maya reached into her coat.
She pulled out another photograph.
A hospital morgue.
Thomas Vance.
The official report said accidental trauma.
But written in red ink across the file was one sentence:
NO ACCIDENT.
David's knees weakened.
“How did you get this?”
“From Lily's USB.”
He stared.
“What else is on that drive?”
Maya didn't answer.
Donovan did.
“A video of Thomas.”
David looked up.
“When?”
“Hours before his death.”
The screen appeared.
Thomas stood inside Room 19.
He looked terrified.
“If you're seeing this,” he said, “David has been lied to.”
David's breath caught.
Thomas continued.
“Your company isn't what you think it is.”
The video glitched.
Thomas looked toward the door.
“They're coming.”
A knock.
Thomas whispered,
“Tell David I never betrayed him.”
The video ended.
David stared at the screen.
Then someone knocked on the federal conference room door.
Everyone froze.
A male agent entered.
He was breathing heavily.
“We found Ethan.”
Donovan stood.
“Where?”
The agent looked at David.
“On a fishing boat twenty miles offshore.”
“Alive?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
David exhaled.
Then the agent added,
“But there's a problem.”
“What?”
“He refuses to speak to us.”
“Why?”
The agent lowered his voice.
“He says he'll only talk to Maya.”
David looked at his wife.
Maya's face turned unreadable.
“Take me to him.”
Donovan shook her head.
“No.”
Maya frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Ethan told us something else.”
“What?”
“He says Lily was not the first child.”
Silence.
David looked at Maya.
Then back at Donovan.
“How many?”
May you like
The agent answered.
“Forty-three.”
