Chapter 3 - THE DEAD WOMAN CALLS BACK
Twenty-three minutes later, we found them.
The Aurelia floated three miles offshore beneath a bruised sky, glowing gold against the black sea.
They had resumed the party.
That hurt more than I expected.
Seventy people laughing beneath chandeliers while I was supposed to be dead.
Gideon stood beside me inside the bridge of his vessel.
Someone had found sweatpants, wool socks, and a fisherman’s sweater for me.
They belonged to a man twice my size.
I had never felt more elegantly dressed.
“Can you identify everyone involved?” Gideon asked.
“Only Graham and Celeste.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“So we don’t punish innocent people.”
I looked at him.
“You say things like that as if they should reassure me.”
“They should.”
“They don’t.”
His eyes flicked toward me.
“You remind me of your father.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone has said to me all year.”
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then Gideon’s radio operator lifted a hand.
“Mercer’s answering.”
Gideon took the microphone.
“Aurelia, this is Gideon Voss.”
Static.
Then Graham’s voice.
I knew immediately that he was frightened.
“Mr. Voss. Good evening.”
“Stop your engines.”
A pause.
“We’re hosting a private event.”
“I am aware.”
“Can this wait until tomorrow?”
“No.”
Longer pause.
“Is something wrong?”
Gideon looked at me.
“Something fell off your boat.”
Silence.
Then Graham laughed.
Too quickly.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Gideon handed me the microphone.
My fingers trembled.
Not from cold this time.
I pressed the button.
“Hi, Graham.”
Nothing.
No static.
No breathing.
Nothing.
Then—
“Maren?”
Celeste screamed somewhere behind him.
I closed my eyes.
That sound was worth more than revenge.
Not because she was afraid.
Because I existed.
Because dead women are convenient.
Living women ask questions.
“Maren, thank God,” Graham said immediately. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Gideon raised one eyebrow.
I nearly admired Graham’s nerve.
“You watched me fall.”
“What? Honey, you slipped. Celeste tried to grab you.”
Celeste shouted, “That’s exactly what happened!”
Gideon murmured, “Remarkable.”
I pressed the microphone again.
“You stepped on my fingers, Celeste.”
She started crying.
Graham’s voice hardened.
“Maren, listen to me. You’re confused. You hit the water. You’re in shock.”
There it was.
The old technique.
Redefine reality.
Then offer to rescue me from the version he invented.
Gideon reached for the microphone.
I stopped him.
“No.”
I spoke again.
“There’s a camera over the swim deck, Graham.”
Another silence.
I had no idea whether that was true.
But Gideon looked at me with sudden approval.
“You installed it after someone scratched the tender last summer.”
Graham breathed once.
Loudly.
Celeste said something I couldn’t hear.
Then the radio went dead.
Gideon smiled.
“You bluff well.”
“I work in an emergency room. Half my job is convincing drunk men that I have more security guards than I actually do.”
His smile disappeared.
“You still work there?”
“Yes.”
“After Mercer became wealthy?”
“I like my job.”
“Good.”
May you like
He turned to the captain.
“Board them.”
