Page 86 of Terminal Voyage

She turned around, straightening herself out. With tousled hair and blood dripping from her nose, she looked like a demon.

There was no backing down for her. The truth was out, and she would have to get rid of me.

Vanessa charged hard and swung another right.

I blocked it with my forearm, then finished with a palm-strike uppercut to her chin.

It snapped her jaw shut and rattled her teeth.

She staggered back against the side railing and lost her balance on her heels.

I did the only thing I could do. I charged forward, wrapped up her legs, and helped her over the balcony. She screamed as she tumbled over and splashed into the water.

So close to the boat, she got sucked underneath and disappeared.

I peered over the balcony, looking for any trace of her, but she was gone. Lost in the obsidian swells. I cringed at the thought of her getting chewed up in the propellers. But there was also a part of me that thought she deserved it.

My heart pounded, and my ears throbbed. No doubt Vanessa had spiked my drink with something earlier. But for the moment, I was clearheaded and high on life.

Declan burst into the room, followed by Pete. Breathless, with wide eyes, Declan screeched, "What happened?"

I swallowed hard. "She fell overboard.”

"Fell!?”

"She tried to kill me!”

Pete said, "I saw everything from the upper deck. We got here as fast as we could.”

Declan rushed onto the balcony and looked over the railing.

Vanessa was long gone.

"Stop the boat! Send a tender to find her.”

“Aye, sir.” Pete rushed out of the stateroom.

I didn’t really want to be left alone with Declan.

"Vanessa found out Anya was pregnant," I said before hobbling toward the door.

Declan stayed on the balcony, looking out over the sea. He hung his head. The wind whipped across the balcony, and the rain started to come down.

I stumbled back to my stateroom, slipped inside, and latched the deadbolt. I fell onto the bed, still shaking.

The Vesper’s engines came to a halt, and the crew sent a search and recovery team to look for Vanessa. The captain notified the local Coast Guard and Port Authority.

It took the local authorities several hours to mount a full search and rescue operation. During that time, the crew of the Vesper continued to look for Vanessa, but turned up nothing. The storm made things difficult and increasingly dangerous for the tender out on the water.

They returned to the boat and left it to the professionals.

Anything could have happened to Vanessa underneath the boat—a head injury, carved up by the props, a simple drowning.

Declan eventually knocked on my cabin door. “It’s me. Can we talk?”

"I'm not sure there's anything to say," I replied.

"I know you probably think I'm a terrible person," Declan said.