Chapter 6: The Railing
The wind hit me the moment Graham opened the deck door.
Cold rain swept across the yacht, stinging my cheeks. Beyond the railings, the Atlantic had turned into a black, restless wilderness, its waves rising like walls beneath the storm clouds.
Graham kept one hand around my waist.
“Careful, sweetheart,” he said.
“It's slippery.””
I leaned against him as though my legs could barely support me.
In truth, I was counting.
Three steps to the railing.
Two crew members near the aft equipment hatch.
One dark shape moving behind the glass doors of the bridge.
And Graham's hand, resting just above my hip, was gripping me far too tightly for a husband concerned about his sick wife.
“It's beautiful out here,” he murmured.
I stared into the darkness.
“I can barely see anything.””
“You don't need to see. Just breathe.””
He guided me toward the starboard railing.
The waves crashed below us.
Somewhere behind the wheelhouse, a metal object banged repeatedly in the wind.
I remembered his instructions to his parents.
One shoe near the rail.
A sudden accident.
A grieving husband who had tried everything to save his wife.
I looked down at my feet. I was still barefoot, wearing only the thin white nightdress I'd changed into before bed.
Graham glanced at me.
“Cold?””
“A little.””
“Here.””
He removed his jacket and draped it across my shoulders.
It was such a familiar gesture that I nearly hated myself for remembering how much I had once loved it.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He smiled.
“Anything for you.””
Then he guided me closer to the railing.
I could see the white foam boiling against the hull.
“Graham?””
“Yes, darling?””
“Why did you marry me?””
He stopped walking.
For the first time that night, his face lost its rehearsed tenderness.
“What kind of question is that?””
“I'm just wondering.””
“You know why.””
“I'd like to hear you say it.””
A gust of wind caught the jacket. He pulled it tighter around my shoulders.
“Because I love you, Natalie.””
“Is that the only reason?””
His fingers tightened.
“Have you taken more medication? You're talking strangely.””
“I haven't taken the pills.””
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Graham went still.
Behind us, the bridge door opened.
Victor Whitmore stepped onto the deck, wearing a waterproof coat and carrying a small flashlight. Celeste followed him, holding a pair of my evening shoes.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Graham slowly removed his hand from my waist.
“You haven't taken your medication?”” he repeated.
I lowered my eyes.
“I spilled the glass.””
Victor's face darkened.
“You told us she was taking it.””
“She was supposed to,” Graham snapped.
Celeste looked at me, then at the glass doors behind us.
“You're awake,” she said.
I forced a trembling smile.
“I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?””
Victor took two deliberate steps toward me.
“Don't play games, young lady.””
Graham raised one hand.
“Father, give us a minute.””
“No.”” Victor pointed toward the rail.
“We are running out of time, and your wife has decided to become difficult.””
I looked at Celeste.
She held my shoes by their heels.
One was a white designer pump. The other was a matching shoe, its pearl buckle glinting in the flashlight beam.
“Those are mine,” I said.
“Of course they're yours,” Celeste replied.
“We wouldn't want to create a scene with the wrong props.””
The word hung in the air.
Props.
Graham closed his eyes briefly.
“Mother.””
“What?”” Celeste demanded.
“She heard something, didn't she?””
I stepped backward.
Graham caught my wrist.
“Don't move.””
His voice was no longer gentle.
I stared at him.
“Let go.””
He leaned closer.
“You need to calm down.””
“You told me you loved me.””
“I do love you.””
“Then why are your parents carrying my shoes onto the deck in the middle of a storm?””
Victor swore beneath his breath.
Celeste dropped the shoes.
One slid across the wet deck and struck the base of the railing.
Graham's expression became almost unrecognizable.
“You should have taken the pills,” he whispered.
I pulled against his grip.
“You poisoned me.””
“I gave you something to help you sleep.””
“You told your father you were going to throw me into the ocean.””
He glanced toward the bridge, then back at me.
“Keep your voice down.””
“You said you were going to kill my parents, too!””
“Enough!””
He seized both my arms.
The sudden movement sent pain through my left shoulder.
I screamed.
Somewhere behind us, a door slammed.
“Graham, stop!”” Celeste shouted.
But she didn't move to help me.
Victor reached into his coat and pulled out a folded document.
“There's no point pretending anymore,” he said.
“The only thing you can do now is sign the authorization.””
I stared at the paper.
It was the same kind of marital authorization Graham had tried to get me to sign before the wedding.
Except this version had a different heading.
*TEMPORARY TRANSFER OF FIDUCIARY CONTROL.*
At the bottom were spaces for my signature and the signatures of two witnesses.
“You brought legal documents to my murder?”” I asked.
Victor's expression hardened.
“It's not murder if you fall.””
I looked at Graham.
He didn't deny it.
Instead, he took the paper from his father and held it in front of me.
“Sign it, Natalie.””
“No.””
“Sign it, and I'll make sure your parents are left alone.””
“You just told them I was going to die.””
“Plans change.””
“Not yours.””
His jaw clenched.
“You have no idea what you're talking about.””
“Then explain the pills. Explain the changed route. Explain why you told your parents that my money would become easier to access when I was dead.””
The storm roared around us.
For a brief, extraordinary moment, Graham looked frightened.
Not because he regretted anything.
Because he realized I remembered every word.
He leaned close enough that his lips nearly brushed my ear.
“You should have stayed asleep.””
I looked at his hand around my wrist.
Then at the narrow strip of deck between us and the railing.
Then at the yellow emergency pull station mounted beside the aft hatch.
Mara had told me not to confront anyone. She hadn't told me not to make a scene.
“Please,” I whispered.
Graham blinked.
“Please what?””
“Don't do this.””
His expression softened just enough to make me sick.
“I don't want to hurt you, Natalie.””
“Then let me go.””
He released one wrist, apparently convinced I'd stopped fighting.
I immediately stumbled sideways.
My shoulder slammed into the emergency station.
The protective cover snapped open.
A loud alarm shrieked through the deck.
Red lights began flashing.
Graham stared at me.
“What the hell have you done?””
I grabbed the railing.
“HELP!””
Victor lunged toward the alarm and struck the switch with the heel of his hand, but the warning continued.
Above us, a deck light swung wildly.
A voice crackled over the yacht's external speaker.
“Security alert. Aft deck. Security alert.””
Graham's face twisted.
“You stupid—”
He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me toward the railing.
I hit the metal hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
The ocean churned inches below my line of sight.
I caught the upper rail with both hands.
“Graham!”” Celeste screamed.
He seized my nightdress.
I felt the fabric tear beneath his fingers.
For one second, we stared at each other.
His eyes were flat and furious.
“You were supposed to be dead already.””
He shoved again.
My bare foot slid across the wet deck.
The railing pressed into my stomach. My fingers began slipping.
Then a voice thundered from behind us.
“STEP AWAY FROM HER!””
Captain Elias Mercer stood in the open deck doorway.
His uniform was torn at the collar, and a dark bruise marked his forehead.
Behind him, Miguel was holding a heavy metal wrench.
Graham turned.
That single second was enough.
I drove my knee into Graham's thigh and twisted free. He staggered sideways, crashing into Victor.
Miguel charged across the deck.
The wrench struck the ground beside Graham's foot as the engineer grabbed him by the jacket.
“Run, Natalie!”” Miguel shouted.
I tried.
But Victor caught the back of my nightdress and yanked me backward.
The fabric ripped.
My hands slipped from the railing.
I fell against the metal barrier, felt it give beneath my weight, and heard Celeste scream my name.
Then the railing disappeared.
The ocean swallowed me.
For one endless instant, there was no sound.
Only cold.
The water struck so hard that every breath vanished from my chest. I sank beneath the surface, spinning in a darkness broken by distant, distorted lights.
I kicked wildly.
The surface seemed impossibly far away.
My lungs burned.
Something brushed my leg.
I reached upward and broke through the waves, coughing and gasping.
The Seraphina loomed above me, its lights sweeping across the water.
I heard people shouting.
Then, through the roar of the storm, I heard Graham's voice.
“She's gone!””
Another voice answered from the deck.
“No, she isn't.””
It was Captain Mercer.
And suddenly, a bright white beam swung toward me.
Someone on the yacht had spotted me.
But as I raised my hand above the waves, a second figure appeared at the railing.
Graham was holding a length of rope.
He wasn't throwing it to me.
May you like
He was reaching down with a boat hook.
And he was looking directly at my head.
