Chapter 7: Three Minutes
Celeste cut Eleanor free while Reed’s team searched for the explosive.
The device was wired into the ship’s fuel system.
There was no time to disarm it safely.
“Evacuate,” Reed ordered.
Celeste looked toward the upper deck.
Julian still had the case.
Without it, Arthur could blame everything on his children and walk free.
Celeste ran after him.
She found Julian near the bow, trying to reach a waiting speedboat.
He swung the metal case at her.
She ducked and struck him across the jaw.
He stumbled but did not fall.
“You think they love you now?” he spat. “The Navy? Reed? They only respect what you survived.”
Celeste blocked another blow.
“That is still more than this family ever respected.”
Julian grabbed the torn fabric at her shoulder and ripped it farther.
Her scars were exposed again.
This time, there was no ballroom.
No laughter.
Only the sea and the brother who had tried to kill her crew.
Julian looked at the scars and smiled.
“I should have made sure you sank.”
Celeste hit him hard enough to send him over the railing.
He caught the edge with one hand.
The case fell onto the deck.
The countdown reached forty seconds.
Julian screamed for help.
Celeste looked down at him.
For one terrible moment, she considered letting go.
Then she reached for his arm.
“I am not you.”
She pulled him back onto the deck.
Naval officers seized him.
They escaped seconds before the vessel exploded.
The blast threw Celeste into the freezing harbor.
For an instant, she was back beneath the Sudanese coast.
Burning steel.
Black water.
Men calling her name.
Then another hand reached through the darkness.
Eleanor.
Her younger sister had jumped in after her.
Together, they surfaced as flames consumed the ship behind them.
The evidence case floated nearby.
May you like
Still sealed.
Still intact.
