Chapter 2 - THE COLD TRUTH
The icy Pacific water felt like a thousand needles driving into Mara’s skin.
She breached the surface, her lungs screaming as she inhaled a ragged, desperate breath of salty air. Saltwater blurred her vision, stinging her eyes as she frantically treaded water. Above her, the massive steel hull of The Azure Queen loomed like a floating skyscraper, its massive propellers churning the ocean into a deadly, frothing white vortex.
"MAN OVERBOARD!" the voice echoed again, fainter this time.
Mara kicked her legs, fighting the overwhelming pull of the ship’s wake. She knew the physics of massive vessels. The suction should have dragged her directly into the bronze blades, tearing her to pieces.
But it didn't.
She wasn't in the suction zone. She was drifting perfectly along the outbound current, pushed safely away from the mechanical maw. As she rode the crest of a massive swell, she wiped her eyes and stared at the retreating ship. Captain Adrian Ward had kicked her. The memory of his heavy boot crashing into her ribs was agonizingly fresh. Yet, as the ship grew smaller, the terrifying realization hit her.
He hadn't kicked her to kill her. He had kicked her precisely into the only ten-foot window of the ship’s wake that would push her to safety.
Why?
The cold was beginning to seep into her bones, slowing her thoughts. Hypothermia would take her in less than an hour. She scanned the endless, undulating blue. Nothing. Just sky and water.
Then, she felt it. A heavy weight in the right pocket of her soaked uniform jacket.
Mara plunged a trembling hand into her pocket. Her fingers closed around cold metal. She pulled it out, bringing it above the water.
It was a tarnished silver locket. Heavy. Antique.
She recognized it instantly. It belonged to Leo, Captain Ward’s seven-year-old son, who rarely left his father's quarters. Just yesterday, the boy had been clutching it tightly when Mara had brought the daily cargo manifests to the bridge.
Mara dug her thumbnail into the clasp. It popped open. Inside wasn't a photograph. It was a small, folded square of waxy paper. A child’s drawing. Leo had colored a crude, jagged red monster with black eyes. It was heavily coated in crayon wax, which had perfectly waterproofed the paper against the ocean.
She stared at the red monster. Why would Ward slip his son’s locket into her pocket right before throwing her off his ship?
A low, rhythmic thrumming sound vibrated through the water, breaking her concentration.
Mara spun around. Emerging from the blinding glare of the afternoon sun was a rusted, low-slung fishing trawler. It was moving fast, heading directly toward her.
She waved her arms frantically. "Here! Help! I'm here!"
The trawler slowed, its diesel engine coughing thick black smoke. A weathered man with a thick grey beard leaned over the side, tossing a life ring attached to a frayed yellow rope. Mara grabbed it, her strength completely failing as the fisherman hauled her up the side and onto the deck.
She collapsed onto the wooden planks, coughing up seawater, her body shivering violently.
"You're a lucky woman," the old fisherman said, his voice a gravelly rasp. He threw a coarse wool blanket over her shoulders. "I'm Elias. What's a civilian doing fifty miles off the Baja coast?"
"My... my ship," Mara chattered, pulling the blanket tight. "The captain..."
Before she could finish, the crackle of the trawler’s VHF radio echoed from the small wheelhouse. Elias had it tuned to the emergency maritime channel.
"All vessels in sector four," a crisp, mechanical voice announced over the static. "Be advised. The Azure Queen reports a fugitive overboard. Suspect is Mara Voss, female, thirty-two. She is wanted for the murder of Chief Engineer Thomas Griggs. Suspect is considered armed and highly dangerous. Do not approach."
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Mara’s blood ran colder than the ocean water.
Elias slowly turned away from the radio. His warm, welcoming expression vanished, replaced by a hard, calculating stare. He reached behind his back, his hand wrapping around the handle of a rusty gaffing hook.
