by Lara Lacombe
“Did you tell him about the stuff in the boxes?” Peter challenged.
“We did,” Everest confirmed. “We didn’t have any proof the material is dangerous, aside from the symptoms of people exposed to it.”
“What kind of symptoms?” Peter’s voice sharpened with interest.
“Mostly stomach upset,” Everest said. “One man actually touched the stuff, and his skin broke out in welts and sores.”
Peter hummed thoughtfully. “That’s consistent with radiation exposure.”
“I know,” Everest said. “But the gastrointestinal symptoms are also consistent with norovirus, which is what the ship’s doctor initially suspected.”
“What does he think now?”
“He is actually a she,” Everest said. “And she’s the one who suspected the substance was radioactive in the first place.”
“That’s quite a catch,” Peter said.
The compliment made Everest smile, despite the circumstances. Even though Mallory deserved all the credit, he felt a small surge of pride in her abilities and intelligence. No one else would have put things together the way she had, and even if the material wasn’t spiked with enriched uranium, she still deserved praise for being so conscientious about her job.
“So where are you docking next?” Peter pressed.
“Philadelphia,” Everest responded. “But you can’t be the one to come on board and do the test. You know that breaks all kinds of regulations about military operations in the US.”
“It’ll be fine,” Peter said. Everest imagined his friend waving his hand as he dismissed the concern. “I won’t be operating in an official capacity. Just meeting a friend for lunch, that’s all.”
“You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?” Peter’s insistence on testing the material himself made Everest realize just how seriously he viewed the situation. A chill skittered down his spine, and he was suddenly acutely aware of the fact he and Mallory had been close to the stuff all morning long. He hadn’t been that concerned before, when the possibility that the putty was radioactive had seemed so remote. But after talking to Peter, he wasn’t so sure. What kind of damage had they done to themselves as they’d searched the ship?
“I’ll sleep better knowing for sure,” Peter said. “Email me your location. I’ll meet you in Philly tomorrow.”
“I will,” Everest said.
“And quit searching for the stuff,” his friend continued. “Until we know if the material is hot, try to minimize any exposure.”
“Yeah,” Everest said, his stomach heavy with worry. He felt fine, but paranoia made his skin prickle as he recalled everything he’d ever learned about the damages caused by radiation exposure. Images of charred skin flashed through his mind, each more unsettling than the last.
“I’m sure you’re fine,” Peter said, apparently reading his thoughts. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Everest ended the call and quickly typed out an email detailing their docking location in Philadelphia. It would be good to see Peter tomorrow, though he wished the circumstances were different.
He slipped his phone into his pocket and headed back down the hall in search of Mallory. She’d likely be happy to know they would get some solid answers tomorrow, one way or another.
The door to one of the cabins was propped open, and he gave a perfunctory rap on the door as he entered. “Good news,” he began. He drew up short and scanned the room, frowning. Mallory wasn’t there.
A cloying scent hung in the air, and he sniffed experimentally as he moved around the room. Chloroform. He was certain of it.
The realization made his heart drop, and Mallory’s disappearance took on a new, sinister edge. She wasn’t taking a bathroom break and she hadn’t been called back to the clinic. Someone had taken her.
The blood froze in his veins, and he hit the door at a run. He didn’t know who had taken Mallory, or why they wanted her. But he had to find her.
Before it was too late.
* * *
Mallory woke up suddenly, her head pounding and her throat dry. She sat up, fists at the ready, then slumped back as a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm her.
It took her a second to register her surroundings. She was in a passenger cabin, if the furniture was anything to go by. The room was dim, except for a thin strip of light on the floor by the edge of the door.
One of the shadows at the end of the bed shifted, and she realized with a start that she wasn’t alone. She tried to scream, but her throat was too tight for any sound to escape.
There was a soft “snick,” and the room flooded with light. She winced, blinking against the sudden brightness. A man stood at the edge of the bed, his features obscured by a black ski mask that left only his eyes visible. He wore a dark robe and gloves, and she got the impression he was trying to hide his appearance from her. Was that so she couldn’t identify him later, or so she wouldn’t recognize him now?
“Who are you?” Her voice was shaky, betraying her fear. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He didn’t answer, but she hadn’t really expected him to. He stepped closer and she scooted back, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.
It had to be the same man who had attacked her earlier. But why was she a target in the first place? She didn’t have any enemies, not that she knew of at least.
“What do you want?”
Still no response. But there was something about the way he moved as he walked around the bed that struck her as familiar. If only she could figure out why...
Enough was enough. She wasn’t going to simply sit here at the mercy of this silent stranger. She lunged for the bedside table lamp, but her brain still felt fuzzy and her movements were uncoordinated.
The man grabbed her arm and yanked it back, sending a searing bolt of pain through her shoulder. “Help!” she cried. Her scream was hoarse, so she tried again. “Someone help me!”
The blow came from out of nowhere, striking her across the chin and causing her head to snap back. Her body went limp, and she was dimly aware of being rolled onto her stomach.
“No,” she mumbled weakly. She tried to struggle, but her synapses were still firing with random aftershocks of pain and she couldn’t get her muscles to respond.
There was a sharp sting in the muscle of her thigh, followed by a warm rush. Her limbs grew heavy and she felt herself sinking into the bed. The light cut out, returning the room to darkness.
She heard the sound of a door opening and the murmur of noise from the hallway. Words rose in her throat, but her eyelids dropped down and she floated into an uneasy oblivion.
* * *
Everest stormed into his office and flung himself into his chair, hands already reaching for the keyboard. The security cameras. There had to be footage of the hallway, something that would tell him who had taken Mallory and give him some idea of where they had gone.
Assuming she was still on the boat. There was always the possibility her assailant had tossed her overboard to get rid of her quickly, before she woke up. The idea made his stomach cramp, but he had to believe that hadn’t happened. If someone had truly wanted to kill her, why bother to drug her first? Whoever had attacked her could have simply bashed her on the head and tossed her over the balcony rail of the room she was in. Why go to the trouble of incapacitating her first?
No, whoever had taken her must want to keep her alive. That meant she was still here, that he could find her. He clung tightly to the hope as he typed, his hands shaking so much he could barely pull up the video recordings. He clicked on the camera that surveyed the hallway where they’d just been, then ran the footage back so he could see what had happened while he’d stepped away to talk to Peter.
It started out fine, the picture clear and sharp. But a moment after he left the room,
the signal faded and the image grew fuzzy, until a blizzard of pixels filled the screen.
Everest swore and pounded the desk with his fist. Of all the times for the camera to malfunction!
As he watched, the image began to return. Details emerged until once again, the picture was clear. Just in time for him to watch his own progress back to the empty room.
He leaned forward, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as his instincts prickled with awareness. Something was off about the security footage...
The cameras had been acting strangely since the voyage began, but while he’d originally thought the bursts of static were random occurrences, now he wasn’t so sure. This wasn’t the first time they had just so happened to malfunction where Mallory was concerned. Unless he missed his guess, someone was tampering with the cameras in a deliberate attempt to evade detection.
And maybe he could use that to his advantage.
Whoever had used chloroform on Mallory had wanted to remain undetected. Surely that desire for secrecy extended to the person’s actions after she was unconscious, as well. He doubted the assailant wanted to be caught on camera carrying her limp body throughout the ship. So if he could find a pattern to the camera malfunctions, perhaps he could narrow down her current location...
It took him more time than he liked, but by carefully examining each camera’s footage and piecing together the timing of the outages, he was able to parse the likely route Mallory’s attacker had taken. The last outage affected a camera monitoring a hallway of passenger cabins, about twelve in all. It shouldn’t take long to search them, especially with his anxiety about Mallory’s condition driving him. He took a closer look at the doors, and a bolt of recognition struck him. He wasn’t going to have to search all twelve cabins after all.
Just one.
Jeff’s former stateroom.
Chapter 15
The vibrations reached her first, jarring her loose from the cold stasis of sleep. Something had taken hold of her shoulders in a tight grip, and she was being shaken insistently.
“Mallory!” The sound of her name cut through the fog in her brain. The voice was distorted, as if she was hearing it while underwater. But there was something familiar about the sound, some element that tugged insistently at her memory.
She felt herself being lifted, her body floating through the air. Her mind fought to come back online, but she kept losing her grip on consciousness. Warmth spread down one side as she was moved, then something solid and cold pressed against her back. Her muscles twitched, and she was dimly aware that she was shivering.
“Oh, God. Please be okay.”
Whom was he talking to? It was a him, that much she knew. She tried to respond, but it was too much work. Fatigue pulled at her, and she surrendered her tenuous grip on consciousness, sinking back into the dark depths.
* * *
Everest pushed the desk chair into the clinic, careful to keep his hand on Mallory’s shoulder so she didn’t fall out as he wheeled her into the room.
“I need help!” he yelled.
Two nurses approached, their eyes widening when they saw Mallory in the chair.
“What happened?” one of the women asked.
Everest shook his head. “I’m not sure. I found her like this about five minutes ago. She hasn’t woken up, and I don’t know what to do.” Panic tinged his words, but he didn’t care about showing his fear. He brought her over to one of the beds and helped the nurses lift her out of the chair. She looked so pale and fragile lying against the white sheets. He wanted to gather her in his arms and hold her close, but he forced himself to step back so the nurses could examine her.
The woman moved quickly but carefully, inserting an IV and hooking Mallory up to all sorts of machines. A steady beep filled the air, and Everest realized it was the sound of Mallory’s heart. He focused on the noise and stared at the green tracing as it moved across the screen of the monitor. As long as he heard that sound, he could convince himself that she would be okay.
“How long has she been like this?”
“I don’t know.” Helplessness welled up in his chest along with a feeling of despair. He didn’t know what had happened to Mallory. He didn’t know anything that could help the nurses take care of her. He was useless.
“I never should have left her,” he muttered. He’d gotten so wrapped up in their search and the possibility of answers from Peter, he’d forgotten that Mallory’s assailant was still unaccounted for. Wesley had stopped by his office earlier in the morning to report he was still looking for the man, and Everest had foolishly assumed it was only a matter of time before he was in custody. But he’d been wrong, and now Mallory was paying the price.
“What do we do now?” one of the nurses said. The other woman shook her head, her expression grave. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Everest said harshly. He didn’t mean to take his fears out on these women, but he refused to believe there was nothing more to do for Mallory. There had to be something they could give her to make her wake up. He wasn’t going to be able to relax until he heard her voice again.
The nurses both looked at him, and he saw his helplessness mirrored in their eyes. Mallory’s heart beat steadily now, but would it continue to do so? Whatever drug she’d been given might even now be doing untold damage to her system. She might wake up in the next five minutes, or she might slip into a coma and die—either outcome was a possibility. And the uncertainty of it was killing him.
The door to the clinic opened, and he turned to find Avery and Olivia standing in the entry. The smiles slipped off their faces as they saw the group clustered around the bed.
“Sorry,” Avery said. “We were hoping to catch Mallory.”
“We’ll come back later,” Olivia said. The pair started for the door, but Everest couldn’t let them leave. They were both doctors—they had to know something that could help Mallory.
“Wait!” he called out. His voice boomed in the small room, and the two women flinched. He hurried over to them. “You’ve got to help me. Mallory’s unconscious.”
“Mallory?” Olivia’s disbelief was plain, but she and Avery turned back to the bed. One of the nurses moved away, revealing Mallory’s face. Avery let out a gasp, and Olivia practically ran to her friend’s side.
Olivia wasted no time starting an exam, firing a series of questions at the nurses as she moved. “Go get Grant,” she instructed Avery.
Her words drove a spike of fear into Everest’s heart. “Why do you need him?” he asked. “Is Mallory too sick for you to handle on your own?”
Olivia spared him a glance. “I’m not sure what’s she’s been dosed with,” she said. “My specialty is plastic surgery. Grant’s is emergency medicine. He’s a lot more familiar with drug and overdose patients than I am, so I want him in here.”
“Overdose?” Everest whispered, fear tightening his throat to the point he could barely breathe. He grabbed Mallory’s hand, her skin disturbingly cold. Someone had wanted her out of the way, that much was clear. It was possible whoever had attacked her had given her too much sedative, either accidentally or intentionally. Once again, he cursed his mistake. I should have made her come with me. If they’d gone together, she wouldn’t have been vulnerable to a second attack.
Someone brushed past him, and Everest realized Grant had arrived. He took charge, assessing Mallory and asking many of the same questions as Olivia. The nurses didn’t seem to mind the repetition, though, and Grant rattled off a list of medications to administer.
When there was a lull in the activity, Everest decided to risk a question. “Is she going to be okay?”
Grant glanced at him, his gaze sympathetic. “I think so. Her vital signs are strong, which is a good sign. If we can just keep her supported, she should wake up eventually.”
> “There’s nothing you can administer to speed up the process?”
The other man shook his head. “Not without knowing what she was given to begin with. I’ve ordered the standard medications, but there’s a lot of stuff out there that can’t be counteracted. We might simply have to wait this out.”
Everest nodded, but inside he was screaming. “I see. Should we evacuate her to a hospital on shore?” They were currently under way to Philadelphia, their next port. But he could arrange for an emergency medical transfer, if that was what was needed to help Mallory.
Grant tilted his head to the side, considering the question. “She’s stable right now, and I don’t see that changing. We’re doing everything a hospital would in a case like this. But if she doesn’t regain consciousness in a few hours, then yes. We’ll move her when we get to Philadelphia.”
His words made Everest feel a little better, and he exhaled slowly. The selfish part of him was happy to know Grant didn’t think she should be moved; he wanted to keep her close, and if they transferred her to a hospital on shore, he’d have to leave her there and stay on board the ship as she continued her journey.
“Do you know how this happened?”
Everest turned to find Logan standing off to the side, his expression serious. He hadn’t seen the other man come in, but then again, he hadn’t been paying attention to anything other than Mallory.
He sighed, mentally debating how much to reveal. He couldn’t talk about their search for the material in the boxes, or his conversation with Peter. It might all be for nothing, and he didn’t want to alarm Mallory’s friends or the clinic nurses unnecessarily. So he settled for a version of the truth.
“We were in one of the passenger cabins, investigating an issue reported by one of the guests. I stepped out to take a phone call, and when I returned, she was gone.” He told them about the stench of chloroform in the air, and her earlier assault in Jeff’s cabin. They all listened intently, but Avery and Olivia didn’t seem too surprised. Mallory must have spoken to them about it, he realized. What else had she told her friends?
