Alyssia pulled the binoculars from her eyes and sucked in the cool sea air. Curtis watched her with interest as he awaited her response.
‘You were right,’ she said eventually, and she sounded quite shocked. ‘I don’t know how you keep coming up trumps.’
‘Thought you’d be impressed.’
More than anything, he thought she looked a bit worried. Was that just because their long and tiring journey had led them here, and it was finally time for the big confrontation?
‘Nobody has seen Victor – officially, anyway – for weeks,’ she said, ‘but you’re saying this information was just… floating on the internet.’
Did information float on the internet?
‘There was still an element of doubt,’ Curtis said, ‘but we pulled together a pretty comprehensive list of Victor’s yachts.’
And Curtis had suggested, if the billionaire were laying low somewhere, then at sea could be the most likely place to do so, for someone like him who had so many options of where to go.
‘And this one, the Lady Nightshade, is the only one that isn’t in its usual mooring place,’ Alyssia said.
‘Because it’s normally moored in Positano in Italy.’
‘A hell of a long way from here.’
‘It’s the same boat Mariana stayed on when she visited me.’ She said that with a certain sadness. ‘Except this yacht’s not in Positano now. It’s here in Miami.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Which you found on a Reddit forum.’
‘You’d be surprised how much useful information enthusiasts post on there without even knowing what they’re exposing.’
‘Yacht spotters.’
‘I’m not sure that’s a technical term, but… yeah.’
He smiled. She didn’t. He really couldn’t read her mood. It was almost as though she didn’t trust his story. No, it wasn’t a story. But she definitely didn’t like something about how they’d ended up here. Or perhaps it was only tiredness. They were both exhausted.
‘You actually think a yacht like that could make it across the Atlantic?’
‘It’s here, isn’t it? And if not… What are you suggesting?’
‘I don’t really know.’
‘Perhaps it makes perfect sense. Maybe Victor was in Europe when the attack happened in D.C. I don’t know how, but it’s to do with him. So he quietly sails this thing across the water to here. Keeps him well out of sight in doing so.’
‘But why here?’
‘I mean… Have you seen how many yachts there are in this place?’
‘Needle in a haystack.’
Something like that. Although they’d still found it. But only because of those unknowingly helpful online yacht enthusiasts.
‘It’ll be dark soon,’ Alyssia said. ‘But even if I really want to find a hotel and sleep, I don’t want to wait until the morning to get out there. I want to get this done now. Tonight.’
‘Then let’s go find ourselves a boat.’
* * *
They did find a boat. Not particularly difficult given the location, but it still took some time to sort out the rental, and it was dark by the time they took the single-prop rubber dinghy out onto the open waters.
‘I don’t like this,’ Alyssia said, clutching the sides as the boat bobbed up and down, side to side, every small wave and ripple on the water sending them both off balance on their seats. But Curtis didn’t let up on the speed – which wasn’t that fast given the feeble engine.
It only took a few minutes before they were approaching Travers’s yacht and Curtis slowed their craft down. There were definitely people on board – Curtis could hear soft music. Chatter, too?
‘He’s partying while my sister is missing,’ Alyssia said, the bitter edge to her words unmistakable. ‘Your brother too.’
Party? Curtis wasn’t sure about that as he could see no one on deck and the sounds certainly weren’t raucous.
‘It could even be them on the boat,’ Curtis said, a little hopefully.
Alyssia didn’t respond, as though his comment was too daft to give a response to.
‘You sure you want to do it like we planned?’ Curtis asked her.
‘Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s put Travers on the back foot.’
And with that, she stood up and jumped over the edge.
Cold water splashed onto Curtis as he rose to his feet.
‘Help!’ he shouted, and the music on the yacht stopped. Lights came on along the deck. A door opened and a tall, bulky man barreled out. Not Victor.
‘My friend! She’s in the water,’ Curtis yelled.
‘What the hell!’ the man shouted, sounding angry more than anything.
‘Please! I can’t swim!’ Alyssia screamed, and she genuinely looked like she was struggling. Curtis jolted on the end of the dinghy. Should he go in after her? Did he need to?
Another man came out onto the yacht’s deck, large flashlight in his hand, the beam so bright that Curtis had to shield his face, meaning he could see next to nothing of the man holding it.
He really hoped it was Travers.
‘Please, help her!’ Curtis shouted.
Moments later the big man had a rope in his hand which he tossed toward Alyssia. She grabbed it at the first attempt and he reeled her in and pulled her onto the deck.
‘The engine’s stalled,’ Curtis said. ‘I’ve got no oars.’
‘Damn idiots,’ the man with the flashlight said. ‘Get him tethered.’
Not long after and the dinghy was roped to the yacht. Curtis clambered onto the open deck but then paused, surprised.
Alyssia sat on a sofa on the deck, blanket around her as she shivered, her head down. This wasn’t the next part of their plan. They were supposed to go on the attack.
‘Get yourselves inside.’ Victor Travers. The first time Curtis had seen him in the flesh. He pushed aside his rising anger as best he could. ‘You need to get warm and dry.’
Alyssia didn’t look up as she stood and Victor ushered them through the doors into the opulent interior. A kitchen, lounge. Further closed doors lay beyond that Curtis presumed led to cabins.
Victor stood by the sink with his back to Curtis and Alyssia. The door behind Curtis closed and he turned to see the well-built man there, blocking the exit, arms folded. Curtis gave Alyssia a look, trying to say, ‘What’s wrong?’ but she would barely catch his eye and gave him nothing in return.
Victor turned and Curtis gulped as he tried not to look at the dull metal of the object in Victor’s hand. A gun.
So that’s what had happened.
‘A strange trick,’ Victor said, a neutral expression on his face. ‘You could have tried to sneak onboard. Or even just asked to come onboard. I might even have said yes.’
Curtis and Alyssia said nothing.
‘And what, did you not think I’d recognize you both?’
He stepped toward Alyssia and held out his hand to brush her cheek while he cradled the gun by his side. She didn’t move at all at his touch, just glared daggers at him.
‘I always thought you looked a lot like her,’ he said. ‘Not as pretty, but…’
‘Where is she?’ Alyssia said through gritted teeth.
‘First, you should get dried off. Before you catch a chill. Then we can talk.’
No one moved. Victor stepped to the side.
‘In there,’ he said, pointing to one of the doors. ‘I’m sure you’ll find something. Except for weapons – there are no weapons here except for this.’ He tapped the gun. ‘So please, Alyssia, don’t do anything stupid.’
She moved off and into the room. Would she try something? Curtis didn’t know what he wanted the answer to be. He looked from Victor to the muscular man at the door. He had a scrunched up, rounded face, eyes close together, flat nose that suggested he’d hit a few branches on the way out of the ugly tree. Or perhaps had spent a lot of time in a boxing ring. Even if his hands were empty, somehow Curtis found him the most intimidating of the men in front of him.
‘So what now?’ Curtis asked Victor, who remained looking smug.
‘We wait for her.’
‘You know who I am?’
‘Yeah. You have the same… annoying face. The kind that grinds the more you look at it.’
Strange. Curtis was already feeling that way about the billionaire.
The cabin door reopened and Alyssia tentatively stepped out. Baggy jeans. A thick woolen jumper a couple of sizes too big. Obviously Victor’s clothes.
‘You couldn’t find anything that fitted?’ Victor said. ‘I thought maybe Mariana had left something behind the last time she was here.’
‘Where is my sister?’ Alyssia demanded.
‘Why are you two here?’ Victor said, ignoring her, looking from her to Curtis.
‘Because we know,’ Curtis said. ‘We know about the dirty deals in Europe. The silent partners, ABC, Helda. The money you’ve stolen.’
Victor glared for a moment and Curtis had a flashing thought that maybe he’d got the entire situation wrong. Or maybe he’d hit so close to home that Victor would simply put a bullet in his head there and then.
Could Curtis attack before Victor got the chance to shoot?
How his outlook had changed since a few days ago…
‘You know nothing,’ Victor said.
‘I know my brother helped put it all together,’ Curtis said. ‘And I know Senator Charlton was involved too. And I know my brother was in D.C. a few days ago…’
Victor laughed. A big, hearty, provocative laugh. He didn’t notice Alyssia shuffle a step closer to him because of it. What was she planning? Curtis tried not to look at her. Had the meathead at the door seen?
‘So you know what your brother did then,’ Victor said. ‘In D.C.?’
Curtis said nothing.
‘I was wondering how long it would take for someone else to realize who “the hero” is.’
But he wasn’t talking as though Finn was an accomplice, but rather… an enemy. A threat.
‘My brother—’
‘Your brother is a liar and a cheat. A real scumbag.’
Well, Curtis had certainly seen that side of Finn before.
‘He stole from me,’ Victor said. ‘He tricked me.’
‘But—’
‘And that bastard senator is just as bad.’
‘Charlton?’
‘Lining his own pockets at every opportunity he gets.’
‘I just want to know where my sister is,’ Alyssia said. ‘Where is Mariana?’
‘If I knew… I’d tell you,’ Victor said, and Curtis thought he sounded a little sad about… something.
‘But Finn,’ Curtis said. ‘You’re claiming—’
‘For years Finn has jumped from one job to another, all across the world, finding dirt on wealthy people so he can screw them over. Qatar, Dubai, me in Mexico.’
‘Gert Henning in London,’ Alyssia said, and she sent Curtis an accusatory glare as though he had something to do with it all.
‘I’ll admit, I saw that side of Finn as a strength,’ Victor said. ‘Something I could use to my benefit. But I should have known a man like that could never be trusted.’
‘But in D.C.—’
‘Your brother stole from me. That’s as clear as I can put it.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s what he does,’ Victor said. ‘He saw an opportunity. What should have been a straightforward finance deal was reworked so he could skim millions. That slimy senator benefitted too.’
‘Charlton?’
‘I don’t know how your brother convinced him, but… When I realized what Finn was up to… Put simply, their plan now is to screw me over, ruin me. Because I found out what Finn was doing and confronted him. And Finn wasn’t going to walk away quietly.’
The words from Finn’s notes… If it all goes wrong, expose cash trails. Final funds first. And it – Finn’s relationship with Victor? – had gone wrong. And he’d planned to expose Victor’s own dodgy dealings. Final funds first? That still made no sense to him, but…
‘This still doesn’t explain what happened in D.C.,’ Alyssia said, and Curtis was grateful that she wasn’t simply swallowing everything Victor had told them.
‘Doesn’t it?’ Victor said. ‘Finn has led a duplicitous life for years. Screwing over some very powerful people in the process. Sooner or later that life was going to come back to bite him.’
‘You’re saying Finn was the real target in D.C.?’ Alyssia said.
‘Am I? But it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.’
‘Except that’s not the line the police or the media—’
‘The fact you two are off on some personal mission to track down Finn and Mariana suggests you haven’t been wholly taken in by what you’ve read in the papers,’ Victor said.
Which was true.
‘Charlton is protecting Finn, because he’s protecting himself.’
‘And you?’ Alyssia asked.
‘Doing the same.’
‘Which is why we find you hiding on a boat in Miami,’ Curtis said.
‘And why I have this gun, and why I have my good friend Chester to keep me company here. Believe me, it’s not because of his looks or his conversation skills.’
‘That still doesn’t explain where my sister is,’ Alyssia said.
‘No. It doesn’t. And I wish I could help you more. You know how much she means to me.’
Alyssia looked away from him, down to the floor as though ashamed of something.
‘I don’t know who attacked your brother or why,’ Victor said. ‘But it had nothing to do with me. They are out to get me. And I don’t know where Mariana is. Although I do know someone who probably does have the answers you’re looking for.’
‘Senator Charlton?’ Curtis asked.
‘He’s hiding too, from what I understand. And I think we’ve already established that story he’s been telling, about that attack, about this hero everyone’s talking about, isn’t true.’
Alyssia and Curtis caught each other’s eye. He wished he knew what she was thinking. Moments ago he’d seen that steely, fighting look in her and thought she was about to try to tackle Victor and take his gun. Now she looked… conflicted, more than anything.
‘If you’re looking for answers,’ Victor continued, ‘or just looking for your respective siblings, I think you know who you need to find first.’
Curtis did.
Victor turned and placed the gun on the kitchen counter. Alyssia’s eyes remained on it for a few moments. If she was going to try it…
‘I have nothing more to say to either of you,’ Victor said. ‘Chester can check out your boat to make sure it’s working, and then you can go. And I don’t want to see either of you again. Your family members have caused me enough grief already.’
With that, Chester grunted and turned and opened the doors and disappeared outside.
Alyssia moved away from the kitchen and over to Curtis.
‘We should go,’ she said to him.
Curtis felt reluctant to, but…
He remained on edge, tense, as he stepped onto the deck, as though there was still a possibility of Chester launching an ambush…
But he didn’t. Why would he now? He and Victor had already had every opportunity to attack and to hurt them if they’d wanted to, or to stop them from leaving if they felt threatened.
They hadn’t. That had to mean something. That Victor’s claims of Finn trying to set him up were true?
Minutes later the prop engine of the dinghy gently chugged as Curtis watched the yacht disappear behind them.
‘So Senator Charlton is the man with the answers after all,’ Alyssia said.
‘Which means Charlton lied to me before,’ Curtis said. ‘He lied to my face. He doesn’t just know Finn, he—’
‘Knows everything. He’s working with Finn.’
‘Last time I saw him I was too nice. I let him off too easily.’ He gripped the handle of the rudder a little more tightly. ‘I won’t make the same mistake again.’