Mia
It feels like we’ve been at sea forever. In all reality, it’s probably only a few hours, but when you’re all alone, and there’s nothing to do, your mind plays tricks on you.
Time is something that can go slower than normal.
I’ve sat on the bed. I’ve laid on it. I’ve paced the edge of the bed. Anything to stop looking at the plate of heroin as too many thoughts plague me.
If I’m going to die, maybe this is a better way?
Will it make me pass out and not know I’m here?
If I can’t physically escape Skates, will this allow me to escape him mentally?
A battle follows every thought.
That’s what she did.
Don’t be her. You’re better than her.
Why are you even thinking about this?
I’ve never considered or desired to take drugs. I hardly drink alcohol. Contemplating this is a surprise to me.
I stare at the white packet and syringe then pick up the powder, inspecting it carefully. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, as the contents are just small, white grains that look like sugar.
The sound of footsteps outside the door near, and I drop the packet and sit on the end of the bed, in front of the door.
Veronica’s laugh and Skates’ voice fill the air, and my pulse increases.
The doorknob turns, and Skates enters.
He never takes his eyes off me and picks up the platter of heroin. Veronica stands in the doorway, smirking.
God, I hate them both.
Skates sits next to me with the drugs.
I want to crawl out of my skin, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders. I squirm to get out, but he sternly says, “Stop moving.”
I stop. My heart is beating so hard I’m sure he can hear it.
He puts his lips near my ear. His breath is pulsing against my skin, creating chills from my toes up. “Looks like you need some help. Let’s get a little taste, shall we?”
I try to stand up, but he shoves me back down.
Veronica laughs, and I wish I could shut her up.
I blink back tears as he yanks me into him more. “You’re going to do what I want, or the minute Beckett gets on this boat, I’m tying an anchor around his neck and letting him die a slow death. Do you understand?”
I jerk my head at him in surprise. Beckett is coming? He knows where I am?
He brushes his finger down my cheek. “Oh, dear sister. Did you think I wouldn’t let him witness this fun?”
A tear falls off my face and lands on my hand. “Why are you doing this? We have the same blood.”
He fists my hair and tugs it back so I’m looking in his eyes. “We share half our blood. You shouldn’t have been born. If your mother weren’t a whore who sank her teeth into my dad, you wouldn’t be here.”
“She was a child,” I cry out.
“She was a whore,” he sneers and pulls my head back farther. “A weak, addicted, whore.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not her,” I choke out.
He lets go of my hair and arches his eyebrows. “Aren’t you?”
“No. Please leave me alone,” I cry out.
Skates sticks the packet of heroin in front of my face. “You didn’t wonder what it would be like to try it out?”
I hesitate, and it’s all he needs. “No.”
His eyes become slits. “You’re a shitty liar. Your mom and brother were, too.”
I close my eyes, willing myself to stop crying and come up with a game plan to fight against him. But it’s nearly impossible. The dam has broken, and the more he laughs, the faster the river flows.
“It’s tasting time,” he whispers in my ear.
My eyes fly open. Veronica stands over us with her fingernail covered in the white powder. I swallow the knot in my throat.
“Sniff it.” She wiggles her finger at me.
I shake my head and try to pull back, but Skates has my head on lockdown, and his other hand has restrained mine.
Veronica’s fingernail comes closer to my nose.
“No!” I stomp on her bare feet as hard as I can, and she steps backward in pain. The white powder falls to the floor.
Instead of being mad, Skates is amused. “Didn’t realize you were so feisty.”
“You bitch,” she screams, holding onto her foot and bouncing up and down.
“Skates,” Henry’s voice calls out. “They’re here.”
Skates stares at me and he rubs both hands together. “It’s showtime.”
I furrow my brows in question, and he yanks me up. “Let’s go.”
Veronica is still whining, and Skates drags me through the cabin and into the main room. He shoves me onto the couch and wraps the bag of heroin in my hand. “Feel free to start the party. If you move off this couch, your boyfriend dies. Do you understand?”
More tears well and my insides shake harder.
He squeezes my hand and releases it, leaving me clutching the heroin. I can hear men talking from outside, but I don’t move for fear Beckett will get shot.
For a brief moment, I’m glad to be alone to collect my thoughts and try to figure out what my next move is, but it doesn’t last long. Veronica enters the room carrying the silver platter filled with the syringe, rubber band, and lighter.
Grinning, she says, “Let’s just do it the right way this time.”
I stare at her.
She places the platter on the table and stretches the rubber band.
“Why are you doing this?” I spout at her.
She looks at me like I’m her best friend. “You really are naive, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
She brushes the back of her fingers down my cheek. “You’re going to be fun to play with.”
Chills consume my body. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing this because Skates told me to.”
“That’s it? Because he told you to?”
A sarcastic laugh fills the air. “Yeah. When Skates talks, you listen. And honestly, I’m rather enjoying watching you squirm.”
I glare at her. “Why? I’ve never done anything to you.”
“No? Is that what you think?”
I furrow my brows at her. “What? What have I done?”
“You’re just another rich island kid who has had everything handed to them.”
“No, I haven’t.”
She laughs. “Please. Don’t even try. You, Clay, Beckett—you’re all spoiled island kids who never had to fight for anything.”
She hates me because I grew up on the island?
“Skates grew up on the island.”
Veronica snorts. “Skates built his empire. What have you done?”
I glare at her. “Skates may have built his empire, but it’s one of destruction.”
“Skates built an empire of loyalty, trust, and honor. Something you know nothing about.”
I gape at her, not sure how anyone could believe in what Skates has created.
There’s a loud commotion outside, and Veronica throws the rubber band on the platter and leaves the room.
I’m about to stand up but then freeze, remembering Skates’ warning of throwing Beckett overboard with an anchor attached to his neck.
Chills run through me as I realize I didn’t do what Skates wanted in the bedroom when he made that promise.
I stand up and look out the cubbyhole. I faintly see Henry, Skates, Casey, and Beckett. Veronica is standing next to Skates.
Casey? What is he doing here?
It looks like Casey and Skates are arguing, and Beckett is watching the conversation. Two other men stand behind him with guns aimed at his back.
Beckett. Oh God. Please don’t let anything happen to him.
Veronica starts to turn, and I duck down and sit back on the couch, my heart racing, trying to figure out how to help Beckett.
I scour the room and realize that I’m still clutching the packet of heroin. I look down at my hand and then back up, and that’s when I see it.
In the chair next to the couch, in the side between the cushion and the seat, the butt of a gun is sticking out.
Quickly, I grab it and sit back down. I check that it’s loaded and the safety is on, place it behind my back, and lean against it.
Veronica enters the room and picks up the rubber band. “I think it’s time we finish what we started.”
I scan her eyes. “Okay. Can I go to the bathroom first?”
She rolls her eyes.
“I haven’t gone all day.”
“Fine,” she huffs. Turning her back to the door across the room, she points. “It’s over there.”
Standing up, I grab the gun from behind me, flip the safety, and aim it at her.
She turns back to me with wide eyes.
“Don’t say a word. Move.” I motion with the gun for her to go into the bedroom I was in earlier.
“You won’t shoot me,” she challenges.
I don’t flinch. “I’m a marksman. You want to test my skills out?”
Her eyes widen. “Skates will kill you.”
“Not if I kill him first. Anyway, you can either be alive or dead to watch. Choose.”
She narrows her eyes. “You wouldn’t. You’re too innocent.”
“I have Skates’ blood in me. Innocence is just a mirage. Now, move.”
She hesitates, and I motion again. She finally moves, and I put her in the room she locked me in. Before I secure the door shut, I tell her, “Don’t say a word, or I’ll come back and kill you. And I don’t give second warnings.”
I’m not sure where this is coming from, but I can only assume it’s the years of having such a big hole in my heart. Maybe it’s the practice I got the day before with Casey, but I have no doubt that if she tries to harm me again or Beckett that I will shoot her.
I shut the door and lock her in, making her a prisoner the same way she made me, and stick the gun in my shorts.
I need to get Beckett and me out of here in one piece.
Loud voices fill my ears, and I look out the window and see that the conversation on the deck now has Henry looking like he is defending himself.
One man is now behind Beckett with a gun, and one is behind Henry, and they both look like they don’t know where to aim. Skates yanks the gun out of the hand of the guy nearest Henry. He waves it between Beckett and Henry.
“He’s lying,” Henry cries out.
“Eight times in the last year alone. Did you know about any of those?” Beckett asks Skates.
“That’s not true,” Henry claims.
Beckett points to Henry. “He’s playing you.”
Henry suddenly spins and tries to punch Beckett, but Beckett’s too fast and ducks down. Henry’s punch lands on the man holding the gun behind Beckett, and several shots ring through the air before the man flies over the side of the boat and falls into the water.
Henry and Beckett are both on the deck, and blood is seeping across it.
“Beckett!” I yell as I no longer try to figure out what to do, and run out of the cabin and onto the deck.
Skates, Casey, and the other man with the gun turn toward me.
“Mia, get back inside,” Casey yells.
Tears are streaming down my face. “Beckett!”
The pool of blood is growing on the deck, and neither Henry nor Beckett is moving. Henry is on top of Beckett, and I can’t tell who’s been shot.
“Beckett!” I cry out again, and Casey holds me back.
“Stop, Mia!”
I shake out of his grasp. “Let me go.”
Skates laughs. “Let her go, old man.”
He releases me, and I run over to the pile of men covered in blood, rolling Henry off Beckett, who lies in the pool of red with his eyes shut.