Gage approached the orange deer crossing sign, dress shoes crunching on the fallen leaves and bark. He bent down, finding it difficult to breathe in the fog, and caught sight of the paper. It had been folded and wrapped around the sign’s jagged wooden base. He ripped it off and opened it. A frown crossed his face at the detailed map of the Celeste, the ship he’d be boarding in less than an hour, with certain areas circled in red marker, mostly in the watertight hull of the ship.
Before Gage could ask what the red circles entailed, Linc’s voice came through. “I’ve circled all the hotspots in red.”
“What’s going on in these ‘hotspots?’”
“I don’t know. That’s what I need you for. Might be nothing, might be everything. Got a feeling it’s where they were taking Veda before we intervened.”
Gage’s lungs caught fire, and they burned even more when he sucked in a breath at the thought of Veda, abducted. Thrown into the back of a truck that had been instructed to drop her incapacitated body off at the docks. The docks where all of his family’s cruise ships were moored. Just as soon as his lungs caught fire, his blood ran cold.
“Left you something else,” Linc said, pulling Gage away from the fury clouding his chest. “Other side of the post.”
Frowning, Gage shoved the map in his jacket pocket before fingering the opposite side of the post. His eyebrows pinched as his fingers glided over smooth metal, and his eyes expanded as he pulled it out from behind the post, holding the silver pistol in the air.
As if he could see Gage’s stunned face, a smile laced Linc’s voice. “Ever shot a gun, Blackwater?”
Gage exhaled. “No.”
“Might learn sooner than you think.”
With the weight of the situation bearing down on him, hand shaking, Gage put the gun in his pocket as well.
“Get me all the information you can,” Linc said.
“I’ll have an update before the night is out.”
“Don’t rush. That’s how mistakes are made. You’ve got a month, so be smart about it.”
Don’t rush? Coming from the man who’d pulled Veda out of the trunk of a car? It took everything Gage had not to explode into a tirade. He stopped himself, knowing that Linc wasn’t the person he was really angry with. At that moment, he had no idea who he was really angry with.
But he had every intention of finding out.
His teeth were bared as he stood, breathing noisily and moving back to his car with an ardent stride, the jacket of his black suit blowing behind him in his haste. He was back inside the vehicle in seconds, slamming the door closed. Only when he’d engaged the lock behind him did he notice the commotion coming through from Linc’s end of the phone. Police sirens, the beep of radios, and stern, hurried chatter.
“What’s going on over there?” Gage asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Get rid of the phone. Buy another one when you can and call me with an update.”
Gage started the car, pausing as the engine growled to life and made the leather seat below him vibrate. He pressed his tongue against his bottom lip, trying to stop himself from saying the words begging to be free from his throat.
“I never imagined I’d be in a position to say this to you but…” Every muscle in Gage’s body tensed as if trying to reject the words he couldn’t stop himself from saying. “But please take care of her. Please take care of her while I’m gone.”
Silence.
Then, Linc grumbled, “Yeah.”
He hung up before Gage could thank him.
After deleting Linc’s number from the burner phone’s call log, Gage rolled down the passenger window and flicked the cheap plastic phone out, watching it soar through the air before clattering down to the forest floor, instantly buried under dead leaves and shrubs.
After rolling the window up, he claimed his real phone, which awaited him in the cup holder, noting that he had a text message. He knew the message couldn’t be from Veda, since they’d agreed that, if they were going to keep their I-hate-you charade going, phone contact would be too risky. Regardless, some part of him almost hoped the message would be from her.
It wasn’t.
Instead, it was from his “future wife.” The same text she’d been sending him since the night they’d both signed their lives away. The same text she’d sent him, every hour, since that night. The same text, passionate, succinct, and straight to the stomach churning point.
Scarlett: Why, Gage?! WHY?!!!!!
8
The reason why stayed with Gage for the entire drive to Port Blackwater. It reddened his tensed jaw as he parked his car at the dock and claimed his suitcase from the trunk. It made his muscles quiver during the long walk up the expansive pier—bustling with excited passengers—that led to the Celeste, not just his family’s largest ship, but the largest in the world. The reason why left his pulse racing, nostrils flaring, and breathing heavy. Like his body was filled to the brim with the same wispy black clouds that floated through the sky. A sky painted navy as the setting sun said its final goodbyes.
The reason why waged war on his every bone as he looked up at the Celeste. Her white body screamed against the dark blue sky. Every cabin light had been illuminated, making the sixteen-deck behemoth glow as brightly as the skyscrapers soaring from downtown Shadow Rock in the distance.
The Celeste. The ship Linc suspected would’ve been Veda’s final destination on the night she’d been abducted. Carrying her away to God knows where. Since the Celeste hosted the cruise line’s longest voyage—a whopping 23 days from California, to Hawaii, to the beautiful beaches of Australia—Gage had plenty of time to find out where and why.
As he grew closer, his eyes danced across the two billion dollar boat that had been branded a ‘city on the sea.’ So expansive it had been cut up into ‘neighborhoods’. Just another fancy term for blatant segregation. The lower one’s floor, the lower their standing in Shadow Rock society. The penthouse suite windows—where he’d be staying for the duration—sat at the top of the ship, larger and brighter than all the rest.
The Celeste carried 7000 passengers, so the port was naturally a madhouse. So saturated with passengers, Gage found himself having accidental run-ins left and right.
But, somehow, even amongst the chaos, he heard her voice.
“Darling!”
Gage stopped walking and turned, catching sight of his mother. A beaming smile lit up her face even as she shouldered her way through the crowd, waving to get his attention. Usually, Celeste hated touching people she didn’t know, especially when those people were poor, but at that moment, her shining green eyes maintained their luster, because they were locked onto him. Her stick-straight black hair danced around her waist, her slim body swiveling in a hunter green Marc Jacobs dress.
Gage chuckled softly when she cleared the crowd and raced up to him—high heels clicking the whole way—and clapped her arms around his neck in a fierce hug, moaning into his shoulder as they embraced.
When she didn’t show plans of letting go, Gage released the handle of his suitcase and rubbed her back.
“I thought we’d already said our goodbyes at dinner last night?” he asked, once Celeste had pulled back.
She clutched his cheeks, tears glimmering in her eyes. “I couldn’t bear you boarding that ship without one last goodbye. You’ve wanted this for so long, my darling. I couldn’t bear it.” A smile glowed on her face. “Your life, as you know it, from this day forward, will be changed forever. Vice President of Guest Services today, CEO tomorrow.”
Gage rolled his eyes, her soft laughter warming his ears as he did. “Let’s not get too excited. Nothing short of severing my own limb with a dull hacksaw would convince Dad I was loyal enough to hold the title of CEO.”
Her smile wavered, and then it was gone, replaced with a soft bunching between her eyebrows that she only dared show him. She massaged his cheeks. “He loves you, my darling. Truly he does. He just struggles to show it.”
“Mmmhmm…”
Gage licked his lips with a nod.
Celeste shook her hair away when the soft breeze blew it over her face. She craned her neck to look up at the ship and then rolled her own eyes.
“If only your new journey didn’t have to begin on this dreadful thing,” she breathed.
“I never understood how you could hate a ship so much that bears your name.”
She threw her eyes back to his. They hardened.
Gage squinted at her. “You’ve never even set foot on it, Mother. Why?”
“You know I get seasick, darling.”
“I’ve seen you on smaller boats where the seasickness is a lot worse. Hell, you’re at the marina damn near every weekend.”
Her jaw tightened, green eyes dashing back and forth between his, but she didn’t respond to his suspicions. “I’m so very proud of you.”
Gage drew in a breath, his own eyes growing vulnerable. “I love you, Mom.”
“Oh, I love you too.” She launched at him again, clapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tight.
Gage wrapped her tightly in his arms as well, frowning when she began to shake with strangled weeps.
The last time he’d seen his mother this emotional…
His frown deepened when he realized he never had.
She pulled back, cheeks red, sniffling while clutching his shoulders. “I have no doubt you’ve given Scarlett a proper goodbye, as well?”
He tried to fight the artery that begged to twitch under his jaw. The groan that begged to leave his lips. The muscle in his eyes that begged to roll. He succeeded by the skin of his teeth.
“I did,” he said.
After one final kiss and hug goodbye, Gage was off, giving his mother one last wave over his shoulder as he moved toward the ship.
Celeste was right. The ship bearing her moniker really would change his life forever.
But not in the way she imagined.
——
After a long tour of the ship and introductions to his future colleagues—most of whom he already knew—Gage found himself with his heart in his throat. The Celeste had set sail hours earlier, and though he didn’t begin his new duties as Vice President of Guest Services until the following morning, he’d already gotten to work.
Roaming a dark, quiet hallway in the hull of the ship, a subtle drip of water was the only discernible sound. The heavy puffs of air flaring his nostrils joined in, and he tried to control the lungs that ached to gasp. A gasp would echo through the long, empty halls, alerting any keen ear to his presence. He was thankful for choosing the only pair of Italian shoes he owned that didn’t click because they would sound like a bomb going off, booming through the steel walls that flanked him. His executive position allotted him access to every corner of the ship, but he still had no reason to be down there, and he didn’t want too many questions popping up before he had a chance to finish what he’d come for.
Dull white lights hummed above him, but somehow did nothing to illuminate the halls. He didn’t know if it was the dim lighting that was freaking him out, or what he’d already found in every “hotspot” that evening, after following Linc’s map to the letter. Every hotspot he’d happened upon had made his heart fall a little more, and he knew the final one would be no exception.
As he approached a corner that led into another long hallway, he took a deep breath and prayed that this spot didn’t prove as disturbing as all the others. Swallowing thickly, he peeked around the corner, drank in the sight, and promptly slammed his eyes closed. Just like all the others, this hotspot was completely inaccessible.
Just like all the others, an armed guard manned the entrance. Not armed just with a run of the mill pistol, but a full-on assault rifle. Not just some rent-a-cop in a polyester uniform, but a stone-faced man-at-arms decked out in black combat gear as if he were headed to war at Celeste’s first stop: Maui.
Why the hell did a cruise ship headed to Hawaii and Australia need armed guards? With assault rifles?
Gage moved away from the corner as quickly and quietly as he could, doing his best to remain calm. Remaining calm, however, proved difficult.
Lincoln Hill had been right all along.
Not just about the hotspots, but about his family all together.
What were the guards protecting? What were they hiding? Gage didn’t know how he would get passed a bevy of armed guards, all of whom appeared ready to shoot, but he had every intention of finding the answer.
But not tonight. He needed time to gather his thoughts and think up a plan. So he moved away from the hotspot, and the armed guard manning it, as quickly as he could. The leaky pipe that never stopped dripping still filled the quiet, its trickling music distracting him as he made his way back to the elevator.
His vision blurred in the nearly pitch-black hallway, and he braced a hand on the steel wall when it began to blind him. They must’ve designed the hallway to be dark and uninviting purposely. Making it so creepy—so off-putting—that anyone with a lick of common sense would be too frightened to venture too far.
But a determination to uncover the truth had taken over Gage’s heart, and he was no longer frightened.
His moment of fearlessness was short-lived, however, as a hand seized the back of his neck, squeezing so tightly his spine felt seconds from being torn in two. Thrust forward, Gage didn’t even have time to manage a gasp as he tripped over his feet and his face was slammed violently into the wall. Cheek squashed against the cool steel, his breathing came in short gasps as the ferocious fingers crushing him around the neck grew even tighter.
His gasps ceased, however, when the cold barrel of a gun—a feeling so unmistakable he recognized it even as he experienced it for the first time—came against his neck.
The gun cocked.
Jolted from his stupor by the sound, Gage found his voice. “I’m Gage Blackwater!” He took a moment to calm himself when he realized he was screaming, and swallowed thickly, holding his hands up while lowering his trembling voice. “I’m Gage Blackwater.”
Silence.
The hand around his neck tightened, pushing him deeper into the wall, squashing his cheek against the icy steel more fiercely. The gun sank deeper into his neck, so heavily it grazed his esophagus.
Then, they were gone. The gun at his neck. The hand clasped around it.
Freed, Gage swung on his heels, blood bursting through his veins, and his eyes landed on the guard behind him. The same guard who’d just been manning the door of the hotspot around the corner. The guard who hadn’t given any indication he’d been aware of Gage’s presence.
The guard returned the pistol he’d just had at Gage’s neck to the holster on his hip before reclaiming the assault rifle that hung from the holster strapped across his chest. He cradled the rifle in two hands, slowly chewing a piece of gum as if he hadn’t yet decided whether or not he was going to utilize that weapon.
Chest heaving, Gage’s eyes ran the guard’s body. Black clothing—full battle gear. A bulletproof vest. He even wore a helmet. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes. The only part of his face Gage could see was the pale skin of his clenched jaw and his tightly drawn pink lips.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” the man said, voice terse and robotic.
A part of Gage wanted to put his hands up—plead his case—but that would make him look guilty. So, instead, he squared his shoulders, lifted his chin, and reminded himself that he was a fucking Blackwater. He was the reason this goon in a bulletproof vest had a job in the first place.
Gage didn’t speak until he was sure his voice would remain steady. “I just started here. Very recently. I still don’t know my way around the ship and got lost. I think it goes without saying that the welcome I’ve just received from you hasn’t been particularly warm. I’d hate to have to alert my father to the appalling treatment I’ve just received, so I’m going to do you a favor and keep it between us. Just this once.”
The guard gnawed the gum in his mouth just as slowly and calmly as ever
.
Gage held strong, even though every bone in his body begged to shake. In his younger years, he’d often use his father’s name to threaten the cruise ship staff into giving him his way. He wasn’t proud of what a name-dropping asshole he’d been back then, but he couldn’t deny that it had always worked wonders. At that moment, however, the strategy didn’t seem to be having the same effect.
The guard’s deep voice came once more. “And I’d hate to have to tell your father about you wandering around a part of the ship that’s prohibited to anyone without executive clearance. A part of the ship that’s past the lower deck, past the engine room, and past the watertight doors. A part of the ship that takes two elevators, and three…” The man held up three fingers. “Overrides to access. Three overrides that have been logged under your keycard, Mr. Blackwater. Might be difficult for dear old Dad to believe you stumbled upon this corner of the ship… Accidentally.”
Gage studied him from the corner of his eyes, curling his hands into fists in his pockets. Their gazes remained locked as much as they could beyond the guard’s jet-black sunglasses. For a long moment, neither spoke.
“How much?” Gage finally asked.
The guard lifted his head, showing Gage the insides of his razor sharp nostrils.
Gage nodded softly, seizing his wallet from his pocket and flipping it open, revealing his checkbook. He took his pen out of his pocket next, clicking it open. “How much to keep this between us?”
The guard’s slim nostrils flared.
Gage lifted his eyebrows. “Name your price.”
Silence.
It was a risk, assuming this guard had no moral compass. That this guard could be bought off. It was a huge risk, but if Gage had learned anything being raised by a multi-billionaire, it was that everyone had a price.
Everyone.
And in the next instant, the guard named his.
Gage didn’t hesitate a moment as the number filled his ears, taking his first real breath in minutes as he scribbled the astronomical sum onto a check and signed his name, his stomach violently sick the whole time.
Raw (Revenge Book 6) Page 6