maybe a foot wide. It’s enough that I’m not keen on getting too close to it.
I gather my knees to my chest and rock. I pray the men with the guns don’t make it here, where they can look straight down on me. It never occurs to me a search would come from above.
As for the men with the guns, I assume they found Bossman’s body. I bet they’re out looking for Shelly, thinking the two of them had a fight that turned lethal. Little do they know, Shelly’s fish food by now.
But they’re still looking for somebody.
They’re looking for me.
Which means—getting off this ship just became an impossibility. Tears leak out of my eyes, and I brush them off my face.
I’m headed to jail, a place where I don’t trust the cops. Hell, I may never make it to jail, turned over instead to the monster who bought me for a tiny exchange of cash in exchange for a favor.
I officially hate men.
That low droning draws closer. No, not a drone, it’s a rhythmic chopping noise.
A helicopter?
Maybe my monster never intended for me to make port? Picking me up directly off the ship instead of dealing with port authority and all that would entail kind of makes sense.
I’m going to kill that sick prick too. I’m a killer. Why stop now?
A light shines down on me, blinding me as it pierces the darkness. I hold up a hand to block the bright beam and squint up at a helicopter hovering overhead.
Guess I was right, he’s come for me.
With nowhere to run, and no place to hide, Four’s words spill through my head. Commit, Moira. Commit as if your life depends on it.
Well, Four, I’m fucking committed.
Deafening overhead, I cup my ears against the powerful roar. Air churned into a vortex pushes down on me, a physical force I find difficult to resist.
I assume it’s landing on the stacks and imagine a deep scowl set on my new Master’s face as he tries to figure out how to extract me from my hiding place. Bastard will likely make me climb up to him.
What I don’t expect is the tail of a thick rope to drop into the pit, or the terrifying form of a man dressed all in black who slides down it.
All I see are the whites of his eyes. As for the rest of him, black boots, black pants, black shirt, and black masking his face. My terror spikes as he prowls toward me. This man is not some simpering, weak-willed, filthy rich monster. He’s the hired hand sent to retrieve me.
I’m so screwed.
My fingers curl as I rise to a crouch.
Commit, Moira.
The deafening sound of the helicopter overhead drowns out all other noise. The whomp, whomp, whomp vibrates my chest, making it hard to breathe. The man takes a step toward me, hand outstretched as if I would be the fool to take it.
My hair flies everywhere, whipping my face and stinging my eyes. I let it fly, more concerned with how I’ll meet this newest threat than I am about that tiny discomfort.
He shouts, but the noise from the helicopter drowns him out. It’s impossible to hear anything.
He advances.
I take one step back.
He moves forward, hand outstretched, grasping at the air.
I shuffle back. Not that there’s anywhere to go. In two more steps, he’ll have backed me up against the container behind me.
Then what?
I can’t jump down. It’s thirty feet to the deck of the ship. I can’t shimmy my way up. That takes tons of concentration, and right now, all my attention zeroes in on the man approaching me. There is no running. I certainly picked one hell of hiding place.
It’s a damn trap.
The dark cable rotates behind him. It spins around and around, the tip drawing a slow circle.
He steps forward, and this time, when I step back, my foot finds the gap behind me.
I slip. He leaps into action. I fall. He lunges and grabs me by the waist. Before I can fight him, he tugs me tight to his chest.
What the hell?
He buries his face in my neck and the hold turns—intimate.
Before I can knee him in the groin, I finally hear his shout.
“Moira! It’s me, Griff!”
Griff? I don’t know anyone by that name. I press against his chest and squirm in his grip. I’m not getting free, but I feel like I need to at least make a gesture.
“Dammit, Moira, it’s me, Griff!” The low rumble of his voice buzzes in