He took a look at Meghan splayed out on the cushions next to him. If only he’d known about the drug ketamine back in college. He could have jabbed Carly in the neck with a needle. She had not gone into his car willingly.
He cut the engine on the boat. They were in deep water. Meghan was now conscious but, thanks to that injection, completely immobile. Based on what he’d read, she’d be in a dreamlike state, essentially paralyzed and living in an alternative universe. Soon, she’d be weighted down in the water, and he’d show up at his client’s house, no one the wiser.
“How you doing over there, Meghan?”
She blinked, but he knew it was involuntary. She had no control over anything that was happening to her.
“I have to say, between Jeff’s two great loves, I’ve always liked you better. Amanda was two-faced. She pretended to like me, but I could see the truth. I even heard her say to Jeff, ‘I don’t see how anybody who is as unlike you as Nick could be your best friend.’ You should have seen her expression when I told her Jeff was seeing someone else. She immediately asked if it was you, by the way. Some friend, right? She was dying to know the details, no pun intended, but I made her wait.”
He’d hinted that it was one of the girls in her bridal party, just to watch her squirm. He wanted to make sure everyone else had gone to bed before making his move. He told her to pick up her car after the dinner party and meet him at the turnoff at the end of the long driveway in front of the hotel. They could have a drink at the steak house across the street.
Even then, she protested, asking why they couldn’t just meet at the hotel bar. But that night, she wasn’t calling the shots. Nick replayed the conversation in his head. “What I have to tell you about Jeff could convince you to break it off. If that happens, I don’t want anyone to trace it back to me. Jeff is my best friend. It’s eating at me to tell you what I know, but in the end, it will be better for both of you. I won’t tell you what I know unless you meet me away from the resort.”
Meghan’s eyes were now closed. “I played her like a fiddle,” Nick said aloud. Even he could hear the satisfaction in his voice. “The rings were an especially smart touch. Jeff, the idiot who doesn’t care about money, left his safe open. At first, I just slipped them out as a joke. But then I realized I could use Amanda’s ring to frame Jeff. But, as with everything, I was a little too good at hiding her body. I thought it would take weeks or months to find her. But five years? Even then, it took my anonymous tip.”
He felt a chill go up his spine in anticipation. He’d chartered the boat for his client meeting in Boca Raton, but now it was serving a second purpose. The police had found Amanda’s body, just as he’d planned. Surely they found the ring, too. It was only a matter of time before they arrested Jeff. He’d weigh down Meghan’s body, but she’d eventually wash to shore. It will take a little time, but they would have her remains, just as they now had Amanda’s. And Jeff would spend the rest of his life in prison.
“I gave you enough of that drug to immobilize you for two or three hours,” he told Meghan. “A bit wasteful, I suppose, because you have less than an hour to live.” He chuckled at his own joke. “Don’t worry, I won’t strangle you like I did Carly. That won’t be necessary. When I throw you overboard, you won’t be able to move a muscle. You won’t even be able to take a deep breath before you hit the water. You’re going to sink like a stone.”
Meghan White couldn’t feel anything. Not physically. She felt terror, but her body was weightless, as if she were in a dream. She remembered a gun. The boat. A prick in her neck. Then she woke up, slumped on these leather cushions, her hands behind her back. She didn’t think they were tied. They were just there, beneath her. She couldn’t move.
She couldn’t even control her eye movements, or she would look at Nick. She could barely see him in her peripheral vision. She could hear his voice and understand what he was saying, but wasn’t sure if his words were real, or if she was hallucinating. Maybe she’d wake up any second in her bed at the Grand Victoria. But until then, she had to assume all of this was actually happening.
I have to save my baby, but how? she wondered frantically.
Nick sounded confident, as if he had plenty of time to enjoy his stupid boat and drone on about his evil deeds. That, she thought, will be your undoing, Nick Young. She remembered the email she got from her doctor yesterday. My baby is going to live, she vowed.
She just had to focus. Wake up, Meghan, wake up. Save yourself. Save your baby.
With every second, Nick’s voice seemed clearer. She felt more focused. “I’ve thought about doing this so many times in New York, but I couldn’t figure out a way to get you alone and unseen in the city. The email from Kate was easy. All I did was open one of those free accounts and write ‘from Kate’ in the subject line. And this boat is perfect. With Amanda, I had to jog the five miles back to the hotel after ditching the rental car so I didn’t risk being seen. This time, I won’t even break a sweat.”
He looked at Meghan with a satisfied smile. He had no idea what she was thinking. Ten years ago, she had taken painkillers after having her wisdom teeth removed. She’d take one, feel better for half an hour, and then be in throbbing pain again. It turned out that the drug didn’t work on her the way it was supposed to. Her doctor explained she had a gene variant that increased the liver enzymes that process certain drugs. She was what they called an ultra-rapid metabolizer.
Let that be the way it is now, she prayed. Please, please.
She wiggled her fingers against the cushions and was able to clasp them into a fist. She curled her toes and felt the muscles in her legs activate. And then she sensed that the engine of the boat was slowing down.
“Almost there,” Nick said matter-of-factly.
72
Florida Fish and Wildlife Officer James Jackson had been eager to respond to the call about someone ghost surfing off Delray Beach. After eight years patrolling the beaches, he knew that speed on the water brought out the crazy in people, but he’d never actually seen ghost surfing in progress. According to rumors, some idiots out there thought it was a good idea to set a boat on throttle, then jump on a surfboard to ride the wake without a driver at the helm. Jackson was convinced the whole thing was a myth, but tonight there’d been a 911 call.
But when he arrived, there were no ghost surfers to be found, only a kid wakeboarding with his dad at the steering wheel and the extremely night-blind tourist who had called in the report.
Oh well, Jackson thought, just another night on the water. This job sure beat his old one with the Miami Police Department. Now the roughest criminals he dealt with were vacationers who underestimated the interactive effects of rum and sun. He warned the father and son about the dangers of water sports at night and suggested that they lower their speed and enjoy the stars.
Up ahead, he saw a good-sized yacht heading his way.
73
It had started with the wiggle of her fingers and then her toes, but Meghan could feel her entire body awakening. Her mind was clear. Her vision was absorbing every detail. She didn’t dare move, but she was clenching and releasing her muscles to make sure she was ready.
Nick had stopped talking and was humming to himself. Meghan felt sick, and it wasn’t because of the drug he’d given her; it was because of how happy he seemed. A wave of panic moved through her as she remembered the needle injecting her neck. Would it hurt the baby? She forced herself to push aside the question. She had to focus. Neither one of them stood a chance if she didn’t get off this boat.