Chapter 1 - The Red Raincoat in the Waves
Daniel Mercer reached the upper deck just as Claire screamed his daughter’s name.
Rain struck the yacht sideways.
Lightning turned the Atlantic white for half a second.
Then he saw Lily’s red raincoat disappear beyond the railing.
“DANIEL! LILY SLIPPED AND FELL OVERBOARD!”
Daniel ran.
He reached the rail and saw nothing but black water and broken whitecaps.
Then red.
Twenty feet off the starboard side.
His six-year-old daughter.
“LILY!”
His knees almost gave out.
What Daniel could not see through the spray was the compact emergency rescue capsule surrounding Lily’s body beneath the surface line, its flotation collar keeping her face above water.
All he saw were small hands reaching toward the yacht.
Claire came behind him.
Daniel spun and shoved her away.
She went down hard onto the wet deck.
“How did she fall? You were supposed to be watching her!”
“I tried—”
A small tender suddenly appeared through the rain, turning toward Lily.
Someone had launched it from the yacht.
Claire saw it too.
Her expression changed.
Not relief.
Terror.
Then a heavy metal door on the lower deck slammed open.
Footsteps pounded up the interior staircase.
Daniel looked from Lily to Claire.
The door burst open.
Captain Owen Barrett emerged, soaked through.
“What the hell is happening?”
Daniel pointed toward the water.
“Get my daughter!”
Owen looked overboard.
Then at Claire.
His face went rigid.
“You put her in the capsule?”
Daniel turned.
“What capsule?”
Claire backed away.
Owen stared at her.
“You told me Daniel approved the drill.”
Daniel heard the words but could not understand them.
“What drill?”
Claire said nothing.
Below them, the tender reached Lily.
The first mate lifted the rescue capsule alongside and began bringing her aboard.
Daniel looked at his wife.
She had just screamed that Lily had slipped.
But the captain was talking about preparation.
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And suddenly Daniel understood one terrifying fact.
Claire had known Lily was going over that railing before it happened.
