Page 329 of Hidden Depths

He pulled a knife from his belt.

“You should have stayed out of Blackwater.”

Then he came at me.

I threw the lamp.

He knocked it aside.

I backed toward the galley, searching for anything I could use.

A knife.

A bottle.

A chair.

My hand closed around the first object I found.

Frank’s metal thermos.

The man lunged.

I swung.

The thermos struck his wrist.

The knife clattered across the floor.

He grabbed my throat.

My back slammed against the counter.

Pain exploded through my shoulders.

His fingers tightened.

I clawed at his hands.

The edges of my vision darkened.

Then his body jerked away from mine.

Ward hit him with enough force to drive both of them through the salon door.

They crashed onto the rear deck.

I fell to my knees, coughing.

Ivy crawled toward me.

“Storm!”

“I’m okay.”

I wasn’t.

But Ward was outside with a man who had tried to kill us.