Page 83 of Fire and Ice Cruise

Silas stares at the water where his weapon disappeared, then turns his rage on me. He dives, tackling me to the deck and landing on top of my body.

The pressure is immediate, painful, and terrifying.

His face hovers above mine, twisted with desperation and fury, and I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t⁠—

The door bursts open.

“EVERYBODY FREEZE!” Ransom’s voice thunders across the deck with his weapon drawn.

Wes and Quinn are right behind him, moving with a coordination that one might assume they rehearsed. Heaven knows they’ve had enough practice.

Ransom moves straight for me, closing the distance in three strides, but Silas is faster. He’s on his feet before Ransom can reach me, yanking Quinn toward him instead and getting her in a chokehold, one arm locked around her neck.

Ransom stops cold. So does everyone else.

“Nobody moves or I break her neck!” Silas shouts as his voice cracks with panic.

Quinn’s eyes are wide with terror, her hands clawing at his arm.

“Put down your weapon,” Silas orders, his voice shaking. “Now!”

Ransom hesitates, his gun still trained on Silas. “Let her go.”

“I said put it down!” Silas tightens his grip, and Quinn makes a choking sound that stops my heart. “Put it down or she dies!”

Ransom slowly lowers his weapon and places it on the deck with a dull thud.

“Now kick it to me,” Silas roars.

Ransom hesitates, his jaw set tight. I can tell he’s got murder on his mind, all right.

“I SAID NOW!”

Ransom’s foot moves out slowly, nudging the gun across the deck toward Silas. And while Silas’s eyes are trained on the weapon, watching it slide ever so close, Marina and I share a look.

We both move at once.

Each of us grabs one of his ankles and pulls hard, yanking his legs apart as though he were a wishbone.

Silas goes down with a yelp. Quinn breaks free. And Ransom is on him in seconds, flipping him onto his stomach, yanking his arms behind his back, snapping handcuffs into place with the efficiency of a trained professional.

“He did it,” I pant. “Silas admitted to killing Gideon Vale.”

Marina nods, climbing to her feet. “He confessed. We both heard it.”

Quinn shouts into her phone for backup to the Golden Era Ballroom, immediately.

Within minutes, the deck is crawling with security officers who haul Silas away. He’s not fighting anymore. He’s just defeated and broken. Silas Rowen is a man who killed to protect his secrets and lost everything anyway.

Quinn turns to us, her hand touching her throat where Silas’s arm was wrapped. “Thank you. If it wasn’t for you both, I don’t know if I’d be alive right now.”

She nods to Marina and me with genuine gratitude in her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make.”

She disappears back inside, already pulling out her phone.

“Marina.” Wes is at her side immediately, his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head. “He hit her with a deck chair.”