Page 64 of Four Cards Exposed

“Susan! Susan!”

She had less than a twenty-second head start.

Where did she go?

And then he heard Susan’s voice, tentative, coming from one of the windowless cabins.

“Pia?”

James grabbed onto the door frame with both hands, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. Susan stood just inside the doorway, looking unharmed. James’s heart beat hard against his chest.

Another woman was in the room, her back turned towards them. The shape of her body told James she was holding something heavy in her arms. She started turning, and James raised his gun, pointing it center-mass—then lowered it quickly as he saw what was in the woman’s arms.

A child.

A girl who couldn’t be than four or five years old. She was so pale the freckles on her nose stood out as if they’d been painted in Kohl, but she didn’t make a sound, just held on to her mother’s neck for dear life.

“The babysitter canceled on me,” Pia stammered. “I had to bring her. I asked her to stay in the cabin and checked in with her every half-hour. I didn’t know—“ she sobbed.

Susan ran towards her.

“It’s okay. We’re going to get you both out of here,” she said, her voice calm and collected.

As if to prove her wrong, the ship tilted further on its side. This time, it didn’t recover. And then, beyond the sound of the alarm, James heard something even more worrying—the sound of water, sloshing somewhere inside the ship.

“Do you hear that?” Susan asked. There was real fear in her voice now.

“James!” Lorraine bellowed. “The helicopter—“

Static filled the line after that, but James didn’t need to hear the rest of the message.

He ran into the cabin and plucked the child from her mother’s arms, hefting her sideways with his left arm. It was testament to how frightened the child was that she didn’t make a sound, just pulled her chin down and clung to his neck instead.

James pushed the two women ahead of him into the corridor. “Not the way we came! Turn right!” James shouted. They’d gone deep enough into the ship’s bowels that finding the next emergency exit was their best bet now. They needed to find their way out of here.

The blaring of the alarm was louder now. The child burrowed deeper into his chest, if possible. The pain in his shoulder paled against her obvious fear.

“I’ve got you,” he said in a soft voice, so only she could hear.

The women clung on to each other and to the wall as the ship listed sideways, but they never stopped. Every few steps, Pia turned back, as if needing to confirm that her child was there.

The next door was closed. If his calculations were right, it would take them outside. If he was wrong, there might be water on the other side. Susan’s apprehensive look told him she was thinking the same thing.

He realized the life jacket was still hanging from his injured arm.

“Stop for a moment,” he said to the women. He stopped and pulled it onto the child, tightening the straps as far as they would go.

Shit. Still too big.

If we end up in the water, she’ll pop right out.

Then Susan was there. A few expert knots later, the life jacket wasn’t going anywhere.

“Thank you,” James said under his breath.

Susan gave him a small, luminous smile.

Static crackled from the radio in his pocket. Lorraine’s voice again, sounding almost out of control. “No! We’re not leaving!”