Chapter 3 - THE YACHT VOYAGE
Fifteen hundred miles away, off the coast of Staniel Cay in the Bahamas, the eighty-foot luxury yacht The Azure Queen sliced smoothly through turquoise water.
David Vance lay on the teak sun deck, an iced cocktail resting on the small table beside his lounger. His skin was deep bronze, oiled and warm under the Caribbean sun. Beside him, Julianne Mercer stretched out in a neon bikini, her wireless headphones resting around her neck as she scrolled through her phone.
“David,” Julianne purred, turning her head toward him. “The captain says we’re heading toward the private cove near Compass Cay in an hour. Did you book the dinner on the beach?”
David didn't open his eyes immediately. He swallowed hard, a subtle pang of irritation flickering in his chest. “Yeah. It’s handled.”
“You look tense,” Julianne said, reaching over to trail her fingers along his shoulder—the same practiced, casual touch she used on all her high-paying personal training clients. “I thought this trip was supposed to be a total disconnect. You’re still holding your phone.”
David glanced down at the black screen of his iPhone lying face down on the towel.
He had turned it completely off at 6:05 AM. But before he had powered it down, Sarah’s texts had burned themselves into his retinas.
SHE IS. DAVID, LILY MAY DIE. PLEASE CALL HER.
He had convinced himself in the moment that Sarah was dramatizing. Sarah was always overreacting. Whenever he pulled away, whenever he demanded his freedom, she created some household crisis to pull him back into her orbit. A fever, a broken pipe, a missed parent-teacher conference—she used everything as a hook to keep him chained to the domestic life he felt had aged him ten years.
She’s manipulating me, he had thought at 6:00 AM while standing in the yacht’s master cabin while Julianne slept soundly in the king bed. She took a picture of Lily at a routine doctor visit or a mild emergency room checkup just to ruin my trip.
Yet, an uncomfortable knot remained tight in the pit of his stomach.
“I’m fine,” David said, sitting up and picking up his glass. “Just thinking about the Q3 investor pitch when we get back.”
“Forget the pitch,” Julianne smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “You’ve got me for another eight days. No wife, no screaming kid, no corporate drama. Just us.”
David forced a smile, but her phrase—no screaming kid—struck a strange, metallic nerve inside him. Lily wasn't a screaming kid. She was sweet, quiet, and adored him. Whenever he came home late from work, she would run to the front door holding her drawings.
He shook his head, pushing the thought away. Sarah is fine. Lily is fine. If it were a real emergency, my parents would have called.
He forgot that he had blocked his parents’ numbers two months ago after they criticized his public behavior at a charity gala.
“Let’s go swimming,” Julianne said, standing up and reaching for her towel. “The water is crystal clear.”
As Julianne walked toward the stern, David reached down and picked up his phone. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, his thumb hovering over the power button.
If I turn it on, Sarah will blow it up with fifty more messages, he rationalized. She’ll ruin the rest of the day. I’ll check it tomorrow morning. Just one more day of peace.
He threw the phone back onto the lounger, pulled his sunglasses down over his eyes, and followed his mistress into the water.
He had no idea that at that exact moment, five hundred miles away in a high-rise law office in downtown Chicago, three process servers were signing affidavits for emergency court orders. He had no idea that the credit cards resting in his leather wallet were currently being flagged for fraudulent international asset transfers.
May you like
And he had no idea that his sister, Evelyn, had just filed an ex-parte motion in Cook County Circuit Court for the immediate freeze of all accounts associated with Vance Financial Holdings.
The ocean water was warm and clear, but for the first time in four days, David couldn't shake the sudden, eerie feeling that he was floating above an abyss.
