Chapter 48

Barnett followed Ted into the first empty room they encountered, one of the guest cabins. Ted had pulled out his vape and started taking a hit before he realized he had been followed. He glared at Barnett.

“Private party, dude,” Ted said before returning to his vape.

“I think I’m invited.”

Barnett took a step forward.

“You bother any young ladies tonight?”

Ted glanced at Barnett out of the side of his eye.

“What?”

“I asked, have you bothered any young ladies on this yacht tonight?”

Ted rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“That’s funny, seeing as I’m pretty sure I saw you messing with one woman in particular over by the bar earlier.”

“You’re high. I didn’t mess with anybody. Take a hike.”

Barnett rushed forward, grabbed Ted by the front of his suit, and pinned him against the wall.

“Hey, hey, dude, what’s this about?” Ted managed to squeak out.

He struggled against Barnett’s grasp as the other man lifted him off the ground, bringing them eye to eye. The flames of fury in Barnett’s eyes made Ted tremble.

“Anna Leonard, that’s who this is about,” Barnett said through clenched teeth. “You’re going to stay away from her, am I clear?”

“What, ya mean that girl I was hitting on?”

Barnett shoved his face within an inch of Ted’s.

“I said, you are to stay away from her. Otherwise, I am going to make your life a living Hell. Am I clear?”

Ted nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes, clear, perfectly.”

“Good.” Barnett lowered Ted to the floor and released his suit. “Now, get out of here and don’t let me catch you on this ship again.”

Ted nodded again and scrambled to leave before Barnett could grab him again.

Lily returned to the dance floor with a couple more drinks.

“What took you so long?” I shouted over the music.

“You won’t believe this, but Ted just ran out of here like something was hot on his tail,” Lily replied, almost laughing.

I laughed, too.

“Well, he was getting pretty high already, wasn’t he?”

“On pot, yeah, but I don’t think it would make you act like that. In fact, he should’ve been acting mellow, not paranoid or freaked out.”

Drugs weren’t my forte, so I tended to trust Lily on this matter.

“Weird. Did he say anything to anybody on his way out?”

“Not that I know of. Someone said that they saw him and Barnett go into a cabin together, but that’s about it.”

My eyes widened as I sipped at my drink.

“Barnett? Do you think he did something to Ted?”

Lily shrugged.

“It’s anybody’s guess.”

“Well, I can’t say as I’m sad to see him go. That guy gave me the creeps.”

Lily smiled sadly.

“Yeah, sorry again about that.”

“Not your fault. Let’s just forget about him and party on, birthday girl.”

Lily tapped her glass to mine, then chugged the entire drink.

“I like the sound of that.”

I lost track of how much I drank. I didn’t even remember eating dinner or anything beyond snacks and a slice of birthday cake. By two in the morning, I was past my limit by two hours and many glasses.

“Don’t you have to work in the morning?” Lily asked as we collapsed in some chairs on the upper deck. Lily’s tolerance was much higher than mine, and we had hoped that the fresh air would help with my nausea.

It did not.

“I’ll figure something out,” I said, the words slightly slurring.

“Sure you will. You’ve seemed really good at thinking on your feet lately.”

I cringed.

“Gee, thanks.”

Lily sighed.

“Sorry, that came out wrong. I just don’t want something else to cause you problems.”

My anxiety rose a little.

“Do you think it will?”

She shrugged.

“I think any number of things can happen, but not all of them will happen. We just have to be prepared for anything but expect nothing.”

I snort-laughed.

“You know that made no sense, right?”

Lily waited a minute to respond, as though deep in thought.

“I suppose you’re right.”

We both laughed then, fully and with abandon. When we were done, Lily stared at her glass as though it contained all the secrets of the universe.

“It’s late. You really should be heading home.”

I waved my hand dismissively.

“I’ll go soon enough. Since when are you the responsible one?”

“Since you decided to outdrink me.” Lily paused. “Why did you outdrink me?”

I blinked in confusion.

“What? It’s a party!”

“Yeah, but you don’t usually party as hard as I do. Anything you want to talk about?”

In my inebriated state, I almost told her about everything: about my meeting with the estate planning attorney, about my terminal stomach cancer, about all my regrets with not leaving Bob sooner and not having a loving spouse or children. Instead, when I opened my mouth, I vomited all over the deck.

Rather than continuing her questioning, Lily helped me to a bathroom and held my hair until I finished vomiting. Once I finished, she cleaned me up and arranged for her driver to take me home. She and one of the yacht’s employees took me down to the dock, where a limo waited.

“We aren’t finished with our discussion yet,” Lily said as we made our way down the gangplank, “but for now, you need to rest. Don’t worry about your car. I’ll send someone to take it back to your house later today.”

I could barely register what she was saying, so I only nodded.

Lily and the employee set me down in the limo, into the waiting arms of a man who was already sitting inside.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that she gets home safely,” the man said. His voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“You’ll need that puke bag,” Lily said to the man before turning to me with a grin plastered on her face. “I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for coming!”

I tried to wave to her, but the motion nauseated me.

Lily waved back as she closed the door. The limo pulled forward, lurching me in the most awful way possible. My stomach flung up into my throat.

A man’s hand raced to offer me a puke bag. I got a glimpse of the cuff links, and they looked so familiar that I could almost place them. I didn’t have long to think about it, though, as I soon had my face in the puke bag and was vomiting out my guts.

“It’s okay,” the man said, rubbing my back in large circles. “Just let it out.”

The sweet smell of sweat, pine, and hockey jerseys and helmets swept over me. My nausea subsided, and I felt oddly at home. It reminded me of the night of the failed dinner party with Bob, of being comforted in the backyard by a mysterious man who gave me his coat.

Cuff links…sweet smells…comfort…I was so close to figuring out who was in the limo with me…

Then my memory faded as I began to black out.