Juliet glanced at the clock on the galley stove. Only a couple minutes after two. Damn it, it was too early for the Omega team. The Ukrainians would have Evan chopped up into pieces by three.
“This briefcase?” the man asked. He had it on one of the kitchen counters.
Damn. They already had it here. This was going to play out quickly, not giving them the time Juliet had hoped for. She looked over at Evan. More blood oozed from his shirt at the shoulder.
Think.
Juliet watched as one of the Ukrainians opened the briefcase and booted the small computer. She knew it wouldn’t take him long to figure out there was nothing on it.
Think!
She racked her brain. Yelling wouldn’t help. They were in the galley, distant from the rest of the ship. Plus the storm was too loud for anyone to hear much. She was going to have to find a way of getting them out of this on her own. The first thing she needed them to do was untie her from this chair. Until then, she was useless.
The man turned from the computer to glare at her, his lips pulled back, teeth bared. “It does not boot up. There is no information on here.”
“Damn it.” Juliet did her best indignant impression. “Cady must have double-crossed me.”
The Ukrainian stared at her in silence for a moment, then in one fluid motion took the two steps to her and backhanded her across the face.
Juliet’s head jerked all the way to the side and blood flew from her mouth, spraying onto the floor. She could feel her eye already beginning to swell shut from the ring the man wore.
“I will waste no more time with you!” In his anger, the accent became thicker.
The man grabbed his knife from the table and walked over to Evan. He took the wicked blade and jammed it into the front of Evan’s already injured shoulder, this time much deeper.
Evan couldn’t control the groan that escaped him. Juliet watched as all color drained from his face and sweat began dripping down his brow.
The Ukrainian turned back to her. “Again?” he asked. “Your husband is much tougher than I gave him credit for. I think he can take it.”
“Lisa, no…” Evan could hardly get the words out.
The Ukrainian pulled his knife out, causing Evan to give an agonizing gasp, and raised his arm again.
“No!” Juliet screamed.
“Then you will tell me where the codes are.”
“Yes,” Juliet sobbed the word. “They’re in our cabin.”
“Tell me where.”
She knew if she told him, she and Evan would both be dead. Not to mention a known enemy of the United States would possess drone codes that could cost the lives of thousands of innocent people.
“I have to show you. It’s a hidden safe and has biometric coding. Only Bob or I can open it.” The lies flew out of Juliet’s mouth, but at least it would get her out of this damn chair.
“Fine.” The Ukrainian came and cut her loose. He turned to his partner and spoke in their native tongue. The other man nodded, grinning evilly.
“I just told my partner that if we are not back with the codes in fifteen minutes, he is to kill your husband. By gutting him from top to bottom with his knife. Slowly.” Both men laughed. Juliet’s stomach turned. She nodded.
The Ukrainian kept her close by his side as they left, knife poking into her ribs. He made sure she could feel the blade.
Juliet had no idea what she was going to do. The chances of her being able to take down this hulking beast in fewer than fifteen minutes, and then defeat his partner, were remote. Both were armed and probably waiting for her to try something like that.
They walked down the empty hallway in silence. Her captor led her to a service elevator at the rear of the ship. None of the guests would be out at this time of night, especially not in the middle of a storm.
The elevator was empty, as expected, but Juliet could see some water pooling on the floor in one of the back corners. A wet person had been in this elevator recently. As inconspicuously as she could manage, she touched the wet wall and then brought her fingertips to her lips.
Salty.
Juliet had grown up in Virginia and vacationed at the Chesapeake Bay her whole life. And her mother, a high school science teacher, had always used every opportunity to teach her children—even during vacations.
The Bay was a unique water source, an estuary. It started with fresh water north of Baltimore, but by the time it got south of Annapolis—where they were now—the water was brackish, becoming more and more salty.
In this storm, anybody could’ve made a watery mess in the elevator. But only someone who had just come out of the Bay would’ve made a saltwater mess.
Omega agents were on this ship.
For the first time since she’d come on board, Juliet had a sense of hope. She needed to be ready, and prayed that Omega had sent a good agent. She wished Sawyer and Cameron weren’t injured and that Dylan wasn’t retired. Her brothers were the best the agency had to offer. But of course, right now Juliet would take even a rookie straight out of Quantico.
The Ukrainian didn’t notice anything suspicious. As the elevator doors opened, he grabbed Juliet’s arm again and pressed the knife against her ribs. They walked this way down to Juliet’s room. She didn’t have a key and just reached for the doorknob.
“Glad you guys had the good sense to leave the door unlocked,” she said, just a hair too loudly. Wherever the Omega agent was, she wanted to make herself as noticeable as possible, without making the Ukrainian aware of that, of course.
Her captor shoved her into the room. “Why do you waste time? Perhaps you want to be a widow and allow my partner to viciously
