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‘Stop!’ Olivia screamed, as Patty lunged towards Cutler, swinging the wrench down as he tried to scramble away.
Annalise flew forward, trying to block Patty’s path, but it was too late. The wrench connected with the back of his head with a sickening crack, made worse by the agonizing cry that Cutler let out.
‘Patty, no!’ screeched Annalise.
Hearing her name seemed to snap the woman out of her daze, and she blinked rapidly, waking up to the realization of what she’d done.
Olivia rushed to Cutler’s side, helping him to his feet.
‘He destroyed everything! Everything Karl and I built together. He’s going to leave me with nothing.’
‘So you thought you would kill him?’ Olivia’s voice was shrill.
Patty turned to Cutler, still high on her own adrenaline. ‘You never wanted to save the business. You think this is your company, but this isn’t anything to do with you. We all work our asses off for you. I’ve worked my entire life for you. Karl worked himself to death. And this is how you were planning to repay us?’
She took another menacing step forward, but both Olivia and Janine screamed. The wrench clattered to the floor, and Janine kicked it away. There was something behind Patty’s eyes now. A sheen of tears.
She turned and ran, heading out of a door at the otherend of the shed. Annalise screamed her name and chased after her.
‘Where’s Cutler?’ Janine asked.
Olivia groaned. ‘For God’s sake.’
The man had stumbled out of the shed, lying prone in the snow. She glanced from side to side, but there was no sign of Patty – or of Sergei. Her head was spinning with the danger all around them. ‘Cutler? Can you hear me?’
He didn’t respond. She took off her glove with her teeth and tried to lift his head, but her fingers came back red with blood. ‘Shit.’ Her hands were shaking, yet she managed to trace down to his neck, to feel his pulse. There was one, but it was thready and weak. He was alive – but barely.
Olivia had no idea what to do. She was no doctor, no adventurer. She’d worked in an office her whole adult life.
Even though she had no idea if he could hear her, she kept talking. ‘We can’t stay out here in this weather. It’s too dangerous. We have to find the others.’
All the money in the world couldn’t buy Cutler help in that moment. They’d paid for the privilege of visiting one of the most remote places in the world. But Antarctica was wild. Untamed. It was the ultimate leveller. No helicopter was able to swoop in and help him. The doctors were trapped on the ship. Olivia almost laughed, despite herself. Was that supposed to be part of the appeal of coming here? The same reason so many of these billionaires attempted to go to space – so they could truly get somewhere that money didn’t matter.
A place where money couldn’t solve problems.
All day she stared at problems that could be fixed bymoney – moving it, counting it, acquiring it, giving it away, storing it, investing it – anything but losing it. But out here it was so much more elemental. She literally had blood on her hands. It put the entirety of her world into perspective. She’d run away from her job, from her friends, her family. What was a lost qualification compared to this? She’d run from responsibility, ever since her dad had passed.
She didn’t want to have more horrors on her conscience. She had to get Cutler inside alive.
‘Cutler? Are you still with us?’
His skin looked grey and clammy. She tucked his hood up as tightly as she could, after having reassured herself that he was still breathing. He was shivering violently – shock and the extreme cold. They didn’t have long.
‘Can you see if you can find Melissa?’ she called out over her shoulder to Janine. There was still no sign of Patty and Annalise. ‘Tell her to bring Robert and Maxwell. We’ll need help if we’re going to get Cutler inside and warm.’
When she didn’t get a response, she glanced backwards. Janine was walking towards them, the bloodied wrench in her hand.
‘What are you doing?’ Olivia’s breath hitched in her throat.
Another sound broke through over the wind. Engine noise. Janine’s eyes widened. ‘Evidence. I thought we’d need the wrench to show what happened to Cutler.’
‘Good idea. But I think rescue is here,’ Olivia said.
Janine ran towards Olivia. A boat – a small black Zodiac – was pulling up to the beach, struggling against the waves.
‘Over here!’ Olivia cried. Someone had been able to get to them from theVigil. It was a miracle.
But as the boat drew closer, she frowned. The crewman driving it wasn’t in a standardVigilblue jacket. In fact, he was in a fancy khaki parka reaching down to his knees, with a fur-trimmed hood up shielding his face. He jumped out of the Zodiac with practised ease. Her heart beat fast. She clutched Janine’s hand and stood as the second man approached.