Page 96 of Ripple Effect

The last word is eliminated by a gunshot followed by a scream before all sound is cut off from the PA system.

Linc grabs my arm. I feel the fine tremor in his fingers. “Come with me, Elizabeth. We have to go find Camille.”

I nod, too scared to say anything. Together, we race toward the entrance of the dining room to find something beyond horrifying.

It’s blood, copious amounts of blood. Only it’s not due to any gun; it’s from the passengers as they continue to heave their dinners.

I bury my head against Linc’s arm. “Oh, God.”

“What the hell kind of food poisoning does this?” Linc wonders aloud.

We both hear footsteps behind us. Turning in unison, neither of us expect what happens next.

Two men approach. Simultaneously, one uses the butt of a gun to clip Linc in the jaw while the other delivers a slap across my face that makes what I gave to Iris in the grocery store a mere love tap. It knocks me backward in my gray silk heels, dropping me in my short, silver sequined dress to the floor.

Linc drops to his knees to check on me when there’s a cocking of weapons. We freeze amid the waste being expunged by our fellow passengers.

“It really would have been so much easier for both of you if you’d just had one of the recommended specials for dinner. Now? Well, your fate depends on whether or not you decide to please me. And you haven’t had much success at that so far, have you, Signora Sullivan?”

I know that voice.

Lifting my head, fear takes over my overwhelming concern for my fellow passengers as Alessio approaches, his malevolent smile in direct contracts to the blood splattered shirt he’s wearing.

And the gun in his hand.

66

Present Day

Calhoun

“Who was still alive at that point, Libby?” Dr. Powell asks her gently.

“That I knew of?” Libby reaches for a tissue, but I hand her one. “Thank you.”

I just shake my head and pull her tighter against my side. Dropping a kiss down on top of her head, I mutter, “Babe.”

She wipes her eyes before answering. “The captain and the bridge crew; I recognized them from the videos on the television in my room. So, the five of them.” Inhaling sharply, her breathing accelerates. I’m about to call for a break as she struggles to recall who else was moved into the bar located directly above the bridge where she was held captive for thirty-four of the worst hours of her life. “Linc, who I swear kept me sane.” I squeeze her tighter, if that’s even possible at this point. God, if it hadn’t been for Linc McCallister, I don’t know how my wife would still be sitting here as emotionally stable as she is right now. I owe the man a lifelong debt of gratitude.

Libby couldn’t be closer unless she were sitting right on top of my lap, and if that’s where she needs to be, then so be it. I shift her so she is, and she shoots me a grateful smile before turning back to Dr. Powell. “There were a few members of the crew alive who weren’t involved in Alessio’s scheme, but…” Her voice drifts off.

“But?” Dr. Powell probes Libby gently.

Her voice catches. “Alessio used most of them as examples. Their deaths were so brutal.”

“In what way?”

Libby flings the details at him like bullets firing from a gun. Then, like a gun that clicks when it’s empty, her words start to stumble. “In the way of stripping them and then allowing all of his men to shoot them? Allowing their bodies to fall over the rail…”

I shake my head, salty wetness flying everywhere. I don’t care. Hearing this, however many times, guts me.

“Go on, Libby,” Powell urges, making me want to coldcock him.

“Don’t make her, Doctor. Not now.” I place my hand protectively over our child. Twisting so her face is accessible, I murmur, “You don’t have to do this.”

She grabs the back of my neck so hard, it hurts. I’d let her pull out all of my hair a chunk at a time if it would help. “I have your love. I can do anything.”

“You can, but you don’t have to,” I argue.