Page 53 of The Trip

“Okay.” Beth moves toward the controls.

“Palmer.”

I turn to Emma’s voice.

“I need you to look through these rear compartments and see if there’s a sea anchor.” Emma points to the floor around her.

I step unsteadily toward Emma, reaching for the mounted table in the darkness while wishing I’d brought my phone. I’m lashed by rain as soon as I step out from beneath the cockpit cover.

“I don’t have a light,” I tell Emma when I reach the helm.

“Here, use mine.” She hands me her phone with the flashlight on.

I take it from her, wanting to tell her about the note and Gigi’s suspicions about Adam. But there’s no time for that now.

I open the stowage compartment on Emma’s left, my mind still whirling over Beth accusing Gigi, and Gigi’s suspicions of Adam. “What’s a sea anchor?”

“It’s basically a parachute that we’ll throw into the water from the bow. My grandparents had one that was inside a bright-yellow canvas bag. Do you see it?”

I reach into the deep compartment, rifling through the contents. “All I see are those black-and-blue bumpers that kept the boat from hitting the dock.”

“Those are fenders,” Emma says. “Try the compartment behind the other wheel.”

I hear arguing from the middle of the boat when I stand. I see Gigi’s arms moving animatedly as she yells something to Adam that I can’t make out. I can’t see Adam’s face, but from whatever he shouts back at Gigi, he doesn’t sound happy.

I envision him unhooking her tether and shoving her off the boat.Damn it, Gigi. Why couldn’t you just heed my warning?

“Did you find it?” Emma asks.

“Oh. Sorry. I’m looking.” I grip the rear stanchions and then carefully move across the stern and open the other compartment. Lightning strikes overhead as I shine Emma’s phone light inside and push aside the two spare life vests and mooring pole to find a yellow canvas bag labeledSea Anchor.

“I found it!” I exclaim. Thunder roars, drowning out my voice.

“I got it,” I repeat, lifting the bright bag in the air.

But Emma’s gaze is fixed on the horizon beyond me. She looks stricken.

“Palmer.” Her voice trembles. “Did you see that?”

I turn around, shining the phone at the whirling waves beside us. “See what?”

“In the distance, when the lightning struck, I saw a huge wave—much taller than these others—coming toward us.”

“How tall?” I ask, gripping the rear pulpit’s metal stanchion.

“Adam!” Emma calls. “Shine your light over the starboard side. There’s a huge swell coming at us.”

My gaze follows the beam of his flashlight, which illuminates the rough seas only within about ten feet of our boat. Over the howl of the wind, I hear a deep, rumbling roar like a freight train speeding toward us. Another bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, and my knees nearly buckle. The biggest wave I’ve ever seen is rolling toward us, dwarfing the other sizable swells. I freeze and grip the railing tighter as it disappears in the darkness.

Terror grips my throat, making it hard to swallow. It has to be nearly fifty feet high.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Present: Day Five at Sea

“Get below,” Emma shouts.

As she steers the bow toward the wave, I stand still, paralyzed with fear. I stare into the darkness, envisioning the massive wave continuing to grow in size as it comes toward us.