Page 45 of Honor Code

"No." If only she had taken more notice. "The sun was too bright, and I was too far away. It was only one person, though."

Phoenix grimaced, his eyes closing again. “Was it the one following us?”

“It could have been.” She bit her lip. “I don’t really know. The speedboat chasing us had two men on board though, not one.”

“He could have picked someone up. Maybe there’s a control boat nearby. A yacht.”

Ellie nodded. It was possible, although she hadn’t seen anything.

“This is because of me, isn’t it?” she whimpered.

Phoenix opened his eyes. They were still glassy and unfocused. “No, it’s because of what you discovered. Someone is trying to prevent it from getting out.”

"But why?" Ellie asked, her mind racing. "Why would anyone want Xonex to think they'd found a major oil deposit if it wasn't true?"

Phoenix took a deep breath, wincing as he did so. "Think about it. If Xonex believed they were on the verge of a big discovery, what would happen to their stock price?"

Ellie suddenly saw where he was going. "It would soar."

"Exactly. And if someone knew the truth, they could buy a ton of shares before the announcement and then sell them off at the peak, making a fortune."

"Insider trading," Ellie murmured.

"On a massive scale," Phoenix agreed. “But there is another possibility.”

“What?”

“It could be a rival company. Maybe they’re trying to sabotage Xonex, making them pour resources into a dead end. It would cripple them financially."

“The survey company must be involved,” Ellie concluded. “That’s how all this started.”

Phoenix nodded. “For sure, but I doubt they were acting alone. They’d have been paid by someone to create the false reports. It might even be a mole within Xonex.”

“Industrial sabotage.” Ellie shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”

“Whatever the reason, they're desperate to keep the truth from getting out."

Ellie looked out at the vast expanse of ocean, suddenly feeling very small and very vulnerable. "So what do we do now?"

Phoenix turned around, his movements clumsy. "Our first and only priority is to get to that island. When we are safe, we can contact the Coast Guard and let them know where we are."

“Okay.” Ellie was glad they finally had a plan. She looked down and saw that her feet were wet. Water was slopping over them, pooling at her side of the inflatable. "Um, Phoenix. We’re taking on water."

He frowned. "One of their bullets must have hit the inflatable.”

Ellie’s heart sank. “Now what?”

"See if you can find the hole." His words tumbled out, all running together. "I’ll take the tiller. We need to plug it up if we have any hope of making it to the island."

Oh, God. They were going to die. The inflatable would sink, and they’d drown out here, in the middle of nowhere. Ellie tried to focus on her breathing, but the fear kept rising.

“Ellie.”

She began gasping for air.

“Ellie, look at me.”

She turned her head, and focused on his chiseled face, his eyes hazy but still a deep, cobalt blue. “I need you, Ellie. Don’t fall apart on me now. I can’t do this on my own. You have to keep it together.”

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