Page 88 of Savage Ruin
I knew Grayson should have come to the yacht instead of me. Panic starts clawing at my throat. I hate these events.
Henley clears her throat. “Why don’t you round up everyone? We need to know who’s on board and who isn’t. I’ll call Grayson and let him know what’s going on and see if I can get the list of restaurants.”
Relieved to have her here, I kiss her on the cheek and walk off to pull everyone together.
When I return twenty minutes later, she’s just finishing her call with Grayson. “We have an overabundance of servers, two bartenders, and a few cooks.”
“Grayson came up with a new plan. He called Juanita’s Mexican Kitchen and offered them triple what they usually make on Thursday evening to close their restaurant tonight and provide all the food for the party. They’ll be here in three hours to set-up and will serve everyone buffet style,” she says, looking down at a paper filled with notes.
“Two bartenders aren’t enough. We’ll ask three of the servers to stay and bartend for us. They can handle the simple orders—wine, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks,” she remarks, crossing another item off the list. “Get rid of everyone else. After they’re gone, Thiago wants the entire yacht swept for people and explosives.”
I leave her at the table and head over to the group. I randomly choose three servers and tell everyone else to go home. Angry at having their time wasted, I tell them to call Claire and complain.
Something is bugging my brain. Stepping back a few feet, I tap my fingers in a familiar pattern, trying to figure out what it’s trying to tell me. Watching the crowd head toward the stairs, it hits me. “Where’s Alyssa?”
“She took a case of champagne down to the kitchen,” one of the servers tells me.
That doesn’t make sense. The bars are on this deck. We even have a small walk-in refrigerator for the sole purpose of storing alcohol.
I motion for Mitch to move in closer to Henley and call Thiago.
“Something isn’t adding up,” I blurt out when he answers. “And we have someone missing. A woman.”
“Get everyone off the yacht,” Thiago orders. “I’ll call Jameson and Allison and get it swept immediately. Is there anyone else near the yacht that needs to be warned?”
I scan the marina. “No, it’s clear.”
“We’ll be there in ten minutes. Stay safe,” Thiago spits out and hangs up.
Motioning to the servers and bartenders, I let them know we’ve received a threat and need to evacuate the yacht. I text Mitch and order him to remove Henley.
Spotting the guy with the clipboard, I head toward him. “Where did you get the list?”
“Same place I got the first one,” he replies. He picks up his phone and shows me the two emails. “Is something wrong?”
“We need to evacuate the yacht. Can you make sure everyone gets off?” I tell him without answering.
I dial Grayson. “You may want to have someone check on Claire. The revised list came from her email. Either someone hacked it, or they accessed her computer directly, but she isn’t here today, which suggests some type of foul play.”
He curses. “I’ll get security on it. Where are you?”
“Heading for the stairs now,” I reply. “How close…”
“I don’t think so,” a feminine voice says behind me.
When I turn around, Alyssa’s standing there with a gun. “Alyssa. What are you doing?”
She grimaces. “It’s Kathleen, actually. Kathleen Worthington. Or I should say Kathleen Adair Worthington.”
“Kathleen Adair Worthington,” I repeat to Grayson on the phone.
“Is that Grayson? Please tell me he’s on his way. He’s the reason I’m here, after all,” she comments in a sing-song kind of way.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. It’s Kira’s sister. We’re two minutes out,” Grayson announces. “Where’s Henley?” Fear makes his voice tight.
“Not here,” I reassure him.
“Tell him to come alone. Leave Thiago on the ground,” she instructs me.
