I Held Two White Pills in My Palm While My Husband Watched Me Sleep...

He didn't close the door all the way.

I heard his voice go low in the corridor and the soft tap of his phone against his ear. He said my name once, like he was explaining me. Then he said "no, she's out" and his footsteps moved away toward the stairs that led up to the deck. The hinge stayed cracked open an inch, letting a stripe of tungsten light cut across the carpet.

I didn't move at first. I kept my breathing the way I'd held it, slow through my nose, and counted. One, two, three. The floor creaked once under his weight and then it was quiet.

I rolled onto my side and slipped the phone from under my chest. The screen lit my palm, green and red buttons glowing. Battery at two bars. No service mark blinking at the top. My thumb shook against the plastic.

I'd hidden the pills under the lip of the mattress on the far side, pressed flat between the fabric and the board. I didn't check them. I just needed the phone to work.

I slid out of bed and stayed low. The cabin was small enough that he could hear a faucet. I went for the bathroom because it was the only door that locked from inside and the only place with a vent that might catch signal. I closed it without latching and turned the exhaust fan on to cover sound.

Inside, the light was harsher, white over the sink. I stared at myself in the mirror for half a second — hair stuck to my cheek, camisole wrinkled — and then looked away. I held the phone up high near the vent and hit redial.

It rang. Nothing. I moved it an inch to the left. Again.

On the third try it caught.

"Attorney?" I whispered. My voice broke. "Attorney, please don't cut me off, they plan to hurt me tonight. It's me."

A pause, then his voice, thin and broken up. "Mara? Mara, I hear you. Where are you?"

"Yacht," I said. I kept my mouth close to the phone, the fan humming over me. "Private yacht. We're at sea. He gave me pills — he said 'Today at 2:00 AM, we will take it out. Drink it, my love, so you can sleep peacefully.' I didn't take them."

"Listen to me," he said, and static ate half the sentence. "— inheritance — sixteen billion — your grandfather's trust — triggers —"

"I can't hear you," I whispered. I pressed the phone harder to my ear. "Say again."

"— he filed — if you die at sea — presumption — he collects — Mara, do not drink anything. Do not —" The line crackled. "Keep the pills. Keep everything. Evidence."

Two bars dropped to one. The screen dimmed.

"How far are we from shore?" I asked. "Can you call the Coast Guard? Can you get someone here?"

His voice came back fainter. "— out of range — not until morning — Coast Guard needs coordinates — yacht registry — stay hidden — lock —"

The call cut. The screen went black for a second then came back with NO SIGNAL.

I tried again. Nothing. Battery blinked low. I stood there with the fan rattling, my hand braced on the sink, trying not to make a sound.

I needed to know if I could lock him out.

I eased the bathroom door open and stepped back into the cabin. The corridor was still empty, that stripe of light still there. I moved to the main door and ran my fingers over the latch. It was a simple turn lock, brushed nickel. I tried to turn it. It spun freely without catching. I turned it the other way. Same loose spin, no click. I crouched and looked at the strike plate. The screws had been backed out and the whole mechanism sat loose in the wood, as if someone had taken it apart that afternoon and left it for show. From outside, you could still pull it shut and it would look closed. From inside, it did nothing.

My stomach dropped. That was why he'd left it ajar. He didn't need to lock me in. He knew I couldn't lock him out.

I heard a footstep above me, then the heavier thud of someone coming back down the stairs.

I didn't have time to think. I pushed the door back to exactly how he'd left it, that one inch, and crossed the cabin in three steps. The pills were still where I'd left them. I slid back onto the mattress on my side, facing the wall, phone tucked flat against my ribs under the blanket, screen down so the light wouldn't show. I forced my shoulders to relax and my breathing to go slow again.