Chapter 3
I waited until I heard Adrian's footsteps move toward the galley. The yacht creaked under me, a low roll that made the water slap against the hull. I kept my hand closed around the two tablets and slipped my phone from under the pillow where I'd hidden it earlier.
The signal bar flickered. One bar, then none, then one again. Offshore between Coron and El Nido we were too far for anything steady. My thumb hovered over the screen. I breathed through my nose so he wouldn't hear me from the hallway.
I opened the call to Reyes. He'd been my father's attorney before he was mine. Voicemail the first time. I tried again and pressed the phone tight against my ear, my hair falling forward to cover it.
He answered on the third ring. His voice was thin and full of static.
"Mara? Where are you? It's nearly eleven."
I turned toward the wooden paneling so my voice wouldn't carry to the door. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it in my throat.
"I don't have long," I whispered. "I'm on the yacht. Listen to me carefully."
Adrian's voice came faintly from down the corridor, talking to someone on deck. I pressed closer to the corner of the cabin and cupped my hand around the mouthpiece.
"This is not anti-seasickness, attorney. I plan to kill Adrian tonight," I said. The words felt strange even as I said them. I swallowed. "That's what he gave me. Two white tablets. He said it was for seasickness. It's not. I know what he plans to do."
There was a pause. Reyes exhaled on the other end. I heard him shift, a chair creaking.
"Mara, slow down. Repeat that. Who gave you what?"
"Adrian. Tonight. He told me to take these before bed. He said they'd help me sleep through the motion." My fingers opened and I looked down at the tablets in my palm, perfectly round and white against my skin. "I heard him before. He said, 'Today at 2:00, we'll push him into the sea.' He meant me. He just used the wrong pronoun to cover it on the phone."
Reyes's tone changed. It went flat and precise, the way it did when he was documenting something.
"Okay. Do not swallow them. Do you hear me? Do not take anything he gives you. What do they look like?"
"Small. White. No markings I can see. Bitter smell."
"Likely a sedative," he said. "Zolpidem or something stronger. Offshore, that would be enough to make you compliant. Easy to explain as an accident if you went overboard drowsy. Mara, has he talked about the estate?"
My chest tightened. I glanced at the cabin door. Still closed.
"Not tonight," I whispered.
"Mara, you need to understand his motive as a record. You are the sole heir to Villanueva Pacific Logistics. The probate value we filed last quarter was sixteen billion pesos. If something happens to you while you are married, and he can claim it was an accidental drowning, he is first in line as spouse. That is the leverage. I am saying this so it is on this call."
Hearing him say the number out loud made it real. PHP 16B. Not money to me, but a reason for someone to plan a time.
"I'm making a record of this call," he continued, and I heard typing. "Time-stamped. November 14, 11:07 p.m., you report fear of murder tonight on vessel en route Coron to El Nido. What is the yacht's name?"
"Amihan," I whispered. "Private charter. Two crew plus Adrian. I have the tablets hidden. I have photos of the suitcase compartment."
"Good. Keep them on your person, not in the bag. He can throw a bag overboard and say it was lost." Static cut through his words. "Listen, I cannot get the Coast Guard to you before two without a position. Can you send me your live location? And we need a delay tactic. You need to not be near the rail at two."
"I can't get signal long enough to send—"
"Then make yourself unmovable," he cut in. "Lock the bathroom door. Say you're vomiting from seasickness, stay on the floor. Be loud if you have to. A locked interior door forces noise if he tries to drag you. And text me two words if you can after this call drops — 'awake safe' — every thirty minutes so I have a log. If you miss two checks, I call the El Nido station directly with your last coordinates."
I heard a floorboard creak outside the cabin. My breath stopped.
"Someone's coming," I whispered.
"Hide the phone. Keep the pills. I am logging this," Reyes said quickly. "Mara—"
The line crackled sharply and went dead. The screen showed CALL FAILED. No bars at all now.
I stood there with the phone in my hand, the dial tone gone. The cabin was warm and dim, the bed still unmade behind me. From the hallway came Adrian's hand on the wooden door frame, and his voice, soft.
May you like
"Mahal? Who are you talking to?"
I slipped the phone back under the pillow and closed my palm around the tablets, my pulse hammering against my teeth. The record existed somewhere on his office system, even if my signal didn't. But I was alone again until the clock moved.
