Ocean's Justice

Part 24

Twenty-Four

The boat rocked beneath me, reminding me of the lifeboat I should have been on. The one that the crew had winched into the water. The one I hoped still held the man I wished I was with. William.

Light blinded me and my heart leaped, for the light came not from the sun but from one of the handheld tubes William had called a torch. "William?" I asked.

"Get the captain. He needs to see this," an unfamiliar male voice said. Not William.

"Yes, Mr Alexander." Footsteps on the deck faded away.

Mr Alexander directed the light away from my eyes and my sight slowly returned. "Were you on the Trevessa?" he asked.

Pressing my lips tightly together, I nodded. If they'd found my boat, perhaps they'd also found the other lifeboats and rescued the man I loved. Tears sprang to my eyes. "William?"

Another face peered down at me.

"Captain?" Mr Alexander said quietly.

The new man shook his head. "I've never seen the girl before in my life. She's in one of the Trevessa's lifeboats, yet there's no record of a woman aboard the ship. There was a William listed as a passenger. Some Scottish name. McKenzie or something. Is that the man you mean, girl? William McKenzie?"

I swallowed. "William McGregor," I whispered.

"Was he on the lifeboat with you? For you were the only one in it when we found you." I shook my head and he continued, "We haven't found the other lifeboats – only yours."

William wasn't here. I should have followed his boat and kept him safe. I started to sob, covering my face with my arms so the men wouldn't see my naked grief. A light touch traced the bruised flesh of my arm.

"Did McGregor do this to you?"

I shook my head violently, glaring at the captain for even suggesting such a thing.

"Fetch Mrs D'Angelo and ask her to meet us in her cabin. Explain to her that we need her help on a matter of utmost secrecy – and it's an emergency."

Mr Alexander nodded, striding out of my field of vision. The captain remained.

"I'm Captain Dunnet of the Trevean. We're searching for survivors from the Trevessa and you're the first we've found. We'll keep looking – no sign of the other lifeboats is a good sign. Do you know if they made it to the boats before the ship sank?"

I nodded.

Captain Dunnet pressed, "Was your William aboard your boat?" I shook my head. "Then there's hope for him yet. If we don't find him, the other boats may reach land. Captain Foster was a good man and a good friend. If McGregor is with Foster, then he has a better chance at sea than any man alive."

He reached for me and I cowered against the boards at the bottom of the lifeboat, pulling the sail close around me. He sighed. "Not all men are like the ones who hurt you. I'm here to help." He held out his hand and I took it, accepting his help to rise to my feet, clutching the sail to hide my nakedness. I wasn't going to make the mistake of showing my body to the men of this ship as I had the last – I'd been through enough. I wanted to take a rest from killing people so that I could learn what it was to be human. To become one of them, if only for a little while.

Holding Captain Dunnet's hand, I followed him down the ladder to my new cabin.