I backed away from the staircase with such care that every movement seemed to take forever.
The corridor swayed beneath me, but terror was forcing my drugged body to cooperate.
When I reached our suite, I locked the door and leaned against it, listening for footsteps.
My first instinct was to call my father, but my phone was still in Flynn’s possession.
The suite telephone could reach the crew, although I had no idea whether Flynn had already told anyone that I was mentally confused.
Then I remembered something my father had shown me when I was seventeen.
Following the kidnapping threat, he had quietly installed independent emergency security systems aboard every Sterling vessel.
He made me memorize an emergency code and promised that I would never be completely alone on any boat his company controlled.
I dropped to my knees beside the bed and searched beneath the carved wooden frame.
