Chapter 10 - The Yacht Called Solstice.
David spent the sixth morning of his trip eating mango beside an infinity pool in Nassau.
He had not slept well.
He blamed Maya.
He blamed his mother.
He blamed the intermittent cellular service, the bank alerts, and Julianne's questions.
He did not blame himself.
Julianne sat across from him wearing a white robe over her swimsuit.
The diamond bracelet David had bought in Miami circled her wrist.
She had stopped admiring it.
"Why did your mother call six times last night?"
David cut a piece of fruit.
"Family drama."
"Your sister messaged me."
The knife stopped.
"Why is Nicole messaging you?"
Julianne picked up her phone.
"Because you aren't answering anyone."
David's eyes sharpened.
"What did she say?"
Julianne hesitated.
That hesitation told him enough.
He reached for the phone.
She pulled it back.
"David, what happened to Lilly?"
His expression hardened.
"Nothing happened to Lilly."
"Nicole wrote, 'Please make him call home. This is about Lilly.'"
David leaned back.
"Maya recruited her."
Julianne stared at him.
"Why would your sister help Maya fake an emergency?"
"Because my entire family has learned that if Maya panics loudly enough, everyone rearranges their lives."
Julianne looked unconvinced.
David hated that look.
Their relationship had been easy when Julianne believed his marriage was functionally over and his wife was emotionally unstable.
Doubt made everything less flattering.
"You said Lilly was in the hospital."
"For observation."
"You said ICU."
"Maya said ICU."
Julianne lowered her voice.
"Isn't that easy to verify?"
David pushed his plate away.
"Do you want to spend the trip investigating my wife?"
"I want to know whether your daughter is okay."
David stood.
"She is fine."
It was not a fact.
It was a decision.
If Lilly were not fine, David would have to admit that boarding the plane had been monstrous.
Therefore, in the private logic protecting him, Lilly had to be fine.
He walked toward the balcony.
His phone showed seventeen notifications.
He had configured most family contacts to silent mode after leaving Miami.
He had not turned the phone off as he told Maya.
He had turned off interruption.
That difference would later matter.
At 10:13 p.m. on Lilly's final night, David had opened Maya's message because the preview contained the words LAST CHANCE.
He had felt a quick stab of fear.
Then anger had covered it.
He had written Maya, stop.
Eight minutes later, he approved the chef payment because the yacht broker said the reservation would lapse without confirmation.
By midnight, he was drunk.
The next morning, more notifications waited.
He did not open them.
He saw Nicole's first line in preview.
David, Lilly died last night.
He told himself he had misread it.
Then he cleared the notification without opening the thread.
That was the truth David would spend months refusing to say aloud.
On the sixth day, Julianne would not let the subject disappear.
She followed him onto the balcony.
"Call Maya."
David laughed.
"Absolutely not."
"Call the hospital."
"Stop."
"Call your mother and ask a direct question."
David turned.
"Do not tell me how to manage my family."
Julianne crossed her arms.
"Then tell me what Blue Meridian has to do with your daughter's trust."
David's face changed.
Julianne saw it.
"What?"
He stepped closer.
"Who said that?"
"You did."
"No, I didn't."
"At the yacht office."
Julianne's voice became cautious.
"You told the broker the payment was coming through a family medical account because the bank was holding business funds."
David remembered the conversation.
He had been irritated by a delayed wire and had said too much.
"It was temporary."
Julianne took a step back.
"You used Lilly's medical money for this trip?"
"I moved liquidity."
"That is not an answer."
"It is my money too."
"You told me Blue Meridian was being paid for consulting work."
"It was."
Julianne stared at the bracelet on her wrist.
"Did this come from that money?"
David looked away.
The answer was visible.
Julianne unclasped the bracelet.
She placed it on the balcony table.
"I want to go home."
David laughed without humor.
"Now you are doing exactly what Maya does."
Julianne's face tightened.
"Do not compare me to your wife because I asked where forty thousand dollars came from."
"Forty-eight."
The correction escaped him.
Julianne went still.
"Forty-eight thousand dollars?"
David swore.
He picked up the bracelet.
"It is going back."
"When?"
"When a client pays."
"Does Maya know?"
"She found the transfer."
"And you still stayed?"
David stepped closer.
"You wanted this trip too."
Julianne's face drained of color.
"Do not put this on me."
"You loved the yacht yesterday."
"Because you told me your company was paying."
David saw fear entering her expression and realized he needed control back.
He softened his voice.
"Jules, listen."
She moved away.
"No."
Her phone buzzed.
A new message appeared from Nicole.
Julianne read it before David could stop her.
If you are with him, tell him the funeral was yesterday.
The balcony became silent.
Julianne looked up.
"The funeral?"
David stared at the ocean.
His mind searched for another explanation.
Julianne's voice broke.
"David, whose funeral?"
He did not answer.
She looked at Nicole's earlier messages.
This time she opened the full thread.
There was a photograph of Lilly's memorial program.
Lilly's smiling face filled the screen.
Beneath it were the dates of her birth and death.
Julianne made a small choking sound.
"Oh my God."
David looked once.
Then turned away.
"Maya sent that to her."
Julianne stared at him as if he had become a stranger in front of her.
"It has a funeral home name."
"People can make anything."
"Call the funeral home."
David said nothing.
"Call them."
"I am not participating in this."
Julianne backed toward the room.
"You knew."
"I did not know."
"You saw something."
"I saw messages designed to make me panic."
Julianne's eyes filled with tears.
"Your daughter died and you are arguing about whether the notification was phrased fairly."
David flinched.
For one second, his face collapsed.
Then he rebuilt it.
"I need proof."
Julianne held up the memorial program.
"This is proof."
David walked inside and poured whiskey at eleven in the morning.
Julianne packed a suitcase.
But when she tried to change her return flight, she discovered the yacht itinerary and resort package were nonrefundable, and every available seat out that day was sold or prohibitively expensive.
David offered to pay for a private charter if she stopped making accusations.
She refused.
By evening, however, she was still trapped on the same island with him.
She began saving screenshots of every message he sent.
She photographed the bracelet receipt.
She photographed the Blue Meridian payment confirmation David had left open on his laptop.
And at 8:15 p.m., while David slept after drinking most of a bottle of whiskey, Julianne called the number on the funeral program.
The director confirmed Lilly Mercer's service had taken place the previous day.
May you like
Julianne sat on the bathroom floor and cried.
Then she called Special Agent Rachel Sloan.
