Chapter 4

Brody lunged forward instantly, but I threw my arm out and held him back.

"Don't."

Griffin watched me restrain Brody and smiled, wider and more brazen than before.

"I told you I'd give you two hours to think it over. You didn't take the chance, so here I am."

Elise stepped out from behind him in her heels, her face a portrait of anguish and grief.

"I know you probably think we're terrible, but that's my daughter down there. My Cora is only 23, and she's already been trapped for fourteen hours."

Her eyes reddened, and she turned to loop her arm through Griffin's. Griffin patted her on the back, then looked at me with cold eyes.

"$50 million. I'll wire it immediately. Put your gear on and go down. Now!"

"I already told you. I cannot take this job."

"Are you trying to negotiate with me?" He tilted his head.

"Fine. Name your number. $100 million? $200 million? I've dealt with people like you before. All you're doing is driving up the price while you've got leverage. Go ahead. I'll pay it."

"It’s not about the money."

"Then what is it about?" He took a step toward me, and I could feel his heavy aura pressing in.

"You say it's not the money. Then what? Do you have some kind of grudge against me? Have we even met before?"

I looked into his eyes. Those same eyes that had once looked at me with so much warmth now held nothing but impatience and contempt.

"No."

"Then there's no reason for this." He waved a hand and issued his final ultimatum.

"I don't care who you are. I don't care what your problem is. My daughter is down there dying, and you’re the only person who can save her. Pick one: take the money and dive now, or..."

He turned and glanced at Brody.

"She's just an intern. She doesn't even have an offshore operations license. If something were to happen, it wouldn't even qualify as a workplace injury."

Brody's face went white in an instant.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His voice shook.

"Nothing." Griffin looked at him with casual indifference. "I just thought you should know that people fall off drilling platforms every year, especially the ones with no experience."

"A-are you threatening my daughter's life?"

Griffin did not answer. He simply turned his gaze back to me.

"As for you two, if my daughter doesn't make it, I'd suggest you pray nothing unfortunate happens the next time you're working in these waters."

Elise stepped forward, her expression earnest.

"Please. I know this is wrong, but you're a woman too. You must understand how a mother feels. My Cora is down there. She must be so scared and so cold."

She reached out to take my arm.

I stepped back. "Don't touch me."

Elise's hand hung frozen in the air. A flash of irritation crossed her face, but she smoothed it over almost immediately.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just so desperate."

Griffin pulled her back to his side and fixed me with a sharp stare.

"Last chance. What's your answer?"

"No."

He laughed again, that same wild, unrestrained laugh.

"Fine."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah, the platform. Put that new intern on the nightly deck inspection tonight. Alone. The full perimeter!"

Brody broke loose before anyone could stop him and charged forward. "No! You can't!"

One of the bodyguards shoved him back, and Brody slammed into a shipping container.

"Maren!" Brody scrambled to his feet and dropped to his knees in front of me, tears streaming down his face.

"Maren... please..."

Griffin hung up and looked at me.

"See? This could've been so simple. You're the one making it difficult."

I looked at the blood trickling from Brody's temple and at him kneeling on the ground, trembling. Then, I looked at Griffin.

He wore the same expression he always wore, as though everything he had done was perfectly reasonable.

It had been the same ten years ago, and it was the same now. Other people's lives had never been anything more than bargaining chips to him.

"You think I'm afraid of you?"

"Afraid or not, it doesn't matter." He shrugged.

"If you don't go down, your partner's daughter will become a maritime incident statistic tomorrow. It won't be long before the two of you become one too. Is that worth it to you?

"All this over a salvage worker's pride? Would you bet your partner's daughter and both your futures on it?"

Elise stepped forward again, her tone soft and soothing. "Please, just think about it. It's only one dive. After that, everything goes back to normal. You get your money, we’ll sponsor your base, and your partner's daughter comes home safe. Why make this harder than it needs to be?"

She smiled, her voice impossibly gentle.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I cannot save the girl who killed my son.

"If you force me to go down there, I will end her life with my own hands and stay with her on that ocean floor forever."