Chapter 1

Alarms blared across the bridge warning of a Category 3 hurricane while I steered the cargo ship toward the maritime border.

I quickly tried to turn back toward port, only to discover the fuel tanks were bone dry and the emergency transponder had been ripped out.

Desperate, I grabbed the marine radio to reach the coast guard.

The moment the frequency clicked open, my wife's mocking laughter poured through the speaker.

"I jammed your emergency frequency hours ago, Garrett. Enjoy your little survival game out at sea!"

Beside her, her young protégé chimed in with a smug chuckle.

"Hey, Garrett! Remember when you mocked me for not knowing how to swim? Here's your chance to shine. Swim back on your own!"

"Try not to paddle like a pathetic sea turtle while you drown, old man."

Monster waves slammed into the hull, threatening to capsize the ship at any second.

I gritted my teeth and begged Maren over the radio.

"No one can survive swimming in these waters! Just patch me through to the rescue team…"

She cut me off with a venomous sneer.

"Why do you need rescue? Didn't you lecture us that self-reliance is everything? Start swimming!"

"If it's too cold, swim faster. Maybe the adrenaline will keep your heart beating!"

I gave up arguing.

Gripping a serrated utility knife, I dashed toward the cargo deck and positioned the blade against the heavy ropes securing the crates.

Inside those locked containers was the twenty-million-dollar ransom meant to save the daughter of the city's most ruthless billionaire.

1.

"Drop that knife right now! Are you out of your damn mind?!"

Maren's panicked voice crackled instantly through the radio receiver.

I pressed the blade deeper against the thick nylon fibers, smiling coldly.

"I'm giving you two choices, Maren. Either contact the coast guard to pull me out of here right now."

"Or I slice these ropes, and all twenty of you who took Harrison Cross's contract can go down with me!"

The other crew members in the control room, who had been laughing quietly seconds ago, suddenly broke into terrified murmurs.

They rushed to plead on my behalf.

"Maren, everyone knows Harrison Cross would slaughter us if his daughter's ransom gets lost. You'll be on the hook too!"

"Just tell him where the backup fuel is stashed!"

Those tied-down crates held the twenty-million-dollar ransom for the daughter of Harrison Cross, the wealthiest tycoon in the state.

The cartel kidnappers had made it clear: if the cash didn't arrive at the border docks within an hour, they would execute her on live feed.

Cross had hired our specialized technical transport crew with an astronomical fee to deliver the money by sea.

We were thirty minutes from the drop point when the engine died from zero fuel.

I had personally inspected the fuel lines before departing to ensure total safety.

It was glaringly obvious that someone had sabotaged the ship to set me up.

And I never imagined the person who wanted me dead was my own wife.

Maren swallowed hard on the other end, her tone suddenly shifting to forced gentleness.

"The storm is hitting right now, and rescue boats won't reach you in time anyway."

"Don't do anything reckless. The spare fuel barrels are hidden in the aft cargo hold."

"Refuel the engine and get to shore. You only have thirty minutes left, so hurry!"

Her voice sounded sharp with urgency, sounding almost authentic.

I held the knife tight, stumbled through the shaking hallway, and fought my way to the aft hold.

The hurricane was already tearing through the open ocean, with gale-force winds roaring like enraged beasts.

Every step across the slick metal deck was a gamble against death.

I gripped the handrails with white knuckles, fighting to keep my balance against the tilting ship.

One violent lurch nearly hurled me overboard, but I finally reached the coordinates she gave me.

What sat on the deck wasn't fuel, but a cheap plastic turtle shell.

Carved into the plastic was my name.

Trevor's arrogant laughter blasted through the comms.

"You really are an obedient dog, Garrett! Just like a turtle crawling into a trap!"

"There's no spare fuel here. We dumped it all back at the dock before you took off!"

"That's what you get for hogging the glory and taking the billionaire's VIP mission. This hurricane is your karma!"

Maren's voice drifted in, cold and nonchalant.

"Didn't you love acting like the big boss and lecturing everyone? This is your lesson."

"Trying to threaten me with the ransom? Garrett, you're pathetic."

"I know you too well. Cross would skin you alive if you lost that money, and a bootlicker like you would never dare cross him."

Every word proved her earlier concern was nothing but a sick lie.

She had coordinated this entire death trap just to let Trevor get his revenge on me.

I had known the storm was approaching before taking the assignment.

But I was the only master navigator in our unit capable of beating the hurricane to the border.

I volunteered to go alone solely to keep the rest of the crew out of danger.

I didn't ask for a single penny extra from the team pool, yet they repaid my protection with malice and betrayal.

They orchestrated a flawless murder under the cover of a natural disaster.

I crushed the insulting plastic shell under my boot and growled into the radio.

"Maren! I am giving you one final chance!"

"If I die, Cross's daughter dies with me, and you will be the first person he tracks down and destroys!"

Yet my rage was met only with gut-wrenching laughter.

Trevor leaned close to the mic, his tone dripping with mockery.

"Oh, we aren't wishing for your death. We're expecting you to carry that twenty million across the strait with your bare hands."

"You're the elite diver who bragged you could swim across any channel, right?"

The rest of the technical crew chimed in, making bets over the radio.

"A hundred bucks says he can't last ten minutes in those waves!"

"I bet two hundred he gets ripped apart by sharks the second he hits the water!"

The ocean raged into a pitch-black abyss beneath the churning storm.

I clutched the radio, screaming Maren's name through a hoarse throat.

The next second, a massive rogue wave smashed into the hull.

The sheer impact threw me straight into the freezing sea.