The Cruise: A totally addictive psychological thriller with a shocking twist by Christina Delay

Author:Christina Delay [Delay, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books psychological thrillers, suspense and crime
Published: 2024-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Day Three

Down, down deep,

In the big ocean blue,

Swim three little fishies,

A Daddy and A Me and A You.

Chapter 17: Gabriel

Gabriel spread his bare toes against the thin carpet of his cabin, grounding himself to the ship as it rocked gently back and forth across the open Caribbean waters. Jesse had disappeared again yesterday. He wanted to attribute her distance to everything she was going through, but a throbbing in his lower gut wouldn’t leave him alone. He pressed his hand to his side, the unexplainable worry about her making him nauseous.

She said she’d call him, that she needed him to help her on her so-called farewell tour. But she hadn’t called, hadn’t shown up for dinner. To his knowledge, she hadn’t left her cabin after he took her back.

Not that he could blame her. If it were him and he’d gone through what she had, he’d sleep the rest of the day and through the night.

He stood and stretched out his bones, cracking his spine. He felt paper-thin as he went through his morning routine. Even his sister’s coffee didn’t provide its usual trip back home. The job was weighing on him even more, and he needed a change. He’d thought a promotion to captain was the answer, but even if that was on the table, he wasn’t so sure. His pseudo-relationship with Jesse had plastered the sacrifices he’d made for this career over every reflective surface on the ship. Before, he’d thought the job worth the sacrifice.

But now that that meant sacrificing Jesse — any relationship for that matter — he couldn’t do it. Not anymore.

He buttoned the last polished brass button of his uniform, tightening the collar around his neck, and grabbed his radio and phone on the way out. His phone rang before he could reach the door.

Couldn’t his job wait for thirty more seconds? Was there ever a time he wasn’t officially on the clock?

Gabriel pushed down the gruffness rising in his throat and answered, “Yes?” He left out his customary greeting. It wasn’t even seven in the morning yet. He didn’t have to be polite until after seven in the morning. New rule. His rule.

“Gabe?” Her voice was tentative and child-like, and it threw him back twenty years.

He shook his head, swallowed the knot that had formed in his throat, just under his uniform’s top button. “Jesse.” Her name was his breath. “Are you okay? I didn’t hear from you yesterday and I was worried.”

He could almost hear her smile. “You worry about me?”

He walked back into his stateroom, sat on his twin-size bed, and stretched out like a teenage boy talking to his crush at school. His feet wiggled back and forth, nervous energy vibrating through him. The clock on his nightstand flipped to seven oh one. For the first time in his life, he was officially late for his job. His shoulders relaxed, and he leaned his head back against the wall. It felt good.

“How could I not worry about you? You’re a magnet for trouble.

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