Into the Deep

Into the Deep

Elena Santos' POV

The cold water hit me like a brick wall. My lungs screamed for air as I dragged Sarah toward the Coast Guard boat's searchlight. The salt burned my eyes, but I could see Ryan reaching over the side, his strong hands pulling us both to safety.
"Elena!" he yelled over the engine noise. "Are you hurt?"
I coughed up saltwater and shook my head. My whole body felt like ice, but we were alive. That's what counted.
Behind us, Marcus's boat was racing toward the rocky rocks. I watched him fighting with the steering wheel, his face twisted with fear. Chen's black helicopters hovered above him like giant metal birds.
"He's trapped," Sarah gasped, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. "The helicopters aren't there to rescue him."
I knew she was right. Chen was cleaning house, and Marcus had become a problem that needed to disappear.
The blast lit up the whole bay.
Marcus's boat crashed into the rocks with a sound like thunder. Fire and metal flew everywhere, and the water turned orange from the fires. For a moment, the night was bright as day.
Then everything went dark again.
"Did anyone see him jump?" Agent Williams called from the Coast Guard pilot spot.
We all stared at the burning wrecks floating on the black water. No one answered because no one had seen anything except the crash.
"We need to search for survivors," Ryan said, grabbing a life jacket.
"Ryan, no." I caught his arm. "Those rocks are too dangerous, and Chen's men might still be watching."
But Ryan was already jumping into the water before I could stop him. That's the kind of man he was – always trying to save people, even the ones who didn't deserve saving.
I watched him swim toward the rubble, my heart pounding with fear. Not for Marcus, but for Ryan. The man I was falling in love with was risking his life for a killer.
"Agent Williams," I called to the pilot, "take us closer. If Dr. Archer finds anything, we need to be ready to help."
The Coast Guard boat moved carefully through the floating parts of Marcus's destroyed vessel. Our searchlight cut through the darkness, looking for any sign of life.
Ryan surfaced near a big piece of the boat's hull, shaking his head. "Nothing here!" he called.
We spent two hours searching every piece of rubble, every rock, every shadow where a person might hide. But Marcus Daniels had disappeared as completely as if the ocean had swallowed him whole.
"Maybe he's really dead this time," Sarah said hopefully.
I wanted to believe her, but something felt wrong. In my ten years as a cop, I'd learned that the worst crooks were also the best survivors. Men like Marcus didn't die easy.
Three weeks later, I was sitting in my office when the phone rang. The voice on the other end made my blood turn cold.
"Hello, Elena."
It was Marcus.
"You're supposed to be dead," I whispered, my hand going for the gun in my desk drawer.
His laugh was soft and terrible. "Death is just another name, Elena. Like being a policeman or a businessman. I've been all of those things, and now I'm something new."
"Where are you?"
"Close enough to watch you. Far enough to stay safe. Did you really think a boat crash would stop me? I've been planning my exit strategy for years."
My office suddenly felt very small and very open. The windows looked out onto the main street, where anyone could be looking. The door behind me wasn't locked.
"What do you want, Marcus?"
"I want you to understand something important. Destroying my business in Moonfall Bay was just the beginning. Chen's network has tentacles in dozens of towns. You cut off one finger, but the hand is still reaching for you."
I tried to keep my voice steady. "The FBI is watching Chen's people. He can't hurt anyone else."
"Elena, you sweet, stupid girl. Chen doesn't just have people in criminal groups. He has people in law enforcement. How do you think I stayed hidden for twenty years?"
The words hit me like a punch to the stomach. "You're lying."
"Agent Williams – the man who helped rescue you that night – has been on Chen's salary for three years. Agent Sarah Kim isn't who she claims to be. And your dear Dr. Archer has secrets that would break your heart."
"Stop." My voice came out harder than I meant. "Ryan isn't involved in this."
"Isn't he? Who do you think treated the girls before they were shipped out? Who do you think kept them healthy during transport? Medical care doesn't provide itself, Elena."
I felt sick. All those times Ryan had warned me away from the investigation, all those moments when he'd seemed to know more than he was telling – had he been protecting me or protecting himself?
"You're lying," I said again, but my voice sounded weak even to me.
"Check his office tonight. Look in the files marked 'Special Patients.' Ask yourself why a small-town doctor has medical records for girls who supposedly died in crashes."
The phone went dead.
I sat there for five minutes, looking at the silent phone. My mind raced through every talk I'd had with Ryan, every time he'd helped me, every time he'd kissed me and made me feel safe.
Could the man I loved be part of the crime ring?
That night, I broke into Ryan's medical office. I told myself I was proving Marcus wrong, that I was protecting the man I cared about. But my hands shook as I opened the file drawers.
The box marked "Special Patients" was right where Marcus said it would be.
Inside were medical records for twelve girls, including Chloe Martinez. The records showed treatments for injuries that fit trafficking victims – malnourishment, rope burns, trauma from confinement. The times went back five years.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was Ryan's handwriting on the notes: "Patient prepared for transport. Cleared for shipping."
I dropped the files, my heart breaking into pieces. Ryan hadn't been forced to help the crime ring. He'd been an eager participant.
The sound of footsteps in the passage made me freeze. Someone was coming toward the office, and I was trapped with stolen proof in my hands.
The door opened slowly.
"I was wondering when you'd finally look," Ryan said quietly, standing in the doorway with his medical bag in one hand and something else in the other.
Something that gleamed silver in the moonlight coming through the window.
"Ryan," I whispered, backing toward the window. "Please tell me this isn't what it looks like."
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. In the pale light, his face looked like a stranger's.
"Elena, you should have trusted me when I told you to stop investigating."
That's when I saw what was in his other hand.
A syringe filled with something that definitely wasn't medicine.
"Ryan, don't do this. I love you."
His eyes filled with tears, but his hand never wavered. "I love you too, Elena. That's why this has to look like a mistake."