Page 67 of Below the Deck

20:06 Talia: Maybe just for a few minutes then

20:07 Nick:I can’t wait.

09/06/2026

01:13 Talia:I’m sorry we couldn’t have longer … I kept thinking someone was going to come in

01:18 Talia: Nick?

01:21 Talia:I hope you’re not too disappointed

10/06/2026

15:17 Nick: I’m going to come to you later, when the weather’s cleared up. I have to see you.

16:41 Talia: OK. Come to my cabin soon. We need to talk.

[TRANSCRIPT ENDS]

ELENI

Eleni sat frozen on the sky lounge sofa. Was Sam threatening her? Was he going to try to force her to stay quiet? There was a coldness in his eyes that was painfully familiar.

With a burst of adrenaline, she leapt to her feet and ran away from him, out of the sky lounge, across the deck towards the control room, hoping to take refuge with the captain – but before she could reach the bridge, he was behind her, his feet almost scraping the back of her ankles.

‘Eleni, stop – it’s all right – I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I wasn’t going tohurtyou. I just wanted to see if we could come to some sort of … arrangement?’

She turned to him, braver now that she was within shouting distance of the captain. Sothat’swhat he’d meant. Of course it was; the man was utterly spineless. It was so predictable that in the end he only wanted to – Eleni didn’t know what to call it, exactly – proposition her? Bribe her?

‘If you keep this quiet,’ he said, ‘I’ll put as many new acquisitions your way as I can – I’ll share all my contacts withyou, and when I hear about new land coming up, I’ll tell you first – on the down-low. Come on – I know you’re ambitious too. This can work out for both of us.’

Enraged, she rolled her eyes and stormed past him down the stairs to the salon and then towards the steps leading below deck. ‘Fuck you, Sam. You’re pathetic.’ Thecheekof him. She didn’t need him to bring her contacts; she’d earned her place on this trip through her own hard work – she hadn’t needed to blackmail anyone, unlike Sam. She was a genuine top performer – all her success was rightfully hers. Fair and square.

What a waste of precious time.This had been a pointless distraction – she had more important things to deal with.

Eleni started down the stairs towards the cabins. With no overhead lights, she had to rely on the emergency panels at the edge of each step. She clung to the railings and moved carefully. It was so dark, and socreepy, with these low-level lights. She lifted her phone and used its torch to guide her as she moved. It felt all wrong, this gloom. And it was so bloodyquiet.

She took a deep breath – she had to get herself together before she went to find Rory. A thud sounded from one of the cabins when she was halfway down the stairs; she wasn’t sure which room it had come from. Perhaps it was Mark and Lucy – they were back in their cabin now; they probably just dropped something.

She exhaled slowly to try to calm herself. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she took a few steps along the passageway, but stopped abruptly at a more alarming sound – a moan or a cry, coming from somewhere close by. She lifted her torch, swung it down to the furthest edges of the corridor. There was no one else in the passageway.

Stop freaking out, Eleni. Mark and Lucy are probably just having an early evening shag.She took another deep breath. She was almost at her door now, was about to reach out with her key card, when she heard the sound again. But it wasn’t coming from Mark and Lucy’s cabin. It was coming from the one opposite: the master stateroom. Eleni stared at the door for a second.

Something’s not right.She padded across the corridor, pressed her ear to the door and listened more closely.What’s happening in there?This was the sound of someone crying; a set of horrible, choking sobs.

She rapped gently on the door, her legs unsteady beneath her.

‘He – hello?’ she stuttered. ‘Talia? Is everything okay in there?’

A beat of silence, and then another awful choking sound.

Eleni tried the door handle without thinking, and to her surprise, it opened.Of course – with the power out, the locks aren’t working.She held her phone out in front of her and followed the torch beam into the enormous, luxurious cabin. She couldn’t see Talia – she couldn’t see anyone, just the king-sized bed and a desk and a sofa, a suitcase neatly packed on a luggage rack in the corner furthest from her.

‘Hello – Talia? Are you okay? Where are you?’

The muffled choke reached her ears again from somewhere towards the back of the room – she walked towards it, and realized the sound was coming from the en-suite bathroom.

Eleni took a deep breath and, hands trembling, swung the door wide open.