Page 18 of Drift: Willa & Koy

“All right,” I said. “You’re right.”

Koy’s eyebrows lifted. “I’m sorry?”

“I said, you’re right.”

A smile broke on his face. “I don’t know if you’ve ever said that before.”

“Very funny,” I muttered. “I have to go. I’m running behind as it is.”

I opened the door and stepped back out into the sunlight, closing it behind me. When I looked back, Koy was watching me from the window as he picked up the quill on his table. He still had that smug look, but the teasing in his eyes made my heart flutter just a little bit.

Ailee was waiting for me at the mouth of the slip where theWellworthywas anchored in the distance. Her black curls were flying in a cloud around her head, her attention on something across the docks. It wasn’t until I got closer that I could make out the expression on her face. She was worried about something. Maybe even scared.

I picked up my pace, opening my mouth to call out to her when I heard voices shouting. When I passed the next ship, I could finally see what she was looking at. A crowd was gathered a few bays down, lining the edge of one of the docks where it followed the black rock face. They were peering down into the water.

“Get a hook!” someone called out, and a woman went running.

More people were appearing on the decks of the ships, streaming toward the bows to see what was going on. I pushed through the crowd when I reached them, prying a path between the bodies until I reached the edge.

I froze when I caught sight of what they were looking at, my hand flying to my mouth. It was a body. Floating face down in the water.

There was no rescue being made because it was clear the person was dead. A few crabs had already been eating at the man and he was drained of color in a way that only happened after many hours in the water.

The woman reappeared with a large iron hook in hand and someone fished the man from the sea. The throng of people moved back as they pulled him up onto the dock and as soon as he rolled over, face to the sun, all the air left my lungs.

It was him. The man from theIrisI’d seen last night. The one who’d been talking about Emilia.

It was bound to happen eventually, but in the year we’d been operating, we’d never had a death of a visiting crew occur. It just so happened that it was now, and it had happened to a man who’d been slurring dangerous rumors at the tavern. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

My eyes roamed the faces that surrounded me, looking for anyone who didn’t look shocked by the sight. If I’d heard him, it was completely possible that others had, too. But I hadn’t seen a single reaction last night, not even from the numb-faced man who sat beside the deckhand. The only moment I thought I’d caught a glimpse of something was when I’d turned back around and seen that almost imperceptible rigidness in Coen.

I lifted my gaze to theWellworthyin the distance, my blood running cold.

There, on the deck, he was leaning into the foremast, hands stuffed in the pockets of his unbuttoned jacket. But when he caught my eyes on him, he turned into the wind, disappearing.

SEVEN

All but a single sliver of light was shut out of the helmsman’s quarters as the door closed, the window fastened tight. The helmsman of theIrisstood before his desk in the glow of a lantern, arms crossed over his chest as his gaze moved from me to Koy.

The ship was one that had visited before and we’d managed to work out an agreement for supplies to be couriered from Ceros once a month, but this could wreck everything.

“Did he have any disagreements with the crew that you’re aware of?” Koy asked, playing the part of harbor watch. We didn’t have one of those, something that I now realized had been a mistake.

“Hasn’t been around long enough to make any enemies. We just hired him on in Sowan. He was working there on a croft for a few years, didn’t seem to know anyone when he came on board.”

That lined up, if the deckhand had really known Emilia. If he had worked on a croft in Sowan, there was every reason to believe it was hers.

“None of the crew seems to know where he went last night, so that’s no help.” He added.

“Look, I think the most likely scenario here is that this was an accident,” Koy said.

I turned toward him just slightly, trying not to give away what I was thinking. Koy knew as well as I did that the odds of this man being the one to say what he had about Emiliaandending up dead the same night were slim.

“We were both at the tavern last night and we saw him. He’d definitely had more than a few drinks, and I think your crew would say the same.”

“With these barrier islands,” I added, “it can be dangerous if you fall in. Especially in the dark.”

The helmsman seemed to buy it. “Just as reasonable as any other explanation.”