She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 312

Gavin expected fear.

Instead, Loyce’s mouth curved—just a little—into something contemptuous.

“Go ahead,” she said, swinging her legs idly from the edge of the pool table. “Press it.”

“I really planted bombs!” Gavin couldn’t process her calm. His finger hovered over the button, frantic. “If you don’t let me go, I’ll do it! We all die!”

Sapphire looked ready to collapse. Even the pirates flinched at his mania—until they noticed Ms. X actually smiling.

Loyce hopped down in one smooth motion, snatched the remote from Gavin’s hand, and turned it over as if examining a TV clicker. “This one?”

Before he could answer, she pressed the red button.

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut and rasped, “No—!”

Everyone’s throat tightened.

Nothing happened. Only wind and waves.

Buck stared at another pirate, then barked a laugh. “Ha! Why didn’t the freak’s bomb go off?”

“Maybe somebody already disarmed it.”

Loyce placed the remote back into Gavin’s trembling hand like she was returning a lost item. Her voice softened almost kindly. “Looks like it’s broken.”

The pirates’ laughter was rough and heavy, like a blunt blade sawing through what little pride Gavin had left. He clutched the cold plastic, shaking hard enough to rattle. “Broken…? No. No, that’s not possible…”

Loyce stood in front of him, looking down, her expression carved from ice. She leaned closer, voice gentle the way you’d soothe a frightened child. “Okay. Game’s over. Now you’re going to die.”

They tied Gavin to a support post in the game room. Buck forced out where the negatives were stored—on a laptop Gavin kept with him.

Loyce stood on the pirate ship’s deck, eyes fixed on the cargo ship’s game room windows. She knew Gavin—bound to that post—could see her. So she lifted the detonator, gave it a little wag, and smiled.

Then she pressed the button. The fuel line erupted. A roar of fire and rolling black smoke climbed into the sky. Flames tore through the game room, swallowing Gavin’s last, shredded screams.

The fog thinned from the force of the blast but visibility was still awful.

Buck said, “Weather’s been garbage. We navigated here by compass. Forecast says the fog belt’s expanding—another two days before it clears. Signal might be dead that long, too.”

The pirate ship slipped back into the haze, its outline dissolving.

Loyce watched until even the smoke disappeared into the white. Lucian would know she didn’t go down with it, she told herself. He’d just have to clean up the end of the mess and report it.

She stretched, then turned to Aaron, who sat on deck staring at her like his brain had stalled. Loyce walked over and tapped the top of his head. “Did I do okay? You’re all alive.”

Aaron blinked up at her for a long moment before he finally managed, “You said you were a cop.”