WEEK ONE EXCERPT
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Yvette cautiously stepped forward, peering up at the Atlantic Star. The sky framing the ship had lightened to a muted violet. Dawn wasn’t far off. She needed to board the vessel before the tide turned.
A crisp sea breeze whipped across her upturned face. Shivering, she tugged her woolen hood lower before clutching the cloak tighter around her middle with her free hand. The weight of her overstuffed valise pulled uncomfortably on her other arm.
Holding her fear in check, she drew in a deep, fortifying breath. She could do this—must do this. She’d no other choice. Casting a furtive glance around, relief swept her. No one had followed her. Squaring her shoulders, Yvette tilted her chin. With a lop-sided gait caused by the heavy valise bumping against her leg, she crossed the uneven dock, then boarded the waiting ship.
In those lengthy moments before night fully yields her assiduous watch and dawn gradually rouses to full awareness, Yvette stood at the ship’s rail. Posture tense, she watched the flickering, shifting shadows along the murky waterfront. None appeared to be human in form.
A single gull sounded the alarm as The Atlantic Star slipped silently past the other moored ships, then glided away from Boston’s harbor.
Out to the open sea. To safety.
