"Let’s go," Joe said helping Callie to her feet. He saw Frank was standing beside Ned who had his arm around Nancy’s waist.

Joe led the way out of the dining hall. As he turned the corner, he bumped into someone. He looked closely at the person and realized it was Victoria.

"Joe!" Victoria cried. "I’m scared."

"Come on," Joe said taking her hand and leading her up the stairs where the lifeboats were stored. The six of them were pushed into a small lifeboat together and it was lowered to the water. Once the boat was in the water, Ned and Joe quickly started rowing. They struggled to keep the boat from capsizing in the crashing waves that were kicked up by the storm.

They were a hundred yards away from the ship when there was another explosion. They all lowered their heads when fragments from the ship came flying in all directions. Several pieces fell into the boat. One the size of a baseball hit Frank on the head and he slumped to the bottom of the boat, unconscious.

Ned and Joe rowed harder to get away from the falling debris. Joe glanced over his shoulder and saw Callie cradling Frank’s head. He asked, "Is he all right?"

"He’s breathing," Callie said.

"We need to get further away," Nancy said just as another explosion ripped through the ship.

Finally, an hour later they eased up on their rowing a little when they realized they would not be in harms way from anymore flying debris. But Ned and Joe continued struggling to keep the boat afloat. Nancy and Victoria were bailing out the rain water as fast as they could.

Joe and Ned looked at Callie and Joe asked once again, "How is he?"

"I don’t know," Callie said glancing up at Joe with tears in her eyes. "He’s got a gash on his head that’s finally stopped bleeding, but it’s swollen."

"Calm down," Joe said. He reached for Frank’s wrist and felt for a pulse. After a moment, he continued. "I think he’ll be all right."

"Really?" Callie asked.

Joe nodded. "Just keep an eye on him."

As Joe turned around, Victoria asked, "Where are the other boats?"

"Floating a good distance away," Ned said.

Nancy pushed her wet hair out of her face. "Can anyone see my dad?"

"No," Ned said glancing at her. "He must be on one of the boats we can’t see."

"What about Mr. and Mrs. Hardy?" Callie asked. "They might still be on the ship."

"They got off," Joe said. "They had to."

"But what if they didn’t?" Callie asked.

"We don’t have any proof they didn’t make it," Ned said. "We have to be optimistic."

"Ned’s right," Joe said.

"So, what d we do now?" Callie asked.

"We need to keep the boat from capsizing," Ned said. "The captain must have sent out a distress signal. We need to hang tight until the rescue boats get here."

"We should try to catch the other boats," Joe said as he began rowing once again. "Then we could probably secure the boats together. It would be safer and easier for rescue ships to spot."

"Good idea," Ned said. "Let’s go for it."

Ned and Joe turned the boat around and started toward the others while Nancy and Victoria continued to bail out the water. As Ned and Joe rowed faster, they realized they weren’t getting anywhere. The waves were pulling the other boats away from them.

Callie held tightly onto Frank who was still unconscious as the boat was tossed around. Fortunately, the weather started to subside and they stopped rowing.

Nancy wondered if the explosion was an accident or if it was another attempt at the Hardy’s lives. Things just didn’t seem right. In fact, every time something went wrong, Victoria would show up shortly after in a state of panic.

Nancy switched places with Ned to give his arms a chance to rest. She saw Ned close his eyes as he slid to the bottom of the boat. Nancy looked at Victoria and saw she was looking at Joe. Victoria. Vicky. Tori. "You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?"

Victoria glared at Nancy in silence. Joe asked, "Is this true, Victoria?"

"Victoria knows more than she pretends to," Nancy said. "And by the way, she’s also the one who killed that guy you stumbled over the other night."

"What?" Joe asked as Ned’s eyes popped open.

"Please, stop," Victoria cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It’s not true. I’m the victim."

"I find it hard to believe based upon the evidence."

"Nancy, what do you think you’re doing?" Ned asked.

"Joe," Nancy began. "Remember the pendant you found under the body?" Joe nodded. "The inscription was ‘To my darling Tori’."

"So, we already know that," Ned said.