by C. L. Stone
“Slipped,” I said.
“I noticed.” He held onto my elbow the rest of the way down.
The rest of the men watched us. All were frowning aside from Kevin, Avery and Ethan. Those three were just curious, and seemed oblivious to the jealous glares everyone else wore.
“Are you okay, dear?” Ethan asked once we got to the foyer floor. “I do worry about having marble as a stairway. It looks amazing but not at the risk of our women falling.”
How chivalrous. Let’s all point at the girl and feel sorry for her because her loafers were too big for her feet. I know he was just showing some sympathy in traditional Southern charm, but since I was the one embarrassed, it grated. “I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s just focus.”
“Right,” Ethan said and turned to Axel, holding out a hand. “Welcome again. So glad to have you on board.”
Axel walked over to him, shook Ethan’s hand and nodded. “I just hope we can help.”
“I do, too,” Ethan said. He took his hand back and then waved his arms wide for everyone. “Okay, so I wanted to ask you all here. I know we’re due for guests at any moment, but I wanted to talk to everyone all together. I’ve been informed of the plan. I just hope we’re not in too over our heads.”
“If we take things slow, it should be fine,” Blake said. He looked casually at everyone. The others seemed to have calmed down, or at least had hidden their dislike well enough for now. “There is absolutely no rush to act, unless you discover information that should suggest otherwise. In which case, let either Kayli or I know immediately. Let’s try not to make a move without discussing it.”
“Remember, people,” Ethan said. “Despite our interests, all of these people are guests. They are to be treated with respect, even when and if we prove our suspicions to be correct. We don’t want to alarm our innocent friends by assaulting the wrongdoers, if we should find any.”
I leaned on one foot, distracted as they went on. It was probably the medicine I’d taken earlier, making it hard to concentrate. I was concerned about how I was going to talk to complete strangers and make friends just enough for them to trust me. This wasn’t my forte. I was a pickpocket. I didn’t make friends with people I stole from. I didn’t have many friends of my own. Being nice to strangers was one thing, but getting to know them was going to be very different.
I turned my head, distracted by movement on the second floor near the shops, and was surprised to find Raven by my side. I hadn’t heard him move.
I leaned into him and whispered. “Raven?”
He kept his eyes on Ethan like he was listening bur spoke to me. “Did you hurt your foot?” he asked quietly. “When you slipped?”
“No,” I said. I lifted my ankle and bent it, to show him the bottom of the loafers. “These aren’t exactly my size. And the bottoms are really slippery.”
Raven studied the material and then turned, reaching out to pinch Corey on the arm.
Corey looked our way. He smiled and stepped closer, leaning in. “What?”
“Fix her shoes,” Raven said, pointing to my loafer.
“Do I look like a cobbler?” Corey whispered, the smile turning more amused.
Raven grunted low, disappointed. “You fix things.”
“Computers,” he said. “I fix computers. I fixed your phone. I don’t know anything about shoes.” He looked at the shoes and then at my outfit and then the glasses. “You look good in glasses.”
I touched the corner of the glasses, feeling self-conscious. “They’re a pain,” I said. “I think they’ll fall off.”
“I wear them sometimes,” Corey said. “When we’re on missions. They can be a nice touch.”
Kevin partially turned and snapped his fingers at us and then put a finger against his lips in a silencing gesture, reminding us to pay attention.
I refocused on Ethan and Blake who were taking turns talking about where life vests were, where the crew stayed and some emergency situations to be aware of. “We’ve got a list of gun owners who may come aboard with a weapon. Only one on the Nightingale team, but at the very least, be aware of the others. Now, I think that’s it.”
Kevin raised a hand in the air.
“Yeah?” Blake asked him. “Am I forgetting something?”
“Where exactly do we go if we do learn anything? Do we have a base to drop off notes or something?”
“When you get a chance, either Avery, Kayli or I can show you where Doyle’s and my rooms are. You’re welcome to go there any time. Leave notes. Leave clues. Whatever you need to do, but once a day, preferably in the morning, try to drop by, write your name and the time and anything you might have learned. That’ll just help us make sure we’re all okay.” He picked up his phone and held it in front of himself. “Now, can I get a quick check-in on what everyone will be focusing on? Axel, Kayli and I will be focused on the Nightingale team directly. The rest of you?”
“I’ll be with the crew,” Kevin said. “Raven will go with me when I’m with them. I asked specifically if I could blend in with cleaning crew and with serving at the social events, since I’ve got experience being a waiter. I can come back as a guest if needed but you all seem to have that covered. I’ve already got uniforms for us. When I’m not with Raven, I’ll find Corey to work with him on going through computer stuff.”
“Brandon and I will be available in public,” Corey said. “We’ll pass whatever you need back and forth, and can switch out.” He pointed to his own pants and then Brandon’s dark clothes. “We’ve got to go change in a minute but we’ll be ready. If we aren’t needed, we’ll be working on any cell phones or laptops we’re able to snag.”
Marc stepped forward. “I’ll be a backup for everyone. I’ll follow with Brandon if he talks to anyone of interest. Raven and I will be working the rooms they’ll be staying in to go through laptops, starting with Nightingale people and working our way down through the list. We’ve got portable drives and will copy hard drives where we can and leave. Nothing fancy. We’ll bring anything Nightingale to Corey and will leave the rest for later when we’ve got time. We’re going to make use of some of the service tunnels along the ship to show up if you need us at any time. We also need to keep an eye on Fancy if she wanders off with anyone. We’ll be her back-up.”
“Brilliant,” Ethan said. He waved his arms again to get our attention. “Now, gang, just remember, be very, very careful. More important outside of not wanting to get caught, is that I value your safety. Don’t do anything remotely dangerous if you can help it. I’d rather take the long road than risk your welfare.”
I smiled at this, proud that Ethan had said it. See, guys? He’s not so bad.
When no one said anything else, Ethan clapped his hands together. “Then let’s get into our starting positions.”
The team shared looks with each other. Were we ready? There hadn’t been much time to organize. Suddenly, I felt very unprepared. I wanted to study the faces of the Nightingale team again. I wanted to go over how Marc and Raven would go about getting into their rooms and how Corey was going to dig up their information without leaving a trace. I didn’t want Kevin by himself with the crew and wanted Raven to be with him. I wanted to be around them all so they wouldn’t get into trouble.
Too late to back down now. I’d signed up for this. I’d be at fault if anything went wrong.
I could only hope the boys would behave. Right now our greatest threat was among us and if they could get along with Blake.
I looked back at Blake as the others moved on. He had been looking at me and met my eyes. The gold in his flashed with the bright sun filtering down through the dome above us. His light hair took on an almost halo-like glow. He gave a cool, confident smile. The fox.
I smiled back, trying to show confidence. He was trying, making an effort at every turn. If he was willing and trying, the guys had to. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
ALL ABOARD
I stood on the deck of Ethan’s huge cruise liner. It had turned in
to a battle ship. Ethan versus his own company. It still looked like a boat in every way, but somewhere within the many corridors lurked Marc, Raven, Corey, Brandon and Kevin, not to mention Doyle and Fancy. With Axel, Avery, Blake and myself near Ethan now by the gangway, he truly had the most versatile and dangerous set of assistants in his quest to separate out the good and bad of his company.
An entire team assembled to target and dismantle as quietly as possible some of the most powerful people around Charleston.
And me, the thief, was going to help lead them. What in the world had I been thinking?
Ethan was speaking to Axel, going over the list of people who were coming that were personal friends of Ethan’s.
I slid a loafer against the smooth wood of the ship. There were crew and guests to think about now. They’d be lumped together on a ship, discussing the politics and on-goings of each of the companies they represented, while downing lots of caviar and wine and taking advantage of spa treatments.
Avery held onto a clipboard with names. He’d combed his hair back and now had on a blue tie. Very mature.
I wondered if my own look would be accepted by people who didn’t know me. I supposed I should act a little more demure. That would be odd. My hands felt the lines of corduroy in the dress, slightly pushing it down as it constantly felt like I was about to expose my butt. To keep the dress down, I shoved my hands deep into my pockets.
“Avery,” Ethan said as he pulled himself out of his discussion with Axel.
“Yes, sir?” Avery said, stepping up beside him.
Ethan smiled and shook his head. “Don’t call me, sir,” he said. “You’re not a servant. Not even my assistants call me that.”
Avery grimaced. “Sorry. Habit.”
“You’re not driving a taxi anymore,” he said. “Crew of the ship call me Mr. Murdock. In your case, it’s better if you call me Ethan. People will understand instantly that you’re a partner.”
Avery’s lips faltered and he blushed. “A partner?”
“I need you nearby,” Ethan said. “Spot things that appear odd to you. I’m too close to most of these people. I may not see things you might notice.”
Avery gazed at the clipboard. “That’s a lot of people to look at.”
“Your job is to stick by Ethan at every moment,” Axel said. “Your first concern is to ensure he, for one, isn’t in any danger. After the fiasco with his father, the vultures will be circling.”
I gulped at the thought of that. I’d been focusing so much on Nightingale that I hadn’t even thought of what Ethan might be going through. He was more of a target than we were.
“Where will you two be?” Avery asked.
“We’ll make a circle,” Axel said. “We need to keep an eye on every Nightingale board member, even if they won’t talk to us. We’ll be close by to overhear or make friends, whichever works.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “That’s plan A, anyway.”
“We’ve got recording devices in every room,” Avery said. “We might catch more than just Nightingale by the end of this.”
“That’ll take a lot of man hours to listen to all those conversations,” Axel said. “And those things can get interrupted if people really want a quiet talk.”
Avery was quiet for a long moment, turning his face toward the sun and squinting. “Won’t that just mean if they disrupt the listening devices, that we should pay closer attention to those people?”
Axel’s lips twitched and then lifted into a smirk. “You catch on quickly. What in the world were you doing driving a taxi?”
“Driving wasn’t so bad,” Avery said. “You control your time. You learn new things about the city. No pressure except for morning rush hour. Not a lot of people have those advantages.”
Axel nodded, but then turned his head, giving me a long, silent look. He liked Avery.
I was glad about that. I just wished he could learn to like Blake. Blake was over at the bar right now, getting an orange juice that was being served in champagne flutes. He leaned against the counter, looking out at the water on the river side. He really looked like he was on vacation. I couldn’t believe he was so calm.
We stood at the rail, looking down toward the dock at all the activity. There were two guards now in the guardhouse prepared for the arrival of Mr. Murdock’s guests with a copy of the same manifest that Avery held.
A couple of town cars pulled into the parking lot and stopped right at the edge of the dock. A driver hopped out of each, nodding their heads to each other in acknowledgement and hurried to open the back doors.
Two older men stepped out, almost at the same time. One with grey hair and a lean figure carried a small dog in his arm. The other man was on the plump side but they wore similar polo shirts and tan slacks.
“There’s going to be a dog?” I asked, studying the dark Yorkie. The little dog barked as the security guard approached with the clipboard, waving the people on as he checked them off his list. The high pitched yap could be heard, even from the distance we were from them, the sound echoing against the hull of the ship.
“That’s Raisin,” Avery said. “He belongs to Mr. Kroner. The other one is Mr. Hill. They’re old friends. Mr. Kroner is a vice-president for a real estate company. Mr. Hill is CFO for an investment firm.”
My jaw slackened in amazement as I gazed at the side of Avery’s face as he looked toward the oncoming guests. “Do you have them all memorized? You know what they look like and their names?”
Avery shrugged, breaking his concentration to look at me. He smiled, his face lighting up. “I had a head start,” he said. “I guess I studied more than I realized. I was just real nervous. You’re going to have to get familiar with them, too.”
I groaned. I just realized I probably needed to remember their names and faces if I was going to keep track of who acted suspicious outside of Nightingale. “I may need a hand.”
“I’ve got two,” Avery said. “Just let me know.”
“Okay,” Axel said, stepping away from Ethan and curling his fingers at me. “You and I need to break off from Ethan. We are now guests on this ship.”
“Where’s Fancy?” I asked. “Where is she going to be?”
Axel scanned the deck and nodded toward the hot tub area. “She’s doing her job.”
I followed his gaze, spotting Fancy in a skimpy yellow bikini, covered with a very loose blue cover up dress, the woven material covering her crotch area. The cover-up draped across her shoulders to reveal her ample breasts in the yellow bikini top. The stacks of bracelets she normally wore had been lightened to just three on each arm, with a couple of rings on her fingers and a plunging set of necklaces. She stood at the edge of the hot tub, looking out at the water.
Standing beside her were two women, also in bikinis. They were sticks with boobs that appeared to be implants. They went without the cover ups, and leaned into Fancy, giggling and holding orange juice flutes.
“Uh...” I said, tilting my head and not hiding my gawking. “Who are...”
“You can’t have a yacht with rich, powerful men without some eye candy walking around,” Avery said. “They’ve been hired by the company to encourage people to relax and have fun.”
“Fancy’s job is to drink orange juice and hang about?” I asked. “Why didn’t I get that job?” I was joking, but Fancy’s part sounded more relaxing and a lot less stressful. I’d have to don a bikini, but wouldn’t it be worth it?
“Because Fancy is going to get manhandled,” Axel said. “And you’d more than likely shoot a CEO if that happened to you, which would be counterproductive.”
I couldn’t argue his point. Still, it was hard to feel comfortable standing in a dress and long socks and loafers, feeling like a lump compared to the other girls. I inevitably compared their thighs and stomachs to my own, and found myself covering my belly with my arms. It was a girly move, but it was hard not to feel like I was out of place. Maybe I did need to watch what I ate more. Or start exercising. Yeah...no. “So we
have to put up with the beach bunnies hanging around all the time?”
“They’ll target whoever we point out,” he said. “They’ll sneak in and distract someone if you need to check out a pocket. You can use them; they work for us now.”
That did sound a little better. I wondered about the girls. They appeared to be completely female, but even Fancy could fool you if you didn’t know her very well.
Mr. Hill started to board the ship. Mr. Kroner had let Raisin down to poop on the dock, waving Mr. Hill on. The cars they’d arrived in were being unloaded by the drivers. One carried a very fancy dog bed that looked to be made of gold and velvet.
“Excuse us,” someone said and a shoulder brushed past me before I had a chance to look. Two crew members walked toward the gangway, the blond man and another woman I hadn’t seen before. They hurried along, going for the luggage.
I checked out the tiny dog who was hunched over in a vulnerable position, barking frantically at the newcomers. “He’s just going to let his dog poop on the dock?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Avery said. He motioned to the woman, who spoke to Mr. Hill and then moved on to Raisin and Mr. Kroner. She stopped to pull out a plastic bag from a pocket and collected the waste once the dog had finished, talking briefly to Mr. Kroner. The blond crew member moved on to the drivers to collect luggage, pointing toward the ship. There was another level, and a cargo door he kept pointing to. Was that where luggage went? How come we rolled ours all the way up here?
“Who is the blond guy?” I asked. “I didn’t get his name before.”
Before Avery could respond, Axel tugged me away and pointed me toward the bar. “You need to stop talking to Avery and Ethan.”
I waved goodbye to Avery, wishing him luck. I walked with Axel, looking around at the various outdoor chairs and loungers spread out along the deck. “What do you want me to do?”
“Relax for now,” he said. He took my elbow until I stood with him at the corner of the bar, where another member of the crew—a woman with slicked back brown hair in a bun—stood by. She wiped counters that were already clean. There were trays of flutes with the orange juice already prepared. Axel took two and handed one to me. “Right now, we pretend we belong here. And we wait for someone interesting to arrive to talk to. Don’t just jump out at everyone coming on board. Just take it slow.”