by C. L. Stone
Axel said nothing to me, but he, too, seemed to be thinking deeply about what had happened. Part of me wished I could have taken it back, but then, I couldn’t, and maybe it was for the best. He’d said there was a separation between us, and there was. I didn’t want to make it worse. I wanted to work with him to get rid of it.
We just didn’t have the time right now.
THE THIEF AMONG US
We found Tara Wayward with Mr. Hill and Mr. Kroner next to the large central swimming pool. The beach bunnies and Fancy were splashing their feet in the water and talking amongst themselves. They really were there just for eye candy. There were several men around, talking to each other, but they all watched the girls every once in a while.
Axel and I found another bench overlooking the parking lot and close to where Ms. Wayward was.
My lower abdomen started cramping. I covered it with my arms. I sat as still as I could.
“What’s wrong?” Axel asked.
“The cramps,” I said. “They’re back.”
“Do you need medicine?”
“I don’t know. I’m not nauseated. Just cramping.” I didn’t want to admit that I’d felt nauseated prior to the day room incident. The cramps now weren’t as bad as last time, just really achy. If I stayed still, they seemed to ease. “Just ignore it for now.”
“Let me know if you need to see the doctor.”
I stared out at the parking lot while Axel kept an eye on our target. I was uncomfortable after my conversation with Axel and worried about Blake since I hadn’t heard from him. To distract myself from thinking about relationships, I considered who might have hit him. What had his attacker not wanted him to see? Or was it revenge for something I wasn’t aware of?
Blake said the blond crewman had been walking out of the spa. At the very least, we should check that spa out and find out what Mr. Smith was paying for.
Axel sat next to me. He smiled, although I could tell from his eyes that he was faking it. “We should probably look into the cruise schedule. There’s several public events,” he said. “If Ms. Tara and the others are going to hit the amenities, we should set ourselves up for those, too.”
“Okay,” I said with no real enthusiasm. I thought he was just talking to look like he was talking. No one appeared to be within hearing range.
“Smile, sweetheart. You’re here on vacation.”
I forced a smile.
“Now that is scary.”
I didn’t know what a non-scary smile was so I went for easy-going look rather than an attempt at another smile. I wasn’t really in the mood and being forced to interact with him after such an awkward moment made it hard to concentrate, not to mention the achy cramps. “What do we do now?”
“Wait for everyone else to board,” he said. “At this point, let’s try to make introductions to the right people. Nothing big. Just friendly. Let’s get them to recognize your face.”
“Shouldn’t we find whoever hit Blake?”
“Trust me, the team is already working on it. Right now, you and I can’t do anything. We have to look like we’re here on vacation. You shouldn’t let anyone know that you know what happened to Blake. You have to be available, visible.”
I leaned back against the seat, folding my arms over my stomach. The sleepy feeling from the pill was returning. I wanted to stretch out in the room and nap. “How do you socialize with complete strangers?”
“If we approach people too quickly, it’ll look desperate.”
“Maybe I should be desperate?”
Axel turned his head, looming over me as he sat there. He was supposed to be my boyfriend so he did need to look like it. “What do you mean?”
“Old Mr. Murdock isn’t around,” I said. “Shouldn’t I be more worried about that situation? If I report directly to him as the manager, I should be wanting to find him. Badly.”
His dark eyes scanned the deck of the ship. As I listened to the upbeat music playing from the speakers, I followed his gaze to the pool and the beach bunnies splashing their feet and playing around. Then he looked to another couple coming from inside the ship and heading to the rail to look out.
“Don’t worry about that right now,” he said finally. “We just need to be social and make friends.”
“I don’t make friends,” I said.
He touched his ear. “And we need to change up a little bit.”
“Why?”
“I need to go.” He looked up, his gaze focused.
I turned my head, following to see Brandon approaching. He was smiling, looking fresh, and carrying a bottle of water. “Hey,” he said, waving. He had changed into a red polo and tan slacks. The polo was tight in the shoulders and slimmer at the waist, and made him appear taller. “I thought I recognized you.”
“Talk to Brandon,” Axel said as he stood, still forcing a smile. “I need to go for a little walk.”
“Alone?” I asked.
“Marc’s going to meet me. Kevin’s trying to make friends with the crew and find out what he can about them. Raven is going to have to join him so he’s not alone. I meant what I said before, but now it’s critical. No one is to be left alone on this ship.”
“Not even Blake?”
Axel pressed his lips together, but nodded shortly and then walked away. At the corner, right before he turned, Marc appeared. They said hello, shook hands, and then walked out of my view.
I sat back. I had to pretend to be okay, but I was worried about Blake. I wanted to tell Axel to be careful. I wished it was Corey and not Brandon, as I was sure he’d fight with me over not telling him about Blake.
Brandon kept his eyes on Axel until he disappeared. “We should walk around,” he said. “Somewhere closer to Fancy. We need to appear approachable, not secretive and off by ourselves.”
I got up quietly, compliant. I fiddled with the earpiece and pulled it out and put it in my dress pocket. It was dead anyway, or Blake had gotten rid of his. The ones I’d gotten from the guys in the past had always had a short battery life. Would we have to swap these out every once in a while? I wondered if I’d get another one soon.
Brandon escorted me the long way to circle the far side of the pool so we could look out over the rails at the river. Some guests were already in bathing suits and taking advantage of the nearly empty pool while others were still boarding. Some guests walked around, toward other parts of the ship, taking tours.
Walking did do me some good. It woke me up a little. Not much but enough that I didn’t feel like crawling back into bed. I shoved my hands into my dress pockets, trying to push it down to make the skirt longer. After exposing myself to a crew woman, I felt like everyone could see right through the dress. I wanted to change into something else, but didn’t dare ask Fancy. And I definitely didn’t want to bug Brandon about it and have to explain why.
I slid along in the loafers. Brandon walked quietly beside me for a while, studying our surroundings, the people. He looked down at his feet and then at mine. “Those are some ugly shoes,” he said.
“Not my favorite.”
“Do you need different shoes? Are they hurting your feet?”
“No,” I said. Since he wasn’t yelling at me, I found myself slipping into how he and I had talked prior to getting on the boat. It was similar to the older brother mode he fell into with Corey. I confided in him a lot, more than I would the others. He was the one person I felt I could ask for things from and not feel weird. He knew where I stood with wanting to pay him back. I only ever asked out of necessity. “I do want new shoes, though, but I don’t know how much those cost and Axel said not to buy anything with a card.”
“I might have enough cash,” Brandon said.
I thought about asking him about new clothes, but Fancy did want me to wear a certain style. I’d have to consult with her as to what. I didn’t want to throw off her game plan. It did make sense, anyway. If her over-the-top style wasn’t going to win someone over, I’d have to play a nice girl, approachable.
If I could get rid of the shoes for something in my size, though, I wouldn’t feel so clumsy. “Let’s walk a bit,” I said. “Maybe we’ll stop by some of the shops.”
We got to the edge of the rail overlooking the water and stopped. I turned, leaning my back against the rail to watch the girls in the pool and then slid my glance to Ms. Wayward, who was petting Raisin in her lap while she talked to Hill and Kroner. “They’re friendly,” I said.
“Hm,” Brandon mumbled.
I looked over at him. His face was calm, and his usual sad eyes were different. It was hard to tell his mood when he wasn’t looking at me. “Hey,” I said.
He turned in reaction and I caught the anger then. It was deep within the cerulean, buried under what was supposed to be him pretending to have a good time, deeper than the sadness. The bits of red from his cheeks weren’t just from the sun damage.
“Are...are you still mad I didn’t tell you about Blake?” I asked. The question slipped from my mouth without me meaning to ask. What else could he be mad about?
Brandon lowered his eyes. “Kayli, I’m not in a very good mood right now. And I have to be here with you until Axel comes back. Let’s just pretend we’re enjoying hanging out here.”
I shifted sideways against the rail. Brandon frowned and refused to look at me. Since we’d been in the hospital, I felt close to him. Now he was closing me off. I wanted to punch him. Not in a good mood? Did I look like I was in a great mood? Yet I was at least trying to be pleasant to him. If this was still about Blake, then he needed to get over himself. “If you’re mad at me, just say it.”
Brandon shook his head and continued to stare out at the river. “Don’t talk about it,” he said. “You’ll make a scene.”
“I’ll make a scene? What about you over there frowning and brooding?” I said to him through bared teeth. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just focus on Tara.”
His comment caused me to turn and focus on Ms. Wayward, who was more interested in Raisin. There were some other people coming in from around the ship. The boat was going to be crawling with people soon. The beach bunnies were becoming more animated, getting up from the pool and walking around, laughing loudly, spreading the party vibe. The music had turned up a little, too. The sun overhead was warming up, and people in the pool were splashing and swimming around, oblivious.
It was upsetting that Brandon would be angry with me, when he was the one who had attacked Blake without even asking what was going on. And then he’d continue to be mad and not even talk to me about it? Nope. We too much to do for him to sulk about some petty misunderstandings.
It fueled my anger and my need to get things rolling. I started to walk away from him, eager to get this over with. Then I needed to talk to him privately about being a jerk when I needed him to be better than that right now.
“Where are you going?” Brandon asked. He watched me for a minute before he started jogging to catch up to me.
I made my way around the pool, trying to look normal and on vacation. I looked over the clear water of the pool and made polite hellos to other guests as I passed. I excused myself when I bumped into a burly older gentleman coming out of the pool to get a towel. My target right now was Tara Wayward. I wanted to make an introduction, at least to get my face known.
I started to walk past her and Raisin. Raisin started to yap since I moved so close. At first, I paused, checking on Hill and Kroner to see if they gave any indication that they didn’t want me around, but they were both watching the dog. When I looked at Raisin, he yapped but his tail was wagging. “Aw,” I said. “Am I scary?” A good way to start a conversation: talk to the dog.
“He’s scared of everyone,” Ms. Wayward said. She had a sharp voice, as sharp as her nose. Her hair was brushed back into a very tight bun that seemed like it might be her usual style. I couldn’t picture her in a political position for some reason, like a mayor or president. She appeared to be more like a headmistress for some private school. She would reprimand in a heartbeat if you did the wrong thing. “I’ve got three at home. I didn’t bring them. They don’t tolerate other people outside of me and their babysitter.”
I made a mental note about her: spoils her dogs. I bent a little, wiggling my fingers at Raisin. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m friendly.”
The dog continued to bark. Ms. Wayward smiled and pulled the dog away. Her gauzy blue slacks wrinkled up. The dog clawed at her white tank shirt and light blue sweater. She scratched at his ears. “Poor dear,” she said, sharing a more sympathetic look with me. “Don’t take offense.”
“Yeah,” Mr. Hill said, leaning over a bit and giving the dog a pat. “Sweetheart, that little puppy is just so protective of people he considers family.”
Brandon came and stood next to me, a forced polite smile on his face. I gave a smile to Hill and then looked at Ms. Wayward. “Oh? You’re related?”
She shook her head. “I work closely with them on some projects.” She held out her hand in offering. “Do I remember you from somewhere? Don’t you work in...”
If I just announced I was a fund manager, it might set off alarm bells, since it wasn’t supposed to be a public thing. I reached to shake her hand, going for a firm handshake. “I work in finance,” I said, “with Mr. Murdock.”
“Junior or senior?” she asked.
“The...senior,” I said. Just the way she put it had me confused for a moment. Mr. Murdock’s name wasn’t Ethan, too, was it? No... I remembered it being different. “And you? Are you one of the CEOs?”
“I’m Tara Wayward. I’m just on a couple of nonprofit boards. No CEO title for me. I don’t have time for much else.” She motioned to Hill and Kroner, who were now involved in their own conversation. Brandon shifted, pretending to listen to them. “Mr. Kroner is in real estate and Mr. Hill...”
“Is a CFO, isn’t he?”
Tara paused and her eyes opened up wide.
Oops. I’d interrupted her. I was going to get a ruler slap to the back of my knuckles. “Sorry,” I said. “I’ve come across some names in what I do. I thought he looked familiar.”
“Oh. Right. If you work in finance, do you run into the CFOs?”
“No,” I said. “I work directly under Mr. Murdock, but I don’t have much interaction with the companies he runs.” What did that mean? I was trying to get out from under the assumption I knew people personally, but then I was also talking in circles. I needed to get familiar with how companies worked if I was going to make my story believable. “There hasn’t been much for me to do…you know, since Mr. Murdock seems to have disappeared. I don’t really have anyone to report to now. The younger Mr. Murdock, Ethan, doesn’t seem to be aware of me and the accounts I overlook.” I wasn’t exactly sure what to mention and when. How far was I supposed to go with these introductions?
She tilted her head in a nod. “Oh, right,” she said. “Are you his personal financial advisor?”
That sounded important, but then, the way she said it, I wasn’t sure if she might already know who his financial advisor was. Maybe she was testing me. I wasn’t going to get help from anywhere right now. I needed to avoid the topic. She was the one fishing for what I did for work, though.
“In a way,” I said. I refocused on Raisin and did a little finger wave to him. “I hope he’ll be okay with so many people coming on board.”
Tara pressed her lips together in what I thought was meant to be a smile but mostly looked like a confused grimace. She hugged Raisin to her chest, getting black fur over her white tank shirt. “He’ll be fine.”
I waved again and walked away. Chunks of info at a time. Work slowly. She was curious about what I did, but I didn’t get any red flags. She might not be an investor. Could I be wrong? Maybe it was just Mr. Smith who’d made investments with Mr. Murdock and I had just gotten lucky on my first go.
It was going to take time to survey everyone on the ship this way. And this wasn’t going to help figure out where the money was
going in Nightingale. Where in the world had Axel run off to?
I headed toward the corner of the pool, realizing to go any further, I’d look like an idiot just circling around with no real rhyme or reason. I had no idea where Mr. Smith was. I didn’t know anyone else from Nightingale and what they looked like—except perhaps for Colt Baker, and I didn’t see him around. Brandon was stuck talking to Mr. Hill and Mr. Kroner about something. Ms. Wayward had walked off with Raisin back inside the ship.
They really were familiar. Hill had just let Tara walk off with his dog without question. I thought maybe we should be making friends with Hill and Kroner. But I couldn’t go back and talk to them right now. It felt a little weird. Anyway, we still had plenty of time.
“Kay bay!” The shrill cry of Fancy came at me like a fresh splash of cold water.
I rubbed my fingers against the corduroy and was tempted to ignore her and walk back inside the ship; Brandon could just meet me when he was done. I didn’t feel like chatting with the bunnies. I hesitated before going inside because if I did, I’d be out of Brandon’s sight. I didn’t have anyone else to buddy up with, and I was without an ear thingie. I’d be on my own.
Someone touched my arm, and I turned, finding Fancy followed by the beach bunnies. Fancy was grinning from ear to ear and wiggled, making her boobs in her yellow bikini top bounce. I wondered how it stayed on. More reverse tape like how the socks stayed up to my knees? Super glue?
“I’ve got extra bikinis,” she said. “I didn’t know if you wanted to go swimming.”
“Not today,” I said, looking over her shoulder at the bunnies. They talked to each other, something about eyeliner. “How’s it going?”
“Slow,” Fancy said. “Waiting for more people to come onboard. Then I can make rounds with the men folk.”
“How are you going to handle all of them?”
“One at a time,” she said with a sly smile. She tilted her head, putting a finger to her cheek as she thought. “Unless more are into a party. And there’s going to be around a thousand people coming aboard?”