by Dana Mentink
“I wouldn’t say it’s a nest. Maybe a barbershop quartet’s worth.”
“Anyone tell you that you make no sense sometimes, agent?”
“That’s four, Jack. Max of four.”
The officer chuckled, candy clacking across his teeth. “And the mainland?”
Shaun glanced out at the ocean, but the night had grown too deep to see much of anything. “The Wolf could be waiting at harbor to receive packages, intending to move them elsewhere. Haven’t ruled that possibility out yet.”
Jack sighed and cleared his throat. “You’re close, kid. I don’t need to tell you twice to be careful.” The weariness in Jack’s voice came through loud and clear on Shaun’s end. This op had taken a lot out of everyone involved, including the lives of several agents and more than one asset. Not to mention the drain on external relationships—hence his ongoing singleness since that day eight years ago when he’d told Nicola that they simply weren’t right for each other.
With the finish line to the op closer than ever, Shaun needed to ensure that he could protect the people around him without having to lie or coerce them into cooperation. “The woman who was attacked, Alexandra Reilly, could be a valuable asset. She’s got her own set of intel on a missing woman she’s tracking, which we could use to help triangulate or narrow down the Wolf’s position. Plus, she seems to be a direct target at this stage. Keeping her out of harm’s way may be to our direct advantage.
“And, uh…” Shaun cleared his throat before continuing. “Point of note? I had a brief friendship and a falling out with her sister. Before the Agency, I mean. It was during the mission trip to Botswana that changed my life. I honestly never thought I’d see either of them again, but the point here is that Lexie Reilly knows my real name. I had to correct her so she wouldn’t blow my cover, but this has made her aware I’m using a different name on board. She’s not naive, Jack. It’s only a matter of time before she starts asking questions.”
Jack thought for a moment before responding. “Your call on how deep to involve the asset, then. Might be worth involving ferry security, too.” Shaun tried to protest, but Jack cut him off. “Hear me out on this. If you’re on a ferry with passengers aboard, and one of them is capable of intense violence to protect his interests, you’re going to need help keeping order if things get out of hand. Especially if you’re stuck at sea for several days.”
Bring the security team into the investigation? Shaun had done similar things before, and in this case it meant having more bodies on the lookout for Lexie and the rest of the passengers. It could be a smart move, depending on how reliable and skilled the ferry security team happened to be. “You sure they won’t just get in the way, Jack? Not to question their training for the job, but that’s exactly what I’m concerned about. Maybe bring in the captain instead?”
“Bring in security, agent. Use your cover story, and watch your back. There are more people to think about here than just the Wolf. We don’t want an international incident on our hands. Emphasize the need for discretion and do what you need to keep them in line, but it sounds like you’re going to want all the help you can get. Understood?”
Shaun understood, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Would Lexie be glad to hear he had a legitimate claim to help her, or would she be angry that he’d been less than forthcoming about his role on board thus far? “Hey, Jack? Think you could do a little favor for me?”
The other man’s fingers tapped on his keyboard as Shaun spoke. Jack was likely swamped with work, but Shaun hoped his next request wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibility.
“Fire away. Not literally, kid.” Jack laughed at his own joke. “What is it?”
“Can you search for any intelligence on Alexandra and Nicola Reilly?”
“You want me to do a background on the asset? That’s not so unusual. Probably would have done it anyway.”
Shaun brushed a lock of stray hair out of his eyes, resting his fingertips on his temple. “I should also mention that the asset is angry at me, and I don’t know why.”
Jack’s tone shifted from handler to amused friend. “Have you tried asking her about it?”
“Not exactly the right timing, as you may have deduced.”
“It’s never the right timing, agent. As with anything involving assets or outside relationships, you have to make time. I thought you’d have learned that by now.”
Shaun’s heart tightened. During Shaun’s early days at the Agency, the man had coached him through months of personal doubt. Of course his advice was spot on. “It’s an easy lesson to remember, but a harder one to practice. I’ll try to talk to her, and that’s a promise. But can you still look into it for me? I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to call back in, especially if things get dicey. Hold the info until then.”
Jack agreed, and Shaun hung up with a heavy weight in his chest. He had to talk to Lexie and tell her the truth—she deserved it, and if he was honest with himself, he cared for her well-being enough to want to tell her. More than her well-being, in fact. He cared for her, and for a moment in her cabin, it seemed as though she might have begun to care for him, too.
*
Lexie’s new cabin had a similar layout to her old one, with the addition of a coffeemaker and ritzier linens. The location gave the illusion of safety, at least—Josh had pointed out the security office as they passed by, and they’d crossed paths with the captain coming out of his quarters. After dropping her bags off in the room, she intended to head to the lounge, but her stomach rumbled a reminder that she hadn’t eaten since lunchtime.
“Can we escort you back to the lounge?” mumbled Reed, the redheaded security officer. He didn’t make eye contact as he spoke, as though he also knew how silly the request was as he made it. “Your friend said he’d meet you there.”
Lexie shut the cabin door behind her and watched as a couple lumbered through the hallway, suited head-to-toe in heavy winter gear. “The lounge is one floor up and a straight path down the outside deck, right?”
Reed nodded, but his forehead creased with concern. “Sure, but it’s mighty cold outside. Wouldn’t recommend going outside in this weather. It ain’t safe. Slippery out there at night. And your friend made me promise to take you back to the lounge myself.”
So, the question had been a formality and she couldn’t escape the escort after all. What she wouldn’t give for a few minutes to herself to think. She needed time to process everything that had happened, not to mention the oddly heroic actions of Shaun “Lane.” If she didn’t know any better, she’d peg him for some kind of law enforcement, not a government man.
Her stomach rumbled again, louder this time. Reed glanced sideways at her belly, and heat rose in her cheeks. The events of the past hour had, once again, prevented her from finishing both coffee number two and her bag of trail mix. “I’ll be fine,” she said, using her go-to dismissal. “I doubt whoever left the message on my bunk is going to try any funny business with so many passengers wandering up and down the halls. From the sound of things, heading to the buffet upstairs is a better option for me.”
Despite her insistence that she could make it up two floors to the restaurant on her own, Josh decided that he’d head back to her old quarters to let Shaun know where she’d gone while Reed escorted her to the buffet. They took the elevator up two more floors to the short escalator that took them the rest of the way to the ship’s open-concept restaurant. They arrived amidst a massive crowd of passengers, many of whom stood around with worried or anxious expressions on their faces. Lexie suspected that much of the anxiety stemmed from hunger, as hers did, rather than a worry over their delayed arrival in Argentia.
The scent of mashed potatoes, lobster, gravy and fresh biscuits wafted throughout the room, sending Lexie’s stomach into a complete tailspin. A giddy little girl passed by holding a plate piled high with battered haddock and French fries smothered in ketchup. Lexie resisted the urge to reach out and snatch a fry off the girl’s p
late.
“I can take it from here,” Lexie said, whirling around to pull her attention from all the loaded plates. “You’ll make sure the other guy found Shaun and told him where I went?”
Reed pulled a walkie-talkie from his utility belt and waved it back and forth. “Will do. I gotta get back to help them anyway. You run into any trouble, there are emergency phones around. Pick one up and dial nine, and we’ll be on the other end.”
Lexie thanked the reserved young officer and watched him walk away. Should she have gone back to get Shaun before heading here? Another glance at the fully laden buffet struck her with a wave of guilt. It wasn’t as though Shaun had eaten dinner, either. The temptation to grab a biscuit or a handful of onion rings tugged at her willpower.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned away from the buffet. It made more sense to wait for Shaun. Plus, now might not be the best time to sit down and spend a half hour eating, not if Maria might actually be aboard the ship. Every second could mean the difference between life and death.
Lexie’s stomach roiled at the thought. Fries and gravy didn’t seem all that appealing anymore. She slipped down the descending escalator, taking the steps in small hops to make the journey faster. If she moved quickly, perhaps she could catch Shaun on his way here, and redirect the both of them to the lounge for a coffee and granola bar.
She recalled Shaun’s cryptic statements in her room after they’d found the braid and photograph. He’d known far too much about human trafficking to simply be a casual passenger on this ship. Pulse pounding in her ears, Lexie stopped when she came to a branching hallway. She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going, too lost in urgent thoughts. She turned right and found herself in a short corridor with a metal crash-bar door at the end. A bright-red exit sign hung at the top. The door looked similar to the one by the stairs that led up from the parking deck, so she pushed on the door, intending to walk down the two flights of stairs instead of continuing to search for the elevator.
Lexie jumped back with a yelp as a blast of freezing cold air slammed into her face. The heavy door fell back into place as she backed out of the little corridor. What had Reed said? Taking the outer deck could be dangerous at night. Too slippery. Fine, she’d find another way.
Her attempt to retrace her steps proved more difficult than expected, and it took only a few minutes to realize she’d wandered even farther off course than before. All the passenger doors looked the same, closed and silent, with only the hum of the ship’s inner workings to let her know there was still life aboard. Where is everyone? A staff member would be really handy right about now…
“Miss? Are you lost?”
Lexie jumped, alarmed that someone could sneak up on her in this quiet area of the ship. Her shoulders loosened, seeing a familiar face. “Security officer Josh, thank goodness.”
Josh brightened as he recognized her. “Miss Reilly! I thought you were headed up to find dinner?”
“I thought I’d wait for Shaun,” she admitted, feeling sheepish at being caught wandering the halls. “I wanted to head back to my old cabin and see if he was still there, but I started thinking about everything that had happened and took a few wrong turns.”
Josh pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Elevator’s back that way, stairs are past them at the far end. Can I walk you down there? Shaun actually sent me back to find you. He said he’d be a few minutes longer.”
“I guess so. I honestly don’t know where I am. Lead the way.”
When they reached the elevator, Josh punched the button for two floors down. The elevator rose through the shaft with a high-pitched screech. “Uh, forget you heard that. I promise it’s safe. I was actually on my way to see the maintenance team about it. If you can believe it, the maintenance elevators a few doors down are even worse.”
“That’s mildly reassuring. I’ve had enough excitement for one day.” They rode the elevator to the correct floor, Lexie only breaking the silence when the doors opened with a quiet ding. “Thanks. Which direction?”
Josh pointed to the right. “Head that way for Shaun. Two left turns and you’ll be in the correct hall.”
Lexie thanked him and trudged down the hall, turning left at the end. However, the hall she ended up in had several branching hallways, each looking similar to the other. Was she supposed to take the first left, or just find the hall with the right room numbers?
As she stood contemplating which hall to take, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She whirled around, fully expecting to see someone behind her, but the hall was empty. She needed to make a decision.
Lexie took the first hall to her left, but only managed a few steps before freezing in place. It truly felt as if she was being watched, but when she turned to look, she was confronted once again by an empty hall.
After the third time, she couldn’t take it anymore. Whether someone was following her or not, she wasn’t going to play the sitting duck and give them an open target. With a sudden burst of speed, Lexie turned down the closest hallway and bolted.
SIX
Shaun exited his room deep in thought, contemplating the least contentious way to let Lexie know about the op without compromising his cover. Straight-to-the-point honesty seemed like the best choice, as usual. She was smart and would be able to fill in any obvious blanks.
He pulled his door shut just as Lexie careened around a corner and barreled straight into him. Shaun’s feet flew out from under him and they tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs. “Hello to you, too,” he wheezed, enjoying the deepening pink on Lexie’s cheeks perhaps more than he should.
“Sorry,” she stammered, her apology coming out thin and breathless. “I thought someone was following me, and then a headache came on without warning…”
Shaun rose to his feet and offered his hand. To his surprise, she forewent the look of disdain and instead grasped his outstretched palm. Her hand felt soft and warm, and he regretted having to let go. “Are you feeling all right now?”
“Aside from a bruised ego? More or less. The headache is subsiding, believe it or not.” She brushed a tumble of hair out of her eyes and reached behind her head to straighten her hair clip. “Sorry, again.”
“Don’t worry about it. I was lost in thought myself, coming out the door. But now that you’re here—”
“We need to talk,” they said in unison.
A hint of amusement appeared at the corner of Lexie’s lips. “I could use another coffee,” she said. “And a snack. Are you hungry? The buffet is busy but open. It smells amazing.”
Shaun had to admit that he’d been starving for the past hour, but a crowded, noisy room didn’t sound like the best place for a serious conversation. He suggested the lounge instead, which turned out to be the right call. Only a few couples and a solo traveler remained in the area, sipping paper cups of tea and coffee.
Shaun chose a table in the opposite corner. He made a quick call through to Parsons on one of the wall-mounted emergency phones before ordering two coffees from the coffee bar.
“One cream,” he said, setting the cup down in front of Lexie. Her eyes widened in surprise, then softened as he took his seat.
“You remembered,” she murmured, taking off the lid to cool the hot beverage faster. “Impressive.”
“I aim to please,” he replied, realizing how cliché it sounded the moment the words left his mouth. Still, it brought a figment of a smile to her lips, so he shoved aside the regret. What would it take to make her smile without reservation? “But before I get to my news,” he said, feeling bold, “we need to clear up a few things. Have I done something to offend you?”
Lexie’s gaze dropped as she blew on the surface of her coffee. “I don’t see how that’s relevant to the immediate situation.” Her jawline hardened and a heavy silence descended on their table.
Shaun swallowed hard on his next sip of coffee, the liquid scalding the back of his throat as it slid down. “I’ll take that as a yes
. What did I do?”
Lexie scowled and folded her arms across her chest, leaning back in her chair. “You know exactly what you did. Or have you broken so many hearts since Nikki that you can’t even remember back that far?”
Her words felt like a jolt of electricity in the brain. “Broken hearts? What are you talking about? We were just friends. I mean, near the end of the trip she told me she wanted more, but I explained I wasn’t interested in a relationship and we left it at that.”
Lexie shook her head, refusing to make eye contact. “And now you’re a liar, too. I thought you’d become a nicer person, based on the past few hours, but I guess I was wrong.”
It was like a giant vacuum had sucked all the air from the room. Lexie’s sister had lied to her? Why? To what end? “I promise you, I wasn’t aware of any broken hearts. The mission trip changed me, Lexie. All that poverty and suffering…I knew it was time to put away the past and get serious.”
That got her attention. She stared at him, incredulous. “I don’t believe you. Nikki and I were close. I saw how hurt she was by you, let her cry on my shoulder and dealt with the fallout when we got home. I watched her fall to pieces, Shaun.”
Shaun tried to process what she’d said. “Were close? Not anymore?”
“Yes, were. Obviously that’s not the case now.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand. Did she move away?”
Lexie’s expression remained flat and uninviting. “You know very well what happened.” Her scowl faltered as Shaun felt his jaw drop. “She told me that she thought you two were a couple, that you kissed her and led her on before dumping her for another girl. I told her to forget you, that you didn’t know what you were missing…” Her voice lowered to a whisper, and she stared at her hands on the table.
“Lexie.” Shaun reached across and covered her hands with his own. Clearly her sister had kept the truth from her for some reason. “We were just friends. Nothing happened between us that summer. Nikki was fun to be around and we had a lot of laughs, but I wasn’t interested in her that way. A relationship was the furthest thing from my mind, and I was honest with her when she told me she wanted more than friendship.”