by C. L. Stone
I was glad of the break; I was losing energy, and it was getting harder to think straight. Despite having slept for hours, I was in need of coffee and real food.
Corey found bottles of water and some packets of candy meant to be sold in rooms.
We split the candy and water; it wasn’t enough, but it was something.
Corey stood by the door with Raven, ready to make excuses if a maid came by, or punch Baldy out if he came on the hunt for us.
I sat with my back against the wall, eyes closed, my brain refusing to stay quiet. I kept going over what to do if we got a name for the investor. It wasn’t like I could just knock him out, drag him to a room and make him confess everything.
Could I?
“So you really weren’t angry about Blake and Axel?” Corey asked, and I could hear the crinkle of the packet as he picked M&M’s out one by one. The crinkling was getting annoying, but I was too tired to say anything.
I heard as Raven unzipped the jumpsuit a little before he said, “I was, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.”
I lifted my head, my eyes opening. “What?”
“Go to sleep,” Raven said.
“No,” I said, leaning forward and putting my elbows on my knees. “What do you mean? You lied to me?”
He grunted and turned toward me. “It was more for Henry. We don’t like Blake.”
Corey lightly backhanded him on his chest. “Don’t tell her that.”
“We don’t like him,” Raven said, frowning. “She knows this.”
Corey sighed and turned to me. “We just need to get out of this mess without Henry talking to the Academy, telling them that our group has problems.”
Huh? “You mean Blake’s a problem?” I asked.
“Blake’s a lot of trouble. Just look at what he did here.”
“Is it his fault for wanting to help?”
“He’s reckless,” Corey said. “He never listens to anyone.”
“Axel hates him,” Raven said. He pointed a thumb at his own chest. “So we hate him.”
I ground my teeth, but the movement hurt my brain. I leaned my head back, anger boiling inside me. “Axel’s not giving him a chance. You all were the ones being nosy in his business from the start. Blake could still be mad at you, but he’s been trying to make friends.”
“We’re better without him.”
“He’s not terrible,” Corey said with a sheepish smile, “but he’s not winning points luring you out here into danger and being so passive-aggressive.”
“Axel’s passive-aggressive with him,” I said, opening my eyes again and glaring at them. “I’ve gotten into more trouble with you all…”
“You were in trouble because of him the first time,” Corey said. “You are the one who wanted to go after him when he was going to dump drugs into a well and make people sick.”
“He was getting drugs out of town,” I said. “He just—”
“Listen to yourself, Kayli,” Corey said, and he left Raven by the door to come to me. He knelt and pressed his palm to his chest. “We would never do that sort of thing. You hated him when you found out what he was up to. Why would you defend something like that?”
“It was a mistake,” I said. “I’m not trying to justify it, but he never completed what he set out to do and he’s trying to make things better, in his own way. Are we not allowed to make a few errors in judgment? I’ve made enough.”
Corey sighed and looked over to Raven for help.
“Don’t need him,” Raven said. “He’s got enough friends. He’s gone this long on his own.”
I grunted. “Hey, how about we ask Kayli how she feels about him? Maybe she can make her own mind up. You all were the ones that looked me in the face and told me maybe he needed some direction, that maybe he wasn’t so bad. Corey, you agreed with me.”
Their eyes darkened, their expressions turning to matching frowns, but neither spoke.
I couldn’t look at them anymore. How could they begin to understand? Blake had done so much for me, for them, despite what he’d done in the past. He’d tried, which was more than they had done.
If they didn’t believe a guy like that could change, how could they possibly believe a girl like me could?
Who was I fooling, though? Did I imagine Blake would just move into the apartments with us and we’d all just…do what? It was a miracle they weren’t all hacking away at each other after what I’d told them.
I was so angry that they’d reject Blake, especially knowing he was important to me. Maybe they didn’t wish him dead and maybe they would help him, but they didn’t want him to stick around.
If I’d had any strength inside of me, I could have thrown things at them. Especially Raven, who had thrown us overboard, risking our lives, even if it was his own way of saving us.
Corey eased closer to me. “Don’t be mad,” he said. “Do you really think he’d get along with us? After everything?”
“He put his neck on the line for you,” I said, my eyes burning as I tried to hold back tears. I wouldn’t dare cry in front of them. “He could have stayed behind after we got back to shore. He could have convinced me to stay with him, too. He could have said it was too dangerous. No. He came back. He was ready to dive in again.”
“This was his thing,” Corey said. “Of course he was ready—”
“No,” I said. “That’s not why he came back. Instead of judging him and assuming, why don’t you ask him? He’s trying. No one wants to give him a chance, which means this will never work, and not because of him. It’s because you won’t try.”
Corey’s mouth twitched and he lowered his head, shaking it. “I want to believe it. I don’t know. He’s never really talked with me directly, except…in the car in Florida. And he was basically yelling at me the whole time.”
I remembered that moment. It had been very tense, and it was Corey battling with Blake, each of them trying to prove which one cared about me more.
“When Brandon was kidnapped, Blake didn’t have to get involved, but he did,” I said.
“Because of you,” Corey said.
“Isn’t that enough to show he can do the right thing, though? And he’s not like you think, abandoning a cause just because it’s the easy thing to do. Do you really think he’d walk away from helping you?” I swallowed thickly. “You’d help him if he were in danger.”
He frowned. “Aren’t we doing that now?”
“Just like he’d do for you. You’re all too stubborn to just look at each other and realize how totally the same you are.”
“I’m not like him,” Raven said, grunting.
I shook my head and looked away. I hadn’t even realized it until now, but Blake was so much like them. He was smart. He cared about helping others, even at the risk of his own fortune and reputation. Except that he didn’t have a league of people behind him. For a while, it had just been him and Doyle, as far as I knew.
Corey sighed. “Maybe she’s right, Raven.”
My heart lifted a little. Yes. I was.
If anyone could convince the others, Corey could. He had the biggest, most open heart of them all.
“You don’t like Blake,” Raven said.
“But she does.” Corey stood, and I opened my eyes as he went back to Raven by the door. “Maybe we’ve been seeing him all wrong.”
“He’s a criminal,” Raven said. “He was helping criminals.”
“So were we,” Corey said. “Only we got involved in the Academy and changed how we operated. He was doing his own thing, trying to be good in his own way, right? He’s just a little…off the mark.”
“He’s not Marc,” Raven said.
Corey chuckled and put a hand on Raven’s shoulder. “No, he’s not Marc. But Kayli sees something in him, something good. Maybe she’s right. Maybe we’re not giving him a chance. Who are we to turn away from someone who’s trying to fit in with us? Maybe he just needs some direction.”
“There’s a lot I’d be doing if it wasn’t for you,” Raven said quietly. “Bad things.”
My heart raced for Corey just hearing the words. My face flushed. His tone felt like it was full of something more romantic for Corey, and I delighted in hearing it.
Corey parted his lips, his blue eyes wide. “But…now we do good things.”
“I do it for you,” Raven said. He nodded to me. “And her. I do good things for us.”
“You should do it because you want to do good things,” Corey said.
Raven knocked Corey’s hand off of his shoulder, approaching him. He looked at me as he did, a question in his eyes.
I smiled, stupidly excited to be seeing this. “Tell him,” I said.
He nodded once, turned to Corey and then reached for him, cupping his cheeks in his big hands.
Corey’s face turned red and he tried to take a step back, but there was nowhere to go. “Raven…what…?”
Raven leaned in with eyes closed and kissed Corey on the lips.
Corey stood still, arms going limp but otherwise frozen in place. His eyes widened.
I brought my knees up, pressing a cheek to them. I hated to stare, but I couldn’t help it. Or the stupid smile on my face.
Raven continued, lips pressed to him, holding on.
Corey slowly closed his eyes, and his lips opened, accepting the kiss. Once he surrendered, Raven slid his hands to his neck and deepened his kiss.
I couldn’t stop grinning. They were both hot in such different ways, and just seeing them together heated things up inside of me. I hated to admit it, but I was oddly turned on by this. I cared about them both. I was mad at them about Blake, but I realized it was too soon to expect everyone to just be so accepting of him.
Corey tried to take a step back, but Raven continued his advance, pressing Corey against the wall. He started to use tongue, making Corey give in again with a sigh.
As Raven devoured him, his hand slid down Corey’s chest, down his stomach, and in a flash, he had his pants unbuttoned and had a hand shoved down the front.
Too far. I wasn’t sure this was the time or place. “Hang on, guys,” I said. “We’ve got to focus.”
Corey pushed Raven until he finally relented. They stared at each other, chests heaving, both obviously aroused.
If I didn’t get them out of here now, we were going to do things and get caught with our pants literally down.
I was suddenly completely in agreement with Henry about how distracting we could be with each other. I stood up, approaching them. “Can we get going?”
They looked at me, Corey with a sheepish smile, Raven a smoldering grin.
“Adorable,” I said and pointed to the door. “And totally hot. But it’s not the time. Let’s get Blake and the others, and get off this stupid ship.”
Deals
As we exited the laundry area and made our way through the ship, I tried not to get too distracted daydreaming about what might happen once we got home.
Once we started moving, I realized I needed to make another bathroom stop. I could feel my flow was heavier than usual for me.
When I said I needed a bathroom, Raven picked up on my worried tone. He grabbed me by the elbow, escorting me to a ladies’ bathroom and entering with me.
Corey came in after him. He checked the stalls quickly for signs of anyone else around. “Raven,” he said. “You don’t have to go in with her. We should guard the door.”
Raven turned me to him. “What’s wrong?”
“I told you,” I said. “My…period.”
“You don’t normally need to go so much on your period,” Raven said.
“How would you know?”
Dead serious eyes. “I know.”
“Wait,” Corey said. “Didn’t you have…um…?” His cheeks were bright red, and he avoided looking at me. “Sorry. But I was the one emptying trash a couple weeks ago and I just happened to notice…”
“Yeah,” I said. Being the only girl in the group, it was something I couldn’t really hide. Obviously. “Two weeks, which is a little unusual.” I went to the free napkin dispenser, taking one out. “And it’s heavier than usual. These dinky things aren’t doing it.”
Corey did a slight head shake, eyes darting. “Did you tell the doctor?”
“I was more worried about my head at the time.”
“Did it start before or after you hit your head?”
“Before.”
Raven puffed out his chest. “She’s fine,” he said. “She’s tough. It’s nothing.”
“We don’t know if it’s nothing,” Corey said. “We really need to get off this boat. You should go to the doctor.”
“We don’t have time.” I entered the stall and did my thing.
They spoke to each other, and I was sure it was about me as they kept their voices low enough that I couldn’t hear. I suspected they were plotting to get me to a doctor soon, and I didn’t blame them, but we had to get things done here.
When I was finished, I urged them out before someone caught us.
Eventually we made our way back toward the ship engine area to see if Baldy had left us a message.
We were going down the stairwell when we crossed paths with Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith was Lurch with a tan. He had on another Hawaiian shirt. He looked us over and even met my eyes before he walked on.
Totally dismissed. Did he even recognize me? I wasn’t dressed as Kitty Lane, so perhaps not.
My heart was in my throat. Raven had stepped up beside me, ready, waiting.
Nothing.
But something was in Mr. Smith’s back pocket. I had a hard time trying to figure it out, and it was on my mind as we continued to descend the steps.
Mr. Smith had been in the spa an awful long time, if that’s where he was coming from. I remembered the appointment book, and he was scheduled every morning, but it was already afternoon. Or did he go twice? Either way, he seemed really relaxed.
He hadn’t been looking for me, as far as I could tell.
Hadn’t he warned Kitty Lane he wanted his money?
But then he thought Kitty was dead. Raven had told them all she was, or that things were taken care of. So he couldn’t have been the investor if he’d been totally sure I was the investor until Raven told him otherwise.
I thought about this, but I wasn’t sure where it was leading. I did know it was important, though.
We got back down into the engine room. Break was long over, but there were different faces now—there had been a shift change and this had to be the smaller overnight crew.
We found the storage room and went in.
On the chair where we had tied up Baldy was a sheet of paper. Scrawled on it were several names.
I went for it as Raven secured the door. Corey followed behind me, reading over my shoulder.
Baker
Ward
Smith
Cline
Jones
I frowned. “He’s playing a trick on us,” I said.
Corey studied the list, reading it again, his lips moving. Finally he looked at me, scratching the back of his head. “What did you ask him to do?”
“I told him to…” I looked to Raven, unable to remember exactly what I’d said.
“You told me you asked him to see who Sam interacts with,” he said. He had his back up against the door, waiting. “He’s not going to list people that he knows aren’t the investor, like a waitress lady that works here.”
“Is he smart enough to narrow it down?” I looked at the page again. “These are all the people we’ve been watching.”
“So one of them is the investor?” Corey asked.
“Maybe,” I said, checking the list again.
“It’s Smith,” Raven said. “We passed him on the stairs
. He’s been getting massages. He goes to the spa a lot. It’s probably him.”
“He’s been in the spa,” I agreed. But then I read the names again. Still, I’d seen him in the stairwell. He was too calm, too nonchalant. “But, he’s not our investor.”
“How do you know?” Corey asked.
“He thought I was the investor, remember?” I said and then lowered the paper, realizing my mistake. “So he can’t be. He was very quiet today and yesterday. They all were except…”
There was a knock at the door, loud and threatening.
“Open up,” a voice said. Not Baldy. Not someone I immediately recognized.
Raven looked at me, a warning. This wasn’t good.
There wasn’t a place to escape to. Not like they could just kill us in here, though. He couldn’t drag bodies out in front of so many witnesses. They’d have to behave, for now.
I nodded to Raven. “Do it,” I said. “Let him in.”
Raven opened the door.
Sam entered, red-faced and flanked by Baldy and another big goon.
Raven backed up from the door, and he and Corey stood in front of me protectively.
I found the pocketknife, opening it behind Raven’s broad back. I slipped it, ready to go, into Raven’s pocket, tapping his back twice as a signal.
He didn’t move, didn’t indicate to anyone else what I’d done, but I knew he knew what it was.
Sam was in the same slick black outfit, same slim tie. There was an air of victory around him, smug and cunning.
He motioned toward the door and Baldy closed it, locking us all in.
“Let us out,” Raven said.
“I thought something was going on,” Sam said and he turned, pointing a finger at Baldy. “I’ll deal with you later, but if you want to live through this, you’ll help me here.”
“We’re not here for you,” I said, oddly cool, at least on the outside, given the circumstances. My insides shook; I was unsure if this was the right move.
But I was a thief, and I knew what criminals wanted. They wanted to keep doing what they were doing. And they didn’t like the threat of authorities getting involved.