Choppy Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 5)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “She has to be alive.”

  Quinn stared at the photo for an extended period of time before speaking. “It would be hypocritical of me to be relieved about the lack of symbol in that photo.”

  “It would,” Rowan agreed. “I’m okay with that, though.”

  “Good.” Quinn let the oxygen out of his lungs with a whoosh. “I was a little worried. I’m not going to lie.” He leaned closer and keenly studied the photo. “Email that to me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to get a better look at the clothes Gabby was wearing,” Quinn replied. “I’m going to stop by her room and do a search later – none of the girls are staying alone – and I want to make sure she didn’t return to the room long enough to change her clothes. I especially want to see if I can find that gray sweater because that will definitely stand out.”

  “What will that tell you? I mean, if she did change her clothes, what does it mean?”

  “It might not mean anything.”

  “But?”

  “But it could mean that she changed to go to the practice session,” Quinn conceded. “If she left again, that means she disappeared between her room and the aft deck. In theory, that would help us narrow our search.”

  “We know she’s not dead,” Rowan pointed out. “That’s a good thing. That means she’s probably just screwing around somewhere.”

  “I guess.” Quinn’s expression turned thoughtful. “The thing is, the girls really aren’t mixing. You talked to Clover last night and she was adamant they hadn’t seen Gabby. It’s not as if Leighann’s girls and Claire’s girls are spending time together when not practicing so … where exactly has Gabby been keeping herself? I haven’t seen any mixing with the girls from the other groups either. Everyone kind of sticks to their own team.”

  “You have cameras, right? Can’t you just find her on those?”

  “That’s the first order of business this morning. I want to ask the girls if they’ve seen her – for all we know, she showed back up before bed and is fine – and then we’ll go from there.”

  Rowan nodded as she flipped through a few more photographs, her lips curving down when she landed on one of Leighann.

  “What’s wrong?” Quinn followed her gaze. “She still has the mark, right? I know she made it back to her room safely last night and hasn’t left yet this morning. That’s what I was texting about when you woke.”

  “It’s not the same mark.” Even as she said the words, Rowan had trouble believing what her eyes were showing her.

  “What do you mean?” Quinn stared hard at the symbol on the image. “Huh. That is different. It’s not the same at all. How did that happen?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “But it’s happened before?”

  Rowan shook her head. “Never. I’ve never had an omen change. I’ve had them disappear when I managed to save someone, but I’ve never had it change. I don’t even know what this symbol is supposed to mean.” Her voice ratcheted up a notch, becoming so shrill that Quinn stuck his finger in his ear to cut down the noise level.

  “Okay. Let’s not panic. We don’t know what this means yet. There’s no reason to … do whatever it is you’re gearing up to do.”

  Rowan offered up a dark glare. “We know it can’t be good.”

  “How do we know that?”

  “Because … because … because the other symbol is bad so this one has to be bad, too.”

  Quinn didn’t want to argue with her on principle because she understood the situation better than him, but he refused to back down for Rowan’s sake. “You don’t know it’s evil, though. You don’t know it’s bad. You don’t even know it’s a warning.”

  “What else could it be?” Rowan was beyond frustrated. “I mean … look at it. It looks like a big bone with three smaller bones shoved through it.”

  “Or it looks like a chicken scratch.”

  “Oh, come on!” Rowan was beside herself. “Those are bones.”

  Quinn wanted to argue the point but knew it was pointless. The symbol on the image most definitely looked like overlapping bones. “Okay … but we don’t know what it means. Until we know what it means, I don’t want you to panic.”

  Rowan opened her mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. That was easier said than done. She wasn’t sure not panicking was an option.

  “We’ll figure it out.” Quinn gripped her hand tightly and forced her to look at him. “We’ll figure it out and we’ll do it together. It’s going to be okay.”

  “Sure. It’s going to be great.” Rowan’s tone was clipped. “I have a new symbol showing up in my photos so now we have more to grapple with than imminent death. I’m sure it’s a light and fluffy symbol … that just happens to feature bones. Everything is going to be awesome.”

  Quinn choked on a laugh. He knew it wasn’t smart to irritate her, but he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “You’re the most easygoing person imaginable ninety percent of the time. Then, out of nowhere, you turn high maintenance. I don’t even know what to make of it.”

  Rowan narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits. “I am not high maintenance.”

  “I guess we’ll simply have to agree to disagree.”

  “Yeah. That sounds like a smart idea.”

  ROWAN DECIDED TO PROVE she wasn’t high maintenance by spending the entire morning researching symbols. She took a hundred photos in twenty minutes on the aft deck – this was after confirming Gabby had yet to show up and promising to let Quinn and his men do their job before melting down – and then she planted herself in the shade at the tiki bar to peruse a bevy of occult websites.

  After four hours, the only thing she’d accomplished was giving herself a headache and a severe case of eyestrain.

  Demarcus noticed her flagging energy level from behind the bar and delivered a fresh iced tea with lemon before dropping into the chair across from her. Rowan offered up a rueful smile as she sucked down half the drink.

  “Thirsty?” Amusement flickered at the corners of Demarcus’s eyes.

  Rowan nodded. “I didn’t realize how hot it had gotten out here.”

  “You’ve been focused on that computer for hours. What are you looking for?”

  “Oh, um … .” Rowan wasn’t sure how to answer.

  “Does this have something to do with Quinn’s request that I keep an eye on Leighann Porter should I happen to cross paths with her?”

  Technically the answer to that question was “yes” but there was no way Rowan could admit that without offering up some sort of explanation. That was the last thing she wanted to do. “No. It’s just … have you ever seen this before?” Rowan shoved a napkin across the table.

  Demarcus stared at the pencil drawing at the center of the napkin. “What am I looking at?”

  “It’s a symbol.”

  “What kind of symbol?”

  “If I knew that I wouldn’t be looking for the meaning of it.” Rowan was back to being shrill. She wanted to tone down her reaction, but she couldn’t manage to do it. “I just need to know what the symbol means.”

  “But why?” Demarcus clearly didn’t pick up on Rowan’s mood and opted to press the issue. “Where did you see the symbol? Was it on one of the cheerleaders or something? Was it a tattoo? If so, you could just ask the kid what it means. Of course, she might not know. I’ve seen kids get tattoos and have no idea what they’re getting permanently etched on their bodies. Sometimes they get Chinese symbols and claim they’re one thing and they’re really another. I once saw a girl with the symbol for soup on her ankle and she told me it was the symbol for strength. She didn’t know.”

  “It’s not a tattoo,” Rowan gritted out, her teeth clenched.

  “Then what is it?”

  Rowan was dangerously close to exploding when Quinn sidled up to the table and took the seat to her right. As if sensing she was about to make things catastrophically worse, Quinn snagged her hand and fixed Demarcus with an amiable smile. “I hate to ask, b
ut do you think I could get an iced tea, too?”

  Demarcus recognized the worry flashing through Quinn’s eyes and nodded without hesitation. “I think that’s doable.” He got to his feet. “Do you want lemon with it?”

  “That would be great.” Quinn waited until he was sure Demarcus was out of earshot before focusing his full attention on Rowan. “You need to chill out.”

  Rowan furrowed her brow as she fought to rein in her furious temper. “I’m perfectly chilled.”

  “You’re anything but chilled,” Quinn countered. “You’re this close to panicking.” He held his index finger and thumb less than an inch apart. “I get it. This is new for you. You’re dealing with a lot right now with your father possibly being alive. Adding a new development with your … um, ability … couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I’m sorry for that.”

  Rowan balked. “This has nothing to do with my father.”

  “Probably not,” Quinn agreed.

  “It doesn’t.”

  “Unless your emotional upheaval is what caused a second symbol to become part of your repertoire.” Even though he recognized she was bordering on anguished, Quinn pushed forward. He knew he wouldn’t be doing her any good if he held back. “We don’t know why this symbol appeared now and we might never know. We have to deal with it, though. I can’t do it alone. I need you to help and that means chilling out.”

  The look Rowan shot Quinn as she jerked her hand away was straight out of a horror movie. “I’m not very fond of you right now.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” Quinn’s heart constricted. “I would prefer it if you were always fond of me. We agreed to tell each other the truth, though, and the truth is you’re acting like a big baby.

  “Not everything is about you,” he continued. “We need to figure out what that symbol means, if Leighann is still in danger of dying, and what happened to Gabby because my men still haven’t found her. What I don’t have time to deal with is a meltdown from you.”

  Rowan blinked several times in rapid succession. Quinn braced himself for her to start yelling. Instead, she stunned them both when she burst into tears. Quinn quickly changed tactics.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He scooted his chair closer and jerked her shaking body against his to offer comfort. “I take it all back. You can be as big of a baby as you want to be. I was trying out some tough love and it obviously didn’t work.”

  Rowan’s sobs turned to chuckles as she swiped at her cheeks and pulled back her head so she could stare into Quinn’s soulful eyes. “And here I was about to tell you that what you just said was the exact thing I needed to hear to shake me out of it.”

  “Oh, well, then I was right the first time and ignore what I said the second time.” Quinn gently wiped away her tears. “Please don’t cry. I can’t take it when you cry.”

  “I was momentarily overwhelmed. I’m better now.” Rowan forced a smile that wasn’t believable but Quinn gave her top marks for the attempt. “We have to find Gabby. She’s our biggest priority.”

  “She is,” Quinn agreed, sliding back a bit when Demarcus returned to the table with his iced tea and a blank expression on his face.

  “What happened here?” Demarcus asked, confused.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” Quinn replied. “We had a minor fight and it’s over.”

  “You had a fight and made up in three minutes?” Demarcus clearly wasn’t convinced. “I didn’t even know that was possible. Perhaps I should call those world record people to see if they’ve heard about this.”

  “I think we’re good.” Quinn pressed a firm kiss to Rowan’s forehead before shifting his chair back into place. “We have a bit of a situation going on. Actually, we have several situations going on.”

  “Is one of them that Rowan got drunk and got this as a tattoo when no one was looking?” Demarcus held up the napkin for emphasis.

  “No.” Quinn shook his head. “We do need to know what that symbol means, though.”

  “I can tell you what it means,” Sally said, arriving at the edge of the table and snagging the napkin from Demarcus’s hands. She looked as weary as Rowan and Quinn felt.

  “You can?” Quinn kept a hand at the back of Rowan’s neck so he could rub away some of the tension. “How?”

  “I’m from New Orleans,” Sally reminded him. “Voodoo is big over there.”

  “That’s a voodoo sign?” Rowan perked up. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s not a voodoo sign,” Sally replied. “It’s some sort of ancient glyph. I’m not even sure I know where it’s from, only that I’ve seen it.”

  “You’ve seen it with voodoo practitioners?” Quinn queried.

  “No.” Sally’s expression was thoughtful. “You have to understand; New Orleans is a touristy area and one of the big draws is the voodoo culture. Since most tourists don’t understand true voodoo culture, a lot of store owners and tarot readers have co-opted symbols and rites from other religions and incorporated them into the New Orleans voodoo traditions.”

  “So the glyph is ancient and it’s kind of used in New Orleans but not really in the correct manner,” Rowan noted. “We can figure out its origins later. Do you happen to know what it means?”

  Sally bobbed her head. “I do. It means that someone is in danger. It’s carved into walls on houses when people want to threaten one another.”

  “What?” Rowan was flabbergasted.

  “You don’t see it often, but you do see it, especially when gangs start taunting each other across Bourbon Street,” Sally explained. “Why are you guys looking for the meaning of this glyph anyway?”

  “We just needed to know.” Quinn gripped Rowan’s fingers as tightly as possible. “We should probably be going.”

  “You just got here,” Demarcus complained. “I thought we would have lunch together and share horror stories about all the teenagers on the ship.”

  “Later.” Quinn drew Rowan to her feet. “We have a few things to check on before we can eat. We’ll try to catch up with you guys later.”

  “Maybe over dinner,” Rowan offered lamely.

  “Yeah, dinner,” Quinn echoed, dragging Rowan away from the table. “We’ll see you guys later.”

  Sally and Demarcus remained seated and watched the couple scurry across the deck. Neither one could be sure exactly what was happening – or where they were going – but it was obvious they were in a hurry.

  “Do you ever wonder if they’re doing freaky stuff in their rooms at night?” Demarcus asked finally.

  Sally nodded without hesitation. “They’re definitely the weirdest ones on the ship.”

  “They’re hiding something.”

  “They are.”

  “Do you know what?”

  Sally shook her head. “I kind of want to find out, though.”

  “I think we should work together to do it.”

  Sally beamed. “I think that sounds like a fine idea. I can’t wait to see exactly what they’re up to.”

  12

  Twelve

  Rowan and Quinn spent the bulk of the day splitting their considerable energy. They munched on the run while watching Leighann’s every move. Their actions became so overt Leighann finally decided to question Quinn about his intensity, allowing Rowan to slip away and leave him to answer questions without backup.

  “I don’t know what you mean.” Quinn maintained an air of professional aloofness as he leaned against one of the ship’s railings and pretended to be interested in the view. “I haven’t been following you around all day.”

  Leighann clearly didn’t believe him because the snort she let loose was loud and obnoxious. “Whatever. You’ve been one step behind me all day. When I watched practice on the aft deck, you were there. When I was out here hanging with some of my girls and their mothers, you showed up. I doubt very much that’s a coincidence.”

  “I’m head of security. It’s my job to wander around the ship and make sure everyone is secure,
that everything is safe for all the guests.”

  “But you’ve taken a personal interest in me.” Leighann wound a strand of her bottle-blond hair around her finger and batted her eyelashes for Quinn’s benefit. The simple action was enough to make his stomach turn. “I like it when people take a personal interest. It’s so … personal.”

  “I’ve taken a personal interest in the guests on this ship,” Quinn clarified. “We have a lot going on right now and it’s important that I’m front and center for it.”

  Leighann made a peculiar face. “And what do you have going on?”

  “Well, for starters, we have a group of young ladies who keep trying to convince the restaurant and bar staff they’re of age so they can drink illegally,” Quinn replied without hesitation. “It’s not going to work but that doesn’t stop them from trying.”

  Leighann regally waved off Quinn’s comment. “That’s girls being girls. I don’t happen to agree with their actions but that’s hardly world-ending stuff.”

  “I agree. That’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

  “Oh.” Leighann straightened her shoulders. “What else is going on?”

  “The mothers are getting drunk and not watching their kids.”

  “That’s just … um … they need a vacation.”

  “Yeah.” Quinn rolled his eyes. “They certainly don’t have trouble watching the workers. They also have no problem touching them even though they’ve been warned repeatedly that it’s both invasive and not acceptable.”

  “They’re simply enjoying themselves.”

  “Uh-huh.” Quinn kept his disdain on display. “Ask yourself this: If the roles were reversed and the workers were hitting on the women – or even the girls – would you still think it was acceptable behavior?”

  “I didn’t say it was acceptable behavior.” Leighann’s features twisted into something ugly. “I definitely didn’t say that. They’re cutting loose, though. I promise they’re not always like this.”