It was only when she looked out the port side window and realised their little beach was growing further away that she gave a cry and ran for her phone. With a sense of loss, she raced over to the window, held the phone up to the glass and took a photograph.
‘I thought you didn’t like to look back.’
She turned to find Dean watching her.
‘It’s … where I had my first swimming lesson.’
Where I began falling in love with you.
‘Keep it up when you go home.’ He tilted a glass and began pouring her champagne. ‘Keep swimming, I mean.’
His words were like a punch to her stomach, a stark reminder that her time with him was running out fast.
‘A fish said that.’ It was a random comment, but she refused to get morose. The cruise ship didn’t dock in Livorno until seven in the morning. They only had one night, two at the most.
Dean came around from behind the bar, a drink in each hand. ‘A fish said what?’
‘Keep swimming.’ She took the glass of champagne he offered and lifted it in a toast. ‘Another Disney movie you’re clearly not familiar with.’
‘Which one?’
Marina shook her head, remembering their Pocahontas conversation. ‘I’ll leave it up to you to find out, Mr Logan.’
‘That sounded sexy, very teacherish.’ They clinked glasses and he growled low in his throat, sending a delicious shiver down Marina’s spine.
She loved it when they were like this, all fun and flirty. She took a sip of champagne and closed her eyes as the fresh, fruity bubbles slid down her throat. She envied Julia Montgomery’s relationship with him. When you were excited by the prospect of one or two nights, eight months seemed like forever.
‘This is interesting,’ said Rask.
They went to see what he was looking at.
Rask pointed a stubby finger at the screen. ‘There was a lot of activity around the Baltic States a few years back, and then later on, a spat of hits in Germany, Japan and America.’
‘They probably hack into a huge database and access the accounts of millions of people,’ Dean said. ‘That’s why it tends to be concentrated around a certain demographic. I still think Li’s after a top job in cyber warfare. From what Delon said, these guys must be paid a bomb to protect the classified data in these world institutions. And why wouldn’t these guys want a legit job? Maybe some of Li’s former associates are even trying to bring him on board.’
Marina stilled, the champagne glass halfway to her mouth. A cold shiver ran down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
You should never have brought Lee on board, you knew the rules!
‘Dean?’ She clutched at his arm.
He looked at her, leaned closer when he saw her expression. ‘Is the motion worrying you again?’
She shook her head. ‘This may be nothing, but I heard Alain and Danika talking in the galley this morning …’
Rask swivelled around in his chair and looked at her. ‘What were they saying?’
She recounted the conversation, and by the time she finished Dean’s eyes were burning with anger.
‘Are you sure the name Danika used was Li?’
‘Yes. I thought it was Lee.’ She spelled it out. ‘I assumed they were talking about a woman he’d brought on board, and the two of them were having words over it.’
‘What time was this?’ asked Dean.
‘Early. I’d had that big sleep. I shocked them when I knocked on the door.’
Marina moistened her lips and looked at Rask. ‘I feel terrible, ratting on the staff like this. It’s probably just a coincidence.’
‘No, you were right to tell us,’ Dean said, his words clipped. ‘Whether it’s Li Chen or another person going by the name of Lee, if Alain’s brought someone on board he’s broken the terms of his employment contract. No-one is allowed on board this yacht without my express permission.’
There was disappointment and betrayal mixed in with the anger, and Marina’s heart ached for him. In that moment, she realised she could never hurt Dean Logan, no matter what. It was bad enough her revelation had done it now.
‘Rask, go and get Danika.’
Marina put down her champagne. ‘I’ll go to my stateroom. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be here while you question them.’
He nodded and picked up the ship’s phone. ‘Alain, put down anchor and come to the saloon immediately.’
Within seconds the engines were cut, and a grinding noise could be heard as the winch lowered the anchor into the water.
‘Let me know what happens.’ She reached out and touched him on the arm. ‘I hope for everyone’s sake, I’m wrong.’
***
Dean stood looking out the port side window. He could barely bring himself to turn around when Danika and Alain entered the room.
Rask cleared his throat. ‘There’s a certain matter that needs clarifying.’
‘It’s been brought to our attention that a third party had access to the yacht without my permission.’ Dean turned around, hoping the element of surprise would catch them out.
It worked with the girl. She turned to Alain, her accusing look cementing in Dean’s mind that what Marina had heard was true.
Alain blinked, looked at the floor, eyes shifting to the left.
Dean walked towards them. ‘Well?’
Danika turned and faced him, a range of emotions crossing her face. Anger, defensiveness and, to his surprise, relief. ‘I didn’t.’
Dean kept walking towards his first mate, disappointment so acute he wanted to grab the man by the shirt collar and shake him. ‘Alain?’
Alain could have been a soldier carved in stone, so straight was his back, so unwavering his stare fixed to a spot on the carpet.
‘Well?’
Alain looked at him then. ‘Is that what she said?’
‘She?’ Dean bit out the word between his teeth.
Imperious fucking arsehole!
‘Our onboard guest. She heard us talking in the galley this morning. She might have got her wires crossed.’
‘Whether she got her wires crossed or not, it’s a simple enough question. To your knowledge, has there been any unauthorised person on this vessel?’
‘Yes,’ said Danika, her pretty face full of contrition.
Dean clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. It was plain to see the girl was relieved to have the matter off her chest.
As for Alain, he closed his eyes for a brief second then glared at Danika from the corner of his eye.
Dean stepped closer to his first mate. ‘When?’
‘Last year, in the Maldives.’
‘We were in port, waiting for you for two weeks,’ added Danika.
Dean cast his mind back. He’d wanted to go diving, but he’d been caught up in meeting after meeting, and then they’d run into a problem with a contract. In the end he’d cancelled his plans and told Alain to take the yacht to France.
‘Who came on board?’
‘A Chinese guy we met in the yacht club.’
‘What was his name?’
Alain shrugged. ‘I don’t remember.’
Bloody liar!
Dean looked at the girl. ‘Danika?’
‘I only knew him as Lee.’
‘How did he spell that?’
Danika shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Captain Logan.’
‘What was he doing in the Maldives? Did he own a boat? Was he crewing for someone else?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Clearly miserable, tears sprang in the girl’s eyes. ‘He was hanging around the yacht club. I thought he was on vacation. He’s the man you’re trying to find, isn’t he? I saw his photograph on the computer when I gave Mr Rask his dinner.’
The girl wore her heart on her sleeve, and Dean had no doubt she was telling the absolute truth.
He looked at Rask. He’d known his friend had never liked Alain. Rask found the first mate pretentious and aloof, wh
ereas he’d always thought Rask and Alain were just too different to get along. But there was one thing he and Rask had always agreed on. The Frenchman was a professional when it came to his work.
How wrong they’d been.
Dean lowered his voice and leaned in closer, trying to get the young man to look at him. ‘Tell me everything you know.’
Alain swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat in the first outward display of nerves he’d shown since coming into the room.
‘He was interested in the company. He asked many questions about how I came to work for you, which recruitment company I went through to get the job. He was more interested in what went on in the Sydney office than the yacht. Of course, I couldn’t tell him much about that.’
Dean’s scalp crawled, his heart beating so loud the blood rushed in his ears.
He’d been specially targeted, at least six to twelve months prior to the files being encrypted.
Why?
Why his company?
‘What did you do when you came on board?’ he asked.
‘I showed him around. Danika went to bed. Then we played computer games until he left.’
‘Computer games?’
Alain nodded, and a slow pink began to creep up the sides of his neck. ‘We got talking in the yacht club about gaming. He told me about all these great games I didn’t know about. We came back here, had a few beers, and played games on my computer.’
Jesus! Could Li have done something to the onboard computer system? ‘Did you leave him alone at any time?’
Alain shook his head. ‘No.’
‘You’re positive? Not even to use the head?’
Another shake of his head. ‘Not once.’
Dean looked at Danika. ‘You can go, Danika, but consider this your first and final warning. You should have reported this.’
Danika looked from Dean to Alain and back again. ‘Yes, Captain Logan. Thank you.’
The girl rushed from the room, and a moment later the door closed behind her.
Dean took a deep breath. ‘You know you’re in direct breach of your contract, the result of which is instant dismissal.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Alain’s voice was low, hoarse.
‘You’ve left me no choice. It is with great regret that I issue your notice. I will, however, give you two weeks grace to find another position.’
Alain gave a curt nod. ‘Thank you.’
‘You will receive a written reference setting out a full list of your skills, but if any future employer calls for a verbal reference, I will be honest regarding the security breach.’
Alain’s eyes shifted away again.
Guilt.
‘That’s the end of it. Go back to the bridge and resume our course into Livorno.’
‘Yes, sir.’
When he left, Dean ran a hand down his face and looked at Rask. ‘The Maldives. It goes back that far, maybe longer.’
‘It appears to have been a well-planned operation from the very beginning. Unfortunately, Alain and his thick skull have become collateral damage. I’m glad you let Danika off with a warning. I think she wanted to speak up. Must have been difficult with Alain being her boyfriend. I hope this has sounded the death knell for that relationship.’
Dean picked up his drink and downed it in one go, but the pink champagne he’d been enjoying with Marina did little to eradicate the bad taste in his mouth. He’d always exercised zero tolerance for employees who disregarded the security measures he’d put in place. Some yacht owners were more lenient, but he couldn’t afford to be. On occasion, he’d had parliamentarians, Heads of State, and even royalty look at his yachts.
Discretion was the utmost.
Security his number one priority.
‘Should we get onto Human Resources, see if Li came through a recruitment agency?’ he asked.
Rask shook his head. ‘Mooney’s been through the file with a fine-tooth comb. Everything’s in the name of Victor Yu. False identity. Dead end.’
Dean looked out the starboard window as the engines fired up and the yacht built to its cruising speed. ‘Ring the Commodore of The Maldives Yacht Club. I want to know what other vessels were moored at the marina during those two weeks, in particular if Li was crewing on one. And get the Commodore to ask around, see if anyone remembers him.’
He caught sight of a turtle off the starboard side, his head out of the water, and thought of Marina’s swimming lesson this afternoon. ‘If we don’t apprehend him in the next two days, I need a contingency plan. Alain and Danika knew him as Li, so he was using his real name in the Maldives. Interpol might be able to trace his movements from there.’
‘I’ll get right on it.’ Rask put a heavy hand on his shoulder. ‘Why don’t you go and see a certain lady who’s probably very worried downstairs.’ He tipped his head towards the bridge. ‘I’ll keep my eye on the frog for you.’
Dean smiled. ‘I need to get Marina out of this, Hektor. And I need to get to the bottom of it, for my own sake.’
‘We’ll get her out, and we’ll get to the bottom of it, no matter how long it takes. We’ve been here before, remember?’
‘I remember, Rask. I remember every fucking day.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
At the soft tap, Marina threw her magazine aside and hurried to open the door.
Dean was leaning against the doorframe, dark hair ruffled like he’d been running his hands through it. He wore a soft white tee-shirt, navy shorts and a fed-up expression.
Marina gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘How did you go?’
Dark eyes roamed her face, moved lower to the shift dress she wore. ‘Can I come in?’
She’d begun to fear she wouldn’t see him tonight. Now, her body hummed with anticipation, her heart beating triple time. She held the door open and stepped aside. ‘Of course you can. It’s your boat.’
‘It’s my yacht,’ he corrected her, pushing off the doorframe. ‘And it doesn’t give me the right to invade your privacy.’
‘Dean.’ She took his hand, gave him a gentle tug and brought him into the room. ‘What happened?’
He closed the door, locked it, and slowly turned around. Then he came towards her, his voice low, resigned. ‘I’ve given him two weeks to look for another job.’
He slid his hand under her ponytail and massaged her nape, the calluses on his fingers sending erotic shivers down Marina’s spine. Her legs turned weak as he worked his fingers into her hair and pulled out the band.
‘I don’t want to talk about it. I’m over talking. Can we just do—this?’
Her hair tumbled about her face, and he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting it up a little. Then he cupped her face between his hands, stroked his thumbs across her cheeks and looked deep into her eyes. ‘You … are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’
His mouth claimed hers with a force that shocked her, lips commanding, demanding—a stark contrast to the softness of his words. He pulled her against his chest, tongue invading her mouth, thrilling her with his kisses until she was gasping for breath.
She clung to him, body pulsing with extreme need as he poured out his emotions, sharing them with her—his way.
She linked her arms around his neck, tried kissing away the hurt, the pain, the disappointment, the betrayal. For it was all there, the fresh wounds and maybe some old scars too.
And then something changed, like a dam had broken inside him. He was all around her, caressing her breasts through the material of her dress, roaming the contours of her back—north, south, east and west, before cupping her bottom with one hand and her front with the other.
‘Dean!’
She grabbed his hands and pushed them away.
He lifted his head, breathing harsh, brown eyes turned black with passion.
‘You’re—overstimulating me.’
She pressed her legs together, heart pounding, lips tingling.
Missing the contact already.
His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. ‘No such thing.’
Deft hands came around her and lowered her zipper. Her dress loosened, slipped down and caught about her waist. Shaking with desire, Marina wriggled her hips until the dress slipped to her ankles. Under his scorching gaze, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra. As it fell to the floor she stepped out of her dress, clad only in her knickers and a pair of wedge-heeled sandals.
He inhaled sharply, eyes drinking her in as she hooked her thumbs inside the band of his shorts and pulled them over his hips. They dropped on the floor. He kicked them away, reaching into his shirt pocket for a condom before grasping the shirt and dragging it over his head, just as he’d done on the beach.
He held the condom between his fingers like a cigarette. ‘This time.’
Fire consumed Marina’s body, moisture pooling between her thighs. She kissed his chest, hands tracing his pectoral muscles, his heart pulsing beneath her fingertips. Then his hands were on her face, setting her head to just the right angle before once again fusing his lips to hers.
He groaned, hand slipping down the back of her knickers to caress one rounded cheek.
Blood thundered in Marina’s ears.
She broke the kiss.
Took his hand.
Walked backwards until the bed was behind her knees.
He gave her a gentle push and she fell onto the mattress, bouncing a little. She laughed, turned away and crawled over the king-sized bed towards the bedhead. He stalked her on all fours, coming over the top of her like a lust-filled male lion.
She fell on her back against the pillows, breathing hard, every nerve ending electrified. She watched as he came up on his knees and ripped open the condom packet. As he sheathed his impressive length, she wriggled out of her knickers and tossed them aside.
She didn’t bother with her sandals, didn’t have time, for the next instant he was pressing her into the mattress. Flames engulfed her body in an upwards rush, and she parted her legs so he could settle between them.
And then his hips aligned with hers.
A Dangerous Arrangement Page 17