“Come on, Nick. You know Rose didn’t steal anything,” Alexis said.
“But the look on her face is hilarious,” Nick said.
Everyone looked at me again. From the heat of my cheeks, I’m sure they were bright red. I probably had red splotches across my chest and neck. I got those too sometimes. I couldn’t look anyone in the eye. I didn’t want to find pity there.
Sophie leaned toward Nick. “Don’t be a—”
“It’s okay,” I said, my voice squeaking a little. As much as I appreciated them having my back, it was time I spoke for myself. My hands shook, but I said, “Nick knows the thief could be anyone on this ship. Even me.”
He grinned like he’d won.
“And even him.”
His eyes widened for a sec before he burst out laughing. “Right. And it could be Jacques or Sophie or Marie or—”
“We get it,” Sam said.
“Zis is very boring,” Marie said and stood. “Good night.”
We all stared as she walked—with a pronounced hip wiggle—out of the lounge.
“Is she okay?” Sophie asked Jacques.
“But of course,” he said. “Marie always does exactly what she wants.”
That sounded about right. But why did she feel the need to leave? Did it have to do with Nick accusing all of us? Because it hit too close to home? Or was she truly just bored?
The energy it had taken to speak up drained away leaving me exhausted. Going back to my cabin sounded like heaven. I’d be alone, all alone. I pushed myself up from my chair. “I’m heading out. See everybody tomorrow.”
Through a chorus of good-byes, I started to edge past Sam but felt a tug on my skirt. I looked down to see him watching me, his lopsided smile firmly in place. “Good night,” he whispered, and then winked.
Somehow I managed to smile and then walk slowly from the room. I had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other because I was vibrating like a plucked guitar string. If that was what could happen when Sam only winked, what might happen if he actually kissed me? I couldn’t decide if I was brave enough to find out.
***
The ship didn’t arrive in Trogir until ten o’clock the next morning, so our excursion was scheduled for right after lunch. I had breakfast with my grandparents and then stayed on deck to finish writing out the investigation notes in my journal that Sophie and Alexis had interrupted yesterday afternoon with spa time.
I only lasted fifteen minutes.
I kept staring off into space, thinking about Sam. About his sense of humor and warm laugh. About his fingers sliding across my cheek, making shivers race down my spine. About his lopsided smile. And that wink. I pressed my hand against my chest to keep my heart from escaping.
I gave up and went back to my room. So much for investigation notes. I’d have to try again when I could stop daydreaming. Something that might take a while. I finally had to admit it to myself—I was crushing hard. And not even Sam turning into an iceman last night could stop the feeling. Because I wanted to help. I wanted him to trust me enough to tell me why he’d shut down and gotten so angry. It had to be good for him to talk about it, right?
I tossed the journal onto the table and put the pen on my bedside shelf, so I wouldn’t lose it. I turned on the flat-screen TV and tuned it to the cruise ship channel that was showing info on Trogir. There were lots of pictures of blue ocean and medieval buildings with terracotta roofs, which we’d probably be seeing in just a couple of hours. I smiled at the thought of walking along with Sam while Clio told us about the points of interest. We wouldn’t be listening because we’d be so into each other.
Good grief. I shook myself and got up. I was in serious trouble here. I needed to think about something else for a while. I left my room and knocked on my grandparents’ door, but there was no answer. Oh, well. They had said something about exercising this morning.
In the hall, our cabin steward Darl was tossing used towels into a laundry bag two doors down. These stewards always seemed to be working. In fact, the whole crew always seemed busy. A thought struck me, and I set off after Darl, who’d gone into the room he was cleaning. I peeked around the corner. “Darl?” I called.
He came out of the bathroom, a cleaning rag in his hand. He smiled. “Good morning, Miss Rose.”
“Good morning. I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
“Of course.”
“There’s a young woman on staff who helped me find a book I was looking for in the library, and I wanted to thank her again.” Boy, the lies were just rolling off my lips these days.
“Do you know her name?”
I tried to look embarrassed, which actually wasn’t that hard. “No, that’s the problem. I don’t remember. She has blond hair and a roundish face. Very pretty.” I just threw that last bit in there for politeness. I had no idea if the woman was pretty or not.
A furrow grew between his eyebrows. “On staff? You mean one of the officers?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t really know. White uniform.”
He looked apologetic. “Many of us wear white. But your description does not bring anyone to mind.”
Hmm. That was interesting. “Oh, well.” I smiled at him. “Thank you. I’m sure I’ll run into her some other time.”
I went back to my cabin and turned off the TV. If there was no crew member with blond hair and a round face, that had to mean that someone else was masquerading as one. And what a perfect way to go wherever you wanted. People didn’t look twice at someone wearing the cruise ship uniform because those in uniform were part of the background of the ship. A thief could go about her business relatively easily.
But what about other cruise staff? Wouldn’t they notice some random person wearing a uniform? Yeah, the thief had to be careful. It probably meant he or she was moving through the ship when it was either really busy or when no one was around.
Or maybe this whole theory was misguided. Maybe there was a cruise ship hierarchy, and Darl couldn’t possibly know all the crew members. I shook my head. No. Even if he didn’t know them, he would certainly know who the higher ups were. I needed to ask other people on staff. I’d give them the same excuse I’d given Darl—I was searching for a woman who’d helped me find a book in the library so I could thank her. It was a decent enough reason. Hopefully, it would bring results.
Fifteen
Sam
Our group strolled through the wide stone square of Trogir’s medieval city center along with dozens of other tourists. We stopped while Clio talked about the loggia where justice was handed down centuries before. And as usual, I stopped listening. The clock tower, with its huge pale blue clock face and Roman numerals, showed a quarter till two. We’d been touring for fifteen minutes, and I was so ready to leave it all behind.
I wanted to wander along these cool cobblestone streets and paths by myself. Without talking or listening to someone teach me something. Just taking it in.
At least Marie had gotten the message and wasn’t trying to hang on me anymore. Rose was keeping her distance too. Probably because of my psycho behavior last night. And she was the only one I really wanted to be around. But there you go. It sucked trying to keep to a decision you’d made.
I’d first started to doubt my choice when I witnessed her putting Nick in his place last night. I’d wanted to hug her. And after she smiled down at me right before she left, I spent the next hour trying to come up with things to do that she might like.
And then my uncle had ruined it all. Again.
I was almost asleep when he finally came back to our cabin, humming some old-school tune like he was in love or something. Idiot. All the resentment rushed in just like earlier, and I knew I had to completely cool it with Rose. She was too sweet to be treated like crap by someone like me.
Uncle David and I needed to have this out. If we didn’t, I was going to explode at him some time soon, and that wouldn’t be pretty. I’d just hav
e to keep looking for a good time. I didn’t really want to do it in front of Sophie and Alexis, but meals were about the only time he wasn’t hanging with the Flirty Lady.
Clio moved on, and we followed her to a big church. She went on about the whole town being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whatever that meant, and then started in on the Romanesque door of the Cathedral of St. Lawrence.
Nick shuffled his feet as though he needed to move to keep from running off. I knew the feeling. I gazed past Jacques and Sophie, who were glued to each other’s sides, to where Rose was examining the carvings on the door Clio was talking about.
I squinted. Did Rose have blue and purple streaks on the ends of her hair? How come I hadn’t noticed those last night? Too dark probably. I wanted to get a closer look at them, see exactly where and how they were placed. Right, Sam. Don’t be a tool. You just want to be near her, plain and simple. It has nothing to do with her hair.
Well, it had a little something to do with it. I liked her hair, especially because she seemed to wear it in a way that matched her moods. And understanding a girl’s moods was always a plus.
Last night, her hair whipped around in the wind, free to do whatever. And she’d acted the same way. The other day in Porec, she’d twisted it up on the back of her head like she was tired of it and everything that was happening. And then she had disappeared when we were all taking bathroom breaks, and I had to track her down and found her weirded out about some guy who’d been arguing with Clio.
Okay, maybe her hairstyle meant absolutely nothing and I was imagining the whole thing.
Rose slowly lifted her head like an animal sensing a predator. She smiled at me, but her lips were closed, and a frown drew her eyebrows together. Then she looked past me, and her whole expression changed. She sucked in such a huge breath that her body actually swayed. What the heck?
I twisted around, but didn’t see anything strange, just the normal collection of milling tourists. Alexis and Marie followed Clio into the church. And then the others went. All except Rose. She stood there scanning the crowds. I walked over. “What’s the matter? You look freaked out.”
She squinted into the distance. “Remember that guy I told you about in Porec? The one who was yelling at Clio?”
I nodded. Weird coincidence that I was just thinking of him.
“I thought I saw him.”
“Really?” I trained my gaze on the people wandering around. Some were taking pictures; some were taking selfies. Others were studying the architecture. “What does he look like?”
“Balding, kind of stocky.”
“That’s it?”
She stared like she thought it was plenty.
People were trying to get around us to enter the cathedral. I angled my head. “Let’s go in.”
Rose glanced over her shoulder one last time and then walked inside with me. We moved away from the people who were idling around the pews, waiting to get a better look at the ornate altar.
“Can you tell me anything else?” I asked. “Is the guy tall or short?
“Um, he’s about Clio’s height. Maybe an inch or two taller.”
“So maybe five foot nine?”
“I guess.” She looked back at the entrance.
I didn’t see anyone matching that description. “How much was he balding? Was the hair thinning or could you see his scalp?”
“Totally see his scalp. He had like a ring of buzzed dark gray hair.”
“Okay, good. Anything else you can remember about him?”
Still staring at the door as though expecting the hounds of hell, she shook her head.
Time to get her mind off this. I hooked my elbow in hers. “Come on. Let’s catch up with the others. It was probably just somebody who looked like Clio’s guy.”
“You really think so?”
“Sure. I mean, why would he be here?”
She met my eyes straight on. “That’s the question I’m afraid of.”
“Why?” I kept us moving, my toes clinging to my flip-flops so I wouldn’t trip on the uneven stone surface.
“Because he was freaking scary,” she said. “I don’t want a repeat of his fight with Clio, and if he’s here, he’s probably following her for a specific reason.”
Paranoid much? We stopped behind Jacques and Sophie near an entrance to a side chapel. Clio lifted her chin like she was acknowledging our presence. Dang. I hadn’t expected her to wait for us.
“Here we have the Chapel of Blessed John of Trogir,” Clio began, and then went on to talk about sculptures and reliefs and niches.
I peeked around the corner into the room. Small round windows high on the carved walls let in a blaze of white light that shone on a sarcophagus of the blessed John dude flanked by two angel statues. I almost went in, but the ceiling stopped me. A sculpture of God, his head and shoulders actually protruding from the ceiling, hovered above us. Um, no. I could wrap my mind around the idea of God being everywhere at once and omniscient, but hanging from the ceiling? No, thanks.
Rose made a weird noise and then wrapped a clawed hand around the crook of my arm. “Wha—?”
She yanked me back a step. “Let’s take a selfie,” she said in such a chirpy voice that Alexis stared at us. And then, practically before I caught my balance, Rose’s phone was in her hand stretched out in front of us. “Smile,” she said.
I obeyed, but I bet I looked constipated. I started to move away, but her grip tightened.
“Let’s take a couple more,” she said. “Here. You hold it. You’re taller.” She shoved the phone into my hand.
Weird. “Okay.” I positioned the phone above us and pressed the button.
“Get more of the background this time,” she whispered.
Wait. Oh. She must’ve seen the guy again. I tilted the phone so that our faces were chopped off and took the picture.
“Thanks,” she said, her voice squeaky, and then released me.
The others in our group had wandered into the chapel. I handed Rose the phone. “You want to see if they turned out?”
She flipped through the pictures. “They’re great,” she said, that fake enthusiasm back in her voice. “It’s him,” she muttered.
What the heck should I do now? I had no idea if this guy was a real threat or not. “Can I see them?”
“Later.” Rose stuck her phone in her tiny cross body purse. “I want to try something. Will you go outside with me?”
Anything was better than staying here. “Sure. Let me just tell Alexis.”
I let my cousin know and then headed out of the cathedral with Rose. We didn’t hurry or anything, just wound our way through people like we had somewhere to go. Once outside, she led me to the church’s bell tower. “So what are we doing?” I asked.
She pulled out the leaflet on Trogir that Clio had given us earlier. “Being tourists. Is that okay?”
“Sure, I like being out here—” With you. I chopped off those words just in time. I didn’t want to make her think we could be more than friends. “Why are we being tourists?”
“Because I’m conducting an experiment.”
“Do I get to know what it is?”
A young couple holding hands passed by and went into the bell tower.
“In a sec,” she said, staring down at the leaflet. “Did you know this bell tower dates from the Fourteenth Century and is forty-seven meters high?”
“No, and why are you telling me this?”
“That’s over one hundred and fifty feet.”
“I know. Do you want to climb it?”
She chuckled. “No. Not a chance in— He’s here.”
I jerked my head up. “Where?”
“Holy crap, Sam. Can’t you be subtle?”
This girl needed to be squeezed. Or tickled. I dug my hands in my pockets. “You could’ve given me a heads up about what we were doing.”
She bent over the stupid leaflet again. “Yeah, sorry. He’s about
thirty yards away at one o’clock. Dark blue shirt.”
I let my gaze wander slowly across the square. The guy stood staring at his phone beside an area of chairs that had been set out for tourists. “So, what do you think he’s up to?”
“Watching us.”
I turned her toward me. “Seriously?”
Her eyes looked troubled. “Why else did he follow us outside?”
“Maybe he needs to talk to Clio again and decided to wait for her out here.”
She folded up the leaflet and slid it into her purse. “Maybe, but I doubt it.”
“Come on, Rose. You really think he’s interested in us?”
“Nope. In me.”
Sixteen
Rose
Sam stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Really?”
“Yes. You didn’t see the way he glared at me back in Porec. I think he’s trying to intimidate me.”
Sam rubbed the back of his neck and then left his hand there. “He traveled several hundred miles to intimidate you?”
“No, that was just gravy. He obviously came here because he needs to meet with Clio for some reason, saw me, and decided to scare me away.”
He let go of his neck. “Away from what, Rose? None of this makes sense.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t know. I’m not doing anything against him—unless he’s psycho and still pissed that I overheard his argument with Clio.”
“Okay. Maybe all this is true, but think about it.” Sam dipped his head toward me. “He can’t do anything to you. You’re with a group of people. You’re traveling on a cruise ship that he can’t board. There’s basically no way he can get to you.”
The pressure on my chest eased a little. “That’s true.”
“So even if he is trying to scare you, it has no substance. Just blow him off. Let him do his little tough guy act and ignore him.” He hunched down to look in my eyes. “Okay?”
I looked back at the man, and every reassurance in the last minute disappeared in a puff. He was holding his phone, aimed at us. Like he was taking a photo. My heart jumped and then raced. “Sam, he’s taking our picture.”
Life in the Danger Zone Page 11