by A. E. Radley
The door to the bathrooms opened, and she held her breath. She glanced in the mirror to see who was coming into the space.
Her breath caught in her chest, and her eyes widened.
She’d finally cracked. It was the only explanation for what she was seeing. The stress had obviously gotten to her, and she was hallucinating. That was the only way to explain why she was looking at her body double in the mirror.
Annie slowly turned around, aware that her mouth hung open and her eyes were as wide as saucers. Her doppelgänger stared back with identical astonishment. A few moments of silence passed between them in the empty bathroom before the other woman started to speak in excited Spanish.
Annie held up her hand. “I’m sorry, I… I don’t speak Spanish.”
“Oh, you’re English?” The woman looked confused. Her English was impeccable, with just the slightest accent.
“Yeah, my mum’s Italian,” she said to explain her slightly Latin looks. “My name’s Annie.”
“I’m Serena, and you look…” Serena was looking Annie up and down in fascination. “We are twins!”
Annie nodded slowly. “We are. What are the odds?” It was only then that Annie noticed that Serena’s eyes were red, and she clutched a used tissue in her hand. “Are you okay?”
“No,” Serena said simply. “But you will think me ridiculous.”
She pulled the case she’d been dragging behind her farther into the bathroom and parked it out of the way against a wall. She walked over to the mirror and started to fluff her mid-length brown hair.
Annie couldn’t help but stare at her. Serena was a couple of inches taller than she was. Her hair was a little shorter, her nose a little thinner. Side by side, they were certainly not identical, but the likeness was astonishing.
“I should ask you if you are okay. You look terrible, too,” Serena said. She opened her handbag and fished out a makeup bag. “No offence.”
“None taken,” Annie replied. “I look a mess.”
Serena unzipped her makeup kit and placed it on the counter between the two sinks. She gestured to the contents. “Please, help yourself.”
Annie hesitantly stepped forward. The makeup selection was enormous for such a small bag. She picked up some concealer and started to apply it to the bags under her eyes. It wouldn’t erase them, but it would help.
“So, what is your story?” Serena asked. “You are hiding out in here like me, sí?”
Annie didn’t know how to answer that question. Telling a complete stranger that she’d witnessed something she shouldn’t and that now the mob was after her wasn’t exactly a good idea.
“I’m… trying to leave town,” Annie explained. “I’ve left a bad relationship. I need to get away from here.”
Serena made eye contact with her reflection. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Annie shrugged. “I’ll be okay. Just… need to get out of here. What’s your story?”
Serena put the cap back on her lipstick and let out a soft sigh. “It is silly.”
“It’s upset you,” Annie pointed out. “Can’t be all that silly.”
Serena frowned. “You don’t recognise me?”
Annie’s eyebrows lifted. “Should I?”
Serena shrugged. “You like music?”
“Some.”
Serena put the lipstick back in the makeup bag and walked over to her suitcase. She opened the front zip and pulled out a CD case and handed it to Annie.
She looked at it for a moment before realising the figure in the black-and-white photo on the cover was Serena. She wore a floor-length ballgown and was looking up at the sky.
“You’re a singer?” Annie asked.
She turned the CD over and looked at the playlist on the back.
“Yes, I sing opera.”
“Oh.” Annie looked at the front cover again. “An Evening with Serena Rubio. Cool. But this doesn’t explain why you were crying.”
Serena folded her arms and leaned back against the tiled wall. “My voice, it needs to be rested, but I have a tour coming up. If word gets out that my voice is not strong, then ticket sales could fall. Venues may cancel.”
Annie nodded. “Oh, I see. That’s awful.”
Serena quickly shook her head. “That is not why I am sad. It has happened before. It is common for singers; our voices are more fragile than people expect. No, the problem is that my manager booked me to go on holiday.” Serena gestured to the suitcase with irritation. “A cruise. I hate cruises. I cannot swim, and I hate being out of communication with the world. It’s for seven days. He hopes that I will rest my voice and be well when I get back.”
Annie smiled. “Okay, yeah, crying because you’re forced to go on a cruise is a bit weird.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Serena pushed herself away from the wall and started to pace. “My manager forced me to split up with my boyfriend. He said that he was a bad influence on me. But I love him. So, I lied and said that we broke up. But we didn’t. My boyfriend is in Australia, and I desperately want to see him. He was supposed to visit here, but then my manager sent me on this cruise to rest my voice. So now he lands tomorrow, and I will be gone. And now I won’t see him, and I don’t know when I will see him. And I hate cruises.”
Annie blew out a breath. “Wow, yeah, that…” She let the sentence trail away, not knowing what she could say to make all of that better. Serena seemed to be in a heartbreaking situation, forced to be apart from someone she loved.
“Can’t you just… not go on the cruise?” Annie asked.
Serena shook her head. “No, my manager will hear that I didn’t go and will be very angry with me. He thinks that it is essential that I get away from everything, away from my friends, my family, social media, fans. He wants me to float around the sea without saying a word for seven days. Come back refreshed.” Serena snorted a laugh before launching into a stream of Spanish which didn’t sound complimentary.
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking suddenly sheepish. “I just… I want to see my boyfriend. You know when you love someone, when you feel this need to be with them. When you know they will fix everything and make you feel safe and happy?”
“I know what you mean,” Annie said.
It was a lie. Annie had no idea what Serena meant. She’d yet to find someone who made her feel like that. There had never been a romantic partner in her life who made her feel safe, no one who fixed everything. She’d thought she’d experienced love, but now she honestly wasn’t sure. Had she ever loved Diego? Probably not.
She’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Serena staring at her.
“What is it?” Annie turned to look in the mirror, wondering if she’d gone too far with the concealer.
Serena spun around and opened her suitcase. She pulled out a floppy straw hat and a pair of large, dark sunglasses. She grabbed Annie’s arm and turned her to face her, taking off Annie’s hat and placing the straw one on her head as she did.
“What are you doing?” Annie asked as a pair of sunglasses were shoved onto her face.
“You look just like me,” Serena said. “It must be fate. God has sent you to me.”
Annie wanted to argue that if God had sent Annie to Serena, then God was willing to put Serena into potential mortal danger.
The last thing anyone in Barcelona wanted right now was to look like Annie Peck. If Annie had to look at Serena twice to check that she wasn’t losing her mind, then the Ortega family wouldn’t hesitate to snatch Serena off the streets. Would they believe Serena when she said she wasn’t Annie? Even if they did, it would be too late by then.
“You will be me,” Serena announced.
Annie yanked the sunglasses from her face. “What?!”
“You want to leave town; you can be me.” Serena was grinning from ear to ear, her mind clearly made up.
“Wait, no… no. I can’t do that!”
“You can, you look like me.”
“But I’m not yo
u. I… I don’t speak Spanish, I can’t sing!” Annie pulled off the hat and held it out to Serena, who refused to take it.
“It is an English cruise company, and I spend a lot of my time speaking English. And you’re supposed to be resting your voice,” Serena said.
“No, you are supposed to be resting your voice. Not me.”
“No one will know who you are, or who I am. You proved that; you didn’t know who I was. You will be just another passenger. Someone who keeps to themselves. You can eat and drink, sunbathe.” Serena got her phone out of her bag and started typing.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Annie reached for the phone.
Serena held it out of reach. “Telling Michael that I will see him at the airport.”
“No, wait! I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“I will pay you.” Serena lowered the phone and looked at her earnestly. “I will pay you five hundred euros per day you spend on this cruise. Seven days. Three and a half thousand euros. Up front.”
Annie licked her lips and blinked rapidly. She had money in the bank, but she didn’t know how far Diego’s reach spread.
In her paranoia she had convinced herself that a hacker could easily track her bank account, locating the cash machine or branch she used and putting her at risk. She needed money to get away from Diego, and cash was preferable. Three and a half thousand euros in cash would go a long way to helping with that. And it would be untraceable.
“And you will get out of town, away from your boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever,” Serena continued. “You can board the ship in one hour. Set sail and see France and Italy. Free food, drink, entertainment. There are many pools, a casino.”
“You were just telling me how much you hate cruising,” Annie pointed out.
“Yes, but you will love it,” Serena assured her. “Please.”
“It’s identity fraud,” Annie said.
“Who will ever know? I will give you my passport, my credit cards. You will be me. I will meet you when you get off the ship next week and you can give me everything back,” Serena said.
“You’re placing a lot of trust in a complete stranger.”
“I believe this is fate,” Serena repeated. “I think God has put us together to help us both.”
Annie let out a breath and turned away from Serena to get some space to think. A week on a cruise ship sounded like heaven compared to how her life had been over the last two days. But it was still fraud, and she was in enough trouble as it was.
She knew exactly what the Ortega clan would do to her if they found her. Or anyone who looked like her.
She swallowed hard.
Serena was in real danger, but Annie couldn’t explain to her why. She either needed to convince her to get on the ship or out of Barcelona. She couldn’t stand the idea of Serena’s blood being on her hands. Even if she didn’t hurt her personally, she’d still feel entirely to blame.
Three and a half thousand euros in cash didn’t sour the deal, though. She reasoned she could always pay Serena back later when she had gotten away from Diego and was safe.
Annie tightly shut her eyes. She didn’t know what to do. She tried to centre herself and remember her plan. Get out of the city. Don’t be traceable.
Going on a cruise ship under the name of an opera singer would certainly cover both of those bases. But it was against the law. Could it even work? Would anyone believe she was Serena? It was possible. Especially if she had Serena’s ID and all her belongings.
She spun around. “Okay, but on one condition.”
Serena looked happy enough to burst. “Name it.”
“You have to get out of Barcelona. As you say, we look the same, and one of my friends might recognise me.” Annie didn’t want to mention that those friends could rat her out to the mob and have her killed; she just had to hope Serena would keep to her word.
“Absolutely. I will pick Michael up from the airport tomorrow morning, and we will hire a car and drive into the country. Find a hotel for the week.”
Annie couldn’t believe she was considering this. She thought about her train ticket to Paris, a ticket which assured she’d get out of the city, but a ticket which could easily be traced by the Ortega family and their connections.
A week aboard a cruise ship would give her the time and space to come up with a real plan. She could even use the cruise to vanish into France or Italy, sending Serena’s belongings back via the mail service. No one would ever know where she was.
“If you worry about pretending to be me, you can stay in your suite all day. They have room service,” Serena said, trying to sweeten the deal.
Annie worried her lip between her teeth. It was a risk, but everything she’d done lately or would do in the near future would be a risk. If she could get away with it, she’d be safer aboard the cruise ship with three and a half thousand euros in her pocket. It meant options, untraceable paths to a new life.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” she agreed.
Serena squealed with excitement. “Thank you!”
Annie found herself wrapped in a hug for a moment before Serena stepped back and started rummaging through her handbag.
“We don’t have much time. You need to board in about an hour. Let’s get you ready! I will tell you everything you need to know.”
Status Report
Caroline walked briskly through deck ten. She was never off duty, which meant she was hardly ever out of uniform, and that made her easy to spot on the crowded upper decks. Even when she was out of uniform, there were still plenty of people who recognised her.
Such was the difficulty of being one of the few female cruise ship captains in the world. Management for Dream Cruise Company were always asking her to conduct interviews with newspapers and magazines, and her photo was all over the Internet.
So, she used the mid-decks if she needed to get anywhere fast. Deck ten was a favourite because it mainly consisted of larger guest staterooms and suites, which meant there were fewer than the lower decks, where more rooms were crammed onto each floor.
Travelling through deck one in the bowels of the ship was almost impossible. The crew-only area was as hectic as the busy upper decks, and she couldn’t walk a few steps without someone stopping her to ask a question, offer up a suggestion, or complain about something which should be funnelled through Dominic.
Staff were split into three categories: crew, officers, and staff. Caroline had responsibility for crew and officers, but staff were out of her remit and managed by Dominic Yang, the hotel director of Fortuna.
“Eagle One?” Her radio cracked to life.
She unclipped it from her belt and pressed down the button. “On my way, Dom.”
“Roger that.”
She put the radio back on her belt and picked up the pace a little as she approached the forward-section stairwell. She jogged up the stairs, passing three decks with ease. Her colleagues from the Royal Navy had suggested that her level of fitness would fade once she started working on the cruise lines. Never-ending buffets and lounging around was what they had assumed.
The truth had been quite the opposite. Caroline was in the best shape of her life with all the running around she had to do. Fortuna was bigger than the largest aircraft carrier built to date and three-quarters of the height of the Statue of Liberty.
She walked down a couple of corridors before entering the ship’s library. The room was opulent and well-furnished with beautiful hardwood floors, tall, backlit bookshelves, and plenty of luxurious seating.
The room was often bustling with passengers, but on changeover day it was closed to the public. Dominic and Caroline used the opportunity to meet somewhere brighter and more spacious than either of their offices.
“Sorry I’m late,” she apologised immediately.
Dominic was sat in a high-back leather seat, a large stack of paperwork in his lap.
“No problem,” he replied, clearly used to her delayed arrivals.
She took the seat opposite hi
m and let out a relieved sigh. It wasn’t sitting down that prompted the sound, it was being alone. Or at least being out of the reach of passengers for a few moments.
“Shall I begin?” he asked, gesturing to a sheet of paper which presumably contained his status report.
“Please do.”
“Successful trip, we conducted three weddings, as you know, and everyone was happy with that. We had five drunk-and-disorderly arrests, but they were nothing to write home about. Maintenance is getting to the room complaints; again, there’s nothing major. Housekeeping are short-staffed but managing; I’m hoping for replacements to join us at Marseille. The whirlpool on the aft deck is being serviced. There was a problem with a filter, so we’re hoping we can get that fixed before all aboard.”
Caroline nodded. She picked up the report that was on the coffee table in front of her. While the hotel side of the cruise wasn’t strictly anything to do with her, she still liked to be kept informed.
“Ninety-two-percent capacity for this sailing,” Dominic continued. “One wedding, and we’ll have two passengers celebrating their hundredth birthday, if you can believe that.”
She couldn’t. At fifty-five, she assumed she had another twenty-five years left if she was lucky and nothing untoward happened. The thought of having forty-five more years to live was hard to imagine.
“Will they be at my table?” she asked.
“No, one has special dietary requirements and won’t be attending the main dining room at all. The other eats at five every day so can’t wait for your table to dine later.”
“I understand. I’ll make a note to seek them out and congratulate them.”
“Speaking of congratulations…” Dominic grinned and looked over the report at Caroline.
“No.” She broke eye contact and fixed her gaze on the paper in her hands.
“Come on, Caroline,” he pleaded.
“No, I won’t be made to celebrate something I don’t see any point in celebrating.”