Chapter 2 #2
But they had just begun. And when they were alone, he’d be eager to hear what Chloe felt they had gained from the meal. If
nothing else, he was certain that they had presented themselves as a loving couple, happy to head out for fun, equally happy
as a twosome to have discovered all the extras they might have on this cruise.
The captain seemed to be the real deal, a nice man, using his first night’s dinner to welcome the Milestones rep who was on
board along with one of his major instructors and honorees and her husband, as well as the cruise director and his cruise-retired
grandfather. Wes figured that someone had gotten it into the passenger information that they were a power couple and therefore,
they’d been included, too.
“So, a dive boat!” Celia said to him. “I guess you’re an expert in the water?”
He shrugged. “I’m pretty good.”
She laughed. “You use the internet underwater?”
“You would be surprised how intricate using a computer has become on any boat,” Wes assured her.
“That’s why I want to know so much more—I want to make use of all the knowledge that’s out there now when I’m conducting a dive tour.
I do short trips and overnight tours. I have a nice new boat, and it’s rigged to do just about everything, once I really understand what I’m doing. ”
“Ah! But you seem to be just as excited, Chloe,” Edward said. “I’m thrilled, of course, that we’ll do more of these if the
other passengers are as enthusiastic about them as you seem to be. But . . . you aren’t doing AI art, are you?”
Chloe shook her head. “No, art is created in the hearts, souls and minds by talented human beings, and I never want to change
that—not in my business, anyway. But I want to promote shows and people, the incredible artists I want to get out there! I
mean, from little things like calendars to amazing pieces for people’s walls!”
“Well, hopefully, we’ll fulfill all your needs!” Edward said. “Celia’s class might prove to be helpful.” He winked at her.
“Even though you don’t need to worry about security on any dating apps!”
“Dating and security, so sad!” the captain said. He groaned softly and excused himself, welcoming them all on the cruise again,
but telling them it was time to get back to the bridge.
They all bid him good-night, and then, of course, everyone at the table began to break away, Elijah Cliffton informing them
that he was a wee bit past the age when a night getting wild sounded more inviting than the comfort of one’s bed. Billy groaned
softly, but said, “I’ll walk you to your cabin, Gramps. I’ve got an early morning—we’re a day at sea with dozens of activities
going on!”
Edward said good-night and Celia hurriedly rose followed by her husband, Jeff, who apologized, as well.
“Classes tomorrow!” Celia said.
“We’ll split up so we can cover a bunch!” Chloe assured her. “And thank you, thank you for doing all this!”
“Of course!” Celia said.
“Milestones paid for us—that worked!” Jeff whispered.
Celia groaned, Wes and Chloe laughed, rising to leave the dining room themselves.
“I guess we should be glad this is considered a luxury line and that there are only about six hundred or so crew and passengers,”
Chloe murmured dryly, sliding ahead of Wes to start out of the dining room.
At her side, he softly replied, “Just six-hundred-something! We should figure this out in no time. Well, at least we were
able to spend some time with three of our prime suspects: Milestones VP Edward and the lovely Celia and her husband, Jeff.”
“And?”
“Let’s get back to the cabin,” he said.
People were pouring out of the dining room, chatting, smiling. A cruise tended to be a place where people could just be nice
to others—they were out to enjoy themselves and strangers were seldom enemies.
No one was listening, still . . .
Their conversation was one that should definitely be kept private.
They were quickly back in the cabin. Their steward hadn’t made up the bed in the little parlor area.
Why would he?
They were listed as a married couple.
He could sleep anywhere on anything; this was something he’d learned long ago on the job.
“I get it tonight,” he said.
“You get what?” Chloe asked.
“Sofa.”
“Hm, do I trust you to hear the door?” she asked.
He laughed. “If you can’t trust me to hear the door, we’re both in trouble here!”
“No, no, I trust you when you’re awake—”
“You plan on a string, maybe you even brought a bell. Of course, that doesn’t help if someone just opens the door with a gun
which, of course, would wake us both immediately.”
“Okay, true. But they can’t just open the door if the inner lock is on, and with the string—”
“If they’re trying to break the inner lock, we’d hear it anyway,” Wes reminded her, grinning. “A bell, a string, whatever!
That’s a bolt. If someone slammed the door hard enough to break that bolt in, we’d definitely hear it!”
“Okay, fine, you get the couch tonight and I was kind of making up my own arguments, you know, the part about a string and
a bell—because there is an inner lock, a bolt. Someone messing with that would definitely wake us both up,” she told him.
He grinned and nodded. “Yeah, we’re both good. So, okay, before we try to get some sleep, what did you think and or feel tonight?”
She shook her head. “A strange dynamic. The captain, nice guy. Lonely, maybe. I would imagine that it’s difficult to lose
one’s spouse and spend endless hours at sea. Maybe a dating app would be great for him.” She made a face. “I do know people
who met their partners on dating apps, but I know people who wound up with a lot of creeps, too. I guess in this business . . .”
“You come to believe you need to see people up close and personal?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Okay, but the captain. Just plain good guy, but, of course, he’s not on our list derived by our own team, anyway.
Ditto with the grandfather who used to be a cruise director and the grandson following in his footsteps—I think Billy’s excited about his job and grateful to be at the captain’s table and recognized by all the Milestones people.
Of course, not on our list, either. Down to Celia, there’s something about her that . . .”
“I agree. Attractive woman, eager to please, but evidently made of steel and cunning,” Wes said.
Chloe nodded. “I get the feeling that her husband is on this and into computers because she’s ordered it. He barely speaks—just
when she gives him a cue that he’s supposed to be engaging. It’s almost as if he’s afraid to talk without her go-ahead,” she
said.
Wes nodded. “So far, seems like we’re getting the same vibes. Do you think that she’s capable of being a cold-blooded murderer?
And if so, why? If her thing is really social media, these other guys aren’t really her competition.”
“Double-edged question!” Chloe told him. “But that’s okay. I’m not sure! The only thing I’m sure about is the fact that she
brow-beats her husband. And even that could be . . .”
“For public appearances?”
Chloe shrugged.
“What about our VP Edward, Milestones emissary onboard?”
“That’s harder,” she said. “You get anything?”
He shook his head. “Seems like the real deal. But . . . Well, these guys are all capable of tracking others. They’d know schedules,
who goes where when . . . I mean, any of them slipping into a house, staging a suicide or murder-suicide . . .”
“I believe that our people will be getting us more,” she said.
He nodded. “We’ve tossed our real phones and our computers have been wiped. Our fake identities are really well-established
online. But we’ve still got to watch our own backs. Look at the things our people can discover.”
She nodded. “We’re going to need to split up to manage this, but we need to make sure that we do know what the other is doing at all times.”
“Absolutely. And don’t forget, the phones we have can ping the other at any time of the day.”
She laughed. “So, if someone gets one of us, they can find the other, too?”
“Ouch! Wow, your glass is half-empty. No, it shouldn’t work that way. Only we know the ping color each day—the one that will
refer to our locations—and that color is something we’ll discover each morning when we look at the phones. Other colors will
be meals, classes. We’re in good shape, we work with good people.”
“And it’s a cruise! What could go wrong?” Chloe said, smiling. “Okay, so, tomorrow morning, I’m taking Celia’s social media
thingy and you’re—”
“I’ll head to VP Edward’s class on security,” Wes told her. “And, of course, in the afternoon, we’ll need to get to know our
other suspects.”
“Exactly. We still have Amelia Swenson and the brothers, Daniel and Broderick McClintock. Amelia had reason to get rid of
Frank Adams because he was above her in a supervisory position—getting the position when it had been between the two of them,”
Chloe said, scrunching her face up a bit as she remembered everything they had learned about their suspects. “And the brothers . . .
Hm, maybe just wanting to rule the market?” She shook her head. “I don’t get it!” she said softly. “I mean, could all this
be over greed?”
“Greed can do remarkable things to people. We’ve both seen that,” he told her.
She nodded. “I’m just hoping that . . .”
“That we can figure it out? Hey, I read great things about you. That was an amazing case that you and Alex Rodriguez managed working undercover.”
She winced and nodded. “Yeah, but Alex’s injuries at the last showdown still have him . . . Well, he may be in rehab the rest
of his life. And, well, you’ll need to meet Alex one day. He’s a remarkable human being. He’s not bitter. He’s grateful for
his life. And he told me that he’d never been capable of slowing down on his own and now he gets to spend more time with his
kids, so . . .”
“Hey, yeah, I’m sorry. I heard he was injured and that he was on medical leave from FDLE. He sounds great. I do hope I get
to meet him.”
She forced a smile.
“Sure.”
“You blame yourself.”