Chapter 15 #2
“Edward really doesn’t know just how liable he is!” Amelia announced. “I will make mincemeat out of him and his entire company!”
Chloe nodded gravely and unhappily, as did Wes.
But she couldn’t help but wonder.
Was Edward in truth a very lucky man that he’d become so attached to Sally—and that George was on board, with him at every
move? Amelia’s venom might have masked something quite a bit deeper.
She was certain that the woman had knowingly found chocolate with nuts so finely ground in the mixture that Sally wouldn’t
notice.
Perhaps she had just meant to make her as sick as a dog—so sick that she couldn’t attend classes, meals or anything else with
Edward.
Or had she known the severity of the allergy and meant for Sally to die? To what end?
To leave Amelia free to be the shoulder that he leaned on, the person who gave him comfort . . .
Who managed to always be with him.
“All right, well, we’d best get going,” Wes said. “Again, Amelia, thank you so very much for speaking with us. And, I promise,
we’ll do everything in our power to get to the bottom of this.”
His words were real and passionate. They would do everything to get to the bottom of this, but Chloe noted that he didn’t add that they would do everything in their power to get Amelia out of the brig.
Because they didn’t really intend to do that at all.
Chloe rose, thanking Amelia herself.
The woman blinked, as if tears were rising to her eyes.
Except that they weren’t. Her anger was all truth. Her sorrow over anything was entirely feigned. She was just angry, angry,
perhaps, even with herself. Because a cunning and manipulative mind surely should have known about the security cameras.
Wes rose, as well. One of the officers had been waiting at the door; they were barely on their feet before the door opened
and the man nodded solemnly, letting them know that he was ready to take Amelia back to her room in the brig.
Amelia left with him, shaking off his hand when he placed it on her arm.
“I can walk just fine on my own!” she snapped.
Then she was gone. Chloe looked at Wes; they couldn’t talk now, but they hurried on out, knowing that the captain was waiting
for them.
“Well?” Captain Millbrook asked.
“I’m not an attorney, but I do think that she can get a good defense lawyer of her own to possibly convince others that it
was an accident,” Wes said. “Was it attempted murder? Possibly. But proving that might well prove difficult. Even an assault
charge might prove difficult because she’s adamant that she was just trying to be nice and welcome Sally into the group that
started hanging around together.”
“She did it, and she’s going to get away with it!
” Millbrook said, shaking his head. “I’ve been in touch with my superiors, of course.
They must weigh every move. She’ll sue, for sure.
But they’ve agreed with us about holding her until we arrive at our home port—it would have been far worse if she proved to be guilty and someone was murdered. ”
“I think she’s where she should be until the absolute truth is discovered. I believe our law enforcement from both countries
will work together to get into the shop where the chocolate was bought and find out just how it was advertised and sold. Montego
Bay is a big tourist destination and they’re not going to want this to cause any disturbances with their many, many tourist
shops, so . . .”
“I did the right thing in your mind, too,” Millbrook said.
Wes smiled. “As you said earlier, the alternative could have been far worse.”
“All this going on! And I just had to be the captain on a cruise with a pack of computer experts!” Millbrook said. “Well,
I’ll let you get some sleep or dance or have a nightcap or . . .”
“I’ll be honest! This was fascinating,” Chloe told him. “Seeing what passengers don’t see on a cruise ship. I’m amazed, too,
that this deck, with all that it holds, doesn’t smell bad at all! What’s below us?”
“Mechanics and whatever items need to be stowed. Oh, all our supplies for the pools, the kitchens . . . She is, in comparison,
a smaller ship, a yacht, so we’re very compact in all that we do! Oh, and ventilation! The key to maintaining decent working
conditions for all involved.”
She thanked him and they headed back to the elevators.
And up.
This time, they didn’t run into anyone. People were at meals, in the casino, listening to music or dancing the night away.
They headed back to the room, and once the door was closed, Chloe quickly turned to Wes.
“Well? Really?”
He shook his head. “I believe that she’s a strange kind of narcissist, enraged that she’s not being seen for her entire worth. Does she have the kind of case that will probably get her off—what proof does anyone have that she intended murder? Maybe it was just supposed to be a welcoming gesture.”
“Won’t that depend on how many people can testify that she knew darned well that Sally had an allergy?”
“That could give credence to the charge that Amelia knew what she was doing to Sally, but it doesn’t prove that she knew anything
about nuts in the chocolate,” Wes said. “However, law enforcement will be checking out the shops, finding out when she bought
the chocolate and if there were warnings anywhere about there being nuts in the chocolate. But as far as the end of this cruise
goes . . .”
“None of that means anything. But what we think may mean everything,” Chloe said softly.
“And I think that I’ll think better after a good night’s—”
“Sleep!” Chloe finished for him.
He laughed, smiling at her. “Um, sure, if that’s what you’d like. It’s all ‘as you wish,’ my love.”
She smiled and walked slowly to him.
Their case was as great an enigma as it had ever been. But neither of them forgot it for an instant. And the plan that night . . .
Well, it was for Mr. and Mrs. Douglas to spend time in their cabin, resting after a long day of physical activity.
Physical activity.
Chloe gently placed a hand on his face. “Well, I am . . . tired.”
“Of course,” Wes began, and she smiled, because whatever he was feeling, he would always respect the desires of the other
person.
“Mentally tired. You know how physical activity can help you get a really good deep sleep? And maybe a really good deep sleep can stimulate my mind!”
“I have been thinking about stimulation,” he told her with a straight face.
Then he grinned.
And she paused, wincing slightly, and he took her shoulders and said softly, “Chloe, please don’t worry, we can just go back
to—”
“I don’t want to go back!” she told him, meeting his gaze and shaking her head. “I don’t know . . . Did we just play a married
couple so well we need to take it all the way? Should I have known you all my life? Does any of it matter right now? I don’t
know—”
“We can’t know right now,” he whispered, gently moving a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “But we are here, playing a
married couple and in real life, we’re adults with, I like to think, a modicum of intelligence and human decency—”
“Decency?” she inquired, causing him to grin again.
“Okay, I can try to be very indecent, but the point is—”
“So tonight you’ll be indecent,” she said lightly.
“By morning’s light we’ll be decent human beings, always, no matter where we go, where this leads, how it ends,” he said.
He cocked his head to the side slightly. “From the beginning, my love. ‘As you wish!’”
“Ah, but ‘as you wish,’ as well!” she assured him. And she smiled. “Because that’s how you make things work, right?”
“Could we not bring Celia into the room?” he inquired lightly.
“Hey! You just said her name!” she told him.
“Hm. I’ve got to fix that. Oh, okay!”
With a sudden strong gesture, he swooped low and swept her into his arms. “The couch isn’t nearly as comfortable as the bed, though when I’m touching you . . . hm, I barely notice anything else!”
She curled her arms around his neck. “Smooth talker!”
“I try!”
They were both laughing when they crashed down on the bed.
Then they weren’t laughing. They were urgent again. And she loved the fiery heat and the vibrant play of his muscles under
the touch of her fingers, her lips . . .
Loved the way they could be so intense, so hungry, so urgent . . .
And laugh together in a tangle of their clothing before they could discard it all.
And even in the end . . .
She loved lying next to him, feeling his arm around her as she curled against him.
Loved drifting to sleep . . . waking at his touch . . . grinning . . . finally, drifting into a deep and real sleep that lasted
them the night.
When she woke, he was still lying next to her, his head on the pillow next to hers. He was awake, eyes gentle as he smiled
at her and she realized that he had watched her sleep for several minutes.
“Hey,” she murmured.
“Hey,” he said, giving her a pained look. “And it’s morning. Wow. Another morning of the beautiful sea, of the blue sky above
and a gentle wind blowing! And, of course, still not knowing what the hell is really going on!”
“Well, it is the job,” she reminded him. She smiled. “We’re called agents, but state or federal, our job is that of investigators.”
“Right. Well, so far, at least, we’ve kept two people alive!”
“Well, there you go. Life is the one thing you can never get back, so . . . okay, yeah, yeah, it’s morning. Up and at ’em!”
He rose quickly and headed out of the bedroom for the shower. She smiled, watching him depart in all his naked glory.
But then again, everything happening was so complex. But she did respect, admire and care for the man—as well as find him
extremely amazing in every intimate way. Not just in the culmination of that intimacy, but in the tenderness he was capable
of with every movement, no matter how wild, hard, exciting and . . .
The ship would dock. And then . . .
The ship would dock, but not yet. And, she realized, whether Amellia was guilty of attempted murder or not, she still believed