Chapter 9
Nathaniel closed his cabin door and lifted Brutus out of his carrier. He petted him a few times before setting him down to let him get a little exercise. Of course, the first thing he did was poop on the carpet instead of using his litter box. Nathaniel chuckled as he cleaned it up and then watched as he explored the space. Rabbits were funny creatures—gentle and quiet, and yet fast.
“Come on, let’s get you back in the carrier,” he told him, giving him a few pets before smiling and gently placing him in the carrier out of the way under the desk.
He knew his father would come. It was just a matter of time. Nathaniel was sure there was something he wanted, and his father was never one to beat around the bush with him. In most dealings, his father hid or deflected, but with him, he never had. Maybe his father thought him weak enough that he never had to bother with any sort of subterfuge.
He didn’t hear a key in the lock, but he’d thrown the bolt when he came in, and that stopped the door from opening. Nathaniel went to the door, swung the lock back, and opened it. He didn’t say anything, but stepped back to let his father inside.
“You were waiting for me. Good. I figured you would be.” His eyes were as cold and calculating as they ever were. “I take it that means you have thought about your allegiance to the family.” He closed the door. “I understand why you did what you did with Michele. She was under suspicion, and you had to prevent her from being caught in the security sweep of the ship.”
Nathaniel let Randy’s words play in his head. “She was sloppy. They had her face on video. She was going to try to get what she’d taken off the ship, and security was looking for her.” He kept his voice as level as possible and hoped his father was buying his little charade. “But what I want to know is what you’re doing here. Michele certainly told you what I told her.”
“Getting what your sister failed to accomplish.” His father sat on the sofa as though he owned it. “A very wealthy passenger is on this ship. She’s only voyaging as far as Cartagena, and then she’s getting off to rejoin her drug kingpin husband. She’s been amassing quite a collection of jewelry that her little hubby isn’t aware of. Sort of her own insurance policy.” He was being vague, but the information he provided would be enough for Randy and Lars to figure out who it was. His father leaned forward, and Nathaniel knew this was the moment, the one where he either passed or failed this test. He’d seen the look before and was well aware of what it meant. “I know you don’t want to get back into the family business, and I don’t need your help. All I want is for you to stay out of it. After all, I’m sure the cruise line or anyone else you work for wouldn’t take too kindly to your past.” There was the threat he’d been expecting. Somehow it made him calmer to know that his father was behaving the way he expected him to. He was tempted to make a threat back, but he kept it to himself. Whether his father knew it or not, he was in a much more precarious position than Nathaniel simply because Nathaniel knew Randy was in his corner. That changed everything for him because he wasn’t alone.
“So you just want me to ignore that you’re on the ship and let you do what you want?” Nathaniel asked.
“Basically, yes. You go about your business, and I’ll do the same. Stay out of my way, and your employers won’t get a call about your past and how you got so proficient at certain skills that you use in your act.” He stood. “I know I can count on you to do that one simple thing.” His father walked over to the door and pulled it open. “At least you better, or else your new life will come crashing down around your feet.”
Nathaniel hoped he seemed appropriately pale as his father left the cabin.
He sat on the bed, breathing a sigh of relief before remembering and calling down to the security office. “Lars, is Randy there?”
“Yes. He was about to come to you.”
“Tell him not to. I’m going to go up to the pool deck, and he can meet me there when he gets the chance.” The last thing he wanted was for his father to see Randy coming to his cabin, especially right after their little talk.
“Okay, I will.” Lars hung up, and Nathaniel changed into his bathing suit and pulled on the fluffy robe that came with the cabin before leaving and heading up to the deck. It was easy to find a chair, and he stretched out in the shade. He’d already gotten enough sun and didn’t need more. He put on his sunglasses and closed his eyes, figuring a short snooze wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Why up here?” Randy asked before sitting on the lounge chair next to him.
“I didn’t want my father to see you come to my cabin. And while you’re at it, have Lars check the area around my cabin for a small internet camera. I bet he placed one somewhere so he could spy on me. It would be like him to do something like that.”
“I have a better idea. Make sure your rabbit is fed and you come to my cabin. He can spend all his time watching an empty hallway. That will be more frustrating than knowing he’s been found out.” Randy settled back. “Did he take the bait?”
“I think so. He told me what he’s after. But they sound just as despicable as he is.” He signed and tried to sort out his feelings. “In one of the cabins, there’s a woman who will be disembarking in Columbia, apparently returning to meet her drug kingpin husband. My father says she has lot of very expensive jewelry with her that she’s been buying up as some kind of insurance policy.”
“And he’s going to try to steal it?” Randy asked, and Nathaniel nodded.
“It’s not like she can report it stolen, because that will raise a ton of questions about where it came from and who she’s going to be meeting. At least that’s my father’s thinking.” He lay back, trying to relax but getting more anxious by the second. “He hasn’t changed a bit. Still as arrogant and bullying as always.” He kept his voice low, but his throat ached, and he didn’t want to talk any more.
“Did he believe you?”
“He threatened me. I was expecting that. He said he’d tell the cruise line about my background.” He shrugged. “The thing my father always failed to realize is that being a thief, he has no credibility. He can make a phone call or send an email, but unlike him, I have done nothing wrong.” Nathaniel nodded as if thinking. “All he wants me to do is stand by, and I’m wondering if that isn’t the best thing to do.”
Randy shook his head. “No. Because regardless of who she is, she still deserves not to have her property stolen. I’ll give Lars the information we have, and he can take the appropriate action. Because if she is who I think she is, this woman isn’t traveling alone. I’ve seen her a few times, and she always has people with her. It isn’t going to be easy for your father to get close to her.”
“That may be true, but all he needs to do is get in her cabin.” He kept his eyes closed. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Randy shifted and sat on the end of his lounger. “We can’t guarantee that. But we will do our best. The thing is that it’s up to your father at this point, and it’s my job, and why I’m on this cruise in the first place, to make sure that everyone and their property are safe.”
“I know.” He reached out and took Randy’s hand. “I know you have to make a few calls and get some more information into the right hands. You can’t sit here with me for the rest of the afternoon, but I wish you could.” He checked the time. “Tomorrow, I have my last show, and then after a few more stops, I’m scheduled to get off and transfer to another ship.”
“I know. In Aruba.” Randy stood. “I’ll go take care of what I need to, and then we can have dinner and the rest of the evening together.”
“Okay. Sounds good. And what happens if I encounter my father?” Nathaniel opened his eyes and lifted his sunglasses.
“Just introduce me.”
Damn, he had a wicked smile, and Nathaniel wondered if that was a good idea… but then, what the hell. Randy could certainly handle himself.
He spent the rest of the late afternoon by the pool, soaking up the warmth. It was quiet and no one bothered him. For a few hours, he was alone with his own thoughts and couldn’t help wondering what his life would be like with Randy in it. Not that it was possible, but it would be nice to settle somewhere and have a normal life. He’d been traveling for a long time and was beginning to think that finding a spot to put down roots was a good idea. After the sun began to fade, he gathered his things and returned to his cabin, checking on Brutus and getting changed for dinner.
He found Randy in the bar, sitting at one of the tables, looking amazing in a light blue button-down shirt. Nathaniel sat down across from him.
“Did you have fun out by the pool?”
“I did. It was quiet, though there was a message asking me to help out with tonight’s show. They need people to help anyone who needs it to their seats. It’s no big deal, and if they needed someone to step in, I can do that. The show is at nine-thirty, so I’ll have time after dinner to get into position.” He ordered a drink and made himself comfortable. “How was your afternoon?”
“Enlightening,” Randy said with a mischievous smile.
“And what does that mean?” Nathaniel asked.
Randy shrugged. “I’m not quite sure at the moment. But I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, enjoy a drink, and we’ll go into dinner. I made us reservations tonight at the steakhouse. I thought it would be much nicer than the dining room.” It felt like Randy was taking him on a date.
“Thank you.” He sat back as the server brought his martini.
“What is it?” Randy asked as soon as Nathaniel tensed. “Your father?” he asked just above a whisper.
“Yes. He’s right there, watching someone.” He was thankful it wasn’t him.
Randy set his glass on the table. “Excellent. Why don’t you go over to him and introduce me?” He seemed pleased, and Nathaniel stood, taking his drink as he approached. As soon as he got close, his father’s gaze fell on him, those eyes as cold as ice.
“Who is this?” his father asked.
“I’m Randy. A friend of Nathaniel’s. We met on the ship.” Randy was so smooth and self-assured. His father looked at him like he wasn’t sure what was going on. For the first time in his life, Nathaniel saw fear in his father’s eyes.
His father tensed and didn’t extend his hand. “What is it you want?” It seemed his father was going to try to bluff his way out, but Nathaniel smelled the acrid scent of fear.
“That all depends on you,” Randy said so calmly. His father had always been a predator, searching out the vulnerable, finding their weak spots, and exploiting them. That was not going to work with Randy, because before his very eyes, his father became the prey. “You see, we can play this two ways. The first is the easy way. You put up a fuss, and I take a step back, but not before notifying Constanza Geraldo just what you had planned. Of course, then the men sent to protect her by her husband in Columbia would step into action, and I’m sad to say that you would most likely be lost at sea, never to be found, fish food and then fish shit.” Randy shrugged. “It really doesn’t matter to me. Just one less thief in the world.” Randy was so confident, and his father looked like he was about to shit bricks.
“I’m a paying customer on this ship….”
“Yes. And you’re also wanted in Mexico and the United States. So….” His eyes were dark and hard—Randy was in full police mode. And even though he was going off on his father, Nathaniel found it more than a little hot. “Here’s ship security. They are going to take you into custody, and you’ll be held on board the ship.”
“That’s fine with me. As soon as the ship docks in Curacao, you’ll be in their waters and subject to their laws, and since they do not have an interest in me, I will be free to go. You can’t continue to hold me against my will.” He looked so smug.
“That would be true, but we are not docking there,” Lars said. “We turned north as soon as we knew who you were and what you were wanted for. The ship will be in Puerto Rico late tomorrow, and you’ll be delivered into FBI custody.”
“But….”
“Yes. The captain will make an announcement of our detour to the rest of the passengers. From there we’ll return south. We will miss a few port stops, and arrangements are being made for the affected passengers, but we should be back in Aruba as scheduled.” Randy turned his father around, cuffing his hands behind his back.
Once that was complete, Nathaniel stepped forward, running his fingers over his father’s wrist, removing the lock pick from the underside of his forearm and handing it to Randy. “Zip tie him as well. Then take him wherever you intend to put him, and I’d suggest a strip search. Never leave him alone or out of someone’s sight. Only give him food he can eat with his fingers, and all drinks in paper cups. Do not put him in a cabin—there are too many things he can use.” Nathaniel walked up to his seething father, looking him in the eyes. “I told you when I left that I was through with you, and I meant it. My life is my own.”
“You ungrateful little shit,” his father spat, and Nathaniel backhanded him with the flat of his hand across the face, the slap reverberating through the space, every head turning toward them.
“That’s abuse.”
Randy shrugged. “I didn’t see a thing.” He stepped back as Lars and his security team led Nathaniel’s father away.
“You should have told me what you had planned,” Nathaniel said.
Randy shook his head. “I couldn’t. Your reaction to your father needed to be genuine. And I just got all the details from the FBI a few minutes before you joined me. So when he showed up, I just let the drama play out.” He drew closer. “And I needed to buy some time for Lars and his team.” Randy smiled brightly. “You were brilliant, by the way.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I’m sure once my father explains who he is and who I am….”
“The line already knows. And you have nothing fear as far as your job is concerned. You were instrumental in the identification of your sister and father, as well as the recovery of stolen property. You have done nothing wrong.” Randy took his hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“Where are we going?” Nathaniel asked, his head a little turned around.
“Dinner. Our reservation is in fifteen minutes.”
“We’re still going?” Nathaniel asked as they strolled through the centrum toward the entrance to the steakhouse.
Randy stopped just outside the restaurant. “Of course, we are. You and I have a lot to talk about.” Then, in the quiet vestibule, he lightly cupped Nathaniel’s cheeks in both hands and brought their lips together. “I know you travel the world performing, and I’m a simple cop from Frederick, but there has to be a way to ensure that Aruba is ‘goodbye for now’ instead of ‘so long forever.’”
“How does that work?” Nathaniel asked.
“I don’t know,” Randy told him. “But I don’t want to lose you forever.”
Nathaniel felt the same way, but they had never talked at all about a life on land. He had just assumed that once they docked in Aruba, they would part, and he’d nurse a bruised and battered heart for a while. “I don’t either.” They had only known each other for a short time, but this was the best beginning to a potential something that he’d ever imagined. “But how do we do this?”
Randy shrugged. “I have no idea, but you and I have until we get to Aruba to figure it out. We can talk through it at dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. Hell, we can talk about it in bed if you want, but to tell you the truth, I intend to use that time to fully convince you of the merits of… not a change in career, but maybe a change of venue.” He leaned closer. “After all, I’ll be your assistant any time you want, just as long as you guarantee that you won’t steal my belt again. The only person I want seeing me drop my pants is you.”
Nathaniel closed the small gap between them. “Fine. But your wallet, watch, and handcuffs are fair game.”
“Deal…,” Randy said, and kissed him again before pulling open the door to the steakhouse. Nathaniel followed him inside, and once they were seated, placed Randy’s wallet next to his plate.
“I didn’t mean now,” Randy snickered.
“Oh. Well, then, my bad.” He leaned over the table before their server arrived. “I’ll just have to make it up to you tonight.”
The heat in Randy’s eyes told him everything he needed to know.