Chapter 19
Charlotte already had her hair in a ponytail and she was beginning to wish she’d worn sensible shoes. The three-inch wedge sandals were cute, but after traipsing around a boat the size of her hometown for almost four hours, she’d pay good money for a nice pair of sneakers.
None of the luxury suites had panned out, and they’d moved on to searching areas of the ship that could provide power and some sort of secrecy.
The Stargazer Theater was home to Broadway-like shows and a French acrobatics troupe. On the main stage, two women were twirling on ropes hung from the high ceiling while the crowd oohed and aahed over the music.
Harrison led the way through the backstage area and a series of hallways, ending up in what seemed to be some kind of lighting control room. “Nothing,” he said. “Let’s head to the arcade.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. She knew where the arcade was, more than half the ship’s length away.
Why couldn’t he go in some kind of order instead of traipsing all over hell’s half acre?
“Wait.” She walked toward the window overlooking the theater, the performers mesmerizing even from here.
“I need to take my shoes off. I can go after bad guys barefooted, right?”
She bent down to unbuckle her sandals, a small red light catching her eye. She squatted and peered under the console, making out a rectangular shape with wires and a digital timer.
It looked like a bomb.
No. Surely actual bombs didn’t look so bomb-like. It was probably a prop.
Cowboy and Harrison were going to laugh at her, though she held out some hope Abby wouldn’t. “Hey, guys? I think you should take a look at this. You know, just so you can tell me it’s not a bomb.”
The men crouched down on either side of her. Cowboy pulled out his cell phone, a beam of light shining on the device. He and Harrison both cursed out loud. “It’s a bomb, all right,” said Cowboy. “Just when you were afraid that Navy SEAL training was going to go to waste.”