Too far. I wasn’t sure this was the time or place. “Hang on, guys,” I said. “We’ve got to focus.”
Corey pushed Raven until he finally relented. They stared at each other, chests heaving, both obviously aroused.
If I didn’t get them out of here now, we were going to do things and get caught with our pants literally down.
I was suddenly completely in agreement with Henry about how distracting we could be with each other. I stood up, approaching them. “Can we get going?”
They looked at me, Corey with a sheepish smile, Raven a smoldering grin.
“Adorable,” I said and pointed to the door. “And totally hot. But it’s not the time. Let’s get Blake and the others, and get off this stupid ship.”
Deals
As we exited the laundry area and made our way through the ship, I tried not to get too distracted daydreaming about what might happen once we got home.
Once we started moving, I realized I needed to make another bathroom stop. I could feel my flow was heavier than usual for me.
When I said I needed a bathroom, Raven picked up on my worried tone. He grabbed me by the elbow, escorting me to a ladies’ bathroom and entering with me.
Corey came in after him. He checked the stalls quickly for signs of anyone else around. “Raven,” he said. “You don’t have to go in with her. We should guard the door.”
Raven turned me to him. “What’s wrong?”
“I told you,” I said. “My…period.”
“You don’t normally need to go so much on your period,” Raven said.
“How would you know?”
Dead serious eyes. “I know.”
“Wait,” Corey said. “Didn’t you have…um…?” His cheeks were bright red, and he avoided looking at me. “Sorry. But I was the one emptying trash a couple weeks ago and I just happened to notice…”
“Yeah,” I said. Being the only girl in the group, it was something I couldn’t really hide. Obviously. “Two weeks, which is a little unusual.” I went to the free napkin dispenser, taking one out. “And it’s heavier than usual. These dinky things aren’t doing it.”
Corey did a slight head shake, eyes darting. “Did you tell the doctor?”
“I was more worried about my head at the time.”
“Did it start before or after you hit your head?”
“Before.”
Raven puffed out his chest. “She’s fine,” he said. “She’s tough. It’s nothing.”
“We don’t know if it’s nothing,” Corey said. “We really need to get off this boat. You should go to the doctor.”
“We don’t have time.” I entered the stall and did my thing.
They spoke to each other, and I was sure it was about me as they kept their voices low enough that I couldn’t hear. I suspected they were plotting to get me to a doctor soon, and I didn’t blame them, but we had to get things done here.
When I was finished, I urged them out before someone caught us.
Eventually we made our way back toward the ship engine area to see if Baldy had left us a message.
We were going down the stairwell when we crossed paths with Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith was Lurch with a tan. He had on another Hawaiian shirt. He looked us over and even met my eyes before he walked on.
Totally dismissed. Did he even recognize me? I wasn’t dressed as Kitty Lane, so perhaps not.
My heart was in my throat. Raven had stepped up beside me, ready, waiting.
Nothing.
But something was in Mr. Smith’s back pocket. I had a hard time trying to figure it out, and it was on my mind as we continued to descend the steps.
Mr. Smith had been in the spa an awful long time, if that’s where he was coming from. I remembered the appointment book, and he was scheduled every morning, but it was already afternoon. Or did he go twice? Either way, he seemed really relaxed.
He hadn’t been looking for me, as far as I could tell.
Hadn’t he warned Kitty Lane he wanted his money?
But then he thought Kitty was dead. Raven had told them all she was, or that things were taken care of. So he couldn’t have been the investor if he’d been totally sure I was the investor until Raven told him otherwise.
I thought about this, but I wasn’t sure where it was leading. I did know it was important, though.
We got back down into the engine room. Break was long over, but there were different faces now—there had been a shift change and this had to be the smaller overnight crew.
We found the storage room and went in.
On the chair where we had tied up Baldy was a sheet of paper. Scrawled on it were several names.
I went for it as Raven secured the door. Corey followed behind me, reading over my shoulder.
Baker
Ward
Smith
Cline
Jones
I frowned. “He’s playing a trick on us,” I said.
Corey studied the list, reading it again, his lips moving. Finally he looked at me, scratching the back of his head. “What did you ask him to do?”
“I told him to…” I looked to Raven, unable to remember exactly what I’d said.
“You told me you asked him to see who Sam interacts with,” he said. He had his back up against the door, waiting. “He’s not going to list people that he knows aren’t the investor, like a waitress lady that works here.”
“Is he smart enough to narrow it down?” I looked at the page again. “These are all the people we’ve been watching.”
“So one of them is the investor?” Corey asked.
“Maybe,” I said, checking the list again.
“It’s Smith,” Raven said. “We passed him on the stairs
. He’s been getting massages. He goes to the spa a lot. It’s probably him.”
“He’s been in the spa,” I agreed. But then I read the names again. Still, I’d seen him in the stairwell. He was too calm, too nonchalant. “But, he’s not our investor.”
“How do you know?” Corey asked.
“He thought I was the investor, remember?” I said and then lowered the paper, realizing my mistake. “So he can’t be. He was very quiet today and yesterday. They all were except…”
There was a knock at the door, loud and threatening.
“Open up,” a voice said. Not Baldy. Not someone I immediately recognized.
Raven looked at me, a warning. This wasn’t good.
There wasn’t a place to escape to. Not like they could just kill us in here, though. He couldn’t drag bodies out in front of so many witnesses. They’d have to behave, for now.
I nodded to Raven. “Do it,” I said. “Let him in.”
Raven opened the door.
Sam entered, red-faced and flanked by Baldy and another big goon.
Raven backed up from the door, and he and Corey stood in front of me protectively.
I found the pocketknife, opening it behind Raven’s broad back. I slipped it, ready to go, into Raven’s pocket, tapping his back twice as a signal.
He didn’t move, didn’t indicate to anyone else what I’d done, but I knew he knew what it was.
Sam was in the same slick black outfit, same slim tie. There was an air of victory around him, smug and cunning.
He motioned toward the door and Baldy closed it, locking us all in.
“Let us out,” Raven said.
“I thought something was going on,” Sam said and he turned, pointing a finger at Baldy. “I’ll deal with you later, but if you want to live through this, you’ll help me here.”
“We’re not here for you,” I said, oddly cool, at least on the outside, given the circumstances. My insides shook; I was unsure if this was the right move.
But I was a thief, and I knew what criminals wanted. They wanted to keep doing what they were doing. And they didn’t like the threat of authorities getting involved.