“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’tjustopen 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?”
