Churning Seas

by Lily Harper Hart

  Quinn was happy about the downtime ... until he saw the look on Rowan’s face. “That was fast.”

  Rowan nodded as she sat next to him, refusing to glance at any of their co-workers as they milled around the bar. “He’s gone. He checked out.”

  “What?” Quinn was instantly alert. “Did he leave notice of where he was going or when he would be back?”

  “No. He did leave something, though.”

  Quinn waited, but Rowan didn’t expand. “What did he leave, Ro?”

  Rowan’s hand shook as she tugged an envelope from her purse and passed it over the table. Whether from fury or grief, Quinn couldn’t be sure why she was so upset. He wordlessly accepted the envelope and opened it, furrowing his brow when he saw what was written inside.

  “I don’t understand,” he said finally, looking up. “He didn’t leave anything besides this? No note or anything?”

  “No. That’s it.” Rowan licked her lips as she shook her head. “It’s gibberish. He left me gibberish. He’s playing a game with me or something. There can be no other explanation.”

  Quinn could think of one other explanation, but it wasn’t one he wanted to discuss in front of witnesses. The Bounding Storm’s crew was trustworthy — he honestly believed that — but he hardly knew every face well enough to risk being overheard. “Take a walk with me, huh?”

  The conversational shift caught Rowan off guard. “I don’t want to take a walk. I want some freaking answers.” Her voice rose an octave, drawing a few curious stares from a nearby table.

  “I know you do. I want to talk to you away from here, though.” Quinn kept his voice low. “Now ... come on.” He held out his hand. “Let’s take a walk.”

  “Oh, right.” Rowan had the grace to be abashed as she stood. “I ... I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize for this.” Quinn linked their fingers and moved toward the deck near the adult pool, which was completely empty. Port days on the ship were always interesting. The staff usually had a drink or two while they waited for clearance to leave, and then they immediately headed to the mainland. The ship would be a virtual ghost town in a few hours. That would be preferable to now, Quinn reasoned, but they had to work with what they had.

  Quinn waited until they were isolated between the pool and the deck railing to speak again. He picked a lounger that gave him a clear view of the deck and settled Rowan between his legs so he could be sure that she wouldn’t take off in the middle of a meltdown.

  “Tell me exactly what happened,” Quinn prodded.

  “Nothing happened.” Rowan was understandably bitter. “I asked for him at the front desk, the clerk told me he’d been gone for several days, and then I asked if he left something for me. She got the envelope from the safe and I was nervous enough about what you said to immediately hop in a cab to come back here before I even read it. I didn’t want to risk anything happening.”

  While Quinn was thrilled that Rowan was careful when out and about, he hated that his words had such a chilling effect on her. Fear was not something he wished on the woman he adored. “So you opened the letter in the cab?”

  Rowan nodded. “I spent the first five minutes trying to ascertain if someone was following me, but then I couldn’t not look. I thought there would be an excuse — that something happened, that he would be back as soon as possible, or that he’d simply moved to another hotel because it was easier — but all I found inside was a bunch of letters and numbers that made zero sense.”

  Quinn moved his hands to Rowan’s neck so he could attack the tension building there as he began to massage.

  “That’s gibberish. They’re not even words. He’s playing a game with me. You warned that might be the case, but I didn’t listen. This is all my fault.”

  “Sweetheart, don’t say that.” Quinn absolutely hated that Rowan felt the need to blame herself. It was true that he’d been suspicious of Nick from the start, but recent events had him seeing things with fresh eyes. “As for that letter being gibberish, I don’t think it is.”

  “You can read that?”

  “No. However, I do think it’s written in code.”

  Rowan stilled. “What?”

  “Code.” Quinn tapped the letter on Rowan’s lap before returning to his massage. “Nick has a message for you in there, but he was clearly afraid someone would read it, so he coded it.”

  “But ... I don’t know how to break code.” Despite herself, Rowan found she was heartened by news that perhaps Nick wasn’t playing with her after all. “How are we supposed to figure out what he’s saying?”

  “I don’t know.” Quinn recognized that wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but he refused to lie. “We need to figure out the key.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Each letter or number coincides with another letter,” Quinn explained. “It’s not an advanced code by any stretch of the imagination, but there are a lot of possible outcomes.”

  “Is there a way to figure it out?”

  “There is. I have a program we can run it through, but it will take some time.”

  Rowan’s expression reflected profound hope as she turned to face him. “Thank you.” Her voice caught, which was enough to break Quinn’s heart.

  “Ro, don’t thank me for this.” He cupped her chin and stared into her eyes. “We’re in this together. I told you that from the start. I want to help. I want to figure out all of this because it’s important to us, not just you.

  “The thing is, you can’t let stuff like this get you down,” he continued. “I don’t think Nick is messing with you. I don’t think he’s playing games. I think he’s legitimately scared for his brother’s life ... as well as your life. That makes me scared.”

  “I can’t back away from this,” Rowan argued. “I have to know. I can’t let it go, which isn’t fair to you, but I can’t simply forget about it and move on.”

  “I don’t care about things being fair. Relationships are full of give and take. I want to give to you. As for backing away, I don’t expect that either. That wouldn’t be good for either of us.”

  “It might be better for you.”

  “No.” Quinn shook his head, firm. “I want you. I think I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you, even though I tried to fight it for a full ten minutes ... and failed miserably. I don’t just want you for now either. I want you for ... as long as I can possibly hold on to you.

  “If we’re going to build something here, though, we need to know what we’re dealing with,” he continued. “We can’t move forward if we’re always looking over our shoulders. That means we need to get to the bottom of what is going on with your father and then move on from there.

  “The thing is, I need you to come to grips with the fact that you might only get the one meeting with your father,” he said. “If he absolutely has to hide to keep you and himself safe, then you might only get one shot at seeing him again. Can you live with that?”

  Rowan tilted her head to the side, considering. Finally, she nodded. “Yes. I have to know what happened, why he left. He can leave again after that, especially if that’s how it has to be for his safety. I know I’ll be okay without him. I have you, right?”

  “Yeah. You do.” Quinn leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss. “As for that letter, we’ll figure it out. I’m not exactly famous for my code-breaking skills, but I have a program that should help. If it doesn’t, I have friends who can help us. We will figure it out.”

  “Okay.” Rowan rested her forehead against Quinn’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for freaking out.”

  “If you don’t stop apologizing, we’re both going to freak out. No more apologies.”

  “Deal.”

  “Good.” After another kiss, Quinn helped Rowan to her feet. “We have to go to my office to do this. I don’t have the programs I need on my laptop.”

  “Okay.”

  “We’ll load it up and then get some lunch. It’s going to take some time.”


  “Thank you so much.” Rowan impulsively threw her arms around his neck. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “You don’t have to find out. I’m going to make sure of that.”

  ROWAN AND QUINN OPTED to have lunch at the tiki bar. They could’ve picked any restaurant on the beach — and would have under different circumstances — but both wanted to be close to Quinn’s office so they could regularly check the computer’s search results.

  With that in mind, they opted for sandwiches and iced tea. Since they were together, that was more than enough.

  “I would’ve thought for sure you guys would be eating off ship today,” Demarcus said, joining them without an invitation. “Why are you hanging around?”

  “Maybe we simply like your company,” Quinn drawled. “Have you ever considered that?”

  “Only every single day of my life.”

  Rowan giggled, the sound warming Quinn from the inside. She seemed to have relaxed a bit, although he knew she wouldn’t truly be able to let go until she actually saw her father. Her attitude now was a small step forward, though.

  “We just want some quiet time,” Quinn explained. “We’ll head to one of the beach restaurants for dinner tonight. For now, we’re going to hang out in her cabin and watch television.”

  Demarcus made an odd face. “You’re in paradise and you’re going to watch television?”

  Quinn nodded. “Paradise is a state of mind. Rowan is my paradise.”

  “Aw.” Rowan practically melted as Demarcus mimed gagging.

  “You two are officially disgusting,” Demarcus groused. “I keep hoping you’ll grow out of this, but it doesn’t look as if it’s going to happen. Why do you insist on torturing me?”

  “Because we have to get our jollies somewhere. In fact ... .” Quinn trailed off when he recognized one of his security guards hurrying in his direction. “This doesn’t look good.”

  Rowan followed his gaze, her eyes widening. “What in the world?”

  Christopher Donaldson, one of Quinn’s most trusted aides, pulled up short when he hit the table. His eyes were a bit wild, and it was obvious he was about to deliver bad news. Quinn steeled himself for it as he slowly lowered his sandwich to his plate.

  “What is it?”

  “We found a body, sir.”

  Whatever he was expecting, that wasn’t it. Quinn exhaled slowly and glanced between Demarcus and Rowan so he could gauge their reactions. He was certain he misheard. “A body?”

  Christopher nodded. “Yes, sir. It was stuffed in one of the laundry chutes in the crew wing. We only discovered it because the maids are changing out the linens this stop, and the sheets they were dropping into the chutes weren’t making it to the laundry room.”

  Rowan internally cringed at the visual. “That is ... awful. How can a body be shoved in one of the laundry chutes? How are they big enough?”

  “You would be surprised what someone can do with a body if they’re determined enough,” Quinn said grimly. “Is it a guest? Do you have a name?”

  “Well ... we haven’t been able to get the body out,” Christopher admitted. “We’re not sure how to do it and we can’t get a visual given the body’s current location.”

  “Omigod!” Rowan’s hand flew to her mouth. “Are you saying the body is stuck in the chute? How are you going to get it out?”

  “Calm down.” Quinn absently rested his hand on her arm. “I need you to take me to the body. We’ll figure it out from there.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  Quinn rose and immediately started shaking his head when Rowan started to follow. “I don’t think you should see this.”

  “I thought you said we were a team.” It gave Rowan a level of grim satisfaction to throw the words he said to her not two hours before back in his face. “A team does things together.”

  “Yes, but this might be a little ... dark and gross.”

  “Then I won’t look. I want to be there with you, though.”

  Quinn thought about arguing further but saw no point in it. “Okay. You can come with me. If you’re going to be sick, though, you have to do it away from my crime scene.”

  “Deal.”

  IT TURNED OUT, GETTING the body out of the chute wasn’t nearly as difficult as Rowan imagined. Quinn simply arranged for an empty laundry basket to be placed under the chute before snapping on rubber gloves and shifting the dead individual’s shoulder.

  Then, with a fascination that was born out of viewing a thousand terrible horror movies, Rowan could do nothing but watch as the body slipped down the chute. She jumped when she heard it land on the bottom floor, but otherwise she held it together.

  Once that task was finished, the small group headed toward the bottom level so they could look over the body. That’s when things turned odd.

  “I recognize him.” Quinn bent over the laundry basket and stared hard at the body. “He was with the Andromeda crew last night. I saw him get off the rig.”

  Rowan initially remained close to Quinn’s side, opting to allow him to run the show, but she couldn’t stay back once she realized the body wasn’t nearly as gross as she envisioned. “I recognize him, too. He’s in the photos I took last night.”

  “And there was nothing on his photo, right?” Quinn leaned forward as he asked the question, making certain that Rowan was the only one who could hear it.

  “There wasn’t,” Rowan confirmed. “We went to bed fairly early, though. If it was a crime of passion — or a spur-of-the-moment thing — the omen could’ve appeared after.”

  Quinn didn’t pretend to understand the omen. He understood the new symbol that had been showing up even less. The only thing he could be certain of was that Rowan had an ability that had proven useful in the past when it came to saving people’s lives. It obviously hadn’t helped this man, but nobody was infallible.

  “We can check in a bit.” Quinn rubbed his gloved hands together before reaching into the basket and searching the man’s pockets. “No wallet.”

  “Which means no identification,” Christopher mused. “How are we supposed to know who he is?”

  “I don’t know.” Quinn pressed the tip of his tongue to the back of his teeth as he shifted from one foot to the other. “His neck looks broken. That could’ve happened during the fall through the chute. I don’t see any other injuries, though.”

  “What does that mean?” Rowan was legitimately curious. “Do you think someone carried out a hit or something?”

  Quinn’s eyebrows flew up his forehead. “Why would you ask that?”

  “Because you and I counted fifty-two evacuees and everyone else swore up and down there were fifty-one,” Rowan replied, matter of fact. “Why would they hide an extra body unless they were really trying to obscure something even bigger? Actually, why would they risk killing someone on a cruise ship after a high-profile rescue and then leave the body behind? That action lends itself to more scrutiny than simply waiting until they were off The Bounding Storm.”

  “That is a very good point, sweetheart.” Quinn focused hard on the body. “Whoever did it had the foresight to take his wallet. I guess it could’ve been a robbery gone wrong, but that theory doesn’t hold water for me. It has to be something else.”

  “It’s probably far more likely the killer took the wallet to obscure his identity,” Christopher supplied. “Whoever did it might have surmised the body would be found right away. If this is the person who didn’t appear on either manifest, murdering him might have simply been a way to buy time for escape.”

  “Basically you’re saying that someone from the rig murdered one of their co-workers and is probably already on the run,” Rowan said. “That’s a big leap, however, I don’t know what else to believe. What happens now, though?”

  “We’re at port,” Quinn replied. “We call the police. This is bigger than us. I can guarantee we’ll have government agents breathing down our necks — and soon — once word spreads that one of those roughnecks was
murdered.”

  “What makes you think that?” Rowan queried. “They might not be interested. You don’t know.”

  “Oh, I know.” Quinn was certain he was correct and things were about to blow up in their faces. “That Coulson guy made sure I was cut out of the conversation he had with the Andromeda crew. He didn’t want to share information, which didn’t exactly surprise me but was still annoying. Now we have to call them back for a dead body? Yeah, they’re going to be even less willing to share information now.”

  “Is there any way around that?”

  “No.” Quinn was resigned as he straightened his shoulders. “Christopher, call the police and get them out here. We might as well deal with this now. There’s no sense putting it off.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m on it.”

  6

  Six

  It only took twenty minutes for the police to arrive. Quinn was friendly with the local detective who was dispatched, Gary Silver, but the Florida authorities didn’t remain in control of the investigation for very long. As expected, once the Feds caught a whiff of the story, they arrived en masse to take over the investigation.

  The move didn’t sit well with Quinn.

  “You look as if you’re about to explode,” Rowan noted as she moved to her boyfriend’s side on the deck. At least thirty federal investigators and various representatives had descended on The Bounding Storm and they’d essentially relieved Quinn of his duties, leaving him nothing to do but watch from a distance ... and glower.

  “What?” Quinn flashed a brief smile that didn’t make it all the way to his eyes. “Did you say something?”

  Rowan pushed her own problems to the background and focused on Quinn. He needed her to be there for him for a change, and she was determined to come through. “Are you okay?” Rowan was earnest. “If you need some air, I get it. You don’t have to sit here and watch them tromp all over your ship.”