Rowan added salt and pepper to her hash browns as she waited.
“I will shift the cost of the camera from the company to myself,” Quinn supplied. “I’m allowed to do that. It’s not a big deal. I’ll simply explain the circumstances on my expense report.”
“Then you would be buying the camera for me.”
“A gift.”
“That’s an expensive gift.”
“Something tells me you’re worth it.” Quinn lightly rested his hand on hers. “I want to do this.”
“It’s so extravagant, though.”
“I don’t care. I want you to have it. The other camera was a gift from your father. This one will be a gift from me. It won’t belong to the company, though, which is the most important thing. It’s your camera.”
Rowan exhaled heavily, her bangs fluttering. “Okay, but that means I get to buy something extravagant for you eventually and I don’t want to hear you complain when it happens.”
“I think that’s a fine idea. I think you should start at Victoria’s Secret and we’ll go from there.”
Rowan’s smile turned rueful. “I should’ve seen that coming.”
“You really should have.”
AFTER BREAKFAST, QUINN and Rowan took another swim in the tub before settling on the bed to veg out and watch television. Rowan couldn’t remember the last time she’d wasted an entire day doing absolutely nothing, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. Other than checking his phone every thirty minutes or so, Quinn was dedicated to the process as well.
Since she was comfortable with him — more comfortable than she ever thought possible — Rowan happily rested her head on his shoulder and sank into reruns of The Golden Girls without a word of complaint.
Even though Quinn would’ve preferred to remain naked for the day, they had to dress for the maids because they’d used every towel provided. That essentially meant knit shorts and T-shirts, but Quinn was looking forward to the time when the maids would be finished and they could strip down again. In fact, he was looking forward to it so much that he practically ran to the door when someone knocked.
“Now we’re talking.”
Rowan smirked as she killed the television, tilting her head so she could listen to his conversation with the cleaning staff. She heard low murmurs instead of words, and when she turned a curious set of eyes to the bedroom door, she realized relatively quickly that it wasn’t the maid staff that stopped for the visit. She was instantly on alert.
“What happened? It’s not Sally, is it?”
“No.” Quinn shook his head. He didn’t look happy, which was enough to cause tension to riot through Rowan’s blood. “We have a visitor.”
A myriad of possibilities jolted through Rowan’s head. She leaped toward the one she wanted most. “Nick?”
“No. Trust me. This is not someone you’re going to be able to guess.”
Rowan was flummoxed as she slowly got to her feet. “So ... who?” She peered around Quinn when she made it to the opening and widened her eyes when she saw the person sitting in their small living room. “Brimstone?”
Quinn nodded, his agitation on full display. “I believe he prefers being called Agent Masters now, though.”
“No, you can call me Alex,” the man called out, his feet resting on the coffee table. “Stop huddling down there and whispering. I have excellent hearing. You can’t get anything past me.”
Rowan was officially dumbfounded. “I don’t understand.”
Quinn smoothed her hair. “I don’t either, but he won’t tell me what he’s doing here unless you join us in the living room.”
“Okay.” Rowan took a tentative step into the hallway. “Do you think this is bad?”
“I think he likes to flirt with you, which annoys the crap out of me,” Quinn replied. “I’m not sure his visit is a bad thing, though.”
“Right.” Rowan slipped her hand into Quinn’s as they walked down the hallway. Alex’s face was clean shaven and his hair shorter. His outfit — khakis and a polo shirt — was much more professional than when he’d been undercover with a horror movie film production crew several months before. He still boasted the same sly smirk, though, and Rowan found it a lot more engaging than Quinn did. “Hey.”
“Hello, Rowan.” Alex flashed her a bright smile. “It’s nice to see you.”
“Likewise.” Rowan sat on the couch as Quinn took the spot next to her. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t an old friend stop by for a visit?”
“I don’t really consider you a friend,” Quinn challenged.
“How can you say that after I helped save your girlfriend’s life?”
“That was after lying to us,” Quinn pointed out. “If you’d told us the truth from the start, perhaps Rowan’s life wouldn’t have been on the line in the first place.”
“Fair point, but we both know I had a job to do and I wasn’t allowed to own up to my real identity. You’re former military. You understand about rules.”
“I do,” Quinn conceded, sliding his arm around Rowan’s shoulders so she could snuggle in at his side. “How did you find us?”
“It wasn’t hard.”
“I’m going to need more information than that.”
Alex heaved out a sigh. “You guys are absolutely no fun today. I think I know why, though, so I’m not going to make a fuss about it.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I’ve been watching you since yesterday afternoon,” Alex said simply. “I needed to talk to the two of you and was looking for a way to approach without drawing attention to myself. You guys split up in the afternoon, so I stuck close to the ship because I figured it would be easier to talk to Quinn on the down low. Then he took off and ran to the mall because of a shooting — you got lucky there, Rowan — and then I followed you back to the ship. I thought I would have to find a way to sneak onboard, but then you left again and came here. I was going to come up last night, but your lights went dark early.”
“We had a long day,” Quinn explained. “We needed some sleep.”
“This was on top of the harrowing oil rig rescue from the night before, right?”
Quinn narrowed his eyes, suspicion forming a tight web around his brain. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You’re investigating what happened on the Andromeda.”
“Not exactly,” Alex hedged, shifting in his seat. “I’m on a different investigation now — another undercover assignment that I can’t talk about — but I heard your names mentioned at a meeting and I knew I needed to make contact.”
Flummoxed, Quinn shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either. You guys are in the middle of something you shouldn’t be, though. You need to back off.”
“We haven’t done anything,” Rowan protested. “It’s not as if we went looking for trouble. We were the only ship close enough to save the Andromeda crew during the storm.”
“And that was bad luck for you,” Alex said. “You’re not exactly innocent in this, though. I happen to know you were taking photos of everybody who visited The Bounding Storm the day before yesterday. Do you really think that was a smart move?”
Quinn stiffened. “Did your people steal her camera? I swear, I’m going to make you pay if you did. I don’t care if you wipe it, but we want that camera back. I mean it.”
Alex didn’t bother to hide his confusion. “What camera?”
“I’m a photographer,” Rowan reminded him. “I use a camera for work.”
“You also just mentioned that you knew she was taking photographs of people the day before yesterday,” Quinn challenged. “Don’t play moron. The role doesn’t suit you.”
“Thank you.” Alex blew Quinn a sarcastic kiss. “I don’t know what you’re talking about regarding the camera, though. What’s going on?”
Quinn sucked in a calming breath. “Someone broke into Rowan’s room while we were out to dinner the other night and stole her
camera. Then, yesterday, while she was shopping for a new one, someone took a shot at her.”
“I heard about the incident at the mall,” Alex mused. “I wasn’t sure if that was tied to the rescue operation or not, though. I’m guessing you believe it is.”
“I’ve narrowed down the possibilities to a single motive,” Quinn confirmed. “Someone didn’t like Rowan taking photos. That’s why they stole her camera. We want that back, by the way. If your people have it, I don’t care how you do it, I want it delivered into my possession. That camera is important to Rowan.”
Alex flexed his eyes to Rowan, who’d remained unusually quiet during the conversation. “You look ... beat.”
“I slept ten hours,” Rowan countered. “I’m fine.”
“You still look tired.”
“It’s been a really long couple of days for her,” Quinn said. “Between she was around when the ship’s crew discovered a dead body and getting shot at, I think she’s earned a little quiet time.”
“Is that what you guys are doing here?” Alex’s gaze bounced around the room. “I wondered why you picked the honeymoon suite. I thought maybe I missed a happy announcement.”
“I wanted a jetted tub.” Quinn saw no sense in lying. “Besides, there are only four rooms on this floor. It’s easier to defend.”
“You’re smart when it comes to this security stuff,” Alex said. “That’s why I’m glad you’re the one watching Rowan now. You guys really have slipped into the middle of a firestorm here.”
Quinn lightly rubbed his thumb over Rowan’s shoulder as he regarded their guest. “You know who the dead guy is, don’t you?”
“I might.” Alex studied his fingernails. “The important thing is that you guys don’t need to know who he is. Pull back from this situation ... and stay back.”
“That’s not a possibility.” Quinn immediately started shaking his head. “Someone shot at Rowan yesterday. That was after her camera was stolen. That means she’s a target ... and it’s not something that’s simply going to disappear because we want it to happen.”
“That’s a fair point.” Alex pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I was hoping to be able to extricate you guys from this situation without making a big deal out of it, but you’re right. Rowan isn’t going to be safe until it ends.”
“No,” Quinn agreed. “That’s why we should work together.”
“I can’t work with civilians.”
“I’m hardly a civilian.”
“She is.” Alex’s eyes flashed. “She doesn’t have military training.”
“No. She’s gutsy, though. She’s brave. She’s also not leaving my side.”
“I don’t think I can do anything for you.”
“You have to,” Rowan interjected, firm. “If you know something that can help us, it’s important you share the information. It’s not as if we’re going to broadcast anything, but we deserve a chance to survive.”
“Yes, well ... .” Alex shook his head. “Fine. I’m going to tell you because I don’t see a way around it. If this information gets out, though, I’m going to know exactly who shared it and you’re going to be on your own.”
“Fair enough.” Quinn licked his lips. “I need information to keep her safe. That’s my primary concern.”
“I know. The moment I met you, I knew that was your primary concern. It bugged me because I wanted to ask her out once I was done with my undercover assignment, but she was too enamored with you to even look at me.”
Quinn’s lips curved into a smug smile. “I have a certain charm women can’t ignore.”
“You’re a butthead.” Alex smirked as he shifted his eyes to Rowan. “So, your dead guy is Peter Cortland. He’s an agent.”
It was as if all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out.
“Are you kidding me?” Quinn’s eyebrows practically flew off his forehead. “You’re saying the dead guy on the Andromeda was undercover.”
“Yes.”
“What for?” Rowan asked, her natural curiosity kicking in. “What were they doing on the Andromeda that required an undercover agent?”
“I can’t answer that question,” Alex warned. “I have to walk a fine line here. I want to share information that I feel is important to your survival, but I can’t risk an ongoing investigation.”
“I understand.” Quinn held up his hands in capitulation, his mind working overtime. “That’s why the manifest was screwed up.”
“What manifest?”
Quinn explained about the different body counts. “The nighttime drilling foreman said I must have miscounted. It was wet and wild on the deck during the rescue. I thought that was a legitimate possibility ... until Rowan said she’d taken photos of fifty-two people.”
“You took photos the night of the rescue, too?” Alex was officially intrigued as he leaned forward. “Hmm. Maybe whoever took the camera wasn’t interested in the photos on the deck. Maybe it was the photos of the rescue.”
“All the photos were saved before the camera went missing, though,” Rowan explained. “I have a system and back up my work in multiple locations.”
“That’s smart. It’s also probably why people are still chasing you. They have to be certain those photographs don’t make it into certain hands.”
“Which hands?” Quinn queried. “What sort of bad guys are we dealing with here?”
“I can’t answer that.” Alex was thoughtful as he rocked in his chair. “Who knows you took the photos?”
“The night of the rescue or the day after on the deck?” Rowan asked.
“Both.”
“The night of the rescue everyone knew I was taking photographs,” Rowan explained. “We told the rig workers and everything. It was for insurance purposes.”
Alex flicked his eyes to Quinn. “Insurance purposes?”
“In case there was damage to the ship,” Quinn replied. “Also, we have to account for the extra food and linens we used. Everything on a cruise ship is inventoried to death. The photos were simply a way of protecting ourselves.”
“Okay, that makes sense. What about the photos you took on the deck the day before yesterday?”
“Quinn asked me to take those photos,” Rowan said. “I made sure to get at least one photo of everyone present, and that includes our executive team.”
“And who is on your executive team?”
“Larry Lincoln,” Quinn answered automatically. “He owns the ship. He’s local to Florida. He brought a bunch of corporate suits with him. Finding a body in the laundry chute requires a lot of paperwork to be filled out. It also requires corporate suits to make sure we don’t get sued. Of course, we were worried about getting sued before we realized that it was a federal agent who lost his life. I’m guessing we don’t have to worry about getting sued now.”
“Probably not,” Alex agreed. “You do have to worry about that oil company, though. Clearly someone with that group is a murderer.”
“Maybe the evacuation had something to do with whatever your agent was working to uncover,” Rowan said. “We couldn’t figure out a motive before. Maybe this is it.”
“It makes as much a sense as anything else,” Alex agreed. “There’s still a lot of holes in this investigation. I don’t even know where to start.”
“At least we finally have common ground,” Quinn supplied. “I don’t know where to start either.”
“We need to brainstorm.” Alex was all business as he straightened his shoulders. “You guys are in trouble and this might play into my case. We need to figure this out.”
“Where do we start?”
“From the beginning. Tell me everything that happened from the moment you got the rescue call until the moment I knocked on your door.”
“Okay, but it’s a long story.”
“I happen to like long stories.”
13
Thirteen
Even though Quinn initially had plans to remain locked in their room for the bulk of the day,
he recognized that hiding Rowan away from the world was probably a bad idea. Alex’s visit — while answering some questions and opening the door to others — showed Quinn that Rowan wasn’t nearly as vulnerable as he thought. She wanted to fight. To do that, they needed to figure things out.
“What are we doing?” Rowan was understandably confused when Quinn bundled her into yoga pants and a T-shirt and forced her into the elevator. “I thought we were spending the day in bed.”
“We’re going back to bed in a little bit. Before then, I have something else I want us to do.”
Rowan stared at the outfit he selected for her. “If you take me to the gym, we’re going to have problems.”
Quinn chuckled, genuinely amused. “I have something else in mind.”
“What?”
“You’ll see.”
Since she wasn’t a fan of surprises under the best of circumstances, Rowan balked. “Just tell me.”
“You can wait for three minutes.”
“I can wait. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to wait.”
“You’ll survive.”
Quinn held her hand as they descended, smirking when he caught her glaring at him out of the corner of her eye. Once in the lobby, he stopped long enough to read the directional signs on the wall and then gave Rowan a tug. “This way.”
Rowan read the signs as they passed. “The pool?”
“If we were going to the pool, I would’ve put you in a bathing suit.”
“Good point. Then that leaves ... .” She broke off and furrowed her brow. “We’re going to the spa?”
His grin wide, Quinn nodded. “I happen to know that women like spas.”
“I’ve never been to a spa.”
“Then you’re in for a real treat.”
Rowan pressed her lips together as Quinn led her through the glass doors that led to the sterile and quiet spa interior.
“I called from the top floor to reserve a room for us,” Quinn explained to the woman behind the desk. “You said you had an opening right away.”
The woman, whose name tag read “Teresa” beamed at him. “Mr. Davenport?”
Churning Seas Page 12
