Of course, Quinn didn’t believe for a second that Rowan had anything to do with Jessica’s disappearance. She was too involved in the investigation. She was too upset about the prospect of Jessica dying alone in the vast ocean. One of Quinn’s main problems was that killers often injected themselves into investigations to keep tabs on law enforcement efforts. Rowan hardly seemed diabolical enough to do anything of the sort, but Quinn couldn’t rule her out. It would reflect lazy security work if he did, and he was anything but lazy.
In fact, if he was looking at things from a purely pragmatic point of view, Rowan required formal questioning. Quinn didn’t know if he was up to the task of conducting an interview, though.
He blew out a frustrated sigh as he rolled to a sitting position. It was early, the sun barely peeking through the window, but he had a long day ahead of him.
Instead of immediately hopping into the shower like he would on a normal day, Quinn sat at the small table on the far side of his room and booted up his computer. He typed a number into Facetime and waited for an old friend to answer.
Bobby Givens, his dark hair matted and his eyes crusted with sleep, made a face when he saw Quinn staring back at him. “Are you trying to make me kill you?”
Quinn didn’t bother hiding his smile when he caught sight of his old military buddy. “Were you sleeping?”
“It’s not even seven yet.”
“So … is that a yes?”
Bobby scowled as he rolled his neck, the audible cracking sound loud enough for Quinn to hear it through the computer. “Yes. I was sleeping.”
“Alone?”
Bobby wrinkled his nose. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m currently between women right now. My drought has only been a month, though. Since you’ve been between women for a decade or so, I’m not sure you have room to talk.”
“I wasn’t casting aspersions on you,” Quinn said. “I was merely asking because I need a favor and didn’t want to go into it if you had company.”
Bobby narrowed his eyes. “What kind of favor?”
“The kind I don’t have the search software to conduct from a cruise ship.”
“Oh, well, okay,” Bobby said, leaning back in his desk chair. “Who do you need me to run?”
“Her name is Rowan Gray,” Quinn replied. “She was a newspaper photographer in Detroit for several years before being laid off. I need whatever you can get on her.”
“Do you want to be more specific?”
“No.”
“Okay, then I need to rephrase that,” Bobby said. “I need you to be more specific. No one has time to be poking around blind.”
“I’m not sure what I’m looking for,” Quinn admitted as he watched Bobby begin typing on his keyboard. “She started working on the Bounding Storm a few days ago and she’s … odd.”
“Do you mean ‘odd’ like you want to see her without panties – and that’s odd because you haven’t seen anyone without panties in forever – or do you mean ‘odd’ like she’s stalking you and gluing photos of your face to online pictures of cats?”
Quinn took a moment to absorb Bobby’s question and then barked out a laugh. “I mean ‘odd’ like she keeps to herself and had an unfortunate interest in a group of girls.”
“Oh, so she’s a lesbian,” Bobby mused, nodding sagely. “That’s still hot even if you know she’ll never sleep with you.”
“She’s not a lesbian,” Quinn snapped, annoyed. “I mean … I don’t care if she’s a lesbian. She’s not, though. That’s not what this is about.”
“So … what is it about?”
“It’s about a missing girl,” Quinn answered, his chest tightening as he internally chided himself for being suspicious of Rowan’s motivations. She would hate him if she ever found out that he ran a background check on her. “Her name is Jessica Martin and she disappeared during the overnight hours the night before last. I noticed Miss Gray watching Jessica and her friends before the disappearance.”
“And … what?” Bobby asked. “Do you think she waited for the girl to be alone and then threw her overboard? What would her motivation be?”
“I can’t find a motive. That doesn’t mean I can ignore the odd behavior.”
“Okay.” Bobby blew out a sigh as he focused on his computer screen. “I’m keeping your call up in a smaller window while I work. You can see what true diligence looks like that way and try to emulate me as your hero.”
“Ha, ha,” Quinn intoned, rolling his eyes. “Just let me know if you find anything.”
“I’m not sure what you expect me to find but … oh, wait, this is weird.”
Quinn’s heart sank as he leaned forward. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. “What’s weird?”
“Rowan Gray’s mother died of cancer when she was a kid.”
Despite his agitation, Quinn couldn’t help but be relieved. “That’s it? That’s a tragedy. That’s hardly weird.”
“No, that’s not it,” Bobby said. “Her mother died of cancer and she lived with her father until she was seventeen. A week before her eighteenth birthday, though, her father disappeared. They never found out what happened to him and they went so far as to search the lake by their house. He’s listed as missing but probably dead.”
Quinn rubbed his cheek as he regarded his old friend. “I’m not sure what to make of that,” he admitted. “I mean … you’re essentially saying she did something to her father.”
“I’m saying nothing of the sort,” Bobby countered. “According to these records she was on the police department constantly for answers, but then she kind of gave up at some point. It doesn’t say why.”
Quinn could imagine exactly why she gave up. Hope was paralyzing, especially when you finally figured out that keeping it would ruin your life. “Is there anything else?”
“Just that she worked taking photos at a newspaper for a couple of years and two different departments made notes in files for her that she seemed to know people were dead before bodies were found and they thought it was suspicious,” Bobby said. “I don’t particularly find that suspicious, though.”
“Why not?”
“Because she was a news photographer,” Bobby answered, not missing a beat. “That’s one of those terrible jobs where you see a lot of death. She probably just became a little jaded and assumed every story she went out on was going to result in death because the odds backed that up.”
“I never considered that before,” Quinn mused, leaning back in his chair. “That still doesn’t explain why she was following those girls around.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Bobby agreed, clicking a few buttons and then letting loose with a low whistle. “Wow! She is freaking hot. I hope for your sake she’s not a lesbian or a murderer, because you totally need to tap that.”
Quinn scowled, annoyed. “I’m not going to tap anything. Why would you say that?”
“Because she’s hot.”
“It’s still rude to say something like that,” Quinn pointed out. “She’s a human being. She’s not a piece of meat.”
Bobby’s mouth dropped open as he regarded his friend. “Oh, you’re such a woman sometimes,” he complained. “She’s a human being? I’ve said much cruder things about women. That’s the military way a lot of the time. It never bothered you before.”
“I’m not saying it bothers me now,” Quinn protested, averting his gaze.
“It totally bothers you now,” Bobby teased. “You didn’t ask me to run a check on her because you really think she’s a murderer. You wanted me to run a check on her to make sure she didn’t have any weird stalking tendencies or anything.”
“I just told you she was following a group of girls and one of them went missing. That seems like stalking tendencies to me.”
“Whatever.” Bobby was seemingly unbothered by Quinn’s tone. “You like her.”
“I do not.”
“You do, too.” Bobby shook his head. “I’ll go through the rest of her stuff, bu
t she seems pretty straight forward. She doesn’t have ties to any missing person cases or murders other than what I said, and those can easily be explained away.”
“Or, when taken in context together, they could make her look more guilty,” Quinn pointed out.
“I guess that’s a possibility, but something tells me you don’t believe that,” Bobby said. “It’s none of my business, though. When you’re ready for guidance from me – because we both know I’ve had more experience than you – you know where to find me.”
“Yes, I think you should hold your breath until that happens,” Quinn said dryly.
“I’ll get right on that,” Bobby said. “Do you need anything else besides this search?”
A way to keep Rowan Gray from getting too close, Quinn silently answered in his head. “Nothing,” he said out loud while forcing a smile for his friend’s benefit. “Thanks for helping me.”
“Don’t mention it,” Bobby said. “Now, though, I don’t suppose you can share some photos of women in bikinis, can you? The women here in Buffalo are boring and should never wear bikinis. If you can manage one of that Rowan chick, well, so much the better.”
Quinn made an exasperated face. “You’re such a pig.”
“I can live with that.”
ROWAN kept her camera busy all morning, but her gaze was continuously drawn to Kara, Kylie, and Hayley. It didn’t escape Rowan’s attention that she managed to find a multitude of shots in a small area, an area that just happened to be close to the spot where Kylie, Kara, and Hayley spread out their towels and got comfortable on loungers.
It also didn’t escape Rowan’s attention that she was frequently close enough to eavesdrop.
“I think we should call Jessica’s parents,” Hayley announced. “They have a right to know that something is going on.”
“That’s great in theory,” Kara said. “What are we supposed to tell them, though? We have no idea what happened to her. I think we should make the cruise people do it. Isn’t that their job?”
“Yes, but we’ve been friends with Jessica since we were kids,” Hayley reminded her. “The information would be easier coming from us.”
“How do you figure?” Kylie challenged, leaning forward far enough that her ample bosom practically fell out of her triangle-top bikini and drew the attention of three men who reclined one row over. “They’re not going to be happy to hear from us. They’re going to blame us for not watching her more closely.”
“I blame us for that, too,” Hayley said, bitter. “We should’ve paid closer attention.”
“It’s not our fault that Jessica got lost and did something stupid,” Kylie argued. “How were we supposed to know this would happen?”
“Maybe because we told you not to drink so much that night,” Kara challenged. “Maybe because we were so drunk we didn’t even notice that she left the room.”
“Left the room? I know we’ve said it a hundred times, but I can’t remember Jessica returning to the room with us,” Hayley admitted.
“Shh!” Kylie lifted her finger to her lips and glared at Hayley, her unhappiness evident. “We all agreed to keep that to ourselves. We don’t want the cruise ship people thinking we’re lying.”
Rowan pursed her lips as she listened. The fact that the girls spun a story that didn’t quite seem to fit the facts wasn’t a surprise. The fact that they were working to purposely mislead people now was a different story.
“We’re not lying,” Hayley argued. “We’re just having trouble remembering exactly what happened.”
“And that makes us look irresponsible,” Kylie said. “I refuse to be labeled anything of the sort now that Jessica is missing. Do you really want Jessica’s mom spreading the truth around town? We’ll never hear the end of it.”
“That hardly seems important given the fact that Jessica is missing and might be dead,” Hayley pointed out.
“Oh, she’s not dead.” Kylie snorted, her eyes flashing. “She’s probably being slutty with some dude and she’s too embarrassed to tell us. She’ll pop up on the last day and come up with some story and because we’re good friends we’ll pretend we believe it even though we know it’s not true.”
“Do you really think so?” Hayley looked hopeful.
“I really think that Jessica isn’t dead and is playing a game,” Kylie said. “There’s no reason to panic. Cruise ships are like the safest way to travel. Everything will be fine.”
Rowan ran her tongue over her teeth as she straightened and turned. She needed to put some distance between herself and the girls so she could think without drawing attention. She misjudged the distance between her and another passenger, though, because the lens of the camera smacked into a broad chest – and clipped a clefted chin – as she swiveled.
“Oomph.” Quinn made a disgusted face as he rubbed his chin and Rowan couldn’t help but smirk when she realized she’d run into him … again.
“I am so sorry,” Rowan said, her eyes twinkling. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I just … why do you get so close? You should make a noise when you do it or something.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind,” Quinn said, rolling his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Rowan held up her camera. “Taking photos.”
“Yes, but … .” Quinn’s eyes narrowed when they fell on the girls. He knew exactly what Rowan was doing and he refused to ignore the situation for one second longer. “We need to talk.”
Rowan missed the serious tone of his voice. “I’m working.”
“That wasn’t a request,” Quinn said, gently grabbing her elbow. “We need to talk right now.”
Rowan swallowed hard, the way his dark eyes bored into her making her feel uncomfortable. He definitely didn’t look as if declining was an option. “Okay.”
“Come with me.”
11
Eleven
Rowan was unbelievably nervous as Quinn led her to his office. For the life of her she couldn’t figure out why, though. It wasn’t as if he was going to physically hurt her … or had a reason to verbally abuse her. It wasn’t as if she’d done something wrong. That didn’t stop her anxiety from pitching into overdrive and by the time she sat in the chair across from Quinn’s desk her hands shook as she bit her lip and gave the appearance of being calm.
For his part, Quinn was just as nervous. He glanced up and down the hallway before closing the door. People almost never wandered down the private corridor, but that didn’t mean he wanted to risk anyone overhearing him.
He took his time as he got settled in his chair, made a big show of smiling in a reassuring manner at Rowan, and then steepled his fingers as he rested his elbows on the desk.
The silence that followed was unbelievably uncomfortable and Rowan and Quinn both scrambled to fill it at the same time.
“Are you trying to fire me?”
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Quinn knit his eyebrows together as he locked gazes with Rowan. “Why would I fire you?”
Rowan shrugged. “You seem very serious. I couldn’t figure out what else you would be doing. As for your question … um … I’m pretty sure you know what’s going on better than I do.”
Quinn let loose with a world-weary sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. The drop ceiling tiles were a muted gray color and he’d never given them much thought. Now that he found he had a desperate need to avoid making eye contact with Rowan, he couldn’t help but be fascinated with them.
“What’s your deal?” Rowan asked finally, agitation taking precedence over nerves. “Why are you acting like this?”
Quinn rubbed the back of his neck as he leveled his gaze on Rowan. It took every ounce of strength he had not to declare this a mistake and send her on her way. He couldn’t pretend the woman wasn’t odd. Unfortunately for her, the manner in which she chose to be odd also happened to be suspect.
“Why are you watching the girls, Miss Gray?” Quinn asked,
his voice low but firm. “Why are you so interested in them?”
Rowan balked, her stomach twisting. “I’m not watching the girls,” she lied. “Why do you think that? I mean … Criminy … I’m doing my job. That involves being on the deck to take photos. It’s not my fault I ended up so close to the girls.”
Quinn didn’t miss the fact that her cheeks flooded with color. She managed to maintain eye contact – which was fairly impressive – but he could tell she was lying. “This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed,” he said. “You were interested in them the day they checked in. You were following them that day. I watched you follow them.”
“You watched me?” Rowan’s temper flashed in her eyes as she glared at him. “You think I’m watching the girls when I’m not and yet you admit to watching me for no good reason. Which one of us is weird? I’m pretty sure it’s not me.”
“I watched you because I was interested and it’s my job to keep track of the new employees,” Quinn explained. That was kind of the truth. It was also kind of a lie. “I watched you because … you’re different. I don’t see any reason to deny that. You’re very different from the other people who seek employment on this ship.”
“I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean,” Rowan said, her voice small. “I don’t get what you’re trying to say.”
“I find you nice to look at, but you’re a weird individual,” Quinn said, opting for honesty. “I started watching you because you’re pretty. I kept watching you because you’re weird. Once I knew you were staring at the girls, I had to know why you were doing it.
“Don’t bother denying it,” he continued, holding up his hand to stave off a potential argument. “I saw you. I watched you. You did your job like a professional and snapped a bunch of photographs. You also watched them. You were looking for something. I want to know what.”
“I … .” Rowan broke off and licked her lips, unsure.
Welcoming Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 1) Page 9
