Life in the Danger Zone

by Patricia B Tighe

  “Maybe.”

  “And besides, even if she’s lying, what could you do about it?”

  “Nothing, I guess.” She looked up and twisted her lips in an expression so cute it made me smile.

  “What?” I asked.

  “If this were a mystery novel, I would have to start detecting.”

  “You would?”

  “Of course. I’d have to investigate the so-called cousin by using my law enforcement contact.”

  “In a foreign country? Wait, how do you get one of those? I want one.”

  She laughed with that warm rolling sound that made me want to get closer. Control yourself, man. I took half a step away. “Simple,” she said. “You make friends with someone in law enforcement.”

  “Right. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “And then you take the information, promising to be careful since your contact was only helping you unofficially and can’t be seen helping you or she might get fired.”

  Up ahead, our group turned onto a walkway that led toward the ocean and disappeared from view. What would it be like if we just stayed here? Hung out at a gelato shop and talked. Even though it was impossible, I knew the answer to that question. It would be freaking awesome.

  This girl wasn’t like the girls I knew in Houston, and I still couldn’t quite figure out what the difference was. I’d been around quiet girls and smart girls. Funny girls and hot girls. And others with combinations of those characteristics. But I wasn’t sure a single one of them had all of those qualities. Until now.

  I knew there were a lot of guys who wouldn’t think Rose was hot. Not in the traditional magazine cover double-take kind of way. But that didn’t bother me. Especially not when I was having trouble keeping my gaze from traveling down the smooth line of her neck to her collarbone to the strap of her tank top that led farther down to—

  “Hello?” Rose was looking up at me.

  Uh-oh. What had I missed? Had she asked me a question? Better just fake it. “And?” I asked as if I were the one waiting to hear what she had to say.

  She pursed her lips and then covered her mouth in her usual gesture. Yeah, she knew I hadn’t been listening. “And,” she said, raising that talented eyebrow, “the info your contact gave you makes the so-called cousin look totally suspicious, but the evidence is inconclusive, so you have to dig deeper.”

  I had to clear my throat. “Which sounds dangerous.”

  “Well, of course, it’s dangerous. It’s a mystery novel. Someone’s about to be killed.”

  “Really? Who?”

  “Someone who has important information that the cousin wants to keep hidden.”

  We turned the corner by the basilica, weaving through the tourists who clumped together near its entrance. I could just make out Alexis in the distance as she pointed at something. “Of course.”

  “Someone our readers know about but might be surprised to see him killed.”

  I laughed. “We have readers?” She elbowed me. “Okay, okay. So, what you’re saying is, someone like Jacques.”

  Rose stumbled but recovered without help. Her cheeks turned pink, but she grinned. “You want Jacques killed?”

  Depends on how far he takes this thing with Sophie. I lifted my hands. “You know, hypothetically.”

  “That’s perfect, actually. He’s from France, so the whole problem might have begun there.”

  “What, exactly, do we think the problem is?” Besides wishing I could put my arm around you.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Theft? Well, embezzlement. No, wait, blackmail. Jacques is blackmailing the cousin because the cousin is embezzling from his grandmother, the duchess.”

  “What? Do we have to get royalty involved?”

  She smirked. “Stranger things have happened.” But then she saw my skeptical expression. “No royalty?”

  I shook my head. “No. Just plain old, regular people.”

  “Like you and me.”

  We reached a street and had to stop. On the opposite curb, our group was getting into a pale blue fifteen-passenger van. My private time with Rose was about to end. I should probably make the most of it. I smiled and let myself lean closer. “Yeah, but neither of us will die in this mystery.”

  “We won’t?”

  I shook my head slowly. “It’s our book.”

  Pink filled her cheeks again, and she pressed one hand to her face. “Oh, right, of course.”

  She was probably wondering what the heck I meant by that. Hell, I was wondering the same thing. My only goal in those last few seconds was to make her aware of me. To let her know I was interested in her, no matter how short our time together would be. Hard to know if it worked—not when we both wore sunglasses and couldn’t communicate with our eyes. Only time would tell.

  A car horn beeped, and I looked across the street. Clio waved to us from the front of the van. Time to go. “You ready?” I asked.

  “Yup,” she said, and before I realized the traffic had stopped because of a red light, she strode into the intersection, not waiting for me.

  Fantastic. There was a seriously good chance I’d just scared her off.

  Seven

  Rose

  I took another sip of my iced tea and set it on the deck beside me. A long, contented sigh escaped my lips. I glanced around at the other people in their lounge chairs enjoying the afternoon on deck. No one appeared to notice. Perfect. If luck were on my side, Nick would forget our Yahtzee date, and I could stay here all afternoon. Or until my sunscreen had worn off.

  A breeze fluttered the pages of my journal, so I readjusted my hold on it. I yawned. Maybe I should wait to write observations about the trip in my room and instead take a nap. That’s where I’d gone when we first got back to the ship, but it all just felt too confined. I needed to be out in the open air.

  So here I was in the sun, in my swimsuit—which should totally meet Lindsey’s challenge for today. I rarely wore my two-piece in front of people I didn’t know. Stupid really. You’d think since I didn’t know the people that I wouldn’t care what I wore in front of them. Still, I kept my cover-up at the foot of my chair so I could throw it on quickly if I needed to.

  Whatever. I wasn’t going to waste time thinking about it. Not when I’d finally relaxed from my stressful excursion. The whole thing had been emotionally draining. First, there was flirting with Sam, then Sam flirting with Marie. Then there was the complete freakiness of Clio’s argument with her cousin. And finally, just when I thought Sam and I were getting along as fun acquaintances, he had to go and get all swoony on me right before we got into the van.

  What was up with that? It kind of creeped me out to watch him flirt with Marie and then have him do the same thing with me. Was he one of those guys who tried to play any girl he was around? Like that song I’d heard on the oldies station when I had to ride with my parents—“Love the One You’re With.” Gross.

  Sam really didn’t seem like that kind of guy. He seemed like a fun friend, who was also incredibly cute. I didn’t know what to make of it. But I’d made a decision. I was going to keep my distance. I seriously didn’t like mind games.

  A feminine chuckle sounded, and I looked up. “Here she is,” Alexis said. She and Sophie stood in front of me, laden with tote bags, drinks, and towels. They both wore bikinis with shorts over the bottoms instead of going with a cover-up.

  Wish I had the guts to do that, even though my white, gauzy cover-up actually made me feel pretty. “Hi,” I said. “What are y’all doing?”

  “Well, we want to be doing exactly what you are,” Sophie said.

  “You mind if we join you?” Alexis asked.

  I didn’t really want company, but if I had to have it, these two were whom I would’ve chosen. “Of course not,” I said, looking around. There was only one empty chair beside me. How could we do this?

  I should’ve known I didn’t need to worry. “I’m sorry,” Alexis said to the elderly man
in Bermuda shorts next to me. “I don’t suppose you might be willing to slide over one seat so we could sit with our friend? We’d really appreciate it.” And then she smiled so sweetly it made my teeth hurt.

  The man shook himself as though he were just waking up. “Well, of course. It’s time I went and cleaned up anyway.”

  Alexis lifted a hand. “Oh, no. You don’t need to do that. There’s another chair right there.”

  He smiled and readjusted the Panama hat that had slid to one side of his head. “No, ladies, I must insist.” He vacated the lounge chair faster than I would’ve expected, and in moments, Sam’s cousins surrounded me.

  Sophie positioned the umbrella above so that more shade would cover us. “Hope you don’t mind,” she said. “I like the warmth but not direct rays.” She pointed to the huge navy sunhat she wore. “As you can see, I go to extreme lengths.”

  “We’ve noticed,” Alexis said, arranging one of the ship’s blue beach towels on her chair.

  When they were both settled, Alexis leaned toward me. “I’m glad we found you, Rose. I need you to help me convince Soph that hanging around Jacques is a bad idea.”

  “Is it?” I asked, looking from one of them to the other.

  “See,” Sophie said, more a statement than a question.

  “Listen,” Alexis said, gesturing with her sunglasses. “She’s just getting over a horrible breakup. Letting a guy like Jacques get close is a really bad idea.”

  Sophie’s jaw looked tight like she was clenching her teeth or something. “Sorry about the breakup,” I said to her.

  “Thanks,” she said quietly. “You didn’t need to bring that up, Alex.”

  “I think I did. You need to protect yourself more.”

  Sophie tossed her head from side to side as if this were an old argument she was sick of hearing. “We’re on this ship for what? Five more days?” She leaned close to me from the other side. I was now smack in the middle of a sister fight. Yay. “I’m not going to fall in love with him.”

  Alexis shook her head. “He just wants to get in your pants.”

  Talk about being direct.

  “Don’t be crude,” Sophie said, relaxing against the back of her chair. “He’s handsome, charming, and thinks I’m amazing. What’s not to like?”

  Alexis dug through her bright pink, daisy-covered tote bag and surfaced with a handful of magazines. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

  “Because you and Sam, but especially you, are always wringing your hands over me. I’m not thirteen. I can make my own decisions.”

  “Yeah, but are they good ones?”

  The silence from Sophie was deafening. Right. So this was fun. Maybe I should head back to my cabin. I shifted in my seat. Or maybe I could change the subject. “So what magazines do you have there?”

  “Just about anything you can imagine,” Alexis said. “The only one you can’t have is The National Enquirer.”

  “That’s a magazine?” I couldn’t help it. The words just slipped out.

  Sophie settled a copy of Moby Dick on her lap. “To Alex it is.”

  “Where else can you find the truth about politicians and their alien babies?” Alex asked. “I’ve got all the latest issues of, let’s see …” She rifled through the magazines on her lap. “Vogue, Glamour, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Fitness, Men’s Fitness—”

  “Men’s Fitness?”

  She wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “I like muscles.” She dug through the magazines again. “Um, Runner’s World and Shape.”

  “And The National Enquirer,” I said.

  “Right.”

  “Not that I want it or anything, but why can’t I have it?”

  Sophie put a bookmark in her book. “Because you have to pass the Friendship Test first.”

  I clearly should’ve just gone back to my room. “The what?”

  “The Friendship Test,” Alex repeated.

  Were they joking? Hard to tell. I looked at them. They looked at me. Complete sincerity on their faces. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what their test included. But I knew if I didn’t ask, I’d be up half the night trying to guess. “Okay, I’ll bite. What kind of test is it?”

  Alexis laughed. “Don’t look like that. It’s nothing horrible.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion,” Sophie said.

  “Quiet,” Alexis said. “You just have to spend a couple of hours with us and not run away when we fight.”

  “I just spent four hours with y’all this morning on an excursion.”

  Alexis shook her head. “But we were on our best behavior, weren’t we, Soph?”

  Sophie actually grinned.

  “Besides,” Alexis said, “you were only around me, not both of us together. That’s the real test. We can be kind of hard to take.”

  “Nooo,” I said, channeling Lindsey at her most sarcastic.

  Alexis laughed. “So are you in?”

  I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure I’ve already passed the test.”

  “How do you figure?” Alexis asked.

  “You two have been arguing practically since you sat down,” I said. “And I haven’t run away.” I couldn’t help looking smug.

  Sophie took off her sunglasses and gave me a shrewd look. “I like the way you think.”

  “Maybe we can give you a pass,” Alexis said, but then pursed her lips. “Still, the true test of friendship is endurance.”

  “Okay, then,” I said. “I have one question before I fully commit.”

  “Yeah?” Alexis asked.

  “Why is The National Enquirer the reward for enduring?”

  Sophie chuckled. “Go ahead, Alex. Explain that.”

  Her sister lifted both hands. “Because it’s the best thing ever. Come on. Don’t be so obtuse.”

  “Well,” I said with a smile, “we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  Alexis put her hands on her hips in a mock angry gesture, but before she could say anything, a chirpy voice sang out, “Bonjour!” Marie stood in front of us, wearing a smile and not much else. Okay, to be fair, I had on a two-piece with boy shorts bottoms, but Marie’s metallic silver string bikini basically looked like three triangles. The kind where one tug on a string would make the thing fall off. At least she carried a cover-up. But if she ever used it was another question.

  “Hi, Marie,” Sophie said. “Want to sit with us?”

  She scrunched her forehead up like she was thinking hard. “A moment, yes.” She sat at the foot of Sophie’s lounge chair and placed her bikini cover-up on my chair right beside mine. I slid my feet to the side. That cover-up looked an awful lot like my white gauzy one. Please, please let them not be exactly the same. That would be all I needed—to wear the same thing and have everyone realize she looked better in it.

  “Are you on your way somewhere?” Alexis asked politely. I was getting the sense she was about as thrilled as I was that Marie had joined us. Maybe because now she couldn’t rag on Jacques anymore.

  Marie gave a brief nod. “My room. I have been in zee sun.”

  “Ah,” Sophie said like that was a surprise.

  An awkward lull fell over us, so I sipped my iced tea.

  “Did you like the excursion this morning?” Sophie asked.

  Marie shrugged. “Zere are better churches in France.” Oh, snap. I wanted to laugh but held it in. Could she be any more stereotypical? “Where is Zam?”

  Zam? Oh, Sam. Yeah, I just bet she wanted to know.

  Alexis slid the magazines back into her tote bag. “He’s hanging out with our uncle. So, where’s Jacques?”

  “Sleep, I think,” Marie said with a twist to her lips.

  “Yeah,” I said, “not a bad idea after our early start today. I’ve been thinking about a nap.”

  Marie stared at me blankly. Guess I wasn’t making much of an impression.

  “There you are!” Nick appeared at the foot of my chair, his baggy Avengers T-s
hirt now decorated with underarm sweat stains. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Ready for Yahtzee?”

  Might as well. It would get me away from this stilted conversation with Marie. I probably shouldn’t be so hard on her. After all, she wasn’t great at English. She was probably a really nice girl under all that flesh.

  “Sure,” I said, “just let me get my stuff together.” I grabbed my tote, and then finished off the rest of my drink. “Can you give this to the waiter when he comes by?” I asked Alexis.

  She nodded. “Do you really have to go?”

  “Heck yeah, she does,” Nick said. “Everything’s ready for our game in the library.”

  Hooray!

  “What is happening?” Marie asked Sophie.

  With my tote bag on my shoulder, I sidestepped out from between the lounge chairs and snatched up my cover-up.

  “They’re going to play a game,” Sophie said.

  “See you guys later,” I said.

  Alexis gave me a sympathetic look. “Bye.”

  “Come on,” Nick said, walking backward in front of me.

  I let out a quiet laugh. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” We’d made it all the way past the bar when the breeze on my back reminded me I wasn’t wearing my cover-up. “Hang on. Let me put this on.”

  He threw me an exasperated expression. “Geez, you’re slow.”

  A buzzing noise sounded nearby. Was it mine? Could my grandparents have texted for some reason? I drew my phone out of my tote, leaving the bag at my feet. The screen was blank. Oh, well. I started to put my cover-up on, but Nick grabbed the tote and took off.

  “Come on!” he yelled. “You can do that in the library.”

  And since the thought of Nick alone with my tote bag, which held my book and journal, gave me the shivers, I hurriedly shrugged into the cover-up and raced after him.

  Eight

  Sam