Life in the Danger Zone

by Patricia B Tighe

  It was just that the girl who currently hid under the covers wouldn’t let me.

  A quiet knock on the door made me quiver. Come on. Relax. You are expecting people. I slid out of bed and forced myself to walk to the door. Squinting through the peephole, I could see the distorted figures of Alexis and Sam. I opened the door.

  “Hi,” Alexis said quietly. “Could you come to my room? I want to talk at a normal volume, and I don’t want to bother your grandparents.” I nodded. “And bring the journal,” she whispered.

  “Okay,” I said, wishing I could ask one of them to pick it up, but I didn’t. No need to advertise how scared I was. I grabbed the journal off the bed, along with my keycard, and followed them out.

  Alexis and Sophie’s stateroom was the last one at the end of the hall. We’d made it inside when Sam swung back toward the door. “Be right back.”

  Alexis and I didn’t say anything. She walked around, turning on every available light until the room was filled with a warm yellow glow. I edged into a seat at the small table to stay out of the way. For two sisters sharing a small space, their room was amazingly neat. No clothes wadded up on the floor or implements of hair torture with long cords hanging from the dresser, just a T-shirt draped over the railing on the wall. Alexis sat on the edge of the bed, slipped off her heels, and then carried them to the closet.

  A knock sounded, and she let Sam back in. He held out a navy blue hoodie to me. “Here. Put this on. You still look cold.”

  Could this guy get any sweeter? The concern was still clear in his face, but as we stared at each other, his expression gentled. I closed my fingers around the soft sweatshirt. “Thanks.” I had to twist a bit to slip my arms into the jacket but turned back in time to catch some kind of silent communication going on between Alexis and Sam. Alexis’s head was tilted slightly, and she looked smug. Sam gave her a flat look—one I might have given my little brother, Josh, when he wouldn’t quit bothering me.

  The hoodie’s sleeves fell past my hands, but I left them that way. I snuggled into the jacket, not only because of its warmth but because it smelled like Sam. Kind of like oranges with a hint of chlorine. Not a combination that would normally smell good together, but I liked it—probably because the citrus scent was stronger than the chlorine. Or because I liked Sam. I held back a sigh. I was in this room for a completely different reason than nurturing a crush. I’d better pay attention to Alexis.

  “So,” she said, holding out a hand, “can I see the journal?” I passed it over, and she flipped to the middle, staring hard at the message written there. She ran a finger across the torn pages as she chewed on her lower lip. Then she set it on the table and slid into the seat across from me. “Sam told me what’s been going on. And before we figure out what to do, I have to ask you one question.”

  The frown line between her brows made me tense. “Okay.”

  “Did you fake someone stealing your journal?”

  Twenty-One

  Sam

  A long moment passed when no one spoke, and I finally realized what Alexis had just said. Instead of one of her usual blushes, Rose’s face went pale.

  I almost strangled Alexis. Couldn’t she see that you had to deal with Rose more gently? “Alex, don’t be a bi—”

  “I know that was a rude thing to ask, but I had to,” Alexis said, not even glancing my way. “Because I can guarantee you that at some point in all of this, an adult is going to accuse you of that very thing, and I want you to be ready. So did you?”

  Rose gripped the material of the hoodie’s wristband with the opposite hand, staring at the tabletop. When she finally looked up, her eyes had gone hard. “No. And I don’t believe what you just said. You’re not worried about adults. You think I faked it, don’t you?”

  “The thought did cross my mind,” Alexis said as though she didn’t want to admit it.

  I let out a frustrated exhale. “Ignore her, Rose. She’s always making weird assumptions about people.”

  Rose pushed back the hoodie’s sleeves as though she were gearing up for battle and slid out of the seat. “I guess there’s nothing else to talk about.”

  Alexis reached toward Rose. “No, come on. Sit back down. I didn’t really think you’d do that. I just had to be sure.”

  “And are you?” Rose asked, raising her one eyebrow.

  “Please sit,” Alex said, beckoning with her fingers.

  “I could ask you something similar, you know,” Rose said. “Are you the thief? Or is it somebody in your family?”

  Good. Go, Rose. Alexis fought a smile. “No, none of us is the thief.” She gestured one more time to the other side of the table.

  Rose returned to the seat with a thump. “So you say,” she said, but without a lot of conviction. “Besides, what possible reason could I have for lying about the journal?”

  Alexis pursed her lips. “You know, quiet girl looking for attention. Especially Sam’s attention.”

  Rose sucked in a noisy breath.

  “Shut it, Alex,” I said. “Rose doesn’t need to do anything to get my attention. She already has it.” Oh, crap. Did I really say that out loud?

  Alexis laughed.

  Rose, on the other hand, looked alarmed. And this time, pink rushed up her cheeks and out to her hairline. She had to already know that I liked her, right? This couldn’t be a surprise. Still, she wouldn’t meet my eyes. Her hand went to her lips, but not before I could see a tiny smile form. I wanted to grab her face and kiss her, even with Alexis in the room. But I couldn’t of course.

  Alexis cleared her throat. “Now that that’s out of the way,” she said, turning back to Rose, “let’s make a plan.”

  “Okay,” Rose said, her voice a little high-pitched.

  If Alexis was about to talk, I might as well get comfortable. I sank onto the floor and leaned back against the side of the bed.

  My cousin drew a section of curls behind one ear. “Okay, the suspect is a blond female with an oval face—”

  “Round,” Rose said.

  “Right. Round face, who has access to a white crew uniform. As of now, we know three people who might fit that description: Clio, if she were wearing a wig; Marie, mostly because of her hair color; and Nora the spa attendant, also because of her hair color.”

  “But Mrs. Stanton’s sister said Nora’s face is too sharp,” Rose said.

  “True, but she is an old woman. Do you completely trust her memory?”

  Rose frowned. “Um—”

  “How can someone’s face be too sharp?” I asked.

  Alexis and Rose exchanged a girl look. “Boys,” Alexis said.

  “She has pronounced cheek bones,” Rose said. “Not a soft, roundish look.”

  “Right,” I said as if I understood.

  “Anyway,” Alexis continued, “I think we should talk to her. Find out what she thinks about the thefts. I’ll do that.”

  A panicked look crossed Rose’s face. “You’re not going to accuse her, are you?”

  “No, no. Just see if she acts weird when the subject comes up. And find out if she’s heard anything from other people on staff about the thefts.”

  “Oh, right,” I said, “because salon women like to gossip.” Both Alexis and Rose looked like they were shooting fireballs out of their eyes. “What?”

  “Do you want to wait in your room?” Alexis said.

  “Stereotype,” Rose said practically at the same time.

  I gave Alexis a dirty look. “Please continue with your insightful plan.”

  She smirked. “As I was saying, I’ll see if Nora has any info tomorrow morning. Do we know if anything else has been stolen?”

  “All I know of is the tennis bracelet and an expensive watch,” Rose said. “But if there were others, I’m guessing the cruise ship people are trying to keep it quiet.”

  “Yeah,” Alexis said, “which is probably why talking to Nora first is a good idea. It’s good to know what the staf
f is talking about. As for our other suspects, Clio and Marie will be both easier and harder.”

  “Why?” Rose asked.

  “Because I’m not sure we should question either of them. It might put you in more danger if one of them really is behind this. I think we should follow them during our excursion tomorrow afternoon.”

  “You mean if they go off alone?” Rose asked.

  “Yeah. Or if Clio takes Nick somewhere, we should trail along. We need to see if there really is suspicious activity going on or if we’re just on a wild goose chase. I mean, the thief could be someone we haven’t even considered. This is the only way we can decide what to do next.”

  I couldn’t believe Alexis hadn’t mentioned talking to Uncle David or Rose’s grandparents. Or even the police. But it had to be said. “Yeah, like reporting everything to people who normally deal with this sort of thing.”

  “It’s not so simple,” she said. “The cruise line is registered in the Bahamas, and we’re in foreign waters, so things get weird. We can’t exactly go to the police. Besides, we have practically no evidence against any of our suspects.” She twisted toward me. “And what exactly would you say to my dad? There’s some super weird stuff going on with our tour group leader? He’d say we don’t have to go anymore, and that would be the end of it.”

  “But what about your grandparents, Rose?” I asked. “Don’t you think they’d want to know, especially about the journal?”

  “They do know. Well, everything except the journal’s pages being ripped out. That won’t make them happy. They’ve already given me the choice to quit our group, but if they heard about that, they would definitely make me stay with them.”

  I didn’t want her to leave us. At least, I didn’t care if she quit the group as long as I could quit too and we could hang out together. Which I really shouldn’t be doing. But we were friends, right? We could hang out as just friends. “Maybe we should all quit the group.”

  Alexis scoffed. “Right. Try telling Sophie that. ‘Hey, Soph, we’re quitting the tour group because your fling and his sister might be thieves.’”

  “Do you really think so?” Rose asked.

  “I don’t know,” Alexis said. “With Marie not speaking English, it’s hard to get a handle on her real personality.”

  “I bet what we see is her personality,” I muttered.

  Alexis laughed. “Well, you’d better pretend to like it, because you’re the one who needs to watch her.”

  She had to be kidding. “What?”

  “It would look really weird if Rose or I suddenly started hanging around with her when we haven’t all week. You’ve spent the most time with her, other than Sophie, and I wasn’t planning to tell Sophie anything about all this yet.”

  “Alexis,” I said, channeling my best Uncle David voice. “You need to stop trying to control everybody. If we’re suspicious of Jacques and Marie, then Sophie should know.”

  She leaned over her arms that rested on the table. “Come on, Sam. Sophie is happy right now. Why spoil that when we could be completely wrong in our assumptions?”

  “I agree,” Rose said. “I’d hate to see her upset. Besides, I get the feeling that Clio is more likely to be behind this than Marie.”

  Alexis considered Rose for a long moment. “So you’re okay with not telling your grandparents? Because it’s completely up to you.”

  A frown puckered Rose’s forehead. “Yeah, I think I am. For tomorrow at least. I mean, they’re leaving early to go on an excursion, so I won’t have time to talk to them until we get back from our tour so …” She smiled at Alexis. “It’s all good.”

  “As long as you’re sure,” Alexis said.

  Rose’s fingers retracted into the wristbands of my hoodie like a turtle drawing back into its shell. Then she forced them back out again. “I am.”

  “Okay. Here’s what we’ll do during the excursion,” Alexis said. “Rose and I will keep an eye on Clio, and Sam will hang out with Marie.”

  Oh no. “Wait, seriously?” I asked. “I thought you were kidding.”

  “Nope,” she said.

  I so didn’t want to do this. I rubbed my forehead. “Come on, Alex. I’ve just gotten through to her that I wasn’t interested.”

  “Time to take one for the team,” she said with a sappy smile I wanted to smudge off her face.

  “Can’t he just watch her?” Rose asked.

  Thank you. I held on to my knees so I wouldn’t jump up and kiss her. But hey, when didn’t I want to kiss her?

  “Geez, you lovebirds,” Alexis said.

  Rose gave her head a short shake.

  “Give it a rest, Alex.”

  She laughed. “All right, all right. You can just watch her. No flirting necessary. But we should all eavesdrop as much as possible. By the end of the day, we should have a better idea of what’s happening.”

  Rose drew the edges of the hoodie closer and wrapped her arms around herself. “What if Clio’s so-called cousin shows up? Who watches him?”

  “Nobody,” Alexis said. “Unless, of course, he’s meeting with Clio. We don’t really have to watch him. He’ll be watching us.”

  “Me, you mean.”

  “Yeah. And that reminds me. Don’t go anywhere by yourself while we’re in Dubrovnik, okay? If there really is something criminal going on with these people, we have to be really careful.”

  Rose glanced at me. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  Alexis picked up her phone. “And speaking of that. We need to exchange numbers just in case.”

  Just in case. My mouth went dry. What was the chance something bad might happen on the tour? I didn’t even want to think about it. I straightened my leg and tugged my phone out of my pocket.

  After the phone number exchange, Alexis patted the table with both hands. “Let’s check in with each other around eleven tomorrow morning at the forward deck. By then I should have talked to Nora.”

  “Sounds good,” Rose said. She slid out of her seat, picking up the journal as she went.

  I jumped up. “I’ll walk you back.”

  She ducked her head. “All right.”

  Alexis stood too. “And check her entire room before you leave.”

  “You don’t have to do—”

  “Yes, I do,” I said. “It’s a good idea.”

  Rose looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind. She opened the door. “See you tomorrow.”

  “G’night,” Alexis said.

  “Night.” She paused and looked back at my cousin. “Oh, and Alexis, thanks.”

  Alexis smiled. “Sure.”

  Rose and I started down the hall, the door thudding shut behind us when we were a few steps away. We didn’t talk, even though I wished I could come up with a subject that would both take her mind off the mystery and make her want to spend more time with me. An edgy sensation had started building in me ever since she told me about the investigation. And I couldn’t think of any way to fight it except to not let her out of my sight.

  But was spending more time together too much to ask? She’d been through a lot today. Still, it was barely eleven o’clock. Would it be weird to see if she wanted to go out on deck?

  She slipped her keycard into its slot and had her door opened before I figured out how to word my question. Crap. Oh, well. Time to search the room. I followed her in, making sure the door was still slightly open in case there actually was somebody hiding in there. Her lips parted like she wanted to say something, but I shook my head and put a finger to my mouth. I wanted to be able to hear as we searched.

  I flipped on the bathroom light and went in. The shower was empty. I came out to a stateroom slowly lighting up. She was turning on every switch, even the little reading lights on each side of the bed. Then she knelt on the floor and held the covers up to look under the bed. I turned on my phone flashlight and joined her. A suitcase darkened the space, but nothing else. I checked the other sid
e of the bed and behind the curtained alcove covering the portholes. Both empty.

  All that was left was the closet. Rose was already heading toward it, so I hurried over and put a hand on her forearm, showing her I wanted to go first. She stuck her hands on her hips and sighed dramatically. What? I mouthed. She just smiled and gestured toward the closet, making the wrist of my hoodie flap.

  Something in my chest flipped over. Geez. Why did her smiles have to be so distracting? I made myself look away and checked the closet. Empty. Well, other than her clothes and shoes. “Looks like you’re clear,” I whispered, shutting both closet doors.

  “Yeah, thanks,” she whispered back. She glanced at the journal she’d placed on the table, and then abruptly swept it up and dropped it in a dresser drawer. “That’s better.”

  I should ask her to go up to the deck. Right now. Just ask. Don’t stand around like a brainless jerk. But I couldn’t. Because she didn’t look like a girl I’d met almost five days ago. Not even close. Standing there in socks and pajama pants, her thick hair falling across my hoodie, she looked like someone I’d known forever. Like a girlfriend. Someone I’d happily lend my hoodie. Or anything else she needed.

  My heart started banging around like it was trying to escape to a different part of my body. This was bad. Very, very bad. There’d been times in the past few days when I’d wanted to drag her somewhere private so we could kiss and laugh and kiss some more. But now all I wanted was to wrap my arms around her, to feel her relax into me so she’d know I was there for her.

  Crap, crap, crap. Why did I have to feel like this about someone I’d probably never see again? I scratched the back of my neck. I needed to get out of there. “Um, okay, I should—”

  “Sam?” she whispered.

  My gaze shot to hers.

  “Could you stay?”

  Twenty-Two

  Rose

  What had I just said? Stupid, stupid. Sam looked like I’d hit him upside the head with a two by four. Heat prickled up my neck. I turned away before it made my face blazing red. It wasn’t fair to make him feel even more guilty when he inevitably made up some excuse to leave. Why did I have to be so awkward around boys? Especially one I liked so much.