Her Lieutenant Protector

by Lara Lacombe

  Everest rapped smartly on the door, and she held her breath while they waited for the captain to answer.

  She glanced over at Everest, taking in his tall, strong frame standing patiently next to her. What was it about this man that cut through years of fear and worry, that made her want to test the waters and maybe risk her heart again?

  But the timing couldn’t be worse.

  When this is over, she thought, turning her focus back to the job at hand. I can figure this out later.

  * * *

  Everest stared at the captain’s door, fighting hard to keep his eyes off Mallory. He knew if he so much as looked at her he would kiss her, and he couldn’t afford to indulge in his attraction to her at the moment. There was too much at stake right now.

  Never in his life had he allowed himself to get distracted from his mission to such an extent. He’d practically kissed her in the damn hallway, for crying out loud! Would have, too, if not for the interruption. It wasn’t like him to notice a woman, much less to notice her to such a degree that all other thoughts flew out of his mind. But Mallory was different. He found himself thinking about her when they were apart, and when he was around her he felt hyperaware of her presence, his eyes drawn to her no matter what else was going on in the room. She was an intriguing combination of strong and vulnerable, and he found her fascinating.

  But now is not the time. His attraction to Mallory might be the silver lining in this troubled voyage, but right now, he had to focus on his job. And that meant breaking the bad news to the captain.

  If the man ever opened his door...

  Everest raised his hand to knock again, and a few seconds later the door swung open. The captain glared at him, clearly upset by the interruption. He held a phone pressed to his ear and held up one finger in the universal gesture to wait. Everest nodded, and the captain closed the door again, leaving him alone with Mallory once more.

  “That was odd,” she said softly. “I wonder what’s going on.”

  Everest shrugged. “Who knows? But I can tell you his day isn’t going to get much better.”

  “Let’s hope he doesn’t take it out on us.”

  “He won’t,” Everest said. In truth, he didn’t know how the captain would respond to their news, but he did know he wasn’t going to let the man vent his anger toward Mallory, or any of the other staff, for that matter. Events on the ship were unprecedented, but no one could have predicted any of it. The important thing was to wrap the trip up as quickly and safely as possible. They could worry about assigning blame later.

  The door flung open and the captain nodded at him, then glanced at Mallory. “What can I do for you?” His tone was businesslike and his expression neutral; whatever his conversation had been about, he’d appeared to put it behind him.

  “We’d like a word, please,” Everest said. “Can we come inside for a minute?”

  The captain stepped back and gestured them in. “Make it quick. I need to get back to the bridge.”

  Mallory glanced at Everest, and he nodded. “We found a body behind the wall of one of the guest rooms.”

  The captain blinked. Under any other circumstances, his expression of disbelief would have been comical. But Everest wasn’t laughing.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  Everest repeated himself, forgiving the man for his disbelief. He could hardly believe he was saying the words himself.

  The captain shook his head. “That’s what I thought you said,” he murmured. “Do you know who it is and how they got there?”

  “No. But I’m going to notify the Charleston police. They’ll come on board when we dock in the morning and take possession of the scene.”

  The captain nodded. “That’s fine. We’ll be in port all day tomorrow. That gives them about eight hours to collect evidence.”

  “Sir,” Everest began, trying to sound diplomatic, “it’s unlikely that will be enough time. The police will want to retain control of the room until they are certain they’ve gathered all the evidence. They’ll likely need us to remain in port for several days, at least.”

  The captain shook his head. “That’s unacceptable. We can’t afford that kind of delay.”

  “With respect, sir,” Everest said, “it’s not up to us. We cannot refuse to cooperate with law enforcement.”

  The captain straightened his shoulders and lifted one brow. “I will talk to the officer in charge of the investigation. I’m sure accommodations can be made.”

  Everest shook his head, knowing it wasn’t worth the effort to argue with the man. He slid a glance to Mallory and shrugged slightly, yielding the floor to her.

  “There’s more,” she said, taking a half step forward.

  “Has the outbreak spread?”

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But there’s another issue of concern. There’s some kind of strange material in the communication hubs mounted throughout the ship. I think it’s making people sick.”

  “I see.” But the man’s tone made it clear he didn’t really believe what she was saying.

  Mallory bit her lip, and Everest could tell she was trying to remain patient. “It’s my recommendation we end this trip in Charleston and evacuate the ship. We need to find out what this mystery substance is, and we can’t afford to risk the safety of our passengers while we try to identify it.”

  “Dr. Watkins.” The captain spoke slowly, his cheeks turning a dull red. “What you are suggesting is not only implausible but impossible. We cannot terminate our voyage in Charleston. It is simply not an option.”

  “But we have to get people off the ship and away from—”

  The captain lifted his hand, cutting her off. “Do you know for certain this material is responsible for any illnesses on board?”

  Mallory’s shoulders sagged slightly. “Not conclusively, no. But I do have a patient—”

  The captain raised his voice, talking over her. “Then I will not sanction the evacuation of this ship. Honestly, you two.” The man looked from Mallory to Everest, clearly disappointed. “I had heard such good things about you both. I was told you were the best of the best. But now here you are in my cabin, presenting far-fetched tales of passengers in danger and sharing bad news with no viable suggestions to address the problem.” He shook his head. “I have to get back to the bridge. I don’t have time for this nonsense.” He shooed them out of the room and shut the door behind them with a thud.

  Mallory turned to Everest and saw her confusion mirrored on his own face. “What just happened?”

  Everest shook his head and placed his hand on her arm, coaxing her into a walk alongside him. He waited until they were several feet away from the captain’s door before answering her. “I’m... I’m not exactly sure.”

  “That is not the same man I spoke to this morning,” she said. “Just a few hours ago he was very concerned about the possibility of a norovirus outbreak on the ship. I don’t understand why he’s had such an about-face now.”

  “I don’t understand it either,” he said. “It seems very out of character. But as I told him, once the police get involved we won’t have much of a choice.”

  “What can we do?”

  Everest was silent a moment, considering her question. “Start planning. Brief your staff. If we wait for the captain to accept the reality of the situation, we’ll be caught flat-footed when it’s time to act.”

  “You sound like you’ve done something like this before,” she observed. “Were you in charge of a lot of operations while you were in the army?”

  “Enough to know that sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” he said drily.

  They came to the stairwell at the end of the hall and stopped. “Want me to walk you back to the clinic?”

  She hesitated for a second, then shook her head
. He squashed the flare of disappointment. He had his own work to do, and while it would be nice to stay near her, they couldn’t afford to waste any time.

  “I appreciate the offer, but we should both probably get started.” Her pager beeped insistently, and she pulled it off her belt and glanced at the display.

  “Everything okay?”

  She frowned as she read the message, and he caught a glimpse of the display over her shoulder: Need help ASAP.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. Dozens of possibilities flitted through Everest’s mind, none of them good. A jolt of adrenaline hit his system, and his heart beat hard against his breastbone. What was going on in the clinic? Had more patients presented with GI symptoms? Had any of the passengers touched the material in the black boxes? Whatever was happening, it was clear she needed to get back there quickly.

  “I’ll let you know later,” she said, already starting down the stairs. “Sorry to run.”

  “Good luck,” Everest called after her. “Keep me posted.”

  She waved absently, and he fought the urge to follow. She was a professional and could handle anything that might be going on in the clinic. Besides, if she really needed help, Everest was only a page away.

  The thought made him feel a little bit better as he watched her hurry down the hall.

  Chapter 11

  Everest sat at his desk and logged into the computer. He needed to call the Charleston police and alert them to the situation on board, but there was something else he wanted to do first.

  He found the contact information for the Norfolk, Virginia, Police Department and punched the number into his phone. He knew the Abigail Adams had been built at a Norfolk shipyard, and it stood to reason the body in the wall had been placed there while the boat was still under construction. Maybe the Norfolk PD had a missing persons case open that could shed light on the identity of this victim.

  A few minutes later, he had an answer.

  “Yeah, we’ve got a cold case open for a missing dockworker. Guy never showed up for work after a holiday weekend. His boss seemed to think he’d just quit without giving notice, but one of his coworkers was adamant that wasn’t the guy’s style. So we opened a file. Never really went anywhere. The man was a loner, and we didn’t have much to go on.”

  “I might have found him for you,” Everest said grimly.

  “That would be nice. It’d be good to get this case closed up.”

  “We make port in Charleston in the morning,” Everest said. “I’m going to call their police department after I hang up with you. I’ll tell them to contact you.”

  “Appreciate it,” the officer said. “It’s a hell of a lucky break for us. Not so much for him, though.”

  “I wouldn’t be too happy if I were you,” Everest said. “Instead of a missing person, you now have a murder case to investigate.”

  “True,” the officer said. “But that’s a different department.” He laughed at his own joke, then said goodbye and hung up.

  Everest shook his head and looked up the number for the Charleston Police Department. It didn’t take long to update them, and they assured him they’d be waiting at the pier when the ship docked in the morning.

  “In the meantime, seal the room as best you can.”

  “Already done,” Everest said. “We’re keeping everyone out until you can take possession of the scene.” He told the detective about his conversation with the officer in Norfolk.

  “Thanks,” the man said. “Sounds like we’ll be able to pass this one off fairly easily.”

  That job done, Everest turned his attention to the matter of Mallory’s assailant. Maybe Wesley had discovered something while he’d been dealing with the captain. He paged his second-in-command, then pulled up the video surveillance files of that corridor. Perhaps the security cameras had caught a good look at the man’s face...

  Wesley tapped on his door a few minutes later. “Come in,” Everest said, gesturing for him to take the chair across from his desk.

  The young man sank into the seat, an air of suppressed energy radiating off him. He looked as if he’d made some kind of discovery, and Everest felt a flare of hope. Maybe there was some good news to be found in this crapshoot of a day.

  “You look like you’ve got something for me,” Everest said.

  Wesley smiled a little. “Maybe,” he said. “I’m still trying to track down the guy who hit Dr. Watkins, but I might have a lead.”

  “Oh?” That was good news—if they could find and detain the man, it would be one less thing for him to worry about.

  “The guy had a good head start on me, but I spoke to several passengers who saw him run past. I have a pretty decent description, and I’m cross-referencing his approximate age with the passenger manifesto. Once I get that information, I can go cabin by cabin until I find him.”

  Everest nodded. “Good work. I’m checking the security footage now, hoping to get a clear picture of the guy’s face. But so far, I haven’t found anything.” Everest turned back to his computer, and Wesley came to stand next to him. They watched the monitor together for a few seconds, but then the crystal-clear footage dissolved into a blizzard of black-and-white snow.

  “What the hell?” Everest muttered. He turned to Wesley. “Have we had reports of camera issues?”

  Wesley frowned. “Not that I’ve heard. But I have noticed a bit of static on the feed here and there. I don’t know what’s causing it, though.”

  Everest’s stomach sank as he watched a potential lead slip through his fingers. Based on the time stamp on the footage, the camera had crapped out during Mallory’s visit to the cabin. It flickered back to life a few minutes later, but by that time, the deed had been done. He had a nice view of Wesley’s legs as the man ran down the hall in pursuit of the mystery assailant, but there was nothing that could help them identify the man.

  He cursed softly.

  “Don’t worry,” Wesley assured him. “I’ll find the guy.”

  Everest nodded in thanks. “That’s not all I’m worried about,” he said.

  Wesley returned to the chair and leaned forward. “What else is going on?”

  “I’ve notified the Charleston police about our...situation.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Wesley said. His cheeks flushed, and he looked down at his lap. “I still can’t believe I missed something so obvious when I checked the room.”

  “It’s fine,” Everest said. “If you didn’t specifically inspect the closet, there’s no way you would have found him.”

  “I didn’t,” Wesley admitted sheepishly. “I just glanced around the room itself. It was a crazy story, and I didn’t expect it to be true.”

  “That makes two of us,” Everest said. “Anyway, the Charleston police will come on board in the morning to recover the body and begin their investigation.”

  Wesley nodded. “Sounds good. Do we want to block off that hall so passengers aren’t in the way?”

  “Yes, but to be honest, I’m expecting our voyage to terminate tomorrow. The police are going to need to collect evidence, and I can’t imagine they’ll be willing to release the scene after only a few hours.”

  “Yeah, but it’s a pretty cold case, isn’t it?” Wesley pointed out. “Do you really think there’s that much evidence remaining? We’ve had people in and out of that cabin since the ship was built. Construction workers, cleaning staff, guests. There can’t be much forensic information left.”

  “True, but it’s possible there’s some kind of clue that was sealed in the wall with the body.” Everest waved his hand, brushing aside the topic. “My point is that we don’t know how extensive their activities are going to be. But I’m going to operate on the assumption they’ll want time.”

  “Fair enough.” Wesley stood. “I’d better get back to looking for th
is guy. If we really are terminating the trip tomorrow morning, I don’t have long to find him.”

  “One more thing,” Everest said, holding up one hand to stall Wesley. “Dr. Watkins is concerned the communication hubs spread throughout the ship contain a toxic material that might be responsible for some patient issues. So if you see any damage to the boxes or notice any with the cover off, let us know.”

  “A toxic material?” Wesley echoed doubtfully. “Is this something we need to announce to everyone?”

  Everest shook his head. “No, not yet. I’m not fully convinced there’s an issue, and a shipwide announcement would only cause alarm. Still, it never hurts to be cautious, so just try to keep an eye out for anything unusual.”

  “Sure thing,” Wesley said. “I’ll let you know if I find something.”

  “Keep me posted on the search for the attacker,” Everest said. “I’ll ask Dr. Watkins if she’s interested in pressing charges against him. If so, we can turn him over to the police in the morning.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Everest turned back to his computer and watched the security footage again, squinting at the fuzzy picture in the hopes of making out some kind of detail. But it was no use. For whatever reason, the camera had stopped working at the exact time of Mallory’s assault. He made a note to send one of his staff to check on it, then clicked over to his email, hoping to find a message from his friend still in the Chemical Corps. But his inbox was disappointingly empty.

  He pulled out his phone and began to go through the pictures he’d taken of the mystery substance. It didn’t look like anything he’d seen before, but that didn’t mean much. Contrary to popular belief, radioactive materials didn’t glow in the dark, and they didn’t always come with a warning label. And that was the problem. A motivated bad guy could potentially put radioactive material into anything, or place it just about anywhere without attracting too much attention.

  But they had to get their hands on it first. And fortunately, radioactive substances that could do real harm didn’t just grow on trees.