Bermuda Nights - The Boxed Set (32 page)

I nervously glanced left and right, but there was not a hint of response from either neighbor. Perhaps the neighbors’ wild farewell partying all day had left them to sleep like the dead. Or perhaps they assumed the sounds were a honeymooning couple’s final, frantic attempt to make the most of their remaining hours at sea and simply pulled pillows over their heads.

The washing machine slowed, coughed, and then with one last rolling rattle, it fell silent.

I stared at the door with growing trepidation. What if it was Jeff who somehow, against all odds, stepped through that opening? I threw back my shoulders. Well, if it was, I would do whatever it took to stop him.

The handle turned, and the door creaked open …

Evan poked a head out, his hair looking as if it’d gone through a wind turbine, his shirt ripped open two buttons. He glanced down the hall. “All quiet out here?”

I sighed in relief, then nodded. “You two OK?”

His mouth quirked up. “Nothing that won’t heal,” he assured me. “Hold the door.”

I stepped forward to prop it open, looking inside. An F5 tornado had touched down and made itself at home. The bed was up on its side, the TV’s face was shattered, and the gentle landscape of a tropical island was now a jigsaw puzzle. Haziq limped slightly as he slid his arm beneath one of Jeff’s armpits, but his face was beaming. He turned to Evan over Jeff’s unconscious body. “Wow, you are incredible. Ever fight MMA?”

Evan chuckled as he took Jeff’s other arm. “That’s my brother, Aedan. Me, I’ve just been in my fair share of Boston bars after hours.”

Haziq’s eyes went wide. “Your brother is Aedan, the one who just fought in Vegas? He’s my hero!”

Evan smiled. “With all the help you’ve been, I’m sure I can arrange a meet.”

If Haziq had been beaming before, now he was visibly shining with joy.

Evan gave a heft, and they stood, draping Jeff between them as if he were a drunken friend. They carefully stepped over the debris field and exited the remains of the cabin. I let the door fall shut and took up the rear. The hallways were deserted as we negotiated our way along the stretch and down the stairs. A few more turns, another door, and we had reached the brig.

There was a satisfying sound to the click of the door as it sealed Jeff into the secured area. His body lay on the cot, facing the wall, and I wondered if there was an inch of his skin that would not rise with bruises by the time he awoke. The thought filled me with a warm sense of justice.

Jeff would have plenty of time to ponder his mistakes in the coming months. I had no doubt Evan would make sure of that.

Giving my ex one last look,  I turned to Evan. “OK, that went reasonably well. Next, we need to talk to Kayla.”

Evan’s brow creased. “Amanda, telling her anything about the operation is a huge risk.”

I nodded. “We’ll only take that step if absolutely necessary. But you agree we have to somehow have her involved in this last meeting, right? Sven and his team need to feel safe enough to come on shore and discuss everything openly with us. We don’t want to scare them off with too many last minute changes.”

He reluctantly nodded. “Yes, it would make everything much easier if Kayla was a willing participant, whether because she wants to be a part of the organization or because we had to tell her the truth.” He took my hand. “We wouldn’t prosecute her either way, of course. She’s not who we’re after.”

“I know. We’ll just have to see what she says.” I squeezed his hand. “Ready to head up to my room?”

He drew me close. “First, I want to tell you just how proud I am of you. Tonight – all of it – you are just amazing. We couldn’t have gotten as far as we have without you.”

I gave him a tender kiss. “We make a great team.”

His gaze heated, and it was with clear force of will that he took a step back. His voice was hoarse. “Once we get through this final meet, I’ll be sure to show you just how much I treasure you.”

My voice dropped to a murmur. “You showed me that back in the shower,” I reminded him.

His eyes glowed. “That was only the barest hint of what you are in for.”

My body warmed with heat, and I closed my eyes, wrapping my resolve around me like a cloak.

Twelve more hours.

Chapter 6

I knocked on the door to my room before slipping in my key card. I had no idea what Kayla knew, or suspected, about what had gone on during these past few hours. It was time to find out.

I glanced at Evan. “Maybe you should wait out here for now.”

He nodded in understanding. “Good luck.”

I pushed the door open.

Kayla was standing beside her bed, her half-packed suitcase laid out on top of it, and she breathed a sigh of relief as I stepped through. She ran forward, drawing me into a hug. “There you are! I’ve been worried sick! You know that our bags have to be out in the hallway by eleven, or we’re stuck lugging them off ourselves in the morning.” She glanced at the alarm clock on the counter. “You’ve got less than an hour left!”

“We’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Sit for a minute. I need for us to talk.”

She looked again at her luggage, worry creasing her brow, but she nodded, plunking down on the chair facing my bed. “So, where
were
you?” she pressed as I sat on the end of my bed. “I even called Sven to see if you were down there with them. He was incredibly rude and pretty much told me to screw off.”

Her face creased into a deep frown. “I can’t believe I had fallen for him. He’s like Thor on the outside, but inside he’s selfish and uncaring. I could never work with him – never trust him.”

She rolled her shoulders and gave me a wan smile. “At least I figured this out before we began all those business talks, right? I bet you’re relieved at not having to deal with Jeff any more.”

I wove my fingers into each other. This was going to be a bit trickier than I’d thought. “Well, actually …”

Her brows drew together. “Don’t tell me you’re becoming fond of this idea of Sven’s, to work with Jeff? That ex of yours has been nothing but trouble for you!”

“Well, yes, that’s true,” I agreed. “That’s why Evan and I were going to bring in Evan’s brother, Brandon, to take Jeff’s place in this. It could be you, me, Evan, and Brandon handling everything.”

Kayla’s eyes lit up for a moment, and she opened her mouth as if to say something. Then her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. “No. I suppose I agree Brandon would be better than having Jeff in the mix, but no. I’ve had it with Sven. I’ve had enough of his lies and manipulations.”

She ran a hand through her hair, then looked at me with determination. “Sweetie, I’m the one who sucked you into this in the first place. I got us all tangled up with Sven. And now I’m going to be the one who gets us out again.”

She tapped her fingers on the table. “You want to go into business, you want to work with Evan and this brother of his, fine. I’ll get you some contacts when we’re safely back in Boston. People you can rely on.” Her gaze hardened. “But not Sven. The man is a snake. You need to stay as far away from him as possible.”

I reached forward to rub her hand. “I know you just had a rough break-up with Sven, and that has got to be painful. But surely we can just have our meeting with him this morning, once we dock. Talk things through. See what the terms might be. If you don’t like it after that, we can wash our hands of it all. I promise.”

She crossed her arms across her chest. “Absolutely not. I refuse to be anywhere near that man. The moment we are off this ship, I’m heading home to take one of the longest showers in the history of humanity. And then I’m going down to the bar to surround myself with my friends. I’ll drink for three days straight, and maybe that will wash away the feel of it.”

Her gaze softened. “Come with me. Bring Evan along, for as long as he has shore leave, and bring that brother of his. We’ll have a wild time. When Evan heads off again, you guys can Skype to your heart’s content until he returns back for good.” Her face steeled. “But I will not work with Sven again. I’m strongly recommending that you put him behind you as well.”

I tried again. “But the money –”

“Fuck the money,” she bit out. “You know, there are some things in life that are just not worth it. Relying on that man is one of them. I would
pay
money to not have to deal with him ever again.”

“But it’s just one meeting, and –”

Her brows narrowed. “Why is this so important to you? You have a good job. You have a nice apartment. Is it about Evan? Is there some reason he needs to land this deal? Heck, he could move in with you, and you both could live off your income. I could give you a thousand different options.” Her voice dropped into a growl. “But none of them would involve Sven.”

I sighed and shook my head. Kayla had that look on her face – the one that said she would not be budged at any cost.

I stood.

She stared at me in confusion as I walked toward the door. “Where are you going?”

I pulled it open and waved in Evan. “I think it’s your turn.”

The look in his eyes told me he’d been ready for this eventuality. He came to sit with me on my bed.

Kayla glanced between us in confusion. “Just what is going on here? Ganging up on me? Well, it won’t work.”

Her lips pressed together. “There is nothing at all you could possibly say to make me change my mind.”

Evan gave a wry grin.

“I’m a cop.”

Chapter 7

Kayla stared at Evan as if he’d lost his mind, and then her eyes slid to me. Her gaze went from disbelieving to understanding to shocked all in one long kaleidoscope of colors.

Her mouth hung open. “That’s exactly what Sven thought, that night in the mechanical room! He was convinced you were undercover, trying to break into his organization.”

Evan nodded quietly. “Yes, he was.”

Kayla’s eyes widened, and she turned to me. Her voice barely made it through her throat. “And then you … you shot heroin, to prove you were just regular drug users.”

I twined my fingers into Evan’s. “Yes, I did.”

The wheels were turning in her mind. “But you weren’t, were you. You’d never done heroin before in your life. You only shot up to keep Evan safe.” She looked between us in growing bewilderment. “You knew he was undercover all along?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know until that very moment. I thought Evan was just a guitarist with the band. But somehow, in that room, I could see the truth. And I knew I had to do whatever it took to distract Sven, to take him off the path he was going down.”

Kayla was on her feet, pulling me up into a hug. “Good God, Amanda, you could have been killed! Don’t you know how dangerous that was?” She finished her hug and held me back, looking between us with growing concern. “How dangerous this all
is
,” she expanded. “Sven is ruthless. I have to get you off the ship and away from him. If he were to find out –”

She cut off, and when she spoke again her voice held dawning understanding. “You wanted to make sure the meeting this morning went through as planned. With you, me, Evan, and his brother, Brandon.” Her eyes narrowed in amused suspicion. “What happened to Jeff?”

I gave a wry smile. “He’s going to be spending the rest of this cruise in the brig.”

She chuckled at that, then her face grew serious again. “But I take it you want this meeting to go through for a reason? Is this going to be the final step in your operation?”

Evan nodded. “We just need this one meeting. We need everything to appear calm and normal, so that we get as much information out of Sven as possible. He’s already going to be spooked enough by this whole … Jeff situation. The more we can keep the rest of the meet as uneventful as we can, the more likely he is to go through with what we need.”