Guilty Pleasures (14 page)

“Baby.”

The whisper of Eva's voice came from behind him. He turned with a slow, tired smile.

“Hey.”

The short filmy gown she wore snaked over her curves as soft light from the table lamp filtered through it.

She stepped up to him and massaged his shoulders. “You need to get some rest.”

“Hmmm,” he sighed. Her long fingers kneaded the tight muscles in his neck and shoulders. “I know. I had a few things to go over.”

She peeked at the computer screen. “Is that the security system layout
”

“Yeah. It's pretty tricky, but…”

“But
But what
”

“But I think we can pull it off.” He turned and looked up at her.

“Tell me about it.”

“All the doors to the suites are opened by electronic card keys. That part is a cinch. Once we board the ship, you'll have to clip a master card key by posing as one of the cleaning crew staff.”

“That's not a problem.”

He nodded. “Timing, of course, is key.”

“Right. We can't leave too much time between lifting the key, getting into the room, and returning the key before discovery. If that happens, there's sure to be a lockdown on the ship.”

“Exactly. And all of the staff, including you, would be subjected to questioning, and ultimately all the key cards would be changed to protect the passengers. The other option: if the stash isn't in the cabin, then it has to be in the ship safe. Getting in there is just as tricky.”

Eva pressed her lips together. She released a sigh. “It'll be all right. If not—there will be four black folks jumping ship.” She smiled a little.

Jake spun the chair around and pulled her close. He pressed his head against her taut belly.

She stroked his hair. “Are you going to upload all of the floor plans onto our PDAs
”

“Yeah, right before we leave. I want to make sure they're all synchronized, and I don't want to upload them and then possibly have to change anything. I figure two days before we pull out and we'll do a dry run.” He paused. “Once we get out of this, babe, it's over. I swear,” Jake said.

“We'll go somewhere, start a new life…” She stared down at him. “Start a family…”

Jake stiffened. “A family
”

Eva pulled back. Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, a family. Me, you, a baby. A family, like on
The Cosby Show.
”

Children.
In the years that they'd been together, the kind of life they lived didn't have room for children. They'd both understood that, and it had been a tacit agreement between them. For him, that was a good thing. Ideally, he'd hoped that his love would be enough for Eva. He couldn't be a father. It wasn't in the cards. Ever.

“Let's get ourselves out of this first and then see what happens.” He stroked her hip, forced a smile.

Eva slowly backed up; disbelief and hurt rocked her. Then without a word, she walked out.

Jake hung his head.

*   *   *

Eva returned to the bedroom and got back in bed. She turned out the bedside lamp and closed her eyes. In the silence of the house, she listened for sounds of her husband.

She folded her hands across her stomach. Family. Since she was a kid, she never knew what that was, what it felt like to live in a loving family. The only semblance of family was what she saw on television.

When she married Jake, sure, they lived a wild life, a dangerous life. For them, children had not been realistic. But in the background, behind the scenes of their double life, there was a powerful love. She wanted to see their love made manifest in a child.

She flipped onto her side. She was getting soft and sentimental. Must be her biological clock ticking. And now was not the time. She knew that. Yet she wanted to have hope, the dream that a
real
life was possible for them.

Jake slipped into the room. He left the door partially open as he'd always done, an old habit he'd carried over from living alone and needing to hear if someone was coming up on him.

The right side of the bed dipped under Jake's weight. Eva moved farther away from him. She curled into a fetal position.

He stole a look over his shoulder. “Eva. We'll work it out. Okay
”

Silence.

“Eva…”

No response.

He sighed in exhaustion, got under the covers, and turned his back to her. He tried to sleep.

 

11

Eva went into the stockroom. She'd stashed her personal shipment of zirconia among the boxes of accessories and supplies. Rita was planning on stopping by during her lunch hour so they could begin removing some of the goods.

Eva went to the back of the room. She frowned as her eyes ran over the boxes. She turned and looked at the row behind her, and her heart pumped faster. Maybe she'd put them someplace else. One by one, she scanned each row of boxes again. Panic seized her. She tugged in a deep breath, and her heart pumped faster. Eva closed her eyes for a moment and then looked again. The three boxes were not there.

For several seconds she stood in the center of the stockroom, chewing on her thumbnail, forcing her mind to clear. Someone had obviously moved them.

“Oh, there you are.”

Eva jumped, grabbed her chest. She turned. “Tara, you startled me. Something wrong
” She surprised herself with her calm recovery.

“Sebastian is here. He said he wanted to start going over the inventory with you.”

Damnit. She'd hoped that he would have forgotten all about it, with the busy season picking up. “Uh, tell him I'll be right there.”

“Sure.” Tara hesitated. “Are you okay
You looked flushed.”

Eva cleared her throat and rubbed her forehead. “Hmmm, think I might be coming down with something.”

Tara stepped back, made a cross with her fingers. “Well, stay away from me, girl. I cannot afford to get whatever it is you think you're getting.” She grinned. “I'll tell Sebastian you're on your way.”

“Thanks.”

Tara started to leave.

“Uh, Tara, I was looking for three boxes that I'd put back here last week.”

Tara frowned for a moment and then brightened. “Oh, yes, I have them up front. When I was going over the weekly deliveries, I didn't see those boxes on my spreadsheet or on yours. I was going to send them back, figured it must have been an error.”