Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #2 (40 page)

Lexie sank into an empty seat a few feet from the door. Shaun followed and sat next to her as she placed her bags on the floor. She opened her travel bag and pulled out a red manila folder, tensing at his nearness as she placed it on her lap. Lexie stared straight ahead at the small coffee table by their feet.

“I'll talk to security for you,” he said, despite her refusal to acknowledge him. “Trust me on this one. Let it go.”

Lexie tapped an unpainted fingernail on the folder. “Trust you? That's rich.” Her tone turned bitter. “Don't think I didn't notice your lack of urgency in pursuing the bad guy. Now there's someone aboard who might pose a danger to other passengers on the ship, and it sounds as if you're trying to threaten me to keep me from telling someone else about the incident, so, no. I'm not going to trust you just because you asked me to. Among other reasons.”

It was a shot straight to the gut. What had he done to become the bad guy? “My apologies. You're absolutely right. It's been a while and I suppose trust is something to be earned after all these years.” He paused and considered his next words carefully. If her assailant meant to seriously harm her, she could place herself in danger again if she wasn't careful. “I'd hoped that stopping an attempt on your life, whatever the reason, would be worthy enough to gain trust.”

Telling her why she needed to trust him would make this so much easier, but Shaun needed to protect his mission. He'd boarded the ferry on an anonymous tip to CIA headquarters that suggested there might be ties in Argentia to the human trafficking ring the CIA had been trying to bust for the past three years. Shaun was so close to cutting off the head of the snake, he could taste it. He'd bring the Wolf and his organization down, no matter the cost.

Shaun blinked as memory took shape. Nicola and Alexandra, disembarking from the YouthBuilders' bus in a dusty town in Botswana.
Hi, I'm Alexandra,
the brunette had said,
and this is my sister, Nicola. We came with the Canadian group. Where are you from?

“Sorry,” Lexie said, cutting through the strangely vivid memories. She looked startled by his honest appeal. “It's just that until fifteen minutes ago, I thought I had a straightforward job to do. Now I'm not so sure.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “Maybe I can help.” Lexie made no effort to hide the surprise on her face. “No, really. Tell me, what's the work you're doing, exactly?” He inclined his head toward the red folder. Her fingers flicked across its edge in impatience as she contemplated his offer of help.

Silence stretched like a rubber band until her gaze grew hard and distant, and she shook her head. “I can't. Client confidentiality. I...I've probably said too much already.”

This made him pause. He'd have to tread with care and draw her out by reassuring her that she could trust him. Telling her everything would blow his cover, but maybe he could offer up a partial truth in hope she'd reciprocate with an exchange of information. If that attack had been deliberate, he needed to know.

“I promise you, I'm not involved. Not the way you're thinking, anyway. It's complicated, so trust me when I say you need to stay out of this. Let me handle it.”

She rolled her eyes, making no effort to hide her frustration. Her limbs were locked tight against her small body, as though he had a contagious disease. The hostility astounded him, especially considering he'd saved her from a potentially life-threatening situation. “It's been a long time, Lexie. How've you been? What have you been up to?”

“You ask a lot of questions, Carver,” she snapped. “You a cop? Got a badge to show me?”

Shaun rubbed his jaw. He needed to stop her from using his name. “It's Lane. Shaun Lane.”

She arched a delicate eyebrow. “Is it now? I have a good memory for these kinds of things.”

He swallowed hard. He'd faced down terrorists and real-life villains without so much as a flinch. Why did Lexie's observations bring a lump to his throat? “We all make changes. I got your name wrong, didn't I?”

“A shorter version of a long first name is a little different than an entirely new last name.”

He needed to move this along before she started asking questions he couldn't answer. “Look, I work for...the government, and let's leave it at that. What about you? I'm getting a PI vibe, but I suspect that's not right, either.”

A hint of a wry smile touched her lips. “No. I'm the vice president and a support counselor for a volunteer missing-persons organization.”

Her shoulders dropped, and Shaun couldn't help but notice the purple bruise forming across her throat. “Hey, are you actually okay? That looks painful.”

Lexie lifted pale fingers to the bruise, wincing at the touch. A small silver name bracelet slid from her wrist to her forearm. Shaun could just make out the engraving as the setting sunlight glinted off the name plate. Nikki.

“I'll be fine. I'm alive, and that's what matters.”

Silence returned for a moment as Shaun churned over what to say next that wouldn't shut her down further. Lexie seemed to come to a decision when he didn't press her for more information. “The organization is named Lead Me Home National. We search for missing persons in Canada that law enforcement like the local police or even Interpol have given up on, or who aren't considered ‘missing' for whatever reason. Or the family might fear going to the police, maybe because they or the family member entered the country illegally, that kind of thing. I'm searching for a girl named Maria who disappeared a few months ago.”

Shaun's heart sank. “You aid and abet illegal immigrants?”

Lexie lifted the folder and slammed it down on her lap, fire blazing in her eyes. “No. It's a matter of human rights. Of everyone's right to have someone looking out for them, even when everyone else has given up, even when...”

Her voice trailed off, hitching on her words. The fierceness in her eyes had been replaced by a red-rimmed sadness, which she was trying unsuccessfully to blink away. Shaun laid his hand on her shoulder and mentally kicked himself. Everyone dealt with trauma differently, and clearly the events of the past hour had brought something painful to the forefront.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.” He scanned the room, desperate for a way to prevent her tears from flowing. He'd been the cause of too many tears in the distant and recent past, thanks to this job. Learning how to balance relationships and job requirements was a steeper learning curve than he'd ever expected. In a way, it had been easier before he'd realized how much he longed to share his life in a deep, committed relationship with someone who understood his drive to help and protect others.

Shaun's gaze landed on the coffee bar in the center of the room, where baristas handed out drinks and pastries to the waiting customers. He turned his attention back to Lexie, who was staring at his hand where it rested on her shoulder.

“Uh, I...” Shaun pulled his hand away and stood. “Can I get you a coffee? You look like you could use the caffeine.”

Pink rose in her cheeks. “One cream, please.”

At the coffee bar, Shaun kept his attention split between his place in line and Lexie. His stomach churned with frustration, and he found he couldn't keep his eyes off her. She'd be much safer if she stayed put and allowed him to do the searching for her attacker. It'd be foolish to encourage an unarmed woman to take on an opponent who'd just proven himself physically stronger than she.

Besides, he had his own search to conduct, and the people
he'd
come to search for were far more dangerous than a random man in a ski mask. Still, the coincidence made him pause. Here was a woman also searching for a missing person, and she'd been the victim of an attack. Could there be a connection?

Whether there was or not, a civilian nosing around for any reason might get herself hurt—she'd
already
gotten herself hurt. It could be worse, next time. Lexie's interference might also compromise his plans and destroy three years of painstaking intel and recon, putting the lives of those in the ring's clutches in further danger.

And while he understood God would forgive him if he messed this one up, he knew he would never, ever, forgive himself.

TWO

L
exie stared at the photo of Maria, but her real focus was elsewhere. She could barely believe it—she hadn't seen Shaun Carver for nearly a decade. She'd been sixteen years old when they'd first met, and he had been the hottest guy on the YouthBuilders' mission trip to Botswana—and he'd known it, too. She'd disliked him the moment they met, but not because she hadn't been attracted to him. It was because her sister
had
been, despite the point of the trip being to build a school for the local orphanage, not finding a future husband among the mission team. But when had Nikki ever done what she was supposed to?

She'd recognized him instantly on the parking deck, despite the strange lumberjack getup. He looked just as handsome as the day he'd broken her sister's heart. Shattered it to a million pieces is how Nikki had phrased it. What kind of guy would be so cruel as to lead a girl on, promising her the world and then dumping her the minute things got “complicated”? At least he'd recognized her, too, so he'd understand why she might be less than thrilled to see him. If she'd known he would be on this ferry, she'd have waited for the next boat.

What she really didn't understand was why he'd been acting so cheerful and laissez-faire about bumping into her after all this time. Could he really be so clueless? Did he honestly have no idea what he'd done? His cruelty had sent Nikki into the arms of a rebound boyfriend, a guy who'd clearly been a terrible influence and only encouraged her reckless personality...resulting in her disappearance. Or as Lexie believed, her kidnapping. It would have been easier to ignore Shaun and walk away when he'd asked about her work, but memories of Nikki had bubbled to the surface and she'd barely shut them down in time. Working on Maria's case felt too close to home at times, but it was getting easier to shove her grief aside—after all, it had been eight years since Nikki's disappearance. Lexie figured it was about time.

Lexie needed focus, because without it, another girl might very well disappear forever. Maria had already been missing for three months, and the longer it took to find her, the less likely she'd be found at all. While Maria's parents believed the girl had run away, Lexie had seen Maria's dress for her prom next month. According to her parents, Maria had saved up her earnings for a year to afford the five-hundred-dollar dream dress for the event. What kind of teenager would willingly give that up after working so hard for it?

It was tough enough to search for missing people when giving it her full focus, but having Shaun Carver—sorry,
Lane
—around provided an unwanted level of complication. A government lackey? Please. Guys like him were nothing but nosy, brawny wannabe heroes.

She glanced over her shoulder at him and shook her head. Shaun knelt on the floor, helping a young mother cram hundreds of spilled plastic blocks back into a cloth bag. The woman's toddler wasn't doing either of them any favors, grabbing pieces off the floor and throwing them at bemused passersby. Shaun and Lexie's coffees sat abandoned on the edge of an empty table. Okay, maybe he wasn't all bad. It
had
been nearly a decade since he'd callously dumped Nikki at the end of the trip. People could change, right?

Lexie sighed and turned her attention to the fading light through the window. Why did life have to be so complicated? Now was not the time or place for a walk down memory lane, despite Shaun's earlier eagerness for it. Getting him out of her business had to be the first priority or she'd get nothing done. If she could ditch Mr. Wannabe Superhero and investigate the attack on her own, maybe she could shove away the memories of Nikki for a little while longer.

She jumped at a sudden touch on her shoulder, but relief flooded through her body when a paper coffee cup with her name scrawled on the side crossed her field of vision. She took it and placed her folder on the coffee table. One seat over, Shaun took a sip from his own cup while scanning the room. He had a quiet strength about him, an air of confidence that made her want to trust him—despite the lumberjack outfit and his two-day scruff. That was new. At nineteen, but he'd kept his appearance immaculate, despite working in a dusty village in rural Africa. Nikki had found it appealing. Lexie had found it pretentious and ignorant. Now, it gave him a rugged handsomeness that made Lexie shift uncomfortably in her seat.

A stray curl of light brown hair escaped from underneath his toque, and Lexie resisted a sudden urge to lean forward and brush it out of his eyes. Shame blossomed in her belly. How could she even think that way, after how he'd hurt her sister? Heat stung her eyes, and Lexie blinked away another rising tide of memories and guilt. She needed to refocus on the job she'd come here to do. Her fingers tightened on the coffee cup, and she savored the sensation of fresh, hot coffee dancing across her tongue, heating her up from the inside. She held on to that, pulling her attention away from Shaun's searching gaze.

A few minutes later, two blue-uniformed ferry employees entered the lounge and scanned the room as though looking for someone. Before Lexie made the mental connection, Shaun had crossed the distance and ushered them out of the lounge and into the hallway. Security personnel! She tried to sit upright and push herself out of the chair, but her limbs felt heavy. She blinked, trying to clear a growing haze in her vision. The sounds around her grew muffled. Wasn't the coffee supposed to keep her—

“Lexie?”

Lexie's eyes fluttered open. She jerked up in her seat and stared at Shaun, whose look of concern had turned into a satisfied smirk. “What happened? I was about to follow you, but—”

“Need another coffee?” Shaun ran his fingers through his mop of hair, toque nowhere to be seen. “Though we should probably get you to your bunk. You can't sleep here overnight.”

“It's not like I planned to do so.” Had she been more tired than she'd realized? Lexie yawned and lifted her coffee cup from where she'd rested it between her hip and the chair. She raised the cup to take a sip, but set it down again in disappointment when no warmth radiated through the lid. A fresh cup would be nice, but she'd already accepted too much charity from someone who might as well be a stranger. Eight years was a long time. “It's okay, thanks. I want to do a little more thinking before I turn in for the night. And talk to security on my own. I can't believe you talked to them without me.”

The smirk slipped, and he rubbed a hand across his jaw. “I thought you were following me to talk with them, honest. When I looked back and saw you weren't with us, I figured you'd changed your mind about letting me do the talking.”

“I didn't plan to fall asleep. It was sudden. I just blacked out.”

Shaun frowned. “Can I see your cup?” She handed it to him and he sniffed the contents. “No strange smell. You sure you're not just exhausted from what happened downstairs?”

“I wish you'd stop acting like I'm incapable of rational thought. You're the one who left the cups unattended while you cleaned up a toy spill. Maybe...maybe I was drugged. My name is on the cup here, plain as day.”

“You're right.” He rubbed his hand across his face. “But why would someone drug your coffee, Lexie?”

She rested her head against the back of her seat. “I don't know. It sounds crazy. And why me? I should call the police.”

Shaun pulled a phone out of his pocket and waved it at her. “The reception out here is terrible, and I've already talked to security. But if you're determined, I know exactly where the police station is in Argentia. I can show you the way once we dock.”

She scowled at him, considering his offer. If he'd already talked to security, what good would her statement do? “Won't that be too late? The guy will have escaped by then.”

“For all we know, he might have already jumped ship. But we'd cast off when I found you on the parking deck, and no one can survive more than a minute or two in ocean waters at these winter temperatures. Tell you what, we'll call the police station as soon as we get cell service back. Deal?”

It sounded reasonable. That way the ship could be locked down and searched before anyone disembarked. “Deal.”

Shaun nodded and locked his fingers together, stretching his arms in front of him. “All right. Let's have a look at the folder, then. Maybe that contains some clues about why someone would go to the trouble of making sure you'd be asleep for a few minutes.”

Lexie glanced at her lap and at the coffee table where Shaun's cup sat. “Don't you have it?”

Shaun shook his head and pointed at her bag. “Didn't you put it away when I brought the coffee over?”

Alarm bells rang in Lexie's head. “No, I thought I'd look through it when the caffeine kicked in. It was right here, I had my eye on it when you handed me the coffee.” She refused to entertain the obvious notion before exploring all other possibilities.

She knelt on the floor and looked under the chairs and table, while Shaun stood and surveyed the area around them. They both came up empty-handed.

“It's gone,” Lexie said, panic rising in her chest. “How can it be gone? I took a few sips and it sat right here, while you were—”

“Talking to security,” he said in a flat voice. “I know you don't want to hear this, but someone may have come by and taken it. Best-case scenario, it was a passenger playing a prank, or someone mistook your folder for theirs.”

He left the other option unspoken, but Lexie saw it in his eyes. He feared that the man who'd assaulted her had drugged her so he could steal it while she slept.

“All my notes are in there.” Lexie groaned, reality setting in. “My photo of the girl I'm looking for, plus sensitive information on contacts.”

Shaun frowned and scanned the room again. “You left a folder with sensitive information on a table? In a public area?”

“I didn't plan on falling asleep.”

“I only walked away for a few minutes.” He grimaced and ran his fingers through his hair. “Not good. Someone's watching you. Whatever information you have in that folder, it's important to them. Or they suspect it might be. Combined with the attack earlier, it seems like the situation is more serious than you thought. This girl might be in a lot of danger.”

“I know.” Lexie's voice carried across the room, and she felt her cheeks warm as several passengers turned to look at her. “I know,” she continued, voice quieter. “But it's not like I expected someone to drug my coffee. It's not like I've done this before.”

“Done what? Look for someone?” Shaun's eyebrows scrunched together as Lexie flopped back down into her chair. “I thought you said you worked for a missing-persons organization.”

She nodded, feeling a weight in her chest. “I do. But I haven't tackled a search like this on my own before. I've spent several years proving I'm capable and trustworthy enough for a solo project, and now that I'm VP, I can't mess it up.”

“Do you have a backup copy somewhere?”

Lexie shrugged. “I might be able to access some of it on my phone through email or cloud storage. The rest is on file at the office, which I could have someone scan and send to me.” She dug through her bag for her phone, hope surging—until she looked at the reception icon in the upper right corner. Still no bars. “No signal, but you're right, I've had trouble getting decent reception for the past day or so. Maybe they haven't turned on the wireless yet?”

“I think they have an internet kiosk elsewhere on the ship.” Shaun reached down and picked up her bags. “Let's find your room first. While you're getting set up, I'll find out where the kiosk is and then come back to walk you there. Sound like a plan?”

Sure, except for the part where he watched over her as though she was a china doll. “I'll be fine walking around on public decks. If whoever took the folder had wanted to hurt me, wouldn't they have done it then? Why go to all the trouble of potentially drugging my coffee?”

Shaun adjusted her bags on his shoulder. “Because the room was still full of other people. The coffee was likely a crime of opportunity—which we'll report as soon as we can. But if you happen to get lost down a corridor, or take a wrong turn and end up alone...” He shook his head when she tried to protest. “Maybe they only wanted the folder, sure. Maybe this is about something else. I can't answer that, I can only assess the risk—and the risk here is losing sight of the possibility that it might not have been an accident, or that having the information in your file will incite a reaction.”

Lexie tried to come up with a reply that let him know how she felt about his insistence on trying to insert himself into a situation that didn't pertain to him, when a muffled, crunching noise interrupted everyone's conversations. The ship shuddered, and Lexie's heart leaped into her throat. “What was that?”

Around the room, worried faces searched for ferry staff, while many of the passengers in the room continued as they were. Before Lexie could ask Shaun if he knew anything, he'd already flagged down a passing attendant.

“Ice,” he said, turning back to Lexie. “It's normal during winter months, but if we can hear the cracking, it means we're moving through a thick patch. The ship is fine.”

Lexie noted that he looked back at the attendant a second time and followed his gaze. Several people in employee uniforms were making the rounds throughout the lounge, stopping to reassure passengers who demanded to know what they'd heard. Lexie crossed her seating area to look out the nearest window, but it had grown too dark outside to see anything.

And then Shaun was at her side, looking outside with her. Much to her annoyance, having him nearby felt comforting. She blamed it on the lure of familiarity. Definitely
not
attraction.

“Nature is unpredictable,” he said. “But it's winter, so I guess they expect this kind of thing. It'll be fine. Let's get you to your cabin.”