Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #2 (44 page)

As she stood contemplating which hall to take, she felt a prickle on the back of her neck. She whirled around, fully expecting to see someone behind her, but the hall was empty. She needed to make a decision.

Lexie took the first hall to her left, but only managed a few steps before freezing in place. It truly felt as if she was being watched, but when she turned to look, she was confronted once again by an empty hall.

After the third time, she couldn't take it anymore. Whether someone was following her or not, she wasn't going to play the sitting duck and give them an open target. With a sudden burst of speed, Lexie turned down the closest hallway and bolted.

SIX

S
haun exited his room deep in thought, contemplating the least contentious way to let Lexie know about the op without compromising his cover. Straight-to-the-point honesty seemed like the best choice, as usual. She was smart and would be able to fill in any obvious blanks.

He pulled his door shut just as Lexie careened around a corner and barreled straight into him. Shaun's feet flew out from under him and they tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs. “Hello to you, too,” he wheezed, enjoying the deepening pink on Lexie's cheeks perhaps more than he should.

“Sorry,” she stammered, her apology coming out thin and breathless. “I thought someone was following me, and then a headache came on without warning...”

Shaun rose to his feet and offered his hand. To his surprise, she forewent the look of disdain and instead grasped his outstretched palm. Her hand felt soft and warm, and he regretted having to let go. “Are you feeling all right now?”

“Aside from a bruised ego? More or less. The headache is subsiding, believe it or not.” She brushed a tumble of hair out of her eyes and reached behind her head to straighten her hair clip. “Sorry, again.”

“Don't worry about it. I was lost in thought myself, coming out the door. But now that you're here—”

“We need to talk,” they said in unison.

A hint of amusement appeared at the corner of Lexie's lips. “I could use another coffee,” she said. “And a snack. Are you hungry? The buffet is busy but open. It smells amazing.”

Shaun had to admit that he'd been starving for the past hour, but a crowded, noisy room didn't sound like the best place for a serious conversation. He suggested the lounge instead, which turned out to be the right call. Only a few couples and a solo traveler remained in the area, sipping paper cups of tea and coffee.

Shaun chose a table in the opposite corner. He made a quick call through to Parsons on one of the wall-mounted emergency phones before ordering two coffees from the coffee bar.

“One cream,” he said, setting the cup down in front of Lexie. Her eyes widened in surprise, then softened as he took his seat.

“You remembered,” she murmured, taking off the lid to cool the hot beverage faster. “Impressive.”

“I aim to please,” he replied, realizing how cliché it sounded the moment the words left his mouth. Still, it brought a figment of a smile to her lips, so he shoved aside the regret. What would it take to make her smile without reservation? “But before I get to my news,” he said, feeling bold, “we need to clear up a few things. Have I done something to offend you?”

Lexie's gaze dropped as she blew on the surface of her coffee. “I don't see how that's relevant to the immediate situation.” Her jawline hardened and a heavy silence descended on their table.

Shaun swallowed hard on his next sip of coffee, the liquid scalding the back of his throat as it slid down. “I'll take that as a yes. What did I do?”

Lexie scowled and folded her arms across her chest, leaning back in her chair. “You know exactly what you did. Or have you broken so many hearts since Nikki that you can't even remember back that far?”

Her words felt like a jolt of electricity in the brain. “Broken hearts? What are you talking about? We were just friends. I mean, near the end of the trip she told me she wanted more, but I explained I wasn't interested in a relationship and we left it at that.”

Lexie shook her head, refusing to make eye contact. “And now you're a liar, too. I thought you'd become a nicer person, based on the past few hours, but I guess I was wrong.”

It was like a giant vacuum had sucked all the air from the room. Lexie's sister had lied to her? Why? To what end? “I promise you, I wasn't aware of any broken hearts. The mission trip changed me, Lexie. All that poverty and suffering...I knew it was time to put away the past and get serious.”

That
got her attention. She stared at him, incredulous. “I don't believe you. Nikki and I were close. I saw how hurt she was by you, let her cry on my shoulder and dealt with the fallout when we got home. I watched her fall to pieces, Shaun.”

Shaun tried to process what she'd said. “Were close? Not anymore?”

“Yes,
were.
Obviously that's not the case now.”

“I'm afraid I don't understand. Did she move away?”

Lexie's expression remained flat and uninviting. “You know very well what happened.” Her scowl faltered as Shaun felt his jaw drop. “She told me that she thought you two were a couple, that you kissed her and led her on before dumping her for another girl. I told her to forget you, that you didn't know what you were missing...” Her voice lowered to a whisper, and she stared at her hands on the table.

“Lexie.” Shaun reached across and covered her hands with his own. Clearly her sister had kept the truth from her for some reason. “We were just friends. Nothing happened between us that summer. Nikki was fun to be around and we had a lot of laughs, but I wasn't interested in her that way. A relationship was the furthest thing from my mind, and I was honest with her when she told me she wanted more than friendship.”

Lexie sighed, but didn't pull her hands away. “She told me you were cruel, that you'd used her for a disposable summer fling. She used that as an excuse to date a real jerk of a guy when we got back from the trip. I thought it was part of her getting over her heartbreak. Now you're telling me it was just immaturity?”

Shaun swallowed the growing lump in his throat. “Sounds like we've both been taken for a ride.”

Lexie finally looked up, meeting his eyes with a sadness that tugged at his heart. He wanted to reach across the table and brush away the tear forming in the corner of her eye before it escaped, but resisted the urge. “She was a complete mess, Shaun, so I'm having a lot of trouble believing what you're saying is true.”

“I promise I'm telling the truth.”

Lexie frowned. “She was used to guys falling all over her and I think she knew her rebound guy was a terrible influence, but she claimed he gave her the attention she deserved... Now that I say it out loud, it sounds like a terrible excuse. And now I can't even ask her about it. I don't know what to believe.”

“Can't ask her about it? Why not?” Shaun still reeled from Lexie's revelation. What more could there possibly be to say about this situation? “We both deserved our wild-child status for a while there, but I can't imagine...”

“She's gone, Shaun.”

How many more surprises could he take?

“She disappeared a few months after the trip. Vanished with barely a trace, all evidence suggesting she ran off with this guy.”

Shaun sensed there was more to her statement than she'd said. Lexie bit her bottom lip and eyed him from beneath her lashes. Lexie, who worked to find missing people. Who panicked about not messing up this job. Who refused to give up on those law enforcement had given up on.

Suddenly, it all made sense. “You think she may have been kidnapped?”

Lexie's nod was nearly imperceptible, her voice even quieter. “I keep working on these cases, searching for girls like Maria.”

Shaun heard the unspoken words. She hoped for clues, indications, anything that might point to Nikki's whereabouts. Nikki, the wild, beautiful girl he'd thought he had let down gently, but who'd instead used his rejection as an excuse to spiral her life out of control when she didn't get what she wanted...who'd lied to her kind, compassionate sister. No wonder Lexie had been angry at seeing him again.

Shaun never would have fallen for someone like Lexie in the past. She'd been too Goody-Two-Shoes, too “safe” for him back then, but people changed. Priorities changed.
He'd
changed. That's why he'd said no to Nikki after the mission trip.

He couldn't begin to imagine how Lexie must be feeling, realizing she'd believed her sister's lie for so many years. Could he really blame Lexie for acting so hostile toward him? What could he do to prove the truth of what happened in the past?

“Do you think—” he began, but his words were cut short by the arrival of Head of Security Parsons and security team member Josh. Parsons was growling into his walkie-talkie, but offered a terse nod of acknowledgment to Shaun.

“What do you mean, you don't know if it's important? Of course it's important,” Parsons snapped. “Get back down there and find him! Ridiculous.” He shoved the walkie-talkie back onto his belt.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Shaun said, hoping to diffuse the tension.

“This had better be important,” drawled Parsons. “We're swamped here. People are panicking about being stuck at sea, even though we have enough food to feed them for a week. You'd think they have no idea how a modern watercraft operates. And I just got a call from my young guy, the redheaded kid. He came across some joker trying to sneak into a restricted area, or should I say, he passed the guy in the hallway and then called to ask if that might be a concern. Can you believe it? Reed's a good kid but he's short a few marbles, if you get my meaning.”

“Interesting.” Shaun felt his hopes rising, despite knowing it could be nothing at all. “How'd the passenger manage that?”

“Maintenance elevator,” Josh said, nodding to Lexie, who remained seated at the table. “Told you we needed to get those fixed.”

“Does he have the man in custody? Someplace I can talk to him?”

“Whoa, whoa.” Parsons held his palms aloft. “Slow down. Want to give me a reason why I should let you do that?”

Shaun glanced around the room to ensure that no other ears were within hearing distance. He needed to be careful about how much he told anyone, but as Jack had said, moving around covertly on a passenger ferry would require the cooperation of the security team. And if they'd caught a passenger snooping around, Shaun absolutely wanted to question the guy.

“I'm only going to say this once. Time is a factor here.” He checked to make sure Lexie could hear him. She stood and rounded the table to stand next to him, coffee in hand. “How much do you guys know about human trafficking?”

Parsons huffed, crossing his arms. “I've heard of smuggling drugs and guns, but people? Sounds a little extreme.”

Shaun figured as much. He was no stranger to hearing denial on the subject. “Lexie and I chatted about this earlier, but it's a real problem happening under the noses of North American citizens. One ring in particular abducts young women here and abroad, with the ringleader—known only as the Wolf—working with a pack of accomplices. He preys on those he perceives as weak, encircling and snaring them with lies of a better life.”

“Don't know what this has to do with us,” Parsons said. “Or you, for that matter.”

Shaun cleared his throat, shot a glance at Lexie and hoped she'd forgive him for this later. “Miss Reilly is searching for one of these young women, and I'm helping her do so.” He heard Lexie's sharp intake of breath, but avoided meeting her eyes. He'd explain later, insomuch as he could. “I believe the woman she's searching for has fallen victim to one of the Wolf's schemes, and it has also put Miss Reilly in the line of fire. The events of the day match up to the Wolf's modus operandi.”
Take him out, the whole ring collapses,
Shaun added to himself. “Miss Reilly boarded the ferry intending to find and remove one of his revenue sources. Each girl is worth a lot of money to a trafficker, and by searching for Maria, she's threatening not only his income, but his entire operation as a whole.”

Shaun watched a struggle play out on Lexie's face as she tried to fight past the urge of denial—and the urge to punch him in the nose, most likely. He didn't blame her, but the search for Maria provided the perfect cover for his own search or the Wolf.

“You suspect someone on board is this Wolf? A passenger?” Lexie eyed him with a
you owe me
look. “It could be anyone.”

“It could.” Shaun hated turning Lexie's suspicions up a notch, but if it kept her alive, it'd be worth it. He'd seen firsthand what traffickers would do to protect their interests, and it wasn't pretty. “We know he's male, but because of the pack mentality of the operation, that's literally all the physical description we have to go on. The passenger you caught sneaking around would be a good place to start, though.”

Parsons tilted his chin upward, frowning. “Look, kid. I've been in the ferry security business for years, and I've never heard of such a thing. Drugs, yes. Cops caught one of those rings a few years back, but people? That's harder to do, isn't it? We'd notice. Plus, do you really think Newfoundland is where they'd take her? Why not the Pacific? Taking people across the Atlantic sounds backward.”

“That's a question I plan to get an answer to, the moment I have this man in custody. Remember, these people are professionals. And dangerous. I'd prefer if you and your team handled damage control in the meantime. I'll get my hands dirty and radio you in for help when we need it, but your primary concern needs to remain on the passengers of this vessel. If they get wind of this, we'll have mass panic on our hands, and since we're stuck at sea...”

“It ain't gonna be pretty. I get it. But you still haven't told me why I should trust you instead of waiting for the Coast Guard.”

“I work for the United States government,” Shaun admitted. “As I said, I'm searching for this girl, too. And look at it this way—you've got a ferry full of passengers to take care of and a possible international incident on your hands if the Wolf or one of his lackeys is on board. You're going to need all the help you can get. Lexie and I will do the heavy lifting while you manage crowd control.”

With a sigh of resignation, Parsons pulled his walkie-talkie from his belt and fiddled with the dials. “Government, eh? Fine. Take this one, I'll grab another from my office. Call when you need us.”