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Ethan’s mouth opened, and his face froze. I don’t think he was used to people telling him what to do. Corey looked to the ground. Avery stared blankly at the table. Silence filled the room. Questions lingered in the air. How? Where did we even start?
This was beyond what Ethan and Avery might have been prepared to handle when they’d started looking into the secret accounts. They weren’t detectives, trained to investigate attempted murder.
“You’ve gathered lots of information already,” I said to Ethan, trying to show some sympathy. “It would take weeks to go over, and we’d need much longer than a week to complete that part.”
He bowed his head. “Please. The money that’s missing can wait. It’s probably not going anywhere. Your life…our lives, we’re all at risk. I knew at the start that at some point, I might have to call in the police. I was just hoping to avoid it, to avoid any scandal, because that can crumble companies. We must have been on the right track if someone wanted two people on our team dead, but it’s not worth risking your lives.”
I knew it. Before, I had been kidnapped by his father’s goons, and Ethan had gone through a lot of police interviews because of it. I suddenly realized that any additional black mark on his name would make things terrible for him and the companies he worked with.
No wonder he needed people to help him in secret, if at all possible.
“We’ll need to be more careful,” I said.
Axel distracted me with his steady gaze, which never left my face. It made me self-conscious, and I touched a lock of hair, still stuck to my face, crusty with sand. “I wanted to speak to you sooner, and I’m sorry it took so long. But I agreed with Blake that we…needed to clear everyone one at a time and…we started with you. Just to make sure.”
He held up his hand, silencing me. “I’d do the same,” he said.
“I didn’t think you would. But…”
“It’s just as well you checked,” he said. “I would have wanted you to eliminate any doubt. However…” He paused, then looked at Ethan. “Corey and I have been working all night at doing the same.”
My eyes widened, and when I looked at Corey, he glared at the windows, his fists against his thighs.
Axel continued, “I have to admit, there’s one member of my team that wasn’t accounted for during the time you and Blake went over.” He followed my gaze to Corey and a sliver of a frown appeared.
“Raven hasn’t checked in, and we can’t fully account for his whereabouts, not even now.”
The moment he said his name, I pictured Raven, his brown eyes, the tattoos, including ones on his lower regions. He was strong, and smart…and came from a background of violence. He’d been in prison and had even told me a little bit about it.
Still, I’d been around Raven long enough to feel like if he were going to kill me, I’d know. He wouldn’t do it in the dark, secretly.
“Well, he…wouldn’t…”
Axel’s dark eyes turned on me, another storm brewing. “Every time we’ve spotted him on camera, we’ve tried to corner him, but he disappears. I think he still has an earpiece. I’ve threatened to throw him in the brig if he doesn’t respond, but that isn’t working. We can’t go running around the ship trying to hunt him down without the ship’s security noticing, or making guests supicious. Right now, he looks guilty as hell, and I’d rather not get security in on this right now.”
I sighed, then slid over to lean against the conference table, folding my arms across my chest. “Something must have happened,” I said. “Is he in trouble?”
“I wondered about that. We tried to communicate to him via secret messages that we need to verify where he is, even if he’s trying to remain undercover, but no luck.”
“That doesn’t mean he did it,” I said.
“He’s always been a loose cannon, Kayli,” Axel said. “You don’t understand him like I do. Actually, no one really does. He grew up in Russia and had a harsh upbringing, and has his own set of ideals and his own moral instincts that work differently than ours.”
“Corey knows him,” I said and leaned against the table to look at Corey, but he was still staring out the window. “Say something.”
He didn’t, and he refused to lift his head. He moved his fists behind his back, the muscles of his arms and shoulders still bulging; he was holding back.
Axel slowly bowed his head. “I’m afraid even Corey can’t get him to talk to us right now.”
That was why Corey was so upset. It was why he was angry with me—his anger was misdirected. Or maybe it wasn’t, since I was accusing Raven as well. They were close friends. I remembered several moments when the three of us had been together, and it was always nice to see them interact. Raven was kind to Corey. He would do anything for him. I imagined they’d been through a lot together.
“I don’t think he threw anyone overboard,” Axel said, “but we need to prove it. And we need to find out who tried to kill you and Blake. Raven might even have the answer. We just need to talk to him.”
“He must be working on something,” Corey said, his voice gravelly. He slowly lifted his head, and there was a painful glint in his gaze. “You know he’d be up here talking to us if he could. He would never throw her over. He would never risk her life.”
“Maybe not hers, but what about Blake?” Axel asked. “They aren’t exactly friends.”
I gripped the table I was leaning against, then looked at Corey, silently asking him if Raven would ever do such a thing. I didn’t believe it.
Last night, I’d told them all I couldn’t chose, but I hadn’t had time to get their reactions. Would he have blamed it on Blake?
Corey pressed his lips together, staring at Axel but not answering. Axel glared back. They’d clearly been at this for a while.
“You said not me, but maybe Blake?” I asked delicately, wanting to ease the tension. “You don’t think it was the same person who threw us both over?”
Axel broke his stare with Corey and focused on me. “It could have been. I still don’t need Raven out there on his own, not responding.”
“You should trust him,” Corey said. “He’s on our side.”
“We need more than trust right now,” Axel said. He put both palms on the table, holding himself straight-armed as he leaned forward to look at Corey. “If we’re in danger, and he’s holding back, he’ll be going to jail, too.”
“Where was the last time you saw Raven?” I asked. “I mean when exactly?”
Axel grunted and then pushed himself off the table. “He was last seen with Sam, the German guy that was acting so odd around the spa. You told him to make friends, and he went in.”
“There must be something going on down there,” Corey said.
Ethan sighed and shifted a chair so he could scoot closer to the door. I was suddenly embarrassed around him, thinking he might have heard the motives Raven might have had to throw me or Blake over. I wondered how much he knew of what had happened last night between me and Axel and the others.
Ethan touched his forehead, rubbing the lines over his brow. “Well, then, we better learn what Raven knows, right? Is there anything I can do?”
“We also need to finish the head count,” Avery said to him, heading toward the door and to stand next to him. “And we need to analyze where our other suspects were, and find who is behind it. Finding who did it would prove Raven innocent, no matter if he chooses to talk to us or not. But, Kayli…”
I met his gaze, and he had a small smile on his lips.
“We need to keep you hidden, and you need to rest.”
“I agree,” Ethan said and turned to me. “Corey can take you somewhere safe. Is that all right?”
“I’ll take her,” Axel said, his stare again not leaving me.
“I really don’t want to be asleep when we’ve got so much to do,” I said, but with being so hungry and tired, my body sore and still crusted with sand, I was sure I wouldn’t last an hour. It ju
st really bugged me knowing I’d be sleeping when Raven might need our help. I couldn’t imagine what was keeping him away.
“Soon,” Axel said. “You can’t help if you don’t sleep. That’s a team rule.”
I could sleep for years. I worried about that, too. Sleeping made me vulnerable, and I was tired of feeling defenseless.
Corey coughed once and rubbed at his neck with a palm as he spoke to Axel. “If you’ll take her, I need to go with Avery and look for Raven. If I can find him…”
“Find him,” Axel said. “Take Ethan to a safe location and make sure someone stays with him.”
“And everyone else stays together,” Avery said. “In pairs at the least.”
Axel nodded. “You’re getting the hang of this.”
Avery beamed.
