Poppy moves toward the glass doors as she slowly surveys the rest of the suite. She gazes for a moment out at the private pool deck, then turns her attention to her boss’s luggage.
She lifts a vintage-style, hard-shell, leather-trimmed vanity case, and sets it carefully on the table near the window. She opens it.
It’s filled with bottles and containers and boxes of cosmetics and medications. Poppy studies the contents without touching anything. Then with swift movements she takes her phone from her pocket and snaps several photos of the contents.
Poppy shuts the case and carries it toward the bathroom, almost tiptoeing. As she reaches the bathroom door, the woman on the bed stirs and moans.
Poppy freezes.
She waits.
Lillith makes no further noise or movement. Poppy quietly enters the bathroom with the case and shuts the door carefully behind her.
Lillith stirs on the bed and lifts her sleeping mask. She studies the closed bathroom door.
CONT. Reenactment—Theo Pappas—Crew Cabin
A sharp rap sounds on Theo’s door. He jumps and knocks his mouse to the floor.
“Theo! I know you’re in there. Let me in.” More banging ensues.
He curses violently, but hesitates, glancing between the door and his laptop, clearly torn.
“Theo!”
He swears again. “Jeezus, Roshaan, I’m coming!”
He rises from his tiny chair and surges toward the door. He unlocks it, swings it open. He glances down the hall. “What in the hell are you thinking, making a scene like this?” he says in an angry whisper. “You’ll attract attention.”
She pushes past him into the cabin.
“Why shouldn’t I make a noise?” she demands. “You’re the one who asked me to come down here. Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
Theo shuts the door, locks it. He swings around to face Roshaan.
“It’s best for us to keep our connection under the radar during this operation.”
“Because you want deniability? If I get caught, you want to be able to say that you had no idea what I was doing? Is that what this is?”
“Roshaan, please, no—”
“Then why?”
Roshaan
As Theo locks the door behind her, Roshaan catches sight of his laptop monitor—live footage of Lillith lying on the bed. Her heart stalls.
Theo brushes past her and quickly snaps his laptop shut. But her voyeuristic glimpse sharpens her rising panic.
Her gaze whips to Theo’s. His eyes are dark, unreadable pools in the dim cabin.
“Why won’t you be seen with me?” she presses.
“Rosh—” He cups her face, his voice suddenly gentle again. “Do you realize what a gold mine you just struck for us?”
Us.
She isn’t blind. She’s not stupid. She can see how he uses the worduswith emphasis, looping her fully into his act of illegal surveillance. Making her entirely complicit. And also giving her what she needs—a bond with him.
