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Chapter Twenty
“What the hell do you mean, you have a stowaway in your cabin, a kid no less, and you want to keep him.” Rylee had listened for Carl the next morning and waylaid him at the door, forcing him back into the hallway. Carl looked both ways to see that they were alone before lambasting her. “This is not a fucking orphanage, Rylee. We can’t mess up on this assignment. Don’t you know how close that crazy broad came last night to getting to Jake? Instead, I got the shit-needle she’d prepared for him and spent the night jabbering like a nutcase.”
“You did? No wonder you were carrying on like a drunk.” Rylee knew her serious co-worker to be strictly professional.
The frown on Carl’s handsome face made her aware of his sour mood. “Thank God Jake ignored the jabber and just let me run the course.” Her rare giggle had him reacting. “Go ahead, enjoy yourself. From the little I can remember, it wasn’t pretty.”
“So, what actually happened? I meant to catch up with you after I chased the bitch, and she got away. Unfortunately, I stumbled on to Miguel and that ended my search.”
“Seems I replayed some of our latest cases, and Jake decided I was a television addict, describing recent FBI programs.”
Rylee broke up, not something she tended to do very often on the job, and Carl stared at her as if she’d lost her marbles.
“Hey, it was embarrassing.”
That set her off again.
“So now she laughs,” he muttered.
Which made her hold her stomach and continue in an unladylike way.
“Well Miss Giggles, how come you let the crazy lady get away. I thought you were my backup.”
“Mroww!!” Rylee made the sound of a hissing cat, and her hand rose in pretend claws, waving away at his attempt to be nasty. Her silliness made him relax and even grin.
“Seriously, what did happen?”
Calming, she answered, “I chased her to an area on the upper deck where they show movies. By the bar, I saw a short door with a piece of material stuck in it which caught my eye. I went to investigate.”
“And the kid was hiding in there.”
“Yep. In a sauna-like space filled with extra deckchairs and too low for an adult to stand. I couldn’t just leave him there, now could I?”
“Sure you… okay, stop glaring at me. I’m kidding.” The sour look on Carl’s face disappeared as the lady in the room next to Rylee appeared and locked her door to head to the elevators.
“Good morning, Señora.” Carlos performed his role and even bowed slightly. When she’d passed, he elbowed Rylee without any real menace because of her mocking grin.
“Stop. Let’s get back to what you’re gonna do about the kid.”
“I want you to check in on him while I go with Jake on a tour of the ship later. He’d promised to arrange one for us with the captain or some of his crew. I’ll suss him out then and ask him if he can look after Miguel.”
“What?” Carlos’s stunned reaction didn’t surprise her.
“Wait! Before you lose your cookies… think. Between you and me, he’s being watched most of the time, or at the very least we have ears on him in his cabin. And seriously, I can’t have Miguel in here seeing me working.”
“Then let the captain deal with the problem.”
“No, that’s not an option. I won’t turn the little guy in. He’s in trouble and needs to get home. They might drop him in Aruba or one of the earlier stops. You know the authorities aren’t so forgiving on these islands.”
“That’s not our worry.”
“Yeah? Well it’s mine now, and I’m sharing it with my TV-loving partner, so either come up with a better plan or we get Jake involved. Hell, if the man can be supportive to a little kitten, he’ll go totally benevolent for the boy and his sick mother.”
“A sick mother? Come on, Rylee. The kid’s playin’ you.”
A glare to put him in his place, she snarled, “Carl it’sme.” She didn’t mention the twins. “At least if he’s with Jake, he’ll be protected. Besides Jake has the bigger space and you’re the only one in attendance. It’s a good plan.”
“Like hell it is. We could give the kid over to the people in charge on the ship and let them deal with him. He’s a stowaway for crissakes.”
Rylee felt the bristles begin and got into Carl’s face. “Okay, let me put it this way, it’s our only plan.”
“Aww, Rylee. This stinks! There’s enough to deal with what’s going on here without you adding to the equation. Number one, it’s not safe for the kid to be with Jake. And number two, it’s not safe for the kid—?”
“Oh, quit whining. If Jake’s agreeable, it’s the best choice we’ve got. By the way, we only need to keep him until we arrive at Grenada. That’s his home. His mother is sick, and he needs to get to her.”
“And you believed that shit. Okay, tell me who you are and what have you done to my cold-ass partner?”
Checking first for the all-clear, she cussed, opened her door and motioned him inside. “Let’s see what you believe after you meet this… ahh, dirty little stowaway, okay? If you still feel we can’t trust him, I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”
Ten minutes later, Carlos was on his way to get breakfast trays for Miguel and Rylee. She followed him to the door where he stopped. His voice was slightly above a whisper when he sheepishly asked, “So, do you want to introduce him to Jake, or do you want me to?”
