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Chapter Two
Of all the cases Zane had worked in the last year since becoming a private investigator, this one, by far, was the best—not only because he was on a cruise ship with an all-you-can-eat buffet that was a mile long or because a fetish cruise was right up his dark pleasure alley. No, those things were definitely perks, but working this case meant that he’d be able to indulge in the vivacious, sexy and totally delicious Cammie Sheppard. He counted himself extremely lucky to have met her right out of the gate, considering that they’d clicked instantly—explosive chemistry right from hello.
Cammie had only left an hour before, but her ginger-mandarin scent lingered to a distracting degree. Zane wanted to give her a call in her cabin and tell her how much he’d enjoyed their time together, but he didn’t want to come off as clingy or desperate. Besides, breakfast was only a few hours away, another all-you-can-eat bonanza, and he had plans to meet up with her there.
Okay…he hadn’t actually made plans with her to meet her there, but the idea had just occurred to him, so he figured he could swoop by her stateroom and rouse her out of bed so they could go together.
He logged into the cruise’s crew database and scrolled through the pictures. His job was to sniff out a thief—or a ring of thieves more likely—since there was over a million dollars missing, taken in small increments spanning at least six trips through the Bahamas. His job wasn’t to confront or to accuse, only to investigate, hopefully find evidence, then turn it all over to Dark Matter’s CEO, Cal Underwood. Everyone was a suspect, so Zane had to play the part of a fetish lover and blend in with the crowd.
So far so good in that regard.
Cammie not only helped his cover, but she was hella good at getting him off—and those dimples, whew! Drop-dead heartstopper.
She’d told him right off the bat that she wasn’t looking for a commitment or anything serious, so their fling suited him just fine. Although, he wouldn’t lie. If their fun kept up for the whole five days of the cruise, he was going to be sad to part ways.
What a hard life.
Zane refocused on the task at hand. He had to create a list based on employees who worked in the various areas where money had been siphoned, who’d also been present on all six trips to the Bahamas over the last six months, and he was technically already behind in his plans.
If he worked his ass off for the next three hours, he’d have just enough time to hop in the shower then get up to Cammie’s swanky deck before—
Knock, knock, knock!
“Mr. Roberts, can you please open your door?”
Zane frowned. It was four in the morning. What in the hell is someone doing bugging me now?
“Sir, it’s an emergency. If you would please—”
Zane opened his door to find his steward, Remi, ready to knock again. “What’s the emergency?” Unless the ship was sinking, he wasn’t in the mood for this kind of drama.
“I-I-I’m sorry if I woke you, M-M-Mr. Roberts,” Remi stammered as he took in Zane’s lack of shirt and low-slung joggers. “But Captain Evans has requested your immediate presence in his office.”
Fuck!Zane blinked back his surprise and tried to play it cool. “Is there a problem?”
“I’m afraid there is, sir, but I’m not at liberty to say. If you could please come with me…er…after you get dressed, of course.” Remi gave him a quick once-over, clearly appalled by the informal attire.
Zane was half tempted to insist they go without a change of clothes, but he figured if he was busted, he better at least look like the professional PI that he was trying to be. “Give me a minute.”
Remi seemed like he was ready to argue as Zane started to close the door but one arched eyebrow and steely look had the younger man nodding and backing away. “Of course, of course. I’ll wait right here for you. But please, Mr. Roberts, hurry.”
Shortest investigation ever.Zane wasn’t sure how he’d tipped off the captain to his real purpose for being on the ship, but it couldn’t have been something he’d said or done. Maybe there was a snitch on board, someone who worked with head office who somehow had discovered Zane’s presence on the cruise? Although Cal Underwood had assured him that only the most trusted employees at the head office would know Zane was there and that Cal himself would be the only one who would know exactly why.
He quickly washed his face, slapped on some fresh deodorant then put his kakis on with a button-up that said business casual. He stuffed his feet back into his loafers then joined Remi, who was paler than he had been a few minutes before, in the hallway.
“Lead the way,” Zane said with as much of a nonchalant wave of his hand as he could muster. Inside he was reeling, his brain working at hyper-speed to figure out if there was a way to get himself out of this mess and preserve the investigation. Denial would only go so far. If the captain had evidence of some sort… Well, Zane would have to think on his feet, which, luckily, he was relatively good at.
Remi used the most direct route to the captain’s office, but it was still ten minutes before Zane found himself standing with sweaty palms and a racing heart on the other side of the door, waiting for Remi to get the go-ahead to enter.
When that actually happened, it was with a stern, “Come in,” that sounded more like a command than an invitation and didn’t bode well for Zane’s future on board the ship.
Do they make people walk the plank these days?
Zane was ready to lead with a deflection strategy in order to buy him some time to figure out what the captain knew about his investigation, but all words dissolved on his tongue the moment he realized that this wasn’t a meeting about Zane’s work. This was a meeting about Cammie.
She stood on one side of the office, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes rimmed red. She still wore the clothes she’d had on when she’d left Zane’s cabin an hour before, but now she looked a little more ruffled.
“Mr. Roberts, thank you for coming so quickly,” Captain Evans said as he extended his hand. “We’ve had an incident, and we need to ask you some questions.”
