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Ben frowned. “Why aren’t they here?”
Good question.
“Not that I’d question the decisions of…well…I mean, I’m not a qualified to make judgments…” He seemed to be choking on his words as he backpedaled from his initial reaction. “I’m sure the captain and Chief Ross know what they’re doing, though. I wouldn’t want them to think that I would question—”
Poor soul.
“It’s okay, Ben.” She squeezed his arm in an attempt to reassure him. “What brought you up here now?”
Ben lost some of his spooked expression as his brain seemed to click to work mode. “It’s five-thirty. My shift starts at five. I like to be up here for the early risers.”
It’s five-thirty?Cammie closed her eyes briefly. She’d been running on adrenaline all night.
“Is the body still in there?” Ben had his key card out again.
Cammie sighed. “The body is gone.” She rubbed her eyes. “When I alerted security and they came here to check, the body had disappeared.” Somehow.
Ben’s face went through a sliding scale of ‘what the fuck’. His mouth twitched but no words came out. The door swung open.
“You two get locked out?” Zane said as he met her eyes again. She didn’t need his words to know that he’d found nothing.
Ben scanned the room, looking every which way before landing on Zane. “Did you find anything?”
“You’re the steward for this deck?” Zane ignored Ben’s question and speared him with what could only be descripted as an interrogative stare.
“This is Ben,” Cammie said as she tried to soften Zane’s approach. She knew he didn’t want people to know he was a PI, but right now he was coming off as full-on detective. It made her wonder what had brought him to this chapter of his life. Had he been a police officer before? There was something very commanding about him. “He last checked my room at midnight then went to bed.”
Zane scrutinized Ben in a way that made Cammie want to squirm.
“Tell me, Ben. Hypothetically speaking, if a body were to be shoved overboard…” He motioned to the balcony.
Ben’s eyes bugged out. “Over the balcony?” He shook his head. “Impossible. We’d know if someone went overboard. There are sensors—”
He started to walk into the room, but Zane got in his way. “That’s what I thought.” He held his hand out to Cammie. “Everything seems fine in here now.”
Cammie took his hand cautiously, wondering if he was implying that she hadn’t seen what she thought she’d seen.
“You’re clearly exhausted, Cammie. I think it would be good if you got some sleep,” Zane added, which seemed to take him out of detective mode and straight into concerned friend mode.
Cammie felt his words and attitude shift like a blow to the chest. She locked eyes with him, searching for his truth. All she saw was worry and compassion, and it made her want to cry and scream at the same time. He doesn’t believe me.There’s no evidence. It was her word against…what? A missing dead man?
She’d never felt so defeated in her life.
“Yes, that’s probably a good idea.” Ben latched onto Zane’s words. “You look exhausted, Miss Sheppard. I can get you a nice chamomile…”
“No, thank you, Ben,” Cammie croaked. Her shoulders slumped, the weight of her defeat like an anchor…or maybe a noose. She was suddenly too tired to argue. Four people believed she was lying.
“We’re fine here, Ben.” Zane used his bulk again to move Ben toward the door. “I’ve promised Captain Evans that I’ll take care of Cammie.” He lowered his voice but not enough so Cammie couldn’t hear. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Ben’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Very good, okay.” He craned his neck to look over Zane’s shoulder. “Call me if you need anything, Miss Sheppard.”
She turned her back on both of them, fighting against her warring emotions. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to crumple into a heap on her bed and sob.
The door whooshed shut.
“Grab your stuff.”
Cammie snapped out of her head and frowned over her shoulder at Zane. He was already headed into her closet. “We can always come back for more clothes. You don’t want to take too much. Make it look like you’re staying here.” He motioned to the bed. “Mess up the sheets a bit.”
