Murky Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 2) Read online

  “Okay.” Quinn rubbed the back of his neck. “I see your symbol managed to make it in the backdrop here.” Quinn leaned back and studied the physical backdrop a few feet away with unflinching eyes. “And it’s not in the backdrop when I look at it now.”

  “No.” Rowan bobbed her head. “I told you what that means for her.”

  “You did.”

  “Um … .” Rowan broke off and chewed on her bottom lip, unsure how to proceed. When Quinn first asked her out, admitting he wanted to try a relationship even though he’d previously been against it, she worried they would spend their entire first date talking about her ability. She’d been forced to tell him about it two weeks before when another guest went missing. Instead of reacting with suspicion and disbelief, he believed her. Still, it was human nature to be curious. She thought his nature would force him to ask an endless stream of questions she couldn’t answer because … well … she had no idea why she could see the death omen through her camera. She simply could. She expected Quinn to exhaust himself asking questions and grow frustrated when she provided no real answers. In reality it didn’t even come up, which she hadn’t bothered to notice until right now.

  “What’s wrong?” Quinn instinctively reached up and slipped a strand of her flyaway hair behind her ear. He could sense her discomfort and wanted to eradicate it. Sadly, he had no idea how to do that. Soothing someone is one of those things people learn to do over time. He wasn’t there yet.

  Rowan opted to be blunt. “Do you still believe me? I mean … if you don’t … I understand. I just … .”

  “Shh.” Quinn pressed his finger to her lips to silence her. “I believe you. Don’t work yourself up into knots.”

  Rowan’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just shush me?”

  Quinn’s frown flipped in the other direction. “Perhaps. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you beating yourself up. I believe you. Don’t worry yourself about that. I’m simply trying to figure out what to do.”

  “Oh.” Rowan was momentarily placated. “Well, I’m sorry.”

  “You don’t need to be sorry, Trixie,” Quinn teased, referring to Rowan’s favorite teenage private detective, Trixie Belden. He’d turned the knowledge into something of a nickname, which Rowan secretly enjoyed because he always uttered the endearment with a smile. “So this woman’s name is Daphne DuBois?”

  Rowan nodded.

  “I don’t suppose you know where she’s staying, do you?”

  “I looked it up while you were heading in this direction,” Rowan replied. “She’s on the fifth floor, suite 512. The thing is, she said she was heading to the deck to drink with a group of her top sellers when she was leaving. I kind of eavesdropped on her.”

  “I don’t blame you. Let me see the photo again.”

  Rowan acquiesced and Quinn stared at it for a long moment.

  “Okay, all of these women look the same to me,” Quinn admitted after a beat. “Can you send a copy of that to my phone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. I will watch her until you’re done here. Then I need you to meet me on the deck so we can come up with a plan of action. Does that work for you?”

  Rowan heaved out a sigh as she bobbed her head. “Yes. Thank you so much.”

  “You don’t need to thank me.” Quinn shifted from one foot to the other, her earnest expression tugging on his heartstrings. He was dying to kiss her, offer her something to ease the strain playing at the corners of her eyes. There was no way he would let their first official kiss happen in front of an audience, though – especially an audience that wouldn’t stop staring at him as if he was the last shrimp next to the cocktail sauce. On the flip side, Quinn couldn’t force himself to walk away after doing nothing so he acted impulsively, grabbing the sides of her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll meet you on the deck as soon as you’re done here.”

  Quinn didn’t bother to monitor Rowan’s expression even though he was curious. Instead he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Rowan momentarily fanned herself despite the fact that she was indoors and covered by air conditioning as she watched him flee. When she turned to the backdrop she found a brunette eyeing her quizzically.

  “I’m so sorry,” Rowan forced out. “I had to talk to the chief of security, but I can finish up now.”

  The woman waved off Rowan’s apology. “Honey, if I had a man who looked like that, I’d spend my days coming up with security emergencies and ignoring the camera altogether. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I HAVE A PROBLEM.”

  Rowan didn’t bother with pleasantries when she found Quinn on the deck a few hours later, instead grabbing his iced tea and sucking down half of it before heaving herself in the chair and fixing him with a pointed look.

  “The fish flies at midnight.”

  Rowan stilled, confused. Quinn’s face was placid, but she couldn’t figure out why he uttered those particular words. “Are you feeling hot? I mean … do you have heat stroke?”

  Quinn snorted, amused. “It’s a joke, Rowan. I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t get the joke sometimes.”

  “The fish flies at midnight.” Rowan mulled over the words. “I don’t get it.”

  “It’s simply that you walked up and announced you had a problem and it didn’t seem to fit the conversation I was expecting,” Quinn explained. “It sounded like code. It doesn’t matter, though, I’m over the joke. What’s your problem?”

  “Look at this.” Rowan slapped the camera in Quinn’s hands and shifted her chair so she could move closer to him. “That’s Penny Parker.”

  “Penny Parker?” Quinn arched an amused eyebrow. “That’s like the most unfortunate name ever.”

  “I think it’s kind of cute,” Rowan hedged. “She’s cute, too. She’s sweet and has a really high voice. She also has really big boobs and a tiny little waist. I was a little jealous when I took her photograph.”

  Quinn’s eyebrows inched up his forehead. “You have no reason to be jealous of anyone. Trust me.”

  Rowan’s cheeks flushed with color. “Oh, well, thank you.”

  “Oh, geez.” Quinn ran his hand over the back of his head. “You’re uncomfortable with a compliment. If I have one complaint about you, it’s that.”

  Rowan held her hands palms up and shrugged. “I’ll work on it.”

  “Good.”

  “Just as soon as you work on accepting your position as ship heartthrob,” she added, causing Quinn to scowl.

  “Oh, that wasn’t even remotely cute.” Quinn made a growling sound as he focused on the photograph. “Okay, this is Penny Parker. I see what you were saying about the boobs.”

  Now it was Rowan’s turn to scowl. “Don’t be a pig.”

  “Oink, oink.” Quinn sobered as he stared at the photo. “She has the omen behind her head, too.”

  “Exactly.” Rowan exhaled heavily to steady herself. “She was the third-to-last person to come through the line. I talked to her a little bit after she was done because I wanted to keep her around until I finished. It didn’t quite work out that way, but I did ask her some questions.”

  “Okay. What did you find out?”

  “She’s Daphne DuBois’ assistant.”

  Quinn stilled, surprised. “Well, that’s convenient.” He peered closer at the photograph. “Does that mean something bad is going to happen to Daphne and Penny at the same time?”

  “That’s what I thought.” Rowan snatched back the camera. “I think you’ve had plenty of time with Penny’s boobs.”

  “I agree.” Quinn’s grin was sly. “I haven’t had nearly enough time with yours, though.”

  Rowan blushed furiously as she thumbed through the photographs. “I can’t believe you said that. I think my face is on fire.”

  “I know. That’s why I said it.” Quinn was relatively proud of himself. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t mean it.”

  “I … cannot talk about this right now.”

  “Duly noted.�
��

  “I might not ever be able to talk about it,” Rowan added.

  “You’ll get over that.” Quinn thrummed his fingers on the table, content to watch Rowan study her camera until she shoved it back in front of his face.

  “What do you make of that?” Rowan challenged.

  “What?” Quinn stared at the photo for a long time. “Why am I back to looking at Daphne DuBois?”

  “Because the omen is gone.”

  Quinn leaned forward, intrigued, all thought of flirting flying out to sea. “But … how?”

  “That’s a very good question,” Rowan replied. “I have no idea how it happened, or why it happened, or if it’s going to stay that way. All I know is that Daphne now appears to be in the clear and Penny is the one in danger.”

  “Has this happened before?”

  “I … guess.” Rowan said the words, but she didn’t look certain. “I’ve managed to change a few things in certain cases and save people. I’ve never seen the omen hop from one person to another by itself, though. Whatever changed happened on this ship, and I have no idea why.”

  “I don’t think the why is necessarily important,” Quinn hedged. “All we know right now is that we need to watch Penny Parker.”

  “Yes, and keep an eye on Daphne DuBois in case something changes and the omen returns.”

  “I hadn’t considered that.” Quinn licked his lips. “My biggest problem is that all of these women look alike. They also dress alike and sound alike. I have no idea how I’m supposed to keep an eye on one of them when I can’t tell them apart.”

  Rowan didn’t bother to hide her surprise. “You think they all look alike?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “I think that’s a man thing to say. Do I look like all of them, too? If I were to hop in some pink leggings and carry around one of those little briefcases, would you be able to pick me out of a crowd?”

  Quinn’s grin returned. He loved it when she got feisty. “Yes, but that’s because I’m specifically attracted to you. I could pick you out of a thousand-person riot … or protest … or stampede. You’re also different and look nothing like those women.”

  “Is that a good or bad thing?”

  “It’s definitely a good thing. I like the way you look.”

  “Even better than Penny Parker’s boobs?”

  Quinn smirked. “Surprisingly so. In fact … .” He didn’t get a chance to finish because two of the Cara G Cosmetics women picked that moment to approach. He was fairly certain he recognized both of them, and the look on Harper’s face told him she did, too. He absentmindedly flipped through the two photos she had bookmarked on the camera and kept his emotions in check when he realized he was looking at Daphne DuBois and Penny Parker. “Do you need something, ladies?”

  Daphne shot Quinn an appreciative look as she scanned his well-muscled body. “I’m sure something can be arranged.”

  Quinn’s smile was tight as he stared down at the woman. “I’m Quinn Davenport, chief of security. This is Rowan Gray. She’s the ship’s photographer. If you need help with something … .”

  “Yes, yes.” Daphne waved off Quinn’s chilly reception. “I met Ms. Gray before and we’ve been looking for you. We were hoping to get a tour of the ship.”

  “Oh, well, I’m sure you can get a porter for that,” Quinn said, shifting his eyes to the crowd. “I don’t see one this very moment, but I’m sure one should be around.”

  “Yes, but … um … I want you to do it,” Daphne prodded.

  Quinn risked a glance at Rowan and found her staring at Penny. She didn’t even bother glancing in his direction. “I’m not really a tour guide,” Quinn hedged.

  “No, but I’m very interested in the security business,” Daphne prodded. “Very, very interested.”

  Quinn could read between the lines. What she was really saying was that she was very interested in him. “I can call a porter for you. Someone will be here within five minutes. You shouldn’t have to wait long.”

  “That’s not what I want.” Daphne’s voice was firm enough that it drew Rowan out of her reverie and she widened her eyes when she saw the cosmetic guru cross her arms over her chest.

  “What’s going on?” Rowan asked, confused.

  “Ms. DuBois here is insisting I give her a tour,” Quinn replied. “I explained that I would get a porter to do it, but she didn’t seem all that interested.”

  “Oh, well … .” Rowan rolled her neck until it cracked, her mind busy. “Quinn would love to give you a tour,” she announced after a beat.

  Quinn swallowed his agitation as he leaned forward. “Excuse me?”

  “You would love to give them a tour,” Rowan repeated. “It will give you a chance to get to know some of the important Cara G Cosmetics faces. They’re very important clients, after all.”

  Quinn stared at her a moment, things shifting into place. “Oh, right.” He forced his gaze to Daphne and somehow mustered a smile. “I would love to give you a tour.”

  Daphne beamed as she fluffed her hair. “Great. I can’t wait.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  5

  Five

  “There you are.”

  Quinn found Rowan sitting in a small alcove staring at her phone shortly before dinner. He’d spent the better part of the afternoon showing Daphne and her “executive team” around the ship. Listening to inane chatter for hours on end wasn’t his favorite option when it came to work, but he shouldered the burden for as long as he could before walking Daphne back to her room and returning to his so he could shower. For some reason Daphne’s rampant attention and veiled innuendo made him feel dirty.

  “Hey. How was your tour?” Rowan didn’t bother glancing up from her phone.

  “Hellish. How was your afternoon?”

  Rowan shrugged, noncommittal. “Busy. They set up a special online shopping window for those photos and I had to upload everything from this afternoon. I got an email reminding me to upload photos at least three times a day so Daphne can see that I’m doing my job, too. I’m really starting to dislike that woman.”

  Quinn arched an eyebrow as he sat across from her, kicking his feet out in front of him as he sighed. “Don’t you want to hear about my afternoon?”

  “That’s why I asked. You said it was hellish. I figured you would expound on that when you were ready.”

  Quinn worked hard to tamp down his agitation … and failed. “Are you even paying attention to me?”

  Rowan tore her gaze away from her phone. “I’m sorry. Did something happen?”

  “Not particularly but … what are you looking at?”

  “The photos.” Rowan was sheepish. “I wanted to see if the omen switched.”

  “Did it?”

  “No. It’s still on Penny.”

  “Well, that gives us someone to focus on.” Quinn took the phone from her hand and flicked through the photos. “I tried to talk to Penny during the tour so I could get a feel for her as a person, maybe even figure out if she had plans to be in a specific part of the ship tonight, but it wasn’t exactly easy.”

  “That was smart. Did you get anywhere?”

  Quinn shook his head. “Daphne interrupted whenever I talked to anyone but her. She seemed determined to suck up all of the available oxygen.”

  “We’re on a ship,” Rowan pointed out, her pragmatic nature taking over. “Half of the ship is outside and has unlimited oxygen.”

  “That should give you some idea about how much she talks.”

  Rowan pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “I’m sorry. You look miserable and that’s on me. I thought it was a good opportunity.”

  “It was a good opportunity,” Quinn conceded. “It was a good idea. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t painful.”

  “Oh, are you injured?” Rowan feigned sympathy. “Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?”

  That’s exactly what Quinn wanted, but he couldn’t very well admit that in a busy hallway. Rowa
n realized what she said when it was too late to take it back, skillfully averting her eyes as her cheeks flushed with color. Quinn opted to let her off the hook rather than push things given their current location and the steady stream of foot traffic passing by.

  “As far as I can tell, Daphne DuBois is a control freak,” he offered, turning the conversation to something professional. “She thinks a lot about herself and she’s interested in pretending to elevate the other women.”

  “Pretending?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “So you’re saying she doesn’t really want to elevate the other women, simply caring that it appears as if that’s her goal,” Rowan prodded. “If she’s only pretending, what’s her real agenda?”

  “I’ve been around enough women to know that she’s really being passive aggressive and trying to break them down so she feels superior,” Quinn replied. “She’ll compliment one woman’s shoes and then add something about how that poor woman probably has no choice but to buy from a discount store because she has such big feet.”

  Rowan widened her eyes, surprised. “Seriously? Did she do that in front of other people?”

  “Just her little cronies. Why? Is that important.”

  Rowan held her hands palms up. “It’s kind of a territorial thing. I saw it a lot when I was at the newspaper. The women were always in competition with one another that way. It was more the reporters than the photographers, though. I was the only female photographer and I got along fine with my co-workers.”

  “That’s because you’re cute.” Quinn winked as he leaned back his head and stared at the ceiling. “I can see why a lot of people might want to kill Daphne DuBois. They revere her – you can see that – but they also fear her. There’s some hate rolling around when she’s not looking, too.”

  “Yeah, I picked up on the hate.” Rowan made a bold move and slipped her foot over Quinn’s ankle, resting her bare skin against his.

  Quinn grinned when he saw the move, but he didn’t comment. “Did you talk to any of the women this afternoon?”