Rose
I’d been right about this being a trap, and it was my stupidity that had gotten us caught.
“I prefer Nicky,” the woman said, still grinning. “Especially when I’m dressed like this.”
My mind spun in all directions. What was going on? Nick had been the blond round-faced woman all along? It didn’t make sense. Only one stupid thought made it to my mouth. “But you wear braces.”
The woman laughed, her brilliant white teeth gleaming. “Pop-ons, of course. Do I look like I need braces?”
“But …” I gazed up and down, taking everything in, from her sturdy heels to her petite figure with its small breasts. Definitely a woman. Unless those were fake too. She could be … what? A cross-dressing prepubescent boy?
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, sounding much more adult than she had a few minutes before. “And yes, this is the real me. I look a lot older when I wear makeup—sorry I didn’t have time to show you that—and a wig.” She patted her hair. “The baggy shorts and T-shirts?” She smiled. “Just one of my costumes.”
I don’t think I’d ever felt more stupid in my life. How could I have missed this? How could I have missed breasts on a kid? “But how? When?”
She nodded as if these were all perfectly normal questions. Like she discussed it all the time. “A good binder takes care of the breasts—especially when you’re as flat-chested as I am.” She grinned again like we were sharing some fabulous joke together.
I shook my head, nerves tingling across my neck and down my back. We were in trouble here. That was obvious. But exactly what kind of trouble? They wouldn’t try to hurt us, would they? “Look, this is a lot to process. I don’t mean to be rude, but I think we’d better go.”
She tilted her head. “Oh, no. Please don’t. There’s so much to discuss.”
“Nicky, we really don’t have time for this,” Clio said, making me jump. I’d totally forgotten she was standing there.
“We have plenty of time,” Nick/Nicky said, no expression in her voice.
Clio moved off the door. “I don’t think—”
“No, you don’t. On that we agree.”
Clio looked like she wanted to argue but instead clamped her mouth shut.
A cold tingling ran through my body. I’d had this so wrong. Clio wasn’t in charge. Nicky was. Nicky, who acted like she was forty, but couldn’t be more than twenty. Not with that smooth skin. How long had she been in charge of this operation? And what kind of operation was it? Just a bunch of jewel thieves? Or did it go deeper?
“What do you want?” Sam asked, his voice icy cold.
Nicky sighed dramatically. “Why did you have to bring him, Rose? He’s spoiling our fun. Clio, tie him up,” she said, her gaze never leaving Sam.
“What?” I burst out, looking from Nicky to Sam to Clio, who approached with a length of rope in one hand. “Why?”
“Because he’s in the way,” Nicky said as Clio handed her the gun.
Sam started to move in front of me, but Clio tugged him back a step.
Nicky lifted the gun my direction. “You’re going to cooperate, Sam,” she said, her eyes on me. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to shoot Rose.”
Sam huffed out a laugh. “With that? What is it, a cigarette lighter? Besides, someone will hear if you shoot.”
Nicky pressed a hand to her cheek. “How could I be so stupid?” she asked in a mocking voice. She slid the gun into her skirt pocket with one hand and with the other lifted a scalpel in front of my nose, almost as if she were a stage magician. “This should be quiet enough.”
Sam’s expression went dark. He let Clio lead him to the window where she bound his hands behind his back and then attached them to the railing along the wall.
Nicky smiled. “Thank you. That’s much better. Rose has worked so hard on this trip, watching people, analyzing. It’s the least I can do to explain things.”
“You really don’t need to,” I said, making this up as fast as I could. “You had me totally fooled. Never in a million years would I have guessed that Nick was you or vice versa.” I made eye contact with Sam. His mouth was set in a thin line, but he appeared calm. I needed to do the same. Stay calm. Find strength somewhere. Because panicking would only make this situation worse. I pressed down hard on my heels, rooting myself to the floor.
“Don’t sell yourself so short,” Nicky said. “You’re a smart girl. You pay attention. Most people don’t. I’m sure you would’ve figured it out eventually.”
Sell myself short. Wasn’t that what Sam had said to me? That I basically didn’t give myself enough credit? Well, they were both wrong. If I was so smart, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. Why, oh why, had I gone to the door instead of just passing by like Sam suggested? “I really need—”
“You messed up my plan, you know.”
I swallowed and shut my mouth.
Nicky wagged one finger back and forth. “If it weren’t for that one mistake. If you just hadn’t picked up the wrong swimsuit cover-up. Then all the suspicion would’ve gone to Marie as I’d planned. You know, the blond girl who wouldn’t have been able to explain herself very well?
“Instead, you were left standing there looking guilty.” She glanced outside at the dying light, then turned back. “And you just had to prove your innocence, didn’t you? I could see the determination all over your face.” Her voice had gone soft.
How could this woman read me so well? It was creepy. She stared, her light eyes like some kind of blue laser that burned into my mind. I couldn’t suppress a shiver. She smiled, but there was no joy in it. I tried for a lie. “No, people told me they believed me. That was all that mattered.”
She chuckled. “Don’t be condescending.” Her expression turned hard. “I’m not Nick right now. Don’t forget.” She moved in closer. “I watched you and Mrs. Stanton, always with your heads together, coming up with little schemes.”
Now, that wasn’t true. We were only trying to figure things out. “No schemes. Really. We just wanted to know who the blond woman with the round face was.”
Nicky gave me a smug smile. “How frustrating for you.”
I needed to figure a way out of this. If I could lead Nicky out of the infirmary, maybe Sam could take down Clio. With what, Rose? His feet? My cell phone dinged from my pocket, the noise reverberating like a gong in the small room.
The woman cocked her head and held out a hand. “And now we come to the real reason for our little visit. Let’s have it.”
No, no, no. I couldn’t give her the one thing that might get us out of this. “It’s just a text.”
“I can tell.”
And the tone in her voice, the whole “you’re an idiot, now do what I say” attitude made a tight ball of heat coil in my chest. “Look. This isn’t getting us anywhere. You’re a jewel thief. So what? We’re not the only people on this ship who know that. There’s no reason for you to keep us here, and there’s absolutely no reason to give you my phone.”
With a wild swing, she slapped me, the force of her whole body behind the blow, and I staggered into the exam table. Guess I should’ve expected that. Stinging pain radiated from my cheek to my watering eye. I pressed a hand against it.
Sam swore. “You all right, Rose?”
But Nicky ignored him and lowered the scalpel right in front of my mouth. “There is, actually. My stepbrother says you took a picture of him. At the cathedral in Trogir. Now hand me the phone.” No snarl. No threat. Just a command.
Her stepbrother? Guess the scary man wasn’t Clio’s cousin then. I pushed myself away from the table and dug out my cell. “I can delete the picture.”
She snatched the phone from my hand. “No need. I’ll simply drop it in the ocean.” She smiled at the screen. “So Alexis is wondering where you are. Shall we have a little fun?” Her eyes gleamed with a hint of craziness.
Weird. More acting? Or was she slightly nuts? I was feeling slightly nutty myself. My parents were going to kill me for losing this phone.
“Nicky,” Clio said quietly. “We need to go.”
“In a minute,” she said, typing out a reply, the scalpel still balanced between her fingers.
Clio moved away from Sam. Good. Maybe I could lead both of them out of the room. There were no more illusions. Nicky, the slightly loony jewel thief, wasn’t above using violence to get what she wanted. Just how much of me could she stab before I made it to the door? I didn’t particularly want to become a colander.
Nicky laughed. “There. That’ll do it.” She showed me the text.
Rose: I’ve gone for an evening swim. Shouldn’t be too dangerous in the ocean at night, right? Ha, ha.
My breath froze. They weren’t really going to kill me, were they? A surreal sense of watching a movie stole over me, and a stuttering laugh escaped my lips. “You’re going to throw me in the water?”