The lounge had filled up quickly, and she nearly missed a note when she saw that Roger Antrim had arrived with his wife, Lorna. They waved at her with wide smiles, taking a seat at one of the few empty tables left.
She greeted them by name, something she often did, and then teased a couple who"d just arrived, which made everyone laugh. Then she suggested that Roger come up and sing.
He agreed.
He loved anything by Billy Joel, and had a pleasant voice.
Alexi smiled as she played for him.
And wondered if he could be a brutal killer.
Thirty minutes later she"d almost forgotten that Agent McCoy was in the lounge. That was when Clara arrived with Simon Green.
Simon wouldn"t be just chorus for long, Alexi thought, as the two began a duet from Jekyll & Hyde. He was very good. So, of course, was Clara.
Alexi did a Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow number with Simon.
Larry Hepburn-blond, beautiful beach boy-arrived next. He sang a few Beatles tunes. Every woman in the audience seemed to be breathing a little harder.
Then Ralph Martini showed up and graced them with a fantastic version of a Meat Loaf song. In the middle of it, she realized that McCoy had managed to drag his chair over to the table where Roger Antrim and his wife were sitting. In fact, he was engaged in conversation with them.
Hank Osprey didn"t make an appearance until almost eleven. He was with a very pretty young woman in a skintight c.o.c.ktail gown and five-inch heels. They made quite a pair.
He waved to Alexi as he entered, and she waved back.
When the Meat Loaf song had ended and the applause for Ralph subsided, she greeted Hank, introducing him as a regular who could croon out a great Tony Bennett. Hank flushed, excused himself to the young woman and came up to take the mic.
The night went on without incident. Blake and Minnie didn"t reappear. She teased, she joked, kept the pa.s.sengers singing, and when there was a lull, she sang a few favorite show tunes herself or called on a friend to do so. At one point she saw Bradley Wilc.o.x looking into the room over the small carved wood banister that separated the lounge from the hallway.
Watching her.
Judging her.
Alexi didn"t care. The audience was lively and her confidence soared back. She knew she was good at what she did.
She smiled at Jensen Hardy, the cruise director, coming down the hall. He loved the piano bar, loved dropping in. He had a pleasant singing voice, but neither his natural talent nor his training was quite up to par, not compared to performers like Ralph and Clara. In the "quickie" bits of music that were done on board, he was always the announcer.
She a.s.sumed he"d come to sing.
But he wasn"t going to sing that night. Bradley Wilc.o.x stopped him in the hallway, and although Wilc.o.x didn"t move and kept his voice low, Alexi could see that he was reprimanding Jensen Hardy for one thing or another.
Idiot!
At the moment there was nothing she could do to help Jensen. Besides, the eternally cheerful Jensen would probably just shake it off.
Clara sat at the piano bench by Alexi"s side and when she could, she whispered, "I"ll hang out with you until the bitter end, I promise. And don"t tell me I"m being silly. The killer was in New Orleans. New Orleans! You"re not walking to your cabin alone."
"It"s okay. You can leave when you"re tired. Get Simon or one of the other guys to take you back, okay?"
"I don"t want you alone."
"I won"t be alone."
"Oh?" Clara asked.
Alexi indicated Jude McCoy. In his evening apparel, he was extremely presentable. He managed to look casual, and yet a little larger than life.
"Ohhh." Clara grinned. "Hobn.o.bbing with the higher-ups of the company, huh? I"m so glad. You need to hobn.o.b. You haven"t...hobn.o.bbed in forever. Hobn.o.bbing would be good for you. Hobn.o.bbing is a basic instinct, you know."
Alexi felt a flush cover not only her face, but also her whole body from head to toe.
"It"s just business."
Clara laughed at that and Alexi flinched. Yes, her words could have been construed in a different way.
"No, I mean I"m an entertainment liaison, that"s all."
Clara studied Jude McCoy and then turned back to Alexi. "It shouldn"t be just business. Men like him don"t come along every day. And," she added, "I"m talking about more than his looks."
"Hey! I"m working here!" Alexi reminded her. "Right now, as we speak."
Clara smiled. "So is the little beauty on the arm of our billionaire, Hank Osprey." The young woman was, indeed, working it; she leaned against Hank and seemed to be enchanted by his every word.
And despite the fact that Jude McCoy was engaged in conversation with Roger and Lorna, Alexi could tell that he was also aware of Hank and his young woman.
Finally, the crowd began to thin.
When Hank left with his lady friend, Alexi noted that Jude McCoy made a phone call.
Would Jackson Crow now be following the man?
Because it was evident that Jude McCoy meant to keep his word. He"d be seeing her back to her cabin.
Last call was announced.
Roger and Lorna Antrim thanked her for a great evening and left. Three young women traveling together departed arm in arm.
A retired couple, charming, older-and obviously still very much in love-came to the piano to tell her what a wonderful time they"d had. The bar was closed.
Ralph Martini yawned. "Gotta call it a night!" he said.
"We all need to call it a night," Simon agreed. "Hey!" he said cheerfully to Jude. "You didn"t sing."
"I thought I"d spare you." Jude gave them a self-deprecating grin, telling the Les Miz cast members that he was looking forward to their final night"s performance.
He wound up talking theater with them for a while. And then suddenly, he and Ralph were involved in a discussion about sports and New Orleans, and Alexi realized that everyone else was gone, that she was there with Clara, Simon, Ralph-and Agent Jude McCoy.
"You"re with the cruise line, right?" Ralph asked Jude.
Jude inclined his head.
"Why"d they stick you guys down in the d.i.n.ky cabins?"
"If they"re good enough for the entertainers, they"re good enough for us. Besides, it"s a full ship, and we came on at the last minute. I"m sure you know that the reputation this ship has for entertainment is stellar. We"re really here to observe what makes it all work so well."
"That"s a relief," Ralph said. "Where else would an old hack like me find acting jobs these days? Getting old in the theater is a b.i.t.c.h, you know? Unless you"re Sean Connery or Alec Guinness. Which, sadly, I"m not."
"You are a fine, fine actor, Ralph!" Clara insisted.
He sighed. "Thank you. But I have an old friend, Siobhan O"Leary-one of the best voices ever to grace Broadway! She ended up playing a singing Easter bunny on a cruise line and it was downhill from there. Still...I need this ship. And at least I haven"t been relegated to singing animal roles."
"You"re all fine," Jude told them. "We"re not here to judge or hara.s.s you, just to enjoy your talents." He glanced at his watch. "d.a.m.n, it"s late." Alexi rose. He wouldn"t leave her until she was safe in her cabin. And, she guessed, there was somewhere else he wanted to be.
"Shall we all head down to the bowels of the ship?" Simon Green suggested.
"Let"s do it," Clara said.
They walked to the elevators together. Reaching the crew level, they began to break off from the group as they approached their cabins, Simon Green first, then Ralph and then Clara.
"Hey!" Clara asked, before opening her door, "Are we going into Cozumel for lunch tomorrow? We"re not on call for the Mexican songfest until five and we dock about eight. I was thinking of around eleven?"
Alexi glanced at Jude McCoy.
"That"s great," she said, trying not to make it sound like a question.
"You"re welcome to join us," Clara told Jude.
"I just may," Jude responded. "Thanks."
Clara went into her room.
After that the hallway seemed completely still.
The ship listed portside, and Alexi nearly raised a hand to steady herself on Jude McCoy"s chest; she managed to place it on the wall instead.
"Did you learn anything?" she asked him.
"No. But at least I met both men and had a chance to observe them."
"Roger and Lorna are such a tight couple..." she murmured.
"Mmm."
"You"re thinking Hank Osprey?" Alexi asked. "You called your partner, didn"t you? And he followed Hank after he and his...companion left the lounge."
He nodded.
"And?"
"You"ll be glad to know the young lady is alive and well and back in her cabin for the night," he told her quietly.
"Good. But being rich and single doesn"t make a man a killer," she said.
"No," he said. "Of course not."
They"d reached her door, and she slid her key card into the lock, then stepped into her cabin. He seemed ridiculously close. And she felt ridiculously...
Light-headed. Maybe she was...
Attracted to him.
Lord.
She was afraid she"d blush again. Hobn.o.bbing. She hadn"t hobn.o.bbed in...
"However," he went on, "being rich and single doesn"t make a man innocent, either, Ms. Cromwell-Alexi," he said. "When I leave you, please lock up, and don"t go out again until morning."
He didn"t wait for her to agree.
In his line of work, agreement was probably taken for granted.
She didn"t even say good-night. He was already turning away.
She locked her door, got ready to go to sleep and crawled into bed.
And lay awake.
Still feeling warm and flushed.
She"d noticed his hands and wondered what it would feel like if he touched her. She lay awake in misery.
In some ways it had been easier to be in mourning.
Easier than feeling this ache and this longing once again.
Jude walked the Destiny, deck by deck. He did it swiftly, nodding at the few crew members he pa.s.sed along the way. In the wee hours, few were up and about.
He pa.s.sed David Beach on the promenade; he recognized Beach long before he got close. Very few people were Beach"s size.
"Agent," Beach acknowledged him. "Like I told your partner, we"re on this, so you can get some sleep tonight. I have my men doubling up and adding on to their shifts. We may all be thinking this is a remote possibility, but we"re taking that possibility very seriously," Beach said. "I have a man patrolling every deck, and I"ll have one on every deck through the day and night, I promise."
"Thank you."
"I need to get some sleep, and you do, too. You won"t be much good to anyone without it."
"Of course," Jude agreed. Beach"s comment might have been tongue in cheek, mocking him. Except that he didn"t think that was the case. There was real pressure on all law enforcement in the States-that pressure had evidently made its way to the ship.