Page 30 of My Boyfriend Bites

“Someone hiding something,” Dante murmured.

“You know how we’ve been waiting for the pirates to bring trouble? It is my professional opinion that trouble, AKA a murderer, is already on board.”

“This could be just a coincidence. Cameras malfunction. People act differently on vacation.”

“I know you’re eager to bang Selene, but get your head in the game.” Pause. “Sir.”

“You really think the threat we’ve been hunting is already on board?”

“I do. I think they embarked with the rest of us and will use the diversion of the pirates to make their escape or, at the very least, mask their actions.”

“Meaning we must work fast to locate them.” Dante paced away from Renard. “The camera hiccups not only indicate they didn’t want to be seem but that they have the same access as us to footage.”

“Yes.”

“Can they tell we’re also watching?” Everywhere Dante went, Renard hacked security cameras to wipe anything that might give a hint about his “special” nature.

Renard shrugged. “Maybe? I’ve been very careful to not leave a trace in the network. However, I wasn’t expecting someone else to be spying, so who knows if they’ve spotted our actions?”

“Do you think it’s a vampire?” he asked. Oddly enough, while he could scent other preternatural, like lycans and whatnot, he couldn’t detect his own kind.

“Certainly sly enough to be one, given the way they’ve covered their tracks thus far. I do find it odd your girlfriend might have seen a body and not reported it.”

“Not really that odd. After the day she had in the jungle, she most likely didn’t want to draw more attention to herself.”

“Should I go check out the cabana?” Rennie asked, standing from his chair.

“Not sure there’s a point. The scene has been cleared,” Dante stated, but he rubbed his chin as he mused aloud. “I wonder if the person responsible for these disappearances registered as a guest or is part of the crew.”

“A crew member would have access to passenger information and most of the ship.”

“So do we,” Dante pointed out. “At the same time, a crew member would be expected to work, and my understanding istheir hours are long, leaving not much time for extracurricular killing. Any commonalities between the missing people?”

“Nope. One female, two males. Ages ranging from twenty-two to fifty-four. Different cruise packages. All of them are from different states.”

“But something about them drew this person’s attention. I wonder if the other cruises had the same slow passenger bleed. We assumed those that came up missing after the pirates departed with their loot were taken or killed at the time of the theft and dumped overboard, but what if the disappearances happened up until that point?”

“With no one noticing?” Rennie sounded skeptical.

“You mean the same way no one seems alarmed at it happening on this ship? Yes, there is a note by housekeeping mentioning the oddity, but no general alert, no effort to locate them.”

“Could be intentional. Seems to me the captain would want to avoid causing any panic.”

“Who else other than the captain might know about this?” Dante mused aloud because the woman in charge of the ship had proven elusive thus far.

“Chief of security for sure,” Renard stated.

“Guess I’m going back out then.” Dante shed the jacket he’d stained and handed it to Renard. “Apologies for the grease mark.”

Rennie scowled. “My favorite coat.”

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“Or you could listen to me next time I tell you to pack more than a dinner jacket,” grumbled his assistant.

“You know I prefer to pack light.” Dante kept the dark silken polo shirt but unbuttoned it to his naval. He also changed his shoes from squeak-free runners to loafers. He slicked back his hair and tucked in his shirt hem. “How do I look?”

“Like a manwhore on the prowl.”

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