Page 31 of Love Overboard
“And who is Lacey’s closest friend on board?”
“Her roommate,” Daisy said.
“Exactly! We monitor Abigail O’Brien.” Emily flipped her right hand. “And then we block her from helping them if she gets a call.” She flipped her left hand.
“How do we do that?” Althea asked.
“By whatever means necessary.” Emily studied her battle plan and smoothed a curling piece of tape back on the wall. “The plan is foolproof. They’ll be locked in tighter than Alcatraz.”
Gerry cringed. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
CHAPTER 13
LACEY YANKED A SWEATSHIRT OVERher head and left her hair trapped under the collar. Her polka-dot-pajama-clad legs sprinted down the passageway. She pressed her cell to her ear.
“Why on earth are you in the lost-and-found storage?”
“To find something that’s missing, dear.” Emily’s voice faded in and out like she wasn’t talking directly into the phone. “But it’s pitch-dark in here.” A crash sounded. “Oooops. I hope that wasn’t valuable.”
Lacey kicked it up a notch. “Go out in the hall and wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”
She hurtled through the empty corridors. Most passengers were smart enough to be asleep by 3:00 a.m. But not Emily Windsor. That woman could cause trouble in a mausoleum. Lacey reached deck zero, where the crew stored any unclaimed items. She sped by utility spaces and workrooms. No sleeping cabins on this floor. Or people, for that matter. She saw the storage room, skidded to a stop outside the open door, and stuck her head in.
“Emily?”
No answer.
What if she was hurt? What if a heavy object had fallen on her? Lacey entered the unlit room and waited for her eyes to adjust. She barely made out the rows of shelves, stacked to the ceiling with indistinguishable items of all shapes and sizes. Her fingers skittered along the wall, but she couldn’t find the switch. Lacey pulled up the flashlight app on her phone and shone it around.
Empty golf bag. Teddy bear. Piñata.
But not a sign of Emily.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her. Lacey turned and spied a tall, familiar silhouette in the doorway. She aimed the light his direction. “Jon?”
“Lace?” He recoiled as the beam hit his retinas.
She pointed it away from his face. “What are you doing here?”
“Emily texted and said she was poking around in the dark. I came before she hurt herself. What about you?”
“Same.” Lacey swung her arm, and the flashlight illuminated the semiorganized chaos. “I don’t see her. She must have given up.”
“That’s a relief.” Jon crossed the threshold. He wore sweatpants and a T-shirt with his favorite basketball team’s logo. “I’ve heard about this place, but this is my first time visiting.” He pointed at a pair of antlers on a top shelf. “Is that a mounted moose head?”
“Believe it or not, that isn’t the weirdest thing in here.” Lacey waved at a shelf. “I saw a—”
The hallway door banged shut. Darkness enveloped them, broken by the tiny circle of light from her phone.
“Hey!” Lacey rushed to grab the knob.
Locked.
She pounded on the door. “Hello? There are people in here.” She rattled the knob again. “Help!”
Jon stepped behind her and hammered a fist above her head. “Hello? We’re locked in.”
Lacey tried to ignore the heat from the masculine body hovering a centimeter from her back. She inched forward and knocked louder. Between the two of them, they made enough noise to raise every sleeping passenger on the ship, but no one appeared. Lacey rapped until her knuckles ached.
