Page 103 of Backtrack

“I am a witness,” Joellen said. “Preston got furious as soon as I mentioned seeing him while Steve and I were walking last night.”

“That makes sense,” Cutter said.

They reached the door to the main security offices. It was unmarked and looked like any other cabin door in the passageway.

Ajit nodded at Cutter and Lola. “I’ll take a quick statement from Ms. Cutter for my report. Then I’ll show you to your suite.”

“Our suite?” Cutter said. “We came aboard to run down leads. We’re not prepared to stay.”

“I’ve cleared it with the captain,” Ajit said. “Unfortunately, the ship is almost full. I cannot give you each your own stateroom, but there is a vacant two-bedroom suite.”

Cutter gave a vehement shake of his head. Normally one to go with the flow, the idea of staying on the same boat with his ex-wife set on his stomach like week-old fish.

“That’s not something that we—”

“A suite?” Lola said. “With a balcony?”

“And a large Jacuzzi tub,” Ajit said.

“Suite or no suite,” Cutter said. “We’re not—”

Lola cut him off. “Hang on there, Boss,” she said. “He said we’d have two bedrooms. I reckon I can take one for the team and listen to you snore through the wall for a couple of nights. …”

“I have lockboxes here in Security for your handguns,” Ajit said.

Cutter had yet to stop shaking his head. “Nope.”

“But firearms may be a problem.”

“Not to us,” Teariki said. “Put it this way. You want us on the ship to look for Preston’s partner.”

“I do,” Ajit said.

“We find that person, we’ll have to arrest them, and for that, I’d just as soon hang on to my guns.”

“Guns?” Ajit said. “As in plural?”

“They’ll be out of sight,” Cutter said. “But keeping them on us is nonnegotiable.”

Lola rubbed her hands together. A smile perked the corners of her lips. “I love this job. A free two-bedroom suite with a balcony and a Jacuzzi. It’s almost enough to make you forget you’re hunting down assholes.”

CHAPTER 46

Cutter suggested Joellen move her things into the suite with Lola while he took her cabin. Ajit threw a wrench in that idea. His nephew, Rishi, a slender boy of twenty-five with his uncle’s military bearing, had already set up monitors in the suite that were tied to the cameras in the hallway in front of Joellen’s cabin. According to Rishi, this system ran off a duplicate router in addition to the regular security Wi-Fi. Even if the unknown mole attempted to turn off the main feed, the second system would keep the cameras online. In addition to the color monitors, Rishi paired the feed with both deputies’ phones, giving them an instant view of the hallway outside Joellen’s cabin door.

Joellen followed as Ajit showed Cutter and Lola to their suite, assuring them that his nephew would call as soon as he compiled a list of images of anyone who spent any significant time with Bart Preston.

Ajit ran the proximity card over the reader, then pulled the door open, waving his hand with a flourish. He gave one key card to Cutter and one to Teariki. “I’ll let you get settled,” he said. “I should return to my duties.”

Lola went in first, gasping like a kid on her first trip to the fair. “Ajit wasn’t lying. This place is sweet as!” She slid open the balcony door, creating a roaring wind tunnel. The front door slammed like a gunshot. For a moment, Cutter thought Joellen was going to climb up on his shoulders.

“Sorry,” Lola said. “All the flash yachty stuff is new to this island girl. We see the ships in port. We don’t get to set foot on ’em.”

The suite had a large sitting area with a sofa and two bedrooms—the main, which exited onto the spacious starboard balcony large enough for four lounge chairs and a small table. The smaller bedroom was around the corner to the left, inside, with no window or view of the ocean. Each had its own bath, but the Jacuzzi went with the main bedroom. The junior deputy, Lola scuffed her foot on the carpet waiting to see which room Cutter chose.

“Knock it off,” he said. “You know me better than that.”

She brightened immediately. “Sweet as! I’m glad your granddaddy taught you the boss should always take the shitty end of the stick.”