By the time the next morning came around, Reed had caught up on all the sleep he needed to function properly again. He had promised Ayah over dinner that they would take as much time to relax and do nothing on their cruise, as was possible without either of them getting bored. And so, they slept in until around ten o'clock, ventured out to catch a quiet breakfast and sat, eating their refreshing meal and discussing their plans for the days ahead.
Quiet was one thing, but doing nothing at all was a fairly optimistic plan. They had given the shops a slow, meandering walk past the night before, had traveled past the diamond showroom where Ayah did some window shopping. Typically she had pointed out gifts she hoped to buy later on in the cruise for Anita and Gideon. They had walked past the spa, taken a look at what was on offer and did the same with the gym and most of the other entertainment areas of the ship. "I think I might just read my book today and watch the world go by." Ayah admitted with a soft, sort of lazy smile that said she was perfectly happy, for once in their relationship, to sit by and do nothing while there was nothing to be done. She was still being sick quiet often, about three times a day and although he was worried, she managed to convince him that she was fine and looked forward to some peace and quiet to enjoy the pregnancy.
"And while you're doing that I could...hmm...what could I do?" Reed wondered to himself. He leant his head on the palm of his hand as he watched his wife of only a year pick away at a croissant while he waited for his cooked breakfast to be served. There really wasn't much he thought he could do. He hadn't brought a book, wasn't likely to buy one and would probably get bored once he started reading it. He didn't want to expend as much energy as visiting the gym and he wasn't one for spa treatments. He wasn't a heavy drinker, if at all and knew the bar was the last place he wanted to hang around during the day. He could take a wander round and try to figure out who his mysterious guest was, the one he found all so familiar. He could even make a few phone calls to inquire about it. A quick, sly snap of a photo on his phone and he could send it off to Raidon or Murray to get some information.
"Don't you dare!" Ayah snapped him out of his dream with those three words. He could only sigh and realize that they had been together for so long that she couldn't only read his mind, she could anticipate his thoughts even before he thought them. "I swear to god Reed, if you do any work on this trip, government or not, I'll never forgive you. I don't care who this person is or why he seems familiar. Or if he's going to blow up the ship with us on it. You promised you wouldn't work for the entire twenty-one days of this cruise and I'm going to make sure you stick to that promise." She warned him, making her point as clear as possible. She hadn't left him any room to wangle out of it or a loop hole to excuse himself with later on, when she found out he'd gone and done his work anyway. For a minute Reed cursed their connection before smiling to himself in approval.
"Alright. Then what do you suggest I do with my time when you're off walking in the Carpathian mountains with the mysterious Mikhail then?" He asked, curious about her plans for them, since she was so heavily engrossed, yet again, in one of her favorite books. It was one of the few books about vampires and supernatural creatures that she bothered to read and he knew that once she started reading it, there was no hope of getting her attention again, she would be off in a dreamland.
"You could practice a little patience for an hour or two until the guided excursion to Dubrovnik in the afternoon? We're going to visit the little village of Gruda to see a gallery and meet the local artist." She suggested happily. He actually highly approved of her plan, as always.
"I guess I could just kick back here with you for a few hours. It wouldn't be so terrible," Reed approved, thinking to himself about all the things they could get up to together in their cabin. "But then you might not get time to read your book," He reasoned in a gentle voice, kissing the palm of her hand and then her fingertip teasingly. Ayah quickly agreed that his idea was better than reading a book for two hours while he sat by and did nothing. Sure they were on holiday, but that didn't mean they had to be like the eighty year old biddies, sitting on the deck lounging in the sun all daylong.
"Hmm, well, I guess I could leave my book until later," Ayah agreed, letting him kiss her again, on the lips this time, just one lingering time. Until she was thoroughly convinced that her book, and the mysterious Mikhail, as Reed kept calling him, could wait a while longer before enjoying her company.
She had taken his agreement not to work as a promise that he would stick to his word and forget all about the mystery guy he had recognized, about his old crew, about Raidon and Murray and the life he had left behind over a year ago. He had married her and given it all up, so she was hoping after the last ordeal when she had been kidnapped, that their holiday would be a way of showing him that they could be together and happy, without either of them getting into trouble. Without his old life creeping back up again. Because if they couldn't live without that part of his old life constantly coming back again, tempting him away from her, then they were never going to be able to live a normal life. And he would be better going back to work for the government and living the life properly instead of by accident.
By the time their trip to Dubrovnik came about, Reed was happy to see that Ayah was already making friends. Not long after arriving in the little village Gruda about thirty kilometers away, with its beautiful gardens and buildings at the base of Ilija's hill, a girl not much younger than Ayah tripped over one of the pavements. Which, of course, provoked a very long conversation between the two. And that, as was his beautiful wife's nature, soon made them solid friends as they talked about their lives, their reason for traveling and the village they were visiting.
Reed zoned out of the conversation pretty quickly, letting Ayah get to know the girl, Brigit, while he took in the scenery. He couldn't stop smiling at the way Ayah began swinging her arm like a giddy schoolgirl, all the while holding onto his hand and trying to include him in the conversation. He put in the occasional comment whenever it was needed, all the while trying to read the tourist information pack they had been given upon their departure from the ship.
It seemed that Gruda was the perfect, picturesque village; the locals grew olives and wine and had all the usual tourist attractions. There was even an airport, which was now a 'special attraction' that functioned as an airport until 1962. It was the right kind of history to keep Reed interested and with a quick glance at the rest of the tours prepared for the cruise, he was rather looking forward to the rest of the trip. No matter how busy the next twenty-one days would be, if the guide book was anything to go by. They were practically visiting some village or historical site every day and some days had two or more visits. But their holiday was just that, a chance to get away from it all and be normal people again without the fuss of his work or Ayah getting in trouble.
It was because of that, that he wasn't going to spend every single day of his time off before starting work in New York, visiting foreign countries and historical sites the entire time. He wanted some time off, even if it was just a few quiet days to spend with his wife. "Don't you agree?" Ayah asked him suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, darling, what were you saying?" He wondered, a little surprised when she went on to explain what he had missed. Apparently, one of the passengers, a guy called Benny, had been hassling Brigit since the moment he saw her boarding the ship. It was bad enough that he wouldn't stop hitting on her but he had actually proposed after just one day.
"Isn't it ridiculous? A pretty girl can't travel the world by herself without being bombarded by an ignorant jackass who thinks he owns her." She complained, much to Reed's amusement. He wasn't surprised in the least that she had got the whole story from Brigit, or that she intended to do something about it. And she did intend to do something about it, or else she wouldn't have bothered to tell him about it until later.
"Yes, terrible behavior for a grown man. What are you planning on doing about it?" He wondered with a smile.
"That was why I wanted your opinion. Do we confront him and warn him off or does Brigit play the fawning, drooling girl he doesn't want and make him run scared?" She wondered, confusing him a little as they finally reached the gallery they were to visit. Brigit stood with them as they waited to be admitted and waited for the artist to arrive and introduce her work, looking altogether too innocent and shy to be involved with such problems. And he figured that Ayah was right, it was up to them to help because she would never manage to get rid of Benny by herself. He had seen the guy before, and he could see him right then, staring at Brigit and winking at her. All the while standing with a woman that he had been more than close to either presently or in the past. That kind of chemistry was undeniable and he didn't need to be told what kind of man he was.
"I might be missing something but how will acting like an adoring fool convince him to run off? Surely that's exactly what he wants?" Reed wasn't sure he quiet understood what was going through her head but he didn't feel insulted when she smiled to herself as if he was an adorable puppy.
"You're so sweet but honey, you know nothing about women." She beamed as if such a thing made her happier than anything else in the world possibly could. She was right in a way.
"Darling, I don't need to know anything about women. I know you and that's all I need to know." He reminded her of the plain truth. He didn't want anyone but her and so why did he need to understand other women? Of course, she only reverted back to the sweet, gorgeous blushing girl he had always known, as she tried to pretend he hadn't said it or that he had done so in front of other people.
"Well...anyway...you see, he only wants the chase, surely. And he'll be so frightened by the fact that she's taking him seriously that he'll run away for fear that she'll really want him to marry her." Ayah reasoned, sure that it was a foolproof plan but Reed wasn't convinced.
"Ayah be careful. What you're planning in underhanded and dangerous. Especially if Benny isn't as stupid as we all think. He might not be as easily fooled by your tactics as you hope and then Brigit really would be in trouble." He warned her gently, giving her hand a little squeeze of reassurance. Benny was an older man, probably around thirty, going after an innocent girl of no more than twenty-three, though she was probably younger than that. "I'll talk with him. It's safer that way. Man to man, there's very little chance of him not taking the warning seriously, even if I have to add in a little innocent threat." He smiled with his words, but he meant it. He would threaten Benny if he didn't get it into this thick skull that Brigit wasn't interested. He wouldn't relax until Ayah was happy and Ayah would never be happy if she knew that Brigit was going to go through the next twenty days being bombarded with unwanted attentions from Benny. And that, he couldn't allow.
-
To start his plan of keeping Ayah and Brigit happy, Reed invited Brigit to have dinner with them that night. Since the girls were enjoying each others company so much anyway, he figured there was no harm in letting them continue their new friendship over dinner. It would keep them both occupied and talking together while he disappeared off to make some inquiries
For almost an hour he stayed and enjoyed dinner with them in one of the many restaurants on the ship. Ayah and Brigit talked about the itinerary for the remainder of the trip and which parts they were looking forward to the most. He liked Brigit, she was exactly what he would expect their daughter to be like, if indeed they were having a girl. And he was glad that Ayah would have someone to spend time with and share her pregnancy with who could talk excitedly about prams and color charts and little winter jumpsuits without wondering if she was maybe planning a little far ahead.
Not that Reed wasn't excited about the baby, but she was planning everything right down to what playgroup and what middle school their child would attend. He was worried that she had forgotten about all the hard work they would have to put in before then.
Nevertheless, dinner went off without a hitch. He volunteered Gideon and Anita for babysitting duties and agreed that they would have to sell the red Ferrari and get a more practical family car, since that was one thing they hadn't had time to do before their trip. But while Ayah and Brigit discussed options for a new car and talked about her bookshop, he noticed his mysterious friend once again. He was lurking in the doorway of the restaurant only to seem to spot him and rethink his decision to eat there. He couldn't be sure that he had recognized him or even that it was his presence that had changed his mind but he had to find out before it became a problem.
"Is everything alright?" Ayah asked, clearing her throat to get his attention only to have to ask him again if he was keeping to his promise of only that morning.
He had to lie to her. There was nothing else for it.
If he told her his true concerns, that were growing the more he saw the mysterious stalker, then she would worry and think he was more interested in his old job than their new life together. However, he couldn't remember ever lying to her before. Not a real, outright lie rather than the omissions he had left her to deal with alone. And he didn't fancy starting to lie to her now. He had a split second to make a decision, without knowing what the consequences would be. With second glance at the restaurant doors, he got a chance to tell the truth and go his own way without hurting his wife.
"I think I just saw Benny with our mystery friend. It might not end well." He hinted, ignoring the fact that they had never been 'with' each other but just standing in the same spot at different times. Ayah seemed to realize what he meant, that Benny might be joining forces with someone to get the girl he wanted. When really, Reed could plainly see Benny making a beeline to another woman, the one he suspected he had arrived on the cruise with. But he figured there was no harm going to investigate and giving Benny one more warning to stay away from Brigit.
"Fine. Go check it out for yourself." She sighed, looking none too pleased with him for even noticing but he would have to worry about her anger later. He just knew, instinctively that this mystery guy he kept seeing was a big fish and whether he had the permit to go fishing or not was unimportant. He was determined to catch something that night, so that he could sleep easily and not worry about Ayah's safety.
Leaving the girls at the table, Reed left the restaurant and took a guess out of three different directions, as to where his mystery guy might have gone. After a few minutes, he knew he had made the wrong choice and backtracked, only to see Benny again, leaving the restaurant and meeting up with one of the men he suspected of being bodyguards. "Look Eddie, I was just trying to make contact so that she trusts me. Then later, I can use that trust to get the job done." Benny was explaining to his friend. He sounded quite pathetic, though Reed was sure he was trying to sound dominant and sure of himself. At least now he knew one more name to add to the list: Eddie. And he definitely sounded professional, just what profession he belonged to was still a mystery that he was desperate to solve.
"I don't care what excuse you have, the deal was that you don't do anything. You're our contact, our informant. We can't have you making contact with the mark and scaring her off the ship." Eddie argued in frustration while Reed kept around the corner to them. He was out of sight but close enough to hear every word, including the swearwords that Benny answered with.
"I'm not scaring anyone." He protested. Anyone could see he was, but he thought he was a ladies man and nothing would convince him otherwise.
"Oh you are Benny. Stick to keeping your wife occupied and making up for the big mistake you made bringing her with you. Maybe then when this all goes shit-faced you'll have a few brownie points and she won't divorce you." He warned him, unknowingly giving Reed another piece of information that he could work with. The woman in the restaurant with Benny was his wife, and as soon as Benny replied to him, he had a name to go with the face.
"Let me worry about Noelle, alright. Our marriage is none of your business." Benny huffed like a spoilt schoolboy. He didn't like being talked to the way Eddie was talking to him but at that particular moment, there was nothing he could do about it. Technically, on that job at least, he was the bottom of the food chain, only just dangling above the rest of the cruise ship passengers. And he had apparently upset the applecart, so he had better play along for a while and restore the status quo. The last thing he needed was adverse reactions from the boss as well.
"You brought her here even after being warned to come alone and keep your mouth shut. I'd say that makes your marriage our business. Whatever happens to Noelle from now on, is your doing. We can't protect her now." Eddie made the consequences of Benny's mistake very clear, while Reed tried to keep a hold of the conversation. He was forced to turn to the wall and pretend that he was studying a very bland piece of art that hung there as a young couple passed him, probably on their way to dinner.
He couldn't get caught eavesdropping or else someone might get suspicious and alert Eddie or Benny to his being there, and that wouldn't end well. After the brief moment when he might have been caught, he took another peek around the corner of the wall and saw that there were soft seats on the other side of Eddie, with an old lady already sitting reading a brochure there. Acting calm, he walked past, as if he was heading for the restaurant, picking up a brochure from the table and hovering there while he flicked through it, listening to Benny complaining once again.
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you threatening my wife?" He asked indignantly.
"It means that when this all goes down, we can't be responsible for who gets taken out in the crossfire." Eddie replied with a faint smile of malice. "We have only one job to do and to do that, we can't go giving you or your wife special treatment. From now on you're on your own. The boss wants no further contact with you until it fits into his schedule. Which means you keep your mouth shut, you keep Noelle's mouth shut and if either of you so much as think of jeopardizing our plans again, you'll both be leaving this ship early." Eddie explained honestly, making sure to be crystal clear about every part of the plan so that it gave Benny no leeway to mess things up. No-one was happy with the way he had approached Brigit so early on in the trip, especially when he wasn't supposed to approach her at all.
He had made her cautious now, nervous and constantly looking over her shoulder. That wasn't going to do them any good and so when Benny didn't answer his hidden question, he decided to make sure he had even been listening to him at all. "Do you understand?" He asked angrily, surprising Reed with the lengths they were willing to go to, to keep Benny quiet. Especially since they had just mentioned that he was an informant.
"I understand." He grumbled, well aware now that either he or his wife would be thrown overboard if they didn't comply to the new rules. Reed realized the conversation was almost at an end. Eddie smiled and laid his hand on Benny's shoulder, squeezing harder than was necessary, by the look on Benny's face, before deciding it was time to leave.
"I'm glad to see we're on the same page. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to report this little problem to the boss."
-
Reed followed Benny back to the restaurant and watched him talking nervously with his wife before rushing her back to their room. He noted the room number mentally before heading along to where he had last spotted Eddie. When he had stopped at the concierge desk, he realized he had enough time to follow Benny and then pick up Eddie's trail on the way back. What he didn't realize was that by the time he got back to the concierge desk to find Eddie just leaving, Ayah and Brigit were leaving the restaurant and planning to return to their rooms.
When they caught sight of Reed, and the direction he was walking in, taking the stairs to Deck Four, Ayah decided that it wasn't worth following him. "He's going in the same direction we are so we'll catch up with him eventually. It's his own fault if he gets lost." She smiled to Brigit, who was a little confused by his recent behavior and the fact that Ayah was taking it so well. But she didn't mind and was glad that her new friend had offered to walk her back to her cabin in case she met Benny along the way. She wasn't sure what he was up to, but whatever game he was playing, was one that she wanted no part in. She knew that she was small and light, she couldn't fight and she was certainly no match for Benny. Ayah, on the other hand, had convinced her that she was and somehow she found it easy to believe.
"I'm really grateful that you're both helping me so much. I don't know what I'd do if I was on my own. I had never thought anyone could be so rude and demanding of someone they've only known for just two days." Brigit admitted it with a sigh, realizing that she wasn't as prepared as she had thought to travel alone. It was her first time away from home, never mind traveling alone and she guessed that she was still a little naïve about it all. The world had changed before her eyes and she hadn't even noticed. And she truly believed that without Ayah and Reed, something terrible might happen to her on that ship in the next nineteen days. Ayah convinced her that there was nothing to worry about as they made their way to Deck Four, to her cabin, reassuring her the whole way.
"You just have to realize that the world is a dark, scary place and whether you're alone or not, you're strong enough to face it. I've been traveling the world alone my entire life so I can't say that I know how you feel." Ayah knew that she was different to other girls her age, but she had never really thought it was in a good way until she started talking with Brigit. Now she realized that she was actually quite strong and independent - or at least, more so than other girls she knew. "There have been times I've had people to fall back on and times when I didn't but somehow I always managed to find my way home and keep myself safe. Now that I've got Reed, those natural instincts are failing a little. He'll protect me enough for both of us, so why should I worry?" Ayah admitted gently, smiling at the thought.
Brigit thought Ayah was so lucky to have someone like Reed, who loved and adored her so much that he would do absolutely anything for her. She didn't know half of what they had been through, but from the way that Ayah talked about it, she knew it was serious and she knew that theirs was the kind of relationship that nothing could break apart. All Brigit could hope for was that somewhere on her travels, she would find someone to love who could be her version of Reed. Someone to her happier than she had ever expected to be and make her feel loved. She wouldn't worry about anything because he would take care of anything that came their way, good or bad and make sure she never had one bad thought in her head.
Of course, if Ayah had known what she was thinking, she would have been forced to correct her and bring her back down to earth with a bang because their life together was nothing of the sort. She worried and panicked more than ever but she always knew that he would never let anyone get between them or hurt her. It was a different kind of 'safe' feeling than the one Brigit was daydreaming about.
As they approached her room and were forced to bypass Benny, who couldn't even look at either of them before rushing off with a guilty look on his face, Ayah knew he had been up to no good. And Reed had probably saved the day, once again. At least Benny had avoided any contact with Brigit and hadn't even looked at her. That was definitely progress and she would, unfortunately, have to show Reed her approval later on, which made her smile.
They turned a corner towards Brigid's room only for Ayah to be surprisingly shaken by the sight of what they found there. Brigit screamed and began backing off down the corridor they had just walked down but she couldn't follow her. She was rooted to the spot, staring at the dead body in shock as Brigit turned and ran away from the horrid sight. It seemed like an eternity before she heard Reed's voice behind her, summoned by Brigit's scream and then frantic search for someone to tell about the sight she had just witnessed. For being practically hysterical, she had a level head on her, unlike Ayah who barely seemed to register him.
"Darling...it's alright, just look at me." He urged her to turn away from Eddie's dead body as a feeling of unusual guilt swept through him. He had been following Eddie back to his room and yet, he had been sidetracked by an old woman who had fallen down the last two steps from the upper deck and stopped to help her. She had been in a real state so he sat with her until the doctor arrived to check her over. By the time he had caught up to the place where he had left Eddie, it was too late. Brigit was running out screaming and he realized that she and Ayah had experienced something he should have stopped from happening.
Reed was forced to physically turn Ayah away from Eddie's body and once he had done that, she let the whole situation sink in as she escaped into his arms and hid herself away from the world. Since he had only been a short distance away from the doctor when Brigit found him, they had gone to investigate together. He could tell from the look Doctor Burgess gave him that the news was less than good.
There was a killer on board the ship.
One person out of four hundred and fifty who was a danger to them all. And to make Reed even more uneasy, he knew it wasn't the mystery man that Eddie had worked for. The killing was too obvious, too unclean to be done by a professional. And that only meant trouble...there was an amateur who had just made their first sloppy kill. Reed only hoped that they hadn't just set off a hunger that would need to continue to be fed.