Chương 7
Not naked.
Indented.
A pale band of skin ran around the base, and she kept rubbing it with her thumb without realizing it.
Captain Russell knocked once.
“Come in.”
He entered carrying a white envelope.
Evelyn stared at it.
“The ring,” he said.
“I told you to give it to Daniel.”
“We attempted to. He refused it.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“He said it was yours.”
Evelyn let out a slow breath.
“Of course he did.”
Russell set the envelope on the desk.
“He also requested copies of tonight’s guest authorization logs and the corridor access records.”
“Did you give them to him?”
“No. I told him formal requests should go through vessel management.”
“Good.”
Russell remained standing.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What?”
He hesitated.
Russell was in his late fifties, broad-shouldered, silver-haired, and generally uncomfortable with any sentence involving feelings.
“I should have flagged the guest activity earlier.”
Evelyn leaned back.
“You flagged what required authorization.”
“Not all of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Cole had been using the yacht more frequently when you weren’t aboard.”
“I knew that.”
“Not the extent.”
Evelyn felt tiredness sharpen into attention.
“How often?”
Russell looked displeased with himself.
“Six events since January. Two dinners. Three day cruises while docked or local. One overnight coastal trip.”
She stared at him.
“Six?”
“He had standing guest privileges.”
“I gave him standing privileges.”
“Yes.”
“So why would you flag it?”
Russell looked toward the envelope on the desk.
“Because crew noticed he was introducing himself differently.”
Evelyn said nothing.
Russell continued.
“Nothing explicit at first. Things like ‘my captain,’ ‘my program,’ ‘we run a quiet boat.’ People speak casually. Owners’ partners especially.”
“But?”
“On the Palm Beach outing, one guest asked me how long I’d worked for Mr. Cole.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“What did you say?”
“That I worked for the vessel.”
“And after that?”
“I asked the chief steward to note any requests involving commercial activity. Mr. Cole said the guests were personal.”
“Were they?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn opened her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Russell’s answer came slowly.
“Because you were engaged to him.”
She almost smiled.
“That’s not an operational category.”
“No.”
“But it’s the real answer.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked at the ring envelope.
“Did he pressure crew?”
“Not overtly.”
“Russell.”
“He could be insistent.”
“How?”
“He’d say you had approved things verbally.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Did the crew act on that?”
“Sometimes, if the request fell within his existing privileges.”
“What kind of requests?”
“Guest additions. Catering changes. Berthing adjustments. Transportation. Nothing involving ownership documents, chartering, banking, or safety decisions.”
“Anything billed externally?”
“No. Everything went to the vessel account.”
Meaning her account.
Evelyn rubbed her forehead.
“How much?”
“I can have operations total it.”
“Please.”
Russell nodded.
“And tell everyone something for me.”
“Yes?”
“No one is in trouble for following the authority structure I created.”
Russell’s mouth tightened.
“That will matter to them.”
“It should.”
He turned toward the door.
“Russell.”
He looked back.
“The blue drive.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think someone took it?”
“I have no basis to think that.”
“Could Daniel have left it somewhere else?”
“Certainly.”
“Could someone have entered the suite before his clearance was canceled?”
“Anyone assigned to service it. Mr. Cole. Ms. Reed. A guest if admitted by either of them. The suite door logs openings, not identities in every circumstance.”
“So we don’t know.”
“No.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Then we don’t know.”
Russell studied her for a moment.
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
“I’m working.”
“So am I.”
He almost smiled.
“Good night, Ms. Cross.”
When he left, Evelyn sat alone with the envelope.
She did not open it.
At 1:17 a.m., her phone vibrated.
Daniel.
She watched his name until the call stopped.
A text appeared.
We need to talk before you contact anyone.
Another followed.
You do not understand what Harbor North is.
Then:
Please don’t make business decisions while you’re hurt.
Evelyn stared at that sentence.
She read it again.
Something about it was so perfectly Daniel that she nearly admired it.
Not please don’t destroy me.
Not I’m sorry.
Not I lied.
Please don’t make business decisions while you’re hurt.
He had taken her pain, packaged it as impaired judgment, and made himself the rational party in four seconds.
Evelyn set the phone face down.
A minute later she picked it up again.
She did not respond to Daniel.
She called Nina Patel.
Nina answered with the thick voice of someone dragged from deep sleep.
“If someone is dead, call somebody else.”
“No one’s dead.”
“Then I’m hanging up.”
“I need a lawyer.”
Nina was silent.
Then awake.
“Personal or Cross?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That is not an encouraging answer.”
Evelyn looked at the envelope.
“Daniel has been telling potential investors that Cross Family Capital may back a fund he’s raising.”
“How potential?”
“Apparently enough that Robert Keene called counsel from my yacht.”
A pause.
“Your yacht.”
“Yes.”
“At one-thirty in the morning.”
“Yes.”
“Why was Robert Keene on your yacht?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Daniel hosted a dinner.”
“Did you authorize it?”
“Not exactly.”
Nina was silent again.
“Define not exactly.”
“I gave Daniel standing guest privileges. I did not know he was using the boat for investor meetings.”
“Okay.”
“He’s also having an affair.”
Another pause.
“Okay.”
“With the woman who designed the fund deck.”
“Of course he is.”
Evelyn laughed once, unexpectedly.
Nina said, “Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“Is he there?”
“No.”
“Did you access his devices or accounts?”
“No.”
“Do not.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“People say that until they discover a password is their dog’s birthday.”
“I don’t know his dog’s birthday.”
“He doesn’t have a dog.”
“Exactly.”
Nina exhaled.
“Tell me only what you personally know.”
Evelyn did.
It took twenty-three minutes.
Nina interrupted often.
Did Daniel sign anything on behalf of Cross?
Not that Evelyn knew.
Was the yacht owned personally?
May you like
Through Cross Marine Holdings, an entity wholly controlled by Evelyn’s trust.
Had Daniel ever been authorized to represent that entity?
