Burn

They had a pretty good setup for spending time together, except for Bridget and Matt. With their jobs they could have any number of reasons for talking with any passenger, but it wasn’t like they could all get together for tea. On the other hand, either of them had perfect excuses for coming to Redwine’s suite at any time, Bridget because she was the steward, while Matt could be delivering room service, plus they could speak to him on deck as he was rearranging deck chairs or whatever.

They couldn’t afford to have everyone gathering in Redwine’s suite, where Larkin or his security detail could possibly see them coming or going and, depending on who had witnessed the scene with Tiffany the night before, wonder why in hell she was so friendly with them. Plus Ryan and Faith had originally been booked into the suite on the other side of Larkin, so Cael didn’t want them anywhere near it. Tiffany’s stateroom, on the other hand, was on a lower deck, and they could come and go without anyone being the wiser. Except for the public areas, ships were more private than most people realized. Part of it was the way they were designed, with different sections of staterooms served by different elevators, so there wasn’t a great deal of cross traffic. He had passed exactly one person in this section on his way to Tiffany’s room, and that was soon after getting off the elevator. Basically, no one paid any attention to anyone else.

The suite Ryan and Faith had been reassigned was on the opposite side of the ship from Larkin’s suite, but still on the same deck, so while they could probably get together there without any problem, Tiffany’s stateroom was much safer.

"Is the key-logger program set?" Cael asked Faith, who was their computer expert. Expert, hell, she was a hacker, and she was scary good.

"It’s done," Faith said crisply. "Anything Larkin types on his laptop, we’ll collect. I have the computer set to transmit the data whenever he logs onto the Internet, and in fifteen-minute intervals thereafter."

"You know," Cael mused, "I used to enjoy using a computer, before I found out what hackers like you can do from the comfort of their own living rooms." He was just glad Faith was on his team, instead of working against him.

A lot of passengers brought their laptops with them, so there was nothing at all suspicious about Faith having hers – a ridiculously pink Dell, to which she’d stuck a few whimsical, sequined appliques. The Silver Mist came equipped with a cell tower, so wireless Internet was available shipwide, and no one had to be out of touch if they didn’t want to be. Except for the sequins, Faith’s computer looked deceptively ordinary. It was not, and neither was she.

They made quick plans for the evening, making sure that wherever Larkin was, when not in his suite, one or more of them would be nearby. Each member of the team was equipped with miniature cameras to document who Larkin met with, in case one or more of his contacts was aboard the ship. Odds were that any business done would take place in Larkin’s suite, but they had to be prepared for anything. Bridget or Matt would gain access to the suite’s parlor as soon as possible, and then they’d be set.

Tiffany made a sour face. "Tonight I’ll get gussied up and try to work my womanly charms on Larkin. God, I hope he doesn’t bite." She used the term to mean she hoped he didn’t take the bait, but Cael could see the slight movement of her lips as she fought to contain a smile. Faith looked up at the ceiling, pretending she hadn’t heard anything. Ryan grinned outright.

"Ha, ha," said Cael. He’d never live it down, that Redwine had managed to sink her teeth into him. If he hadn’t been trying so hard not to hurt her he could have put her down and out in one second flat; this grief was what he got for being a gentleman.

"He’s creepy," Tiffany continued. She wasn’t crazy about the idea of spending any time with Larkin, but it was another possible avenue of gathering information. Was he a talker? Did he try to impress women by telling them how important he was, and let tidbits slip? Not likely, but not impossible, either. Cael wouldn’t ask anyone on his team to have sex with anyone they didn’t want to have sex with, but if she could get into Larkin’s suite and plant some backup surveillance, all the better.

"After watching that fit you threw last night, he’ll probably run far and fast if you come on to him," Ryan said soothingly, then ruined the effect by grinning again. "I know I would."

She merely gave him a "you wanna bet?" smirk. A lot of men would be willing to put up with more than that to spend time with a woman like Tiffany.

"Bluetooth sniffer?" he prompted, to get the discussion back on track.

"Working," replied Faith. "We have him covered as much as possible, short of one of us actually being in the suite with him."

They went over the various aspects of their surveillance methods. If Larkin got suspicious and wanted his suite swept for bugs, Cael could use a remote to disconnect the batteries. If the bug wasn’t working, a sweep wouldn’t pick it up. For the hardwired bugs he’d threaded into Larkin’s bedroom, he could simply pull them out. The hardwired stuff was more reliable and harder to detect, but sometimes they had no choice but to go wireless. Most jobs, like this one, he went with a combination of the two.

He checked his watch; Bridget had been on guard duty for an hour, which was a long time for her not to be taking care of her duties as steward. "I have to relieve Bridget," he said, wondering what mischief Redwine had gotten up to in that hour. Anything was possible. He might get there to find Bridget had both cuffed and gagged her, something he’d considered doing himself. He wasn’t worried that Redwine had escaped, because Bridget could take her with one hand tied behind her back, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t gotten up to some mischief-making. She was way, way too curious about what they were doing and what was going on, which was understandable, but the less she knew the better, because she couldn’t let slip what she didn’t know.