Page 25 of Exposed

“One glass or two, Sir?” The waiter passed a flute into his hand.

Nate forced his gaze to the short Hispanic man and smiled. “Two please,” he murmured.

He passed him another and nodded at him. “Enjoy, Sir. Dinner will be served shortly.” The waiter moved to the table behind Nate and he lifted his glass and sipped.

His eyes sought Maddie, but the floor where she had stood only moments before was now vacant. The bubbly liquid tingled his tongue. Out of the corner of his eyes, he scanned the crowd next to him.

Shit. She was gone.

He turned and made his way back to the table. Three other couples sat around Ashley, and he slipped into the cream-colored chair.

“There you are honey,” Ashley said. She leaned in close to him and gestured around the table. “This is Adam, Mary, Kurt, Georgia, Ivan, and Olga.”

Nate leaned out of his seat and shook everyone’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you all. Bear with me as I try to remember your names. My memory isn’t as good as my wife’s.”

Mary chuckled and waved at him. “We have the rest of the trip to get acquainted. Are you two going snorkeling at Paradise Island tomorrow?”

Ashley bounced in her seat. “Oh, I—”

“No, sorry. We have another excursion planned.”

Ashley sank a little in her seat and he took another sip of champagne. They weren’t here on vacation, and it would be easy to lose sight of that. With the vast majority of the guests gone for the day, they could do more digging in Carlos’s suite. Theconversation turned to things to do at other ports, and everyone had a cruise story to tell.

When Ashley took a drink, he leaned in close to her ear. “Have you done a head count?”

She took a long sip and nodded. “Tony and Hector are near the back, far east corner of the room, and Maddie and Carlos are two tables to your right. I’ll sneak to the restroom and let Dylan know the coast is clear.

She excused herself and stood. She skirted around the tables and disappeared into the women’s room to the left of the stage. After a few seconds, her voice crackled over the earpiece.

“Everyone is in place. Go, Dylan.”

“Perfect, I’ll check in when I’m out. You guys better bring me something back, or I’m racking up room service on your account Nate.”

Fucking prick. He’d probably order steak and lobster too. “Go for it,” Ashley said. “The bureau covers expenses.”

“Sweet, have fun. I’m going to binge and watch Die Hard.”

Nate’s mouth twitched on a chuckle. A line of waiters streamed through the double doors, plates covered in silver lids in hand. His stomach groaned. Thank god. A plate slid in front of him and he dug into a salad.

Ashley returned and moaned. “That looks delicious,” she said as she flapped her napkin in the air and spread it on her lap. Nate took a bite and nodded.

“It’s really good. Damn, I haven’t even eaten today.”

Ashley took a bite and her lips pursed at him. “You’re too distracted. You need to relax a little and enjoy yourself.”

Nate snorted. “And go snorkeling? I’m sure Arthur will love seeing that expense.” His boss had been skeptical at best when Nate had requested approval for the trip. If Arthur hadn’t completely trusted his judgement, they wouldn’t be here right now. His neck was on the line, all because of Maddie.

“Yeah, I forgot our circumstance for a minute. I’d never be able to afford a trip like this on my own.” Her voice lowered and a stab of guilt hit Nate. Just because he was hung up on Maddie and the job, didn’t mean he had to keep everyone from enjoying themselves.

“If you and Dylan want to go, I can handle things tomorrow.”

Ashley’s eyes widened. “But—”

“Don’t worry about it. There won’t be much going on here. But if our target is on another excursion, it might be beneficial to follow him.”

She smiled. “I don’t care where we go, as long as I get to do something. And if it’s in the name of surveillance, even better.” She winked and lifted a grape tomato to her lips.

He polished off the last of his salad and straightened his shoulders. God, there had better be more food coming. He dabbed his chin with his napkin and slid his chair out.

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