Page 30 of The Situation Ship
Isaiah’s eyes widened, and he held his hands up defensively.“No! You’ve been thinking I might’ve been hired to hurt you? Look, I was visiting Eckells at Heaven’s Heart, the club Mina works at. I overheard her talking to her boss about your predicament with Joshua. Eckells hired me to ensure you and Mina are safe, and not cause trouble that’ll blow back on theMidas.”
Poppy let his words sink in. “You knew I was planning on killing my boyfriend, and instead of arresting me, you decided to come on board? Forgive me for thinking that those two things seem to contradict themselves.”
“No body, no crime for me to investigate,” Isaiah said. “Still, I wanted to know what could motivate the woman who seemingly has everything to kill, and I wanted to stop you before you did. Then I heard you and Mina talking about his plans to killyou, how he was working with your ex-manager.”
Poppy’s breathing levelled out as he confirmed he wasn’t a threat. “But you said you wanted to stop me, not him. What if Joshua had come on board? Would you have protected him or me?” she asked, stepping closer, studying him.
“Would you have killed Joshua if he didn’t try to harm you first?” Isaiah asked, closing the gap between them. She stared at his chest, and he tipped her chin up to face him.
“No, I’d never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it,” she said firmly. “But given how you’ve spied on me, how do I really knowyou weren’t hired to harm me? And you aren’t just telling me all this so I let my guard down?”
“Because if I wanted to harm you, I could’ve easily drowned you in the spa pool. Or you might’ve fallen down any one of the dozens of staircases or fallen overboard—” He cut himself off with a shrug.
Poppy froze when he mentioned how her aunt had died. Had he looked into the case after taking the job?
“There are a million ways to ensure you’d never be found. But I assure you that I intend to keep you alive and safe,” Isaiah finished.
“Telling me all the ways you could kill me is supposed to make me trust you? You could have killed Patrice to keep me closer.”
“Telling you all the ways I could kill you should prove to you that I wouldn’t have to kill anyone to get to you. Why keep you close and draw out the chase when I could just kill you and enjoy the rest of my holiday?” he said smugly.
“Fair point.”
“I vowed to protect you, and I will.” His sincerity cut through her suspicions.
Her breath puffed between them, visible in the cold air, and he pulled her close, keeping her warm. It seemed he meant what he said, even if it meant protecting her from the cold. Resting her hands on his chest, she didn’t pull away.
“You’re afraid – I can see it even as you try to hide it– but I swear you have nothing to fear from me,” he said. “I agreed to go along with the captain’s cover-up because being locked up in ship jail would trap us altogether, which wouldn’t be ideal if there’s someone out for your blood. We need to play along and let the captain believe we’re following the rules, but we must keep our guard up. I don’t think Patrice will be the last body to drop, because she wasn’t the first.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Poppy stammered, stepping out of his grasp.
“This isn’t the first dead maid connected to you.” Isaiah reached out to hold her hips, as if he didn’t want her to escape.
Poppy frowned. “Another maid? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“A housekeeper in the Claren hotel was killed. She was cleaning up your suite after you checked out, but she was found dead –ate so much that her heart gave out,” Isaiah told her.“We believe she was force-fed.”
Poppy felt the blood drain from her face. “She ate so much she died in my suite? Why didn’t I hear anything about this?” she asked, feeling sick. “I’m sure my manager would’ve told me, or I’d have noticed the crime scene.”
“You had checked out earlier that morning, and the hotel had no reason to inform you.” Isaiah watched her reactions with narrowed eyes.
“The Claren Hotel? I’m trying to remember. I stayed in so many hotels during the tour…” Poppy’s eyes widened, and her hands went to her mouth. “Oh God,I wasn’t meant to check out until the following morning, but I decided not to stay the extra night before moving on to the next venue so I could get some sightseeing done in the next city. Do you mean… Am I the real target, but Patrice and the other maid were just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Why not come after me?”
“Maybe they saw the culprit’s face, and the killer didn’t want to leave any witnesses. Maybe the killer wanted to send a message that they could get to you, so they did to the housekeeper what they were planning to do to you. They aren’t a professional, if they were they wouldn’t have deviated from their target.”
“Great, so not a professional hitman. That makes me feel much better,” Poppy huffed.
“Since I’ve laid my cards on the table, can you start to trust me?” he asked, staring down at her.
He had given up more information than she’d expected. She wanted to know what else he knew, and keeping him at arm’s length would help keep her alive.
“Can you trustme?” she asked softly.
“You weren’t planning on killing anyone else on board?”
“Only if it’s in self-defence,” she teased.
“Then from now on, we agree to work together to make sure none of us gets hurt,” he said.
