Page 46 of The Situation Ship
It dawned on her that theMidaslikely had many hidden routes to keep the staff’s movements discreet. She couldn’t imagine how many secret passages there were in the ship or how easy it would be to disappear if you knew your way. How easy it would be for someone to conceal their movements or disappear in an instant!
She shook away the paranoia. Joshua wasn’t sneaking around the ship’s passageways. He wasn’t some criminal mastermind.
With the quiet echo of the performance behind her, her senses started to level out again. She didn’t know why imagining Joshua’s face had triggered such a strong reaction. Maybe it was a combination of the opera’s themes of betrayal and the music. Either way, she made no plans to return to her seat.
“What happened? One minute you were there, and the next you were gone. Are you feeling okay?” Isaiah asked, appearing and looking her over with worried eyes.
She wrapped her arms around him as he stood close, needing his steady presence. The steady beat of his heart settled her own.
“I thought I saw someone, and it unsettled me,” Poppy admitted, releasing him. “My demons are chasing me.” She tried to make light of her reaction, but she could see the concern in his eyes.
“Demons?” Isaiah took a seat beside her. “If there’s something you need to get off your chest, then I’m here for you without judgement,” he said, taking her hand in his own.
But there was a strange coolness in his tone, and she took back her hand. It sounded like he was looking for a confession, not to comfort her.Suddenly, she didn’t feel so safe. Where had the switch in his attitude come from?
“Is there something you want to ask me?” she asked, leaning back on the barstool. “It sounds like there’s somethingyouwant to get off your chest.”
“I don’t want to do this here,” Isaiah said evasively.
“Do what?”
He looked guilty, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“You’re starting to scare me,” Poppy said, worrying that she had made a mistake trusting him. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket. “What is this?”
“Open it,” he said, glancing around to ensure no one else was listening.
She did as instructed. Background files on one, two, three individuals. It hit her. Isaiah wasn’t here by chance; he was here to investigate her.
“Where did you get these?” she asked, looking at the payment transfers, photos, and crime scene photos for three people who had meant very little to her.
“Eckells faxed them over,” Isaiah admitted. “I was investigating their deaths before we boarded, and I had him help me dig for details into the victims. I wanted to see if he could find anything my colleagues might have missed.”
Poppy flipped through the pages.“That’s why you went to reception the other night to pick this up.” He’d been willing to leave her alone that night because he didn’t want her to know about the investigation.
“All three of the victims worked for you and your aunt for long periods,” Isaiah said, shoving the crime scene photos towards her. Gruesome crime scene photos.
“So? A lot of people worked for me and my aunt. Why are you showing me these?” Poppy snapped, turning over the images.
“But for three to end up dead in a matter of months is a big coincidence, don’t you think? Very interesting,” he said.
By ‘interesting’, she guessed he really meant ‘suspicious’. Poppy clenched her teeth, feeling like a fool for trusting him. “This whole time, you’ve been trying to get me to trust you only because you think I’m some serial killer? Trying to get close to me in hopes of what? That I confess?”
“Your driver, your maid, and your choreographer. All were killed within months of each other –and then, in the fourth month, your aunt. Fifth, Patrice. People close to you end up dead.” His voice was steely cold, and she knew she was talking to the detective and not her bodyguard.
“Is this why you accepted the bodyguard job? Because you’re investigating me? You thought you could earn my trust and learn all my dirty little secrets?” Poppy demanded, her voice tinged with betrayal. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. I should have known you were after something; there’salwayssomething.”
“Yes, I took the job because of the investigation. I have a duty of care to the victims. Whether or not you were involved remainsto be seen, and there were two conclusions: you were involved in the murders, or someone is killing off those around you. I knew either you were a danger or wereindanger,” Isaiah said.
“So either I’m a killer, or someone is out to kill me? Quite the dilemma, not knowing if you need to protect me or others from me.” He’d been after her from the start.
“It’s my job to consider all possibilities, and it wasn’t long before Patrice was killed – after you told me about your plans for Joshua.”
Poppy seethed. “Joshua was only in a self-defence scenario. Patrice? I was with you when she was killed, so you can’t throw either of those in my face! Why did you bring these with you today?”
“I didn’t intend to, but considering your habit of going through people’s belongings, I was being proactive.”
“How could I go through your things while we’re together?!”
