subject to. He’d need someplace that was guaranteed not to be disturbed…
The solution hit Locke like a two-by-four. He shot out of his seat.
“That’s it,” he said.
“That’s what?” Dilara asked.
“Garrett. He made a mistake when he told me he wasn’t staying for the cruise. Come on. I need to call Aiden and have him send something to my computer.”
The music had stopped, signaling that gala was over, and they threaded their way through the thinned crowd toward the elevator.
On his way back to the room, he called Aiden to have him to send a complete schematic for the ship, particularly the air handling system.
Locke made a quick sweep of the room to make sure it hadn’t been disturbed, and when he was satisfied, he flipped open his computer. One of the ship’s features was a wireless Internet connection throughout the vessel, so he immediately saw the email from Aiden. In the body of the email was the other piece of information he’d requested. Garrett’s cabin number.
He called up the schematics. Garrett’s cabin, a sprawling 2500-square-foot suite, was on the highest residential deck at the bow of the ship, just above the bridge. The views from the balcony spanning from one side to the other would be marvelous.
Then he overlaid Garrett’s cabin with the venting system and saw what he was expecting.
“I’ll be damned.”
“What is it?” Dilara asked.
“Until we got here, I assumed Garrett was taking the cruise since he had a suite. But then he said he was leaving in the morning before the ship sailed. It made me wonder why he would go to the trouble of booking the best cabin on the ship if he was only going to use it for one night. Look at this.”
Dilara bent over Locke, and her perfume washed over him. He tried to ignore its exhilarating effect and pointed at the screen.
“His suite is the only one right next to the main air intake for the ship,” he said. “Anything injected into the air stream would be distributed throughout the ship.”
“That’s how he’s going to infect everyone?”
“That’s my guess. He could drill a hole through his wall right into the air shaft, and no one would ever know. Even if he’s not here, he could leave instructions not to have the room disturbed. There would be no chance that the device would be shut down.”
“We should tell someone.”
“The problem will be getting access to his cabin. It’s probably guarded.”
“What about the FBI?”
“I suppose that’s an option, although they prefer to have warrants, and that’ll be hard to get with the lack of evidence we have.”
“Are you always so optimistic?”
He stood and found himself face to face with Dilara. His vision contracted to just her eyes, and he could feel her breath on his lips.
“I try to think through the alternatives. But believe me, I will get at whatever is in his cabin and stop it. Then we can find out what happened to your father.”
“I appreciate you taking all of this on. You didn’t have to.”
“Yes, I did.”
Before Locke realized the impulse, he swept her into his arms. He kissed her deeply, with a passion he hadn’t felt in a long time. Her body felt warm and firm against his own. She ran her fingers through his hair as they kissed. He ran his hands down her exquisite back…
A knock at the door interrupted them. They stepped apart, as though their parents had caught them making out on the living room couch.
Locke smiled, and then he realized why that one simple kiss was different than any other in the last two years. For the first time, he hadn’t compared the experience to Karen. He didn’t know what that meant, but he didn’t feel the guilt he thought he would.
The knock came again, and this time he could hear a voice from outside.
“Dr. Locke, it’s Special Agent Perez. I need to see you.”
Wiping the lipstick from his mouth with a handkerchief, Locke went to the door and opened it. Perez walked in. He gave a lingering glance at Dilara, who was fixing her hair.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Not at all,” Locke said. “In fact, I was about to come find you.”
“Now? You’ve been here all evening, and you didn’t come tell me?”
“I didn’t have anything when I arrived, so I didn’t want to bother you. But now I do.”
“Like what? Is this about our discussion yesterday?”
Locke shook his head. “Sebastian Garrett. He’s on board. He’s behind Rex Hayden’s crash. The same kind of thing is going to happen on this ship, and I know how.”
“The billionaire?” Perez said in disbelief. “That’s great. I suppose you have evidence?”
“I have a theory. I can show it to you on my computer.”
Perez put up his hands. “That can wait. I need you to come with me. That’s why I came here. When I saw your names on the guest list, I made sure to observe you during the gala. I didn’t want to make contact there in case we were seen together, so I waited to get you until you returned to your room.”
“Where are we going?”
“We have a cabin set up downstairs where we can talk about it.”
“What’s it about?”
“I’m afraid I can’t talk about it here.”
“Okay. Come on, Dilara.”
Perez shook his head. “I’m afraid she doesn’t have the proper clearance. She’ll have to stay here.”
“She stays with me,” Locke said firmly.
“No. Only you. Now.” When Locke hesitated, Perez said, “It’s important.”
Perez’s secrecy was odd, but after a moment, Locke grudgingly nodded.
“I have a key,” he said to Dilara. “If someone knocks, don’t let them in. Call me right away, and I can get back here in 30 seconds.”
“You do look at all the alternatives, don’t you?” she said with a smile. “I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”
Locke liked her spirit. She was a lot like Karen in that way. But even with the similarities, she was her own person, and that’s why his feelings were different this time.
He returned the smile and nodded.
Then Locke left with Agent Perez to find out what was so important for him to see.
Dilara saw the door close and wondered what had just happened. The kiss certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. She’d felt the attraction to Locke for a few days now. But she had just dismissed it as a crush brought on by unusual circumstances. Now she didn’t know what to make of it.
If they were going to find out what was in Garrett’s cabin, she was damn well going to help. That meant getting out of her clingy dress and into something more appropriate. The first thing was to remove her makeup, so she went into the bathroom to wash it off.
She was about to turn on the sink when she heard the faint whine of the electronic lock on the cabin door. It had been less than a minute since Locke and Perez had left. Her first thought was that Locke had come back for his computer.
“Forget something?” she yelled.
No one answered.
“It’s okay. I’m in the bathroom.”
Still no answer.
That was odd. Just a moment ago, he worried about her opening the door for strangers. Now he was
