Silence reigned for a few moments before murmuring broke out. Juliet looked up at Evan, concerned. He slipped an arm around her waist and drew her closer, putting his lips against her hair as if kissing her.
“It’s a test. Don’t show any emotion.”
The words were so soft, Juliet almost couldn’t hear them. She schooled her expression into a blank mask. Lisa Sinclair would not care if they were going on a yacht. She would just want to get to business.
Christopher joined his father and held up a small metal box. He didn’t explain what it was, but Juliet knew.
The transmitter/detonator she and Evan had planted yesterday. She felt Evan’s arm tighten around her waist.
“Here on land there can be security compromises, but on the yacht we can assure everyone’s comfort, safety and privacy.”
Both Christopher and Vince were looking around the room carefully. They couldn’t know for sure it was someone here who had planted the device, and even if they did, it wasn’t an item that particularly screamed police.
Lawmen didn’t tend to plant detonation devices. Of course, Omega Sector wasn’t your everyday law enforcement.
“Anyone not interested in joining us on the yacht may leave now. Your association with the Cady family will be finished for good,” Vince proclaimed.
That certainly upped the stakes for everyone. Silence fell over the room once more.
“Well, we’re in! Just point us to the boat and we’re ready. It’ll be like a second honeymoon, won’t it, honey?” Evan broke the silence with his enthusiastic response, moving toward the doorway where Cady stood, bringing Juliet along with him.
She just plastered a smile on her face, although it was the last thing she felt like doing.
Moving to a yacht changed everything. All their plans, the information they’d gleaned from their surveillance work about Cady’s security forces, all wasted. The transmitting device her brothers had given her would be worthless out in the Chesapeake Bay with no amplifier.
They’d be going in blind, with no way to contact Omega for support. They’d be totally on their own.
And Evan, instead of trying to figure a way of gracefully bowing out, had just enthusiastically agreed to be the first ones on the ship.
Things had just gone from iffy to downright impossible.
* * *
EVAN DIDN’T LIKE the yacht idea, but there wasn’t any way around it, so he decided to at least make it look as if he embraced the concept.
Cady was smart. This abrupt change put everyone on edge and changed all the game plans. Including Juliet and Evan’s. On the yacht Cady would have all the advantages.
They’d found the transmitter where Evan and Juliet had left it, but hadn’t identified it as law enforcement equipment. It could just as easily belong to someone who had more nefarious purposes in mind.
Juliet hadn’t reacted to the transmitter’s appearance, thank goodness. Vince and Christopher had both been watching everyone, looking for a reaction. Evan knew Juliet couldn’t be happy about this change of plans. The safety net, feeble as it was, had just been yanked right out from under them.
But there was no time to talk about it, no time to get a new game plan together. They just had to go with it and watch each other’s backs.
“When do we head out?” Evan asked Cady. Hopefully, keeping up the bravado would remove all suspicion from them.
“If you will just provide your luggage to my staff, we have cars ready to take you all to the ship.”
Evan nodded and led the way out of the room, arm wrapped around Juliet’s waist. Others followed, while a few stayed behind to press for further details from Cady, or maybe even to bow out altogether. Good. Anyone leaving now would be one less problem for him and Juliet to deal with, while also strengthening their cover.
Evan walked with her out to the Jeep. Her pinched expression tugged at his heart, but he couldn’t stop to reassure her. Too many ears around.
He got their luggage out of the trunk. Immediately, one of Cady’s staff members appeared to assist. Evan freely handed them over, but knew the contents would be thoroughly searched before he and Juliet saw them again.
It was all part of Cady’s plan, and it was a good one. He would now control what went onto the vessel, including weapons. This would eliminate anybody planning to double-cross him. Also, once they were out in the Chesapeake Bay, cell phone reception might be sketchy, and most certainly monitored by Cady’s people.
Calling in the cavalry wasn’t going to be an option.
They needed to get a message about the change in situation to Omega now, but Evan couldn’t figure out how to do it without being obvious. Any call they made would be heard; texts would be monitored.
“I’m going to text Aunt Mildred and let her know that we may need her to watch the dogs a couple extra days. I don’t want to take a chance on being out at sea and not being able to get a message to her. You know how she would worry,” Juliet said to him, already getting out her phone.
Evan could’ve kissed her. As usual, Juliet was one step ahead of everybody with the plan-making. Thank goodness for the Branson family and all their crazy codes with each other.
“She’ll like that we’re going on a boat. You know she just went on a cruise last fall.” Juliet spoke as she typed. “I need to mention to her how to turn the satellite television on, too. Just in case she wants to watch while she’s there, you know, since the transmitter isn’t working anymore.”
It looked as if Juliet would be able to get the important info out to her brothers. They would be on a ship, Omega needed to use the satellite to locate them, and the transmitter was no longer an option.
This was a perfect example of
