Her Cruise Ship Surprise | ✔

Chapter Twenty-Seven

With sweat dripping from his forehead, Logan stepped into the plaza and saw Jason sitting at the Deli with a cup of coffee and a piece of apple pie. He would have ordered something himself, but he wasn't exactly hungry. Plunking his butt in the chair, he grabbed a napkin and dried his face.

"You look like you just ran a marathon."

"I saw him again," he said, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath. That was the third time he'd seen the guy.

"Who?"

"The guy with the gun. As soon as he saw me, he took off." Logan slammed his hand on the table. "Then I lost him in the crowd." If only he'd been more vigilant, instead of running on adrenaline, the man would never have got away. Again. It took him by surprise.

'Now, I know something is going on." Jason glanced around the room nervously, as he tapped his fork on the side of his plate.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked.

"Darla should be here by now."

"I thought you guys were searching together."

"We went our separate ways to try and cover more ground. I haven't seen her since."

That didn't sit well with him. "Are her things still in your room?"

"I haven't been back to the room. You don't think she found her and now they are in cahoots or something, do you?"

He was hoping that the girls just found a quiet nook to hide in and were avoiding them. But he had a feeling it was more sinister than that. "I wish that's all it were, but that girl dotes on you."

A goofy grin spread across Jason's face and his eyes brightened. "You think so?"

If it was one thing he did know, it was that the girls cared more than they often let on. He knew that Tamara loved him. But her stubborn nature was afraid of what might happen should they let their relationship develop. He didn't think Darla would do a Tamara though, that's how he knew that something was really going down.

"Come on. Let's go check your room."

The two men made their way back through the ship in silence, a dark foreboding resting on them both. It was like the grim reaper was trailing along behind Logan. If she didn't want to spend her life with him that would be hard enough to handle, but her death would tear him into pieces. The guilt would take him to the grave with her. Logan waited while Jason slipped his card into the slot to unlock the door.

When they walked inside, Jason let out a noisy breath. "Her stuff is still here, but something doesn't feel right."

Logan looked around the room and curled his fingers into a fist, his nails digging into his palm. "You're right. It doesn't." Truthfully, things felt off ever since he spoke with security about the man with the gun.

"Good, I'm not just being paranoid then," Jason replied, walking over to the balcony door. He pushed the curtain aside and cursed. "What should we do next?"

Just as in the past, Logan took control as he pulled out the ship map. "We are going to do a floor by floor search. There are 13 decks. You start at the top and I'll start at the bottom. We'll meet at our usual spot. Here." He pointed to the plaza on deck 7.

Jason pulled his lips to one side in a half-worried grin. "I swear we live in the plaza."

"I'm beginning to wonder if it's bad luck," Logan said, rubbing his tense neck. If he wasn't careful, it would turn into a migraine before the day was over, and that wasn't something he needed right now. He needed to be on top of his game if he was going to track her down. If the deck by deck search didn't work, they'd have to resort to knocking on cabin doors. And then his next plan of action would be to take his concerns to the captain. That might require some subterfuge on his part with one of the ladies who worked on board.