Jared shook his head slowly. “You’re doing a great job. Everyone is giving glowing reports, the visitors and the staff, so relax and enjoy the final day.”
Keri watched as Tessa visibly relaxed. “Really?”
“Of course. There’s nothing but praise for the cruise, as usual. And the only mention I heard of anything weird with the jewelry were a few women I passed who were raving about the ship’s ‘cleaning service’, whatever that is.”
Tessa bounced. “Wheee! It worked.”
“What you up to, girlie?” Keri asked, sneaking into Jared’s arms for a quick hug.
“I had this brainwave to have the items cleaned before returning them, and made up these little cards ‘complimentary sparkles to make your trip shine’… Well, the card said it better than that, but you get the idea. Like there was a reason for things to be slightly out of place. I guess it worked.”
Keri snickered. “Only on a shifter ship, I bet. I wouldn’t try that one on a human vessel. I think they’d be a little more suspicious.”
“Totally.” Tessa nodded. “Shifters are fun to work with—as long as nothing is gone for good, they’re cool. I’m still upset I can’t figure out who’s taking things in the first place. We’ve got all kinds of shifters working the ship, so it’s not as if I can get any of the Alphas on board to make demands until they find out who it is. Besides, that’s the opposite side of what I want—this isn’t a witch-hunt, and it’s not supposed to be an inquisition either.”
“If everything is in place by the end of the trip, and there are no outstanding complaints from passengers, is it even an issue anymore?” Keri really didn’t want it to be an issue.
Tessa paused. “I can’t just sweep it away, Keri.” She stared up at both of them and shook her head. “I mean, I know you can’t be the thieves, because, hello, you’ve been handing items over to me as fast as you find them, but it still looks bad. And if we can’t point to the guilty party, there’s bound to be someone who will suspect you, even afterward. Or suspect me of covering up your guilt.”
It was too true. “Then we have to look faster. We have a few hours until we make dock. You don’t need me for anything else?”
Tessa shook her head as she unwrapped another chocolate bar.
Jared waved a hand. “I’ll help as well, but first, I wondered if you’d gotten any response to that message I sent to my pack.”
The cat’s grin grew again. “Oh yeah, there was one. Pretty brief, just that he’d meet you at the dock. Someone named Keil signed it.”
A shudder shook her mate, and Keri squeezed him a little tighter. “Jared? You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but I guess we’ll be introducing you to my Alpha sooner than later.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, he’s cool, only there’s a long overdue discussion that needs to happen. Keil took over as Alpha after my folks left town, so he’s not aware of a few things.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“Hell, no. Just…” The buzzer on his waist belt went off and Jared sighed. He checked the screen and stepped away from Keri’s side. “So much for helping you look around for the last few hours. Someone decided the shuffleboard lanes would be a great place to dump a couple of bottles of bubbles. There’s no one available from housekeeping. I have to go clean it up.”
He dropped a kiss on her cheek and turned.
“Wait—I’ll go with you.” She stepped in time with him as he pulled up next to a maintenance closet and opened the lock, dragging out a well-stocked cart. Mop and broom handles stuck out above the edge of the neat basket section. “I have no ideas other than sitting and staring at people anyway. I’m sorry, some troubleshooter I’ve been for us.”
“It’s going to be fine. Really.”
Keri yanked her hair back and secured it with a ponytail holder. There was a light breeze again, this time pulling off the land, and with the ship’s forward momentum, it was enough to make the flags on the railing snap and crackle, their bright colours adding a happy twist to the blues and greens of the surroundings.
The kids were having a blast in the bubbles. Not only kids—a couple of older cats had shifted to their animal forms to join in. They skidded across the surface, four paws splayed wide to the side for balance.
“That looks like a lot of fun.” Jared put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, loudly. “Okay, everyone down to the right.”
Keri frowned. “What are you doing?”
Jared grinned. “Well, I have to clean it up, but not this instant, and as long as they run from the railing toward the inner deck, they should be safe, right?”
Keri watched with admiration as Jared coaxed the gathering of a dozen or so youngsters into a safer starting position. More people gathered to watch the kids take a running start then swoosh across the solid wood boards that were now thoroughly coated with a thin layer of slick wet bubbles.
A cheer went up as Mr. Fedora joined the queue. He chatted with the youngsters around him as he waited for his turn.
“What’s he up to?” Keri asked.
“A little fun? Just because he’s an important person doesn’t mean he can’t have a good time with the simple things of life.” Jared caught her hand in his, and they stood and enjoyed the sun shining down on them, the laughter and excitement in the air making her nearly able to forget there was a cloud hanging over them.
Fedora’s form for the approach was superb, but his steady footing vanished at the three-quarter point of the run, much to the delight of the children who laughed and swooped in to help him to his feet.
“You going to try?” Jared asked her.
“Me? Nahhh.” Only she eyed the deck and wondered if it was terrible that she wanted to join in.
He pushed her forward. “Go on. It’s safe enough. Troubles will be there later, have some fun now.”
She stood in the line, short people and adults all lined up for their own turn. One of the kids raced up to Jared with a couple of extra bottles of bubbles in his hands, and Jared leant over to discuss something—probably reloading the surface to make it slipperier. Just the way he turned his full attention on the child made Keri’s heart ache. He had his hands planted on his thighs, his face turned wholly toward the little wolf as they discussed earnestly.
He was a good man, and Keri was falling in love. It wasn’t enough her wolf was obsessed, she wanted her human mind to love her mate as well. And with every day that passed, she grew more confident love could happen.
Was happening.
Jared sent the child off with one bottle. The line of sliders paused as the little boy dribbled liquid from the open mouth of the bottle in a zigzag pattern over the length of the lane.
A slight commotion from the right drew her attention. Eden from housekeeping marched up to Jared then whispered loud enough that her voice, though not the specific words, could be heard from where Keri stood in the line.
Eden grabbed the railing of the cart and tugged it toward her. Jared laid a hand on the basket section and stopped her motion. That was when Keri spotted the neat
Eden
label on the upper edge of the basket and a horrible, terrible, yet wonderful thought hit her.
Jared gave up fighting, his hands lifted in the air, and Eden turned and flounced off, her cleaning cart in white-knuckle possession.
The little lad who was reloading the bubbles reached the end of the row and turned, giving a quick thumbs-up before racing back to Jared’s side.
Keri rudely forced her way past the few shifters waiting in front of her. “Excuse me, sorry, emergency.”
And with an extra burst of speed, she timed her leap to hit the lane first, her gaze locked on Eden as the woman scurried toward the maintenance-staff-only door, her cart clutched in front of her. Keri balanced as if on a skateboard, twirling in a full 360-degree circle as she fought to keep her balance. A loud roar of approval rose behind her. The wall of the inner cabin shot past her as she bore down on her target. They connected smartly, Eden’s feet flying out from under her, and the cart tipping hard enough it landed with a bounce.
Mops flew one way, brooms and buckets another.
And over it all, a fine layer of earrings, necklaces and other shiny baubles came to rest on top of her and Eden.
Epilogue
He’d come full circle. Jared leaned back in the comfy couch, looking around the familiar coffee shop with something close to wonder rippling through him. Across the table, his Alpha lowered a tray filled with coffees and goodies. Jared still couldn’t smell the damn stuff, but now it didn’t matter in the least, because at his side was his mate, her feet tucked under his thigh as she curled up tight against him.
“You two know how to make a splash.” Keil dropped his bulk into a chair before passing a mug to Keri. “I thought I’d heard of everything, but this is…” He seemed to search for a proper word.
“Entertaining?” Jared supplied hopefully.
Keil snorted. “Better than having to haul your ass out of the slammer. You’re a far more complicated guy than I ever imagined, Jared.”
Across the table, Tessa leaned in and snagged a chocolate éclair, sinking her teeth into the soft surface and groaning happily. She swallowed quickly before pointing the half-eaten goodie at her best friend.
“You still need to explain what made you take out Eden like that.”
Keri squirmed upward. “You know we’d talked about how maybe Chad was setting Jared up? But I couldn’t figure out any reason for him to try to mess up the cruise. I mean, I knew he wanted your brother back in charge, but Tony isn’t stupid, and while Chad isn’t the brightest flashlight on the block, even he had to know ruining the ship’s reputation wouldn’t be the way to keep his friend happy.”
Keil listened intently then wrinkled his nose. “So, there was no setup?”
Tessa licked her fingertips clean even as she shook her head. “There was a setup. Eden’s been trying to get Chad’s attention for the past three cruises, at least. My brother and I heard him talk about her, but he’s always had someone else he was involved with.”
“Including, he thought, Keri for the start of this trip,” Jared teased.
“Well…yeah.” His mate flushed nicely. Then her gaze narrowed. “You’re one to talk, Mr
. Running away from my lover’s brothers
. You gonna give me grief? Forget it.”
Jared backpedaled. She had a point. “Go on, tell us the final bit.”
Tessa shrugged. “Eden confessed. She knew if things went missing the two areas most likely to be accused of the thefts would be housekeeping or maintenance—the only groups with easy access to private quarters. She figured if she was sleeping with Chad, he’d be less likely to want to accuse her. After he’d complained about how much he disliked Jared, it was an easy step to drop some of her ill-gotten goods in a direction that made him look guilty. But, Keri, you slammed into her out of the blue. Spill…why?”
Keri snuggled against Jared’s side. “Honest? There was this art heist we learned about in school. The cleaning staff at one of the big museums were replacing priceless artwork with forgeries and rolling out under the guard’s noses unnoticed. When Eden got in such a twist over Jared grabbing her private cleaning cart, I wondered if there was something in there she didn’t want found.”
Tessa raised a brow. “So, like a total guess on your part is what you’re saying.”
Keri nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Tessa flashed her two thumbs up. “You rock as a troubleshooter.”
Wild satisfaction rolled over Jared. Keri had saved their butts, because facts or not, it wouldn’t have been easy to explain to his parents what had gone down on the ship.
They all visited for a bit, everyone talking at the same time—easy conversation among people who honestly liked each other. Keri’s hand rested in his, and he rubbed her fingers lightly, his mind racing as he considered what was the best thing for them to do next. They really did have a world of options open.
“Ahem.”
Jared jerked to his feet. “Chad?”
The man’s usual bluster was missing as he clutched his hat in his hands and avoided eye contact. He sighed wearily, then noticed Keil, his eyes widening before he dipped his head politely. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll give you a call—”
“Wait.” Jared wasn’t sure why, but he pulled the chair from the table behind them and offered it. “Sit. You want a coffee?”
Chad paused then joined them. He looked across to Tessa and let loose another one of those sighs. “No coffee, but I do owe you an apology, Tessa, and since I was rude in front of others, I should apologize in front of them. I had no idea Eden would do something so bizarre. I would never have jeopardized the cruise. I hope you believe me.”
Tessa nodded slowly but didn’t speak.
“You did a great job. I hope you enjoy running the ship for a long time to come.” He rose to his feet and nodded, obviously ready to take his leave.
“Thank you for that,” Tessa said. “Only I think I’m going to leave the ship to Tony from now on. I’ll be sure to recommend he hire you on again.”
Chad’s jaw flapped open. “Really? I mean, really?”
Tessa shook a finger at him. “You’re a great coordinator, Chad. You just need to lay off the private vendettas with crew members.”
Chad glanced sheepishly at Jared. “Sorry about that.”