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Olivia was so stunned, she couldn’t summon words to speak. ‘Um, well, I don’t think so. If he gets in touch, will you let me know?’
‘Of course. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.’ And then the phone clicked off.
Olivia sat back in the chair. Aaron had lied to her. There had been no emergency. No reason for him to leave the ship at the last moment. She thought back to the last time she’d seen him, as they’d been standing in the lobby of the ship beneath the sculpture. He had looked pale, sweat on his brow. Discombobulated.
Something had spooked him.
If it wasn’t Bertrand, then what?
She thought back to the cabin list, scrunched into his fist just before he left. Could that be it? She pulled out the paper from her handbag and scanned it. Only that one name stood out to her.Sadler.But she couldn’t figure out why it was familiar.
Then there was the conversation with Stefan yesterday in the restaurant. Talk of athreat. Remembering it turned her blood cold. She knew who she had to speak to next.
‘Did you manage to get through?’ Elisabet returned to the office, standing in the doorway.
‘I did.’ Olivia swallowed, her hands feeling numb. ‘They don’t know what’s happened to him. Any word from the staff?’
Elisabet shook her head. ‘No, I am sorry.’
‘Looks like he missed the boat then. I can’t believe this.’ As the reality sank in, Olivia wasn’t sure whether to be angry, worried or scared.
The result was an unsettling mixture of all three.
‘Do you know where I can find Stefan?’ Olivia asked.
Elisabet smiled, a tinge of sympathy in her eyes. ‘I think I saw him on the bow. You Brits are like magnets for the tea stations. And the internet should be up and running in the library in a few hours.’
‘Do you have Wi-Fi I can use on my phone?’
‘We do, but I suggest using one of the computers if you want the most reliable connection.’
Olivia nodded, leaving the office in a daze. She walked up the stairs, checking her phone at the same time. The signal had died completely now.
The deck was still full of passengers and crew, but Olivia couldn’t spot Stefan. The crew member, Liam, who had been manning the name-tag desk had moved to the tea station. ‘Excuse me, have you seen Stefan Grenville, the man who works in the gallery?’
‘The gallery is closed until tomorrow.’
‘Oh, I know. But he’s a friend. I need to speak to him.’
‘Let me get him on the radio. Why don’t you make yourself a cup of tea in the meantime?’
‘Um, OK.’
She picked up a mug, filling it with hot water from one of the carafes.
‘He’s resting down in his cabin, but he said to come and meet him in the gallery after the muster drill.’
‘But it’s really urgent that I speak to him.’
Liam gave a nonchalant shrug.
She couldn’t let it go. ‘Please, can you get him on the radio again?’
He looked down at his watch. ‘The muster will begin any minute. We’re on our way to Antarctica. What could be so urgent?’
She gritted her teeth, annoyed at his dismissive attitude. But in a way he was right. She couldn’t do anything more at that moment if Stefan wouldn’t see her. She took her mug and forced herself to walk to the prow of the ship, dodging large metal winches and complicated-looking mechanisms for the anchors. She stood a little way back from the railings, staring back at Ushuaia as it pulled away into the distance. The ship sailed past innumerable islands and hidden bays, the coastline jagged and fragmented. Seabirds gathered in flocks on the rocky outcrops, squawking and disappearing into the slate-grey waves. A flag with a single star fluttered on the prow.
Aaron was somewhere over on that vast continent. Was he OK? Was he worried about her? Was he trying some other way to get to the ship?