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‘She’s a big girl; she can look after herself.’
‘I don’t know …’
Patty touched her on the knee. ‘I know it must be a change to worry about someone else as opposed to who’s making your life miserable on this boat. But you have to let people make their own mistakes …’
‘She asked me to look after her. She needs it,’ Olivia continued. Then she looked back up at the bar. But Janine was nowhere to be seen. And neither was Liam. ‘Oh God. Did you see where they went?’ She stood up, scouring the bar. No sign of them. ‘We have to make sure she’s OK.’
‘Oh, honey, weknowwhat they’re doing,’ said Patty, taking another swig of her wine – which almost fell out of her hand as Olivia pulled her to her feet. ‘Hey!’
‘Sorry, Patty, but you have to come with me. I don’t want to search the ship alone.’
Patty hesitated. ‘Fine. But only because of what youwent through today. But once we find Janine and see that she’s OK, we’re going back to the cabin.’
‘Deal.’
‘Let’s get Annalise.’
Annalise refused to come with them. ‘I’m not the paranoid one here. I’m fine on my own, seriously.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Olivia. But Annalise turned her back on them, waving them off with her hand.
They searched each deck, public room by public room. Some were locked – like the library, gallery and dining room – but the lounges were open. The couple was nowhere to be seen.
‘I bet Liam knows all the hidden places on the ship to take a woman,’ said Patty.
But Olivia wasn’t going to give up so easily. They passed a door marked ‘CREW ONLY’, the one she’d stopped Dr Tove from going through. Liam wouldn’t have …
Before she could second-guess herself, or let Patty stop her, she pushed against the door. Locked. No – there was a little black box where she’d need to swipe for entry. She slapped her palm against the door in frustration.
‘Oh, let’s not give up that easily,’ said Patty. ‘Where’s the reception area? I get so turned around.’
‘It’s just down here. But I don’t see how …’
‘Hush. This isn’t my first time on one of these things, you know.’ They hurried back towards the lobby.
Patty reached over the desk and lifted the latch. ‘Now let’s see what we have here … I wouldn’t expect to have any luck usually, but on a party night like tonight? Maybe someone might have got a bit lax …’ She was opening drawers and rifling through the shelves. Then she held upa lanyard, a key card dangling at the end, her eyes sparkling. ‘Come on, let’s go see if we can find our cabinmate.’
The crew door swung open, leading into the bowels of the ship.
‘Well, this is a bit less appealing, isn’t it?’ Patty said.
Olivia had to agree. Like when she’d been allowed into Elisabet’s office, the difference between the crew and passenger areas was stark, the plush carpeting and polished wood replaced with easy-clean linoleum flooring. No fancy artwork on the wall here.
There were other differences too. Lists of rules and regulations were pinned up on boards, schedules highlighted in bright colours and bold type. They passed the crew mess, which was in utter disarray – mugs of tea and empty beer bottles piled high, but then most of the crew were partying upstairs. Tidying up probably wasn’t high on the priority list. Most striking of all, though, was the lack of natural daylight. She’d been so used to the light streaming in from the huge windows on the upper decks that its absence was sorely felt.
‘We’re never going to find them down here,’ said Olivia. ‘They could be anywhere.’
Patty held up a finger, and she fell quiet. Music and laughter flowed from down the hallway. ‘I think we have a direction.’
Voices came from behind them as well, from the hallway they’d just walked. They picked up speed so they wouldn’t get caught. Patty almost had full-on giggles now, so much that Olivia had to prop her up. It was absurd the two of them sneaking through the crew quarters, trying to find a cabinmate who probably didn’t want to be found. But Olivia had to try to keep her promise.Janine had been so earnest. So sure and clear-eyed. With the amount of alcohol she knew must be coursing through the girl’s system, she couldn’t be thinking straight. She at least had to confirm it’s what she wanted.
‘Hey, what are you doing down here?’
Olivia spun around to see Melissa approaching them.
‘Oh crap,’ said Patty. ‘We’ve been rumbled.’
‘You really shouldn’t be down here. We could get in a lot of trouble …’