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In the library, Olivia sat down at a computer while Janine returned her book. She opened her emails – no longer even surprised that there were no new replies – just the normal junk mail. She couldn’t understand why Pierre would send her that warning and then not reply to any of her emails – especially the one she’d sent asking about Sergei.
She opened a separate tab with Google, typing the name of the yacht into the search engine.
The page of results appeared slowly, but because it was a relatively common name, there didn’t seem to be anything that corresponded to a yacht, let alone who owned it.
Olivia sighed.
‘Everything OK?’ asked Janine.
‘You know that yacht we saw on my camera? I was curious if I could find out who owns it. I wondered about the type of person who would sail down here.’ It didn’t sound like a particularly plausible excuse to Olivia’s ear, but Janine nodded.
‘Let me? I have amazing Google-fu.’
‘Sure thing.’ She stood up from the chair so that Janine could sit down.
Janine typed a long string of text into the search engine, using all sorts of symbols – quotation marks, colons and hashtags. She was able to refine the search so that only relevant articles popped up.
‘Where did you learn to do this?’
‘This is what I do for a living. Or did, I suppose. Alongside the influencer stuff. Digital marketing, SEO, that kind of thing. When you have super-slow internet like this, it really helps to be specific in your filters. And … look!’ said Janine. She’d struck gold – an article about theClarissa II. There was an image at the top, which froze midway through loading. But the caption underneath it was clear.
Olivia gasped.
Janine looked up at her in alarm. ‘What is it?’
Pierre Lavaud stands in front of the latest addition to his fleet: the ice-class expedition yachtClarissa II.
‘I can’t wait to explore some of the most unseen parts of our planet,’ says Mr Lavaud. ‘I name all my ships after my daughter, who we lost far too young. This way, I feel like she explores with me.’
Olivia’s stomach turned, her mouth suddenly as dry as the Sahara.
Pierre was the owner of theClarissa II.Had he known her dad all those years ago? Had he known about her?
‘Olivia? You’re shaking.’
‘I know the owner of that boat,’ she said, barely above a croak.
‘You do?’
‘He was a client of mine. He bought the Yennin that kicked off this whole venture for Aaron and me.’
‘So he’s come to check on his investment?’
Olivia blinked. She hadn’t thought about that. ‘I guess so.’ She thought about Sergei urging her to talk to Pierre about why he was on board. Maybe he was supposed to be Pierre’s eyes and ears for the showcase?
‘Tell me what you’re thinking,’ said Janine.
‘My mind is a mess. It’s just … Sergei mentioned Pierre. Maybe he was working for him?’
‘So why raid our cabin and steal your engagement ring? I don’t know. Something seems off about all this. Are yousurePierre doesn’t have a different motive? Didn’t you mention something about Aaron being in debt? Maybe Sergei is collecting …’
Olivia swallowed. That was a distinct possibility too. She didn’t know who she could trust. The fact that Pierre might be connected to her dad … it was all too much. What did it mean that he was down here? Was it all about Yennin? Or did it go further back than that?
Janine grabbed Olivia’s hand. ‘Whatever it is, you don’t have to be scared on your own. You have friends here. You have me, you have Patty and Annalise, you have Liam. We can look out for you.’
The unexpected level of fierceness in Janine’s tone made Olivia smile. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
There was a loud knock on the glass door of the library. Liam burst into the room, his eyes wide. ‘Jesus, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Why haven’t you been answering your radio? I thought something awful had happened to you.’