Page 30

D eck 39 wasn’t as busy as I’d thought it would be, but there was still a good number of cruisers taking in the nebula and the Star, counterfeit though it was.

Frank and I kept our distance from the Star initially, getting our bearings and finalizing the plan. The motion-detecting shaft of light that had been protecting the Star was off, replaced by a single highlighting beam and the two guards currently on duty.

They were our targets. So to speak.

They stood on either side of the Star’s glass-encased pedestal, keeping watch. No one said a word to them, treating them as if they weren’t there.

“Do you think they know?” I whispered to Frank.

“That the object of their attention is not what they think it is? Only if they were also involved. But I guess we’ll soon find out.” He adjusted the strap of his messenger bag, then slipped his hand inside the flap. After that, he touched the receiver tucked into his ear, I assume to turn it on.

A moment later, he nodded at me. “Okay. Everything’s on. You’re going to have to get close to them to make this work, and even then, I’m not sure the sensor will be able to pick up enough of their biorhythms to get a good read.”

“I’m going to get as close as I can.” I took an old pair of reading glasses out of my cardigan pocket. I used them for delicate knitting work more than anything, but for now, they were part of my plan.

“And you’ve got the sensor?”

I patted the other pocket of my cardigan. “I’ve got it.”

“Ready when you are.”

I gave him a quick nod, then turned my attention to the guards. I took a few steps toward the Star, making sure it looked like that was what I was interested in. There were two women admiring it at the moment. Once they were gone, I’d get to work.

They both turned around, one on either side of the Star, then one of them held up a communications device.

I stepped forward. “Would you like me to take the picture for you?”

“Would you?” the younger woman asked. “That would be great.”

“Sure. What do I press?”

She showed me, then they took up their poses again, smiling big.

“Looks great. In three … two … one.” I took three photos in rapid succession, hoping to get them one they liked. “There you go.”

“Thank you so much.” The younger woman inspected the work I’d done. “These are great.”

“You’re welcome.”

As they moved toward the windows, I went closer to the Star. I smiled at the guard nearest me and adjusted my glasses. “I’m blind as a bat. They’re lucky I got them in the frame.”

He gave me a tight smile but nothing further. Apparently, he took his job very seriously, which was great, but it was a bit late for that now. Did that mean he didn’t know the Star was a fake?

Maybe. But I needed to know for sure. I leaned in closer to the Star, using my supposed bad eyesight as an excuse. “How do you know this thing is real?”

“Because it is,” the second guard said curtly. I glanced at his name patch. Heng. The first guard’s name patch read Mapalo.

I straightened, then leaned in toward him, squinting. “Quite an expensive bauble to have on display.” I gave him my most disarming smile. “You boys must be very good at what you do. I bet your mothers never stop talking about how proud they are of you.”

I swear, Heng’s mouth twitched like he’d stopped himself from smiling at the last moment. “Are your moms on the cruise with you?”

“No, ma’am,” Mapalo said.

“That’s too bad.” I looked at the Star again, then lowered my voice like it was important no one else hear me. “Anyone ever try to steal this thing?”

Heng glanced at Mapalo. Mapalo answered, “Not to my knowledge, ma’am.”

“That’s good. That would be a real shame. You know, if I was going to take a crack at nabbing a rock like that, I’d try to find one of you guards willing to help me. That ever happen? Or do they pay you boys enough to keep you honest?”

Heng’s lip curled. “We would never do anything like that.”

I glanced at Mapalo. “That true?”

He glared at me. “Of course it is. I think it’s best if you move on, ma’am.”

I took my glasses off and tucked them back into my pocket. I’d gotten what I wanted. “You boys have a good day.”

I turned on my heel and went back to Frank. As I approached, he turned in the same direction and matched my walking pace. “How did it go?”

“I got enough to see if they’re telling the truth or not. I think.”

“I’d say you did. We’ll find out for sure as soon as we get back to my quarters.”

At his place, he took the equipment from his bag, pulled out the pin drive, and used that to transfer everything to his main computer. Within a matter of minutes, he had a graph pulled up. He sat behind his desk, staring at the peaks and valleys.

“Well?” I was sitting beside him. “Are those the biorhythms? Did it work?”

“It did. You did a great job.”

“Thanks. But what does it all mean?”

Frowning, he shook his head as he looked at me. “That neither of those guards was lying about anything. They both read as honest and loyal. They have no knowledge of the Star being taken and have never been approached about stealing it.”

I groaned and stared at the ceiling. “That’s great for them but not so great for us. And the next pair of guards won’t be on duty until this afternoon.”

“It was a valiant effort. And once we repeat in several hours with the other pair, we’ll know for sure that Olan and Navun weren’t in cahoots with the other guards.”

I swallowed down the bitter disappointment coating my tongue. “I’m so tired of not getting anywhere. What are we missing?”

He took my hand. “I wish I knew.”

“What do we do next?” I needed him to tell me that much because I was out of ideas.

“We should go to the gym. Get a good workout in.”

I frowned. “How is that going to help us find the murderer?”

“Release of endorphins is good for the creative process. And right now, we could use some creative thinking.”

I couldn’t argue that, but I must have looked like I was about to because Frank tacked on an offer I couldn’t refuse.

“After the gym, I’ll take you to Mare for lunch.”

I might have let out a small gasp. “Seriously?” Mare didn’t mean horse, it meant sea, as in a lunar sea, which wasn’t a sea at all, but that detail was apparently not important. What did matter was that Mare was the spot on the Athos for seafood. Yes, it was a buffet, but it was a nice buffet. Like high-end Vegas nice. And so many credits that I couldn’t even consider it. “That’s crazy expensive.”

He laughed softly. “What good is money if you can’t spend it? Maybe a break is just what we need. Turn off the conscious mind and let the subconscious do its thing. What do you say?”

“I’m glad I had a small breakfast.”

I met him at the gym half an hour later. I didn’t love working out, but I did love having worked out once it was over. Being with Frank made it a little better.

“Come on,” he said. “I have an idea.”

Frank’s ideas were generally outstanding, so without question, I followed. He took me to a part of the gym I’d never been in before. It was a large room with a bunch of heavy bags hanging along one wall, smaller speed bags along the other, and a boxing ring in the center.

There was only one other woman, and she was jumping rope.

Frank grabbed a pair of gloves off a rack and handed them to me. “Put those on.”

“Wait a minute. Am I fighting someone?”

He laughed as he took a pair for himself. “No. We’re going to take our frustrations out on a heavy bag. I swear it’s a great workout and a fantastic way to get rid of any anger you might be feeling.”

I was all about that. I tugged the gloves on as we approached the first bag that wasn’t being used.

“All right,” Frank said. “Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart so you’re planted and steady. When you punch, use your entire body, not just your arm. Snap that fist out to make contact. You’re not trying to push through the bag, just hit it.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Let all that pent-up frustration out.”

I tried to do everything he said with my first punch. My fist hit the bag with a satisfying crack. I felt a little let down though. “I didn’t move the bag at all.”

“That’s good,” Frank reassured me. “The goal isn’t to move the bag; it’s more about speed and power. Keep your hands up and hit it again.”

After a few more punches, he showed me a combination of hits and had me mimic him. He hit a lot harder than I did, especially on the side that had the titanium shoulder implant.

Twenty minutes later, I was worn out. But not nearly as frustrated. In fact, I felt pretty good.

Frank was grinning, too. He pulled his gloves off. “What do you say we go make Mare regret their all-you-can-eat policy?”

“We’re kind of sweaty.”

“No one will notice. Or care.”

I laughed. “If you say so.”

It was a few minutes before noon, so the restaurant was occupied but not swamped. We got a table, ordered drinks from the real-live server, then grabbed plates at the start of the buffet. I went straight for the crab legs, making sure to get a ramekin of drawn butter to dip the meat in.

I got back to the table before Frank. When he returned, he had two plates—one with crab legs, the same as I had, the second with a heaping pile of cold shrimp and a bowl of cocktail sauce. I pointed to the shrimp with an empty crab shell. “You must really like shrimp.”

“I do, but I got them for us to share,” he explained.

I snagged one and dipped it in the cocktail sauce, which had a nice kick. “So good.”

He nodded as he helped himself to one, too. “Did you see the sushi display?”

I looked up. “I did not see that. I’ll check it out next.” I was pretty content with the crab legs at the moment. As I ate another one, my mind drifted back to the case. “Do you think it’s possible we’ve completely missed the person behind the theft of the Star and these murders? That, somehow, they’re not even on our radar?”

“Anything’s possible, but for the moment, try not to think about it too much. Just let your subconscious do its thing and enjoy the moment. I know it’s hard, but?—”

“No, you’re right. I need a breather from the stress of it.” It was hard, though. Did you ever try not to think about something? It pretty quickly becomes the only thing you can think about.

Frank seemed to understand that and went straight into a new conversation about how well I’d done at the gym. I knew he was distracting me, but I didn’t mind. It was sweet. We went to the sushi display together and picked out one of everything that looked good.

The workout had definitely given me an appetite. Even so, it was a little embarrassing how much food I had on my plate. It all looked so good that I’d taken a small portion of nearly everything. Sadly, I was starting to feel pretty full.

“I don’t think I’ll need dinner tonight.”

He glanced at my plate and frowned. “You’re not done yet, are you? I’m making at least two more trips. And, no, I will not be eating dinner, either. Don’t forget the dessert bar.”

“Oh, my stars, dessert?” I looked in the same direction as he was and saw a display of sweet treats that rallied my appetite.

“I’m making at least one trip there,” he said with deep intention. “You’re not going to make me indulge alone, are you?”

“No.” I smiled as we went back up to the buffet.

We were making decent progress when his wristband chimed. He peeked at it, then looked up at me, eyes alight with interest.

I snagged another shrimp, dipping it in cocktail sauce. “What is it?”

“The vuum data is coming in, and they’ve definitely found something.”