“I’ve felt lucky ever since the day I met you,” he said and the sincerity in his expression stopped her from responding in a teasing manner.
“You take me too seriously, Cedric,” she said, turning away from him. She liked men and loved attention from them but Cedric’s intentions were a little too earnest for her tastes and they scared her.
“Love is a very serious thing — or, at least, it should be.”
Li sat down on the hard mattress and crossed her legs. “Gravedigger’s onboard.”
“Did you see her?”
“I’m positive that I did, before we left. I’m sure she must have gotten on while I was talking to a man up on deck.”
“A man? Who was he?”
Noticing the jealous tone in Cedrick’s voice, Li shrugged noncommittally. “Donald something,” she said, pretending not to remember. “Wiltmore or something?”
“Whitman,” Cedric whispered. “Donald Whitman. He’s trouble and nothing but.”
“You know him?”
“Of him,” he corrected. “He runs a couple of nightclubs that aren’t the sort of places a good girl would frequent… if you get my drift.”
Li wondered if Cedric considered her a ‘good girl’ and if he did, what put that notion in his head. “He doesn’t look the sort to be onboard this kind of cruise.”
“Who does?” Cedric answered with a laugh. “Haven’t you noticed? The entire ship is filled with strange types.”
Li pondered his words. She knew that Mitchell, the brown-skinned Brit who rounded out their little squad, had infiltrated the crew, taking a job working in the bowels of the ship. But of the others… she had noticed that the crew seemed comprised of some rather dangerous types but she’d always suspected that sailors were a rough crowd. “I hadn’t really thought about it,” she admitted.
“Well, I have. While all the men onboard have been ogling you, that freed me to study them.”
“Was I being ogled?”
“You don’t have to sound so pleased,” Cedric huffed.
Switching topics, Li asked, “Why are we here? Do you have any clue?”
Cedric considered his words before responding. He had been in a business office when a message had arrived telling him to book passage on the Geischler. He didn’t receive any other instructions except that he was to keep his eyes and ears open for anything unusual. “I have to assume it’s about that giant crate they loaded onboard.”
“It did seem rather noticeable. Even Donald mentioned it. He thinks it’s filled with gold and silver.”
“From the museum?”
“The sign’s a red herring — or so he says.”
Cedric shook his head. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was getting late. “I suppose I better find my own room. It’s just down the hall so if you need anything, just give me a call.” He lingered a moment longer, giving her ample opportunity to invite him to stay, but he finally mumbled good night and left, closing the door behind him.
Li ran her hands through her hair and smiled. She had thought about taking him to her bed but she was tired… and his earnestness was somewhat off-putting. She had lived a life where leading men on had become almost second nature but Cedric was different.
Unusually troubled, Li began to undress for bed but sleep would be a long time in coming.
DEEP IN THE dark, dank belly of the ship, something was stirring — several somethings, to be exact.
James Pelvin cut off a ragged piece of tobacco from a plug and jammed it into his cheek, chewing methodically. Four other men were with him, one of them a Negro with a funny accent. All of them had the kind of money-hungry look in their eyes that Pelvin himself possessed. That’s why he had picked them for this job. “Get the cutters and open this damned thing up.”
The black stood staring at the large armored box and shook his head. When he spoke, he sounded almost like one of those English actors that sometimes played in the movies. It struck Pelvin as strange — he hadn’t realized they had Negroes in England. “Excuse me for asking,” the dark-skinned fellow said, “But even if we cut through these bloody chains, it’s not going to do us much good unless you know how to get past the lock.”
“You let me deal with that,” Pelvin replied. He shivered a bit, having never gotten used to how cold it was in the cargo hold. He’d been serving onboard the Geischler for almost three years and during that time, he’d become intimate with every nook and cranny the old ship possessed. The hold was a place that he generally avoided, however — it was dimly lit and freezing, especially at night.
The men worked quickly, exerting their strength to cut through the heavy chains. The restraints fell to the floor with a loud clatter and several of the goons jumped in fear, hoping that they wouldn’t attract attention.
“Don’t act like a bunch’a dames,” Pelvin chided. “The Captain’s probably on his second bottle by now and nobody else is gonna come down here.” He approached the box, doing more grinding than chewing with the tobacco in his mouth. He was in his early fifties, unmarried and with no kids. His hard living had taken its toll on his face, meaning that it was unlikely that he’d snag a good woman at this point in his life, either.
So he’d jumped at the chance to score in the only way left to him: money. He was being paid enough to let him retire from life on the seas and set himself up comfortably in Sovereign. He’d go through enough booze and women to fill up the hole inside him or he’d die trying.
And all he had to do was open up this box and then load its cargo into a boat that he’d escort back to land.
Easy as pie, he believed.
Pelvin reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper that he’d folded up as small as it could be. He flattened it out and read the numbers that were written there. He licked his fingertips before reaching out and taking hold of the combination lock, flicking it right and left as the notes directed.
“What do you think’s in there?” Pelvin heard someone ask.
The Negro responded, “Probably some old vases or pottery. Things like that sell for a lot on the black market.”
Pelvin hissed, “Shut up, all of you! This is complicated.” He resumed his work, wishing again that he could have done all this on his own. The problem was, he didn’t know what was in the box, either. That meant that if it were heavy or cumbersome to move, he’d need help. Given how hard the crane had to work to lift the box onto the boat he had to assume that whatever was in here was not only valuable but also big.
The snap of the lock indicated that he’d finally gotten the code correct. With a low chuckle, Pelvin yanked the restraint away and tossed the lock to the floor. He hesitated before opening the doors, however, wondering if he should peek inside in private before sharing the secret with the other men in the room. After all, if the box contained a large number of small objects, he might want to pocket one or two of them to boost his take on this deal.
The fact was, he wasn’t sure how dangerous the people he was dealing with really were. They had contacted him via a letter, offering him the deal in exchange for his cooperation and silence. All he had to do was drop a reply off at a local hotel’s front desk, with a single word written on a piece of paper: Yes. He’d mulled it over for a day or two, wondering if it was some sort of elaborate prank… but in the end, his own desperation had led him to agree.
Who the people were who wanted the box’s contents, he didn’t know. Nor did he know what they intended to do with it.
“None of my business,” he muttered.