A Dangerous Arrangement (6 page)

‘You removed every copy?' The big guy puffed a little as he spoke. ‘There's no way Logan can retrieve the designs?'

‘I gave you my assurance. Data-destroying worms have wiped everything. The designs no longer exist. If Logan wants to keep going, he'll have to start from scratch.'

‘Good.' The man passed him a sheet of paper. ‘It's all there. One million in your account.'

Li memorised the account number in seconds, then folded the paper and zipped it into the pocket of his jacket. ‘You must want this bad.'

‘I've already spent a billion.' The big man got noisily to his feet. ‘What's another mil?'

Li watched as he moved off, weaving between the market stalls with a wide-legged gait. Only when he crossed the bridge onto the left bank did Li take off the cap and shove it inside his backpack.

He'd done his job. Brought Logan to his knees like the big man wanted. The brilliant engineer would be in damage control, reeling, back in Sydney for sure.

And Marina?

An image of his beautiful flatmate formed in Li's mind. From his backpack, he took out the new pre-paid he'd bought at the airport. He connected to the internet, accessed his cloud and downloaded a copy of her itinerary.

Dean Logan would have used his considerable influence to mobilise the Italian Police. Had they already knocked on Marina's door and questioned her about her flatmate's activities? She would have told them everything she knew about him—which was precisely nothing.

Li smirked, imagining her shock. She must know by now that he'd hacked into her laptop and was now in possession of all the other fascinating information she had stored on there.

He stared at the solitary name in his contacts list then put the phone away. It was too soon to call. There would be a market for Logan's designs, and Li intended to make the most of the opportunity. With luck, he'd pick up another half mil from the sale. After all, business was business.

But first, he had to purchase a flight to Italy.

Marina.

He knew everything about her.

And the big man was a fool to have trusted him.

Chapter Seven

‘Pass me the Strad, Marina.'

Marina handed the violin to Eli, then watched as he stacked the instruments in the heavy-duty storage locker they'd been assigned. Once everything was stowed, he closed the metal door, spun the combination lock and brushed off his hands.

‘Done.'

It was their second night aboard, and Marina couldn't believe how well everything was going. Her cabin was above the waterline, something she'd been worried about, and her wrist had stood up to one high tea performance and two cocktail parties.

So far so good.

Harmon rubbed his hands together. ‘Let's go to the bar. I'm up to number eleven on that beer list I'm working my way through.'

‘I'm up for it,' said Vlad. ‘When Elena's on board I have to behave myself.'

Harmon clapped him on the shoulder. ‘I didn't want to say anything, but she's really got you pussy-whipped.'

Marina laughed. ‘I don't want to be the party pooper here, but you know what I have to do.'

The twins hadn't known about her RSI in Venice, but she'd told them before their first performance. She didn't have an option. Eli had to be told he was to take over her part if she gave him the signal.

‘Don't do it, Marina,' warned Harmon.

‘Do what?'

‘Bang that waiter who's got the hots for you.'

‘Shut up.' Eli clipped his brother across the back of the head.

‘I'm going.' Marina looked down at her long black skirt. ‘You three only have to take off a bow tie. Try walking around this tub in a full length skirt.'

Harmon's expression turned scandalised and he gestured to the space around them. ‘Did you refer to this luxury liner as a
tub
?'

Vlad grinned. ‘All boats are tubs according to Marina. She has an aversion to water.'

‘I'm guessing now's not a good time to mention the Titanic?'

‘Nope.' Marina gathered the skirt material in her hands and lifted it so the hem was a few centimetres off the ground. ‘This is one violinist who will not be playing as the ship goes down.'

Vlad hooked a thumb in her direction. ‘She'd be the first off.'

‘I need to go to my cabin,' said Eli, opening the door leading to the stern. ‘I'll see you guys in the bar. Coming, Marina?'

She waved to the others then followed Eli into the long passageway of Deck C. A service trolley, piled high with fresh towels and chocolates, was parked off to one side. Energetic staff members buzzed in and out of rooms doing the nightly turn-down service.

Eli shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to look at her. ‘It's coming together now, isn't it?'

Marina glanced at the young man beside her. The quieter twin, he was by far the stronger musician. ‘It takes a while to gel. Vlad and I always find it easy. We studied together in Vienna. Elena too. It's where they met.'

‘Vlad told us. It must be nice to play together again after so many years.'

‘It is. I've really enjoyed the last two days.'

Only when she spoke the words aloud did Marina realise how true it was. She
had
enjoyed herself, despite the constant worry of her wrist, her father's impending eye surgery and Dean Logan's awful predicament at the hands of her former flatmate.

‘It must be strange after playing in the symphony?'

‘Yes.' They stopped outside Marina's cabin and she dug around in her purse for her room key. ‘It's nice to see the guests enjoying it though.'

‘Especially the dude who started conducting.' He laughed, looking so much like his brother, Marina pointed an index finger at him.

‘Right then you could have been Harmon. Are you guys playing tricks on me again?'

Eli shook his head and gazed at the floor. ‘No, it's me.'

Marina hesitated, her hand on the doorknob. She needed to ice her wrist, but she sensed he wanted to say something.

He looked up. ‘Marina?'

‘Yes?'

‘You're amazing. I'm so grateful I got the chance to play with you.'

She flushed, opened her mouth to brush aside the compliment then pulled herself up, Vlad's words from the other day echoing in her head.
When are you going to believe it, Marina? You're twice as talented as anyone I know …'

She smiled. ‘Thank you, Eli.'

While physically identical to his twin, personality-wise they couldn't have been more different.

He raised a hand in farewell. ‘See you in the morning.'

‘Yeah. See you.'

Inside the cabin, Marina slid her bag from her shoulder and tossed it on the end of her bed. The staff had folded back the covers and left two chocolates wrapped in gold paper on her pillow. A gentle sea breeze drifted into the cabin, cooling her skin.

The sliding door leading to the balcony was open, the drapes pushed back as far as they could go. A full moon glowed like a lantern in the night sky, illuminating the rise and fall of the dark ocean before the swell rose up and slapped against the ship's massive hull.

Marina's stomach lurched.

Reaching for the doorhandle, she pulled the sliding door closed and drew the curtains across the glass. Then she surveyed the cabin in the muted light from the bedside lamp. If not for the distant hum of the ship's engines far below, she could almost fool herself into believing she wasn't on a boat.

She kicked off her shoes and lowered the zipper on her skirt. As it fell around her ankles her thoughts shifted to Dean Logan, as they'd been inclined to do ever since she'd met him. Was there a Mrs Logan? He hadn't worn a ring, but that didn't signify anything. The fact she'd noticed said more about her than it did about him.

Go on admit it! You liked him the instant you saw him. Before you heard his Australian accent and decided getting to know him was a bad idea.

Marina pulled the black lace blouse over her head and hung both garments in the closet. He was certain to have a special lady friend of some description.

She sighed as an image of an exercise-addicted, spray tanned supermodel formed in her mind. Why was she even thinking about this? They couldn't be more different. If not for the Taiwanese cybercriminal who'd duped them both, their paths would never have crossed. Music was like oxygen to her—and Dean had salt water in his veins.

Deciding to make a cup of coffee, she changed into a light shift and pushed her feet into a pair of flat pumps. Key in hand, she left the cabin and made her way to the small lounge which serviced Deck C.

The pleasant space was divided into two areas. On her left, four modern desks formed a small business area where people could work in an office environment. On each desk was a laptop computer hooked into its dock. A photocopier, fax machine and shredder stood against the far wall. A bald man wearing dark-framed glasses sat at one of the laptops. Papers were spread all over the desk, and a satchel hung from the back of his chair.

The right side of the room housed a modern kitchen equipped with fridge, coffee machine and tea-making facilities. In the unlikely event a guest should become peckish overnight, a mini buffet sat on the bench stocked with an assortment of pastries, sandwiches and muffins.

Marina took a mug from the shelf and began preparing her coffee. Vlad and Elena had done well over the years, securing themselves this cushy little gig in what was often a difficult and unpredictable industry. She thought of how they'd coaxed, cajoled and finally
insisted
she come over and spend some time away from the pressures of her career. They were the only people she'd confided in. The only ones who understood her grief.

She put the milk back in the fridge, a rush of affection for Vlad and Elena blooming in her chest. Her wrist had to hold strong. They'd worked hard to build the reputation of the quartet, and after all they'd done for her she'd hate to let them down.

Coffee in hand, she was on her way out when the man in the glasses looked up.

‘Wife kicked me out. I'm keeping her awake apparently.'

Marina paused and gave a wry smile. He'd spoken more out of politeness than anything. ‘Some holiday you're having.'

He nodded and went back to work.

She was turning away when the man's satchel caught her eye again. It was the type with a wide strap. Nothing fancy. The kind of thing every second guy carried.

Victor owned one. It had been on the bed the night she'd knocked on the door, its flap open, a pile of disks and flash drives beside it, as if he'd upended the contents and tipped everything out in a flurry. He'd asked her what was up, and while she explained, he'd turned around and shoved the items back inside the bag.

She remembered feeling embarrassed, and she'd turned her attention to the computer screen. Apart from the bed, it was the only substantial piece of furniture in the sparsely decorated room. Lines of programming language filled the screen, but that hadn't raised any red flags. He was a software engineer, after all. But she remembered being taken aback when the screen changed.

Adrenaline made her hands shake and her heart flutter. The bald guy at the computer looked up again, a quizzical expression on his face. Marina turned and hurried from the room. Two minutes later she was sitting in her cabin, icepack on her wrist, coffee mug on the table beside her.

She brought up Dean Logan's number on her phone, hit the call button and waited for him to pick up.

Was he back in Australia?

What time was it there?

She hadn't checked her world clock.

She sat straighter as the call connected. It didn't matter what time it was. He'd want to know.

‘Please don't tell me you pocket-dialled me by mistake.'

Marina blinked. She'd been expecting ‘Hello' or a curt ‘Dean Logan'. But his greeting was a little familiar—and nice.

‘I didn't. I mean, I did … mean to call you.'

Oh God! She sounded like an inarticulate teenager.

‘Great.'

There was pleasure in that one word, but she wasn't about to read anything personal into it. He was pleased to hear from her because he thought she had information that would help him.

‘I've remembered something. I'm not sure it will be of use. It's not much.'

‘That's good news. Go on.'

She explained about the satchel, how Victor had scooped everything back into the bag, like he was trying to hide something.

‘I felt embarrassed that I'd walked in on him like that. It's not something I'd normally do, but I was on my way out and running late. I needed to speak to him about a tradesman I had coming. I knocked on the door twice, but he didn't answer. I could hear him inside, so eventually I just opened the door. He had earphones in, that's why he didn't hear. I definitely caught him by surprise.'

‘And he tried to conceal what was on the bed?'

‘Yes. I definitely felt like I was intruding. I was going to ask if I could see him outside, but he said ‘just a sec'. I looked away, at the computer. There was all this programming language on the screen. That didn't strike me as odd. But then the screen changed. I can't remember exactly what it was. But it was holding a machine gun in each hand. I felt uneasy, because the guns were pointing straight ahead, as if they were trained on the person using the computer.'

There was silence at the other end.

Marina waited, imagining Dean, dark brows pulled into a frown, brown eyes focused on one spot as he thought about what she'd said.

‘It wasn't a Lego figure by any chance?'

Lego
?

Marina frowned. ‘No, it wasn't anything like that. It was more reptilian. Maybe even some kind of hybrid.'

Another pause.

‘Okay, what happened then?'

‘He saw me looking at it. He told me he played computer games with people from all around the world and had even developed some himself. Since Venice, I've been trying to remember more physical things about him, like, maybe a tattoo I'd glimpsed. I'd forgotten all about the image.'