Guilty Pleasures (29 page)

“We're getting on the elevator going up. I'm turning off my set,” Jinx said as he boarded the elevator.

Eva arrived back at the restaurant. Rita was nowhere to be seen. Eva's heart jumped. She looked around. “Rita I'm at the bar. Where are you
”

Several moments passed with no response.

“Rita, can you hear me
”

“I was getting bored and was beginning to look suspicious sitting at the bar. When I saw him leave, I went in the opposite direction. I'm in the casino near the roulette table.”

Eva's heart began to slow to its normal rhythm. “Okay. I'm waiting to hear from Jinx.”

“What's going on with Jake
”

“He's working. Listen, stay put. I'm coming to you.”

Eva wound her way around the passengers en route to the casino. It was apparent that after all the travelers were fully settled in their cabins, they were hell-bent on seeing the sights of the ship. People were everywhere. Some towns didn't have as many people as this ship. The casino was packed. It took Eva a while to find Rita.

“Everything cool
” Eva asked, standing to her cousin's right.

“Sure.”

“You had me worried.”

“Don't.”

Eva moved around the throng of observers as the diehard gamblers and those who felt lucky played at the table.

Jinx's voice popped in her ear. “He's on the eleventh level. Room 1176. He has an outside cabin.”

Eva turned her back to the table, looked out into the crowd. “Did they go in with him
”

“Yeah, all three of them. Wait. Two of them just came out. Going down the hall. They went into room 1170.”

“Thanks, Jinx. That leaves one with our man. Meet me at the base. I'll get Rita.”

Eva walked past Rita and murmured for her to come back to base. Rita waited a reasonable amount of time and headed to Jake and Eva's cabin.

*   *   *

“Okay, so we know they're using at least two cabins,” Jake began once everyone was settled. He brought up the schematics of the eleventh level on the television screen that he'd hooked up to the computer.

“More than likely, one of his men is staying in the room with him,” Eva said.

“If that's the case, it may be because the stash is in his room,” Rita offered.

“Could be. Somehow we have to get into that room before we dock in Mexico.”

“Why Mexico
” Jinx asked.

Jake brought them up to speed.

Jinx let out a stream of expletives. “That fucks up everything. I have stuff set for Miami. Everything.”

“I know, I know,” Jake said. “You're gonna have to work your contacts. Let them know there's been a change in plans and location. Everything is going to have to be moved and in place in the next couple of days.”

“Shit!” Jinx paced the room.

Rita asked the question that was on all of their minds. “What if Ms. Girl changes locations again
”

“She wants to ensure that we don't have enough time to screw her,” Eva said.

“Exactly. So we need a plan C,” Jake said.

“Which is
” Jinx asked.

“That's what we're going to sit here and figure out. The one thing on our side is that there are only so many stops. She has to know that we need time to pull it off. It can only be Mexico or the final stop in Miami.”

Jinx snapped his fingers. “I can find out exactly where she's going to be.”

“How
” Rita asked.

“All the agents have to be reachable. If she's leaving town, she's going to have to log it in.”

Jake nodded, seeing where Jinx was going with his train of thought.

“I'll tap into the FBI files, see what I can dig up.”

“And what about the husband
” Eva asked. “He's another thorn in our side.”

“Yeah, he said he wanted in,” Rita said. “So what do we do about him
”