Undercurrent

“Really, I’ll be okay getting to my room,” she murmured, tempted to accept his offer but not wanting to impose on Sam and his grandmother. In truth, she’d rather not be alone after what had just happened.

“Humor me,” Sam said, and Kat wondered if he could read the fear in her eyes. “I’d like to make sure you get back to your cabin in one piece.” He didn’t leave room for argument, turning abruptly and leading his grandmother through the narrow gallery.

Kat followed. They were heading for the stairwell she needed anyway.

“How in the world did that chandelier fall?” Sam’s grandmother asked.

“It didn’t fall,” Sam said. “It exploded.”

Kat shivered. “And landed right where I was sitting. Your grandson saved my life,” she added.

She didn’t think Sam had heard her. His focus was fixed on the winding staircase ahead, where passengers had begun to clog the stairwells. Energy nearly vibrated from the man as he patiently matched pace with his grandmother, cupping her elbow as they ascended the steps. It was a rare man who cared so deeply for his grandmother.

Movement on the stairs was slow going, but at least most people seemed calm. More calm than Kat felt, anyway.

Sam was right. It had been an explosion, but surely it was accidental. An electrical problem, perhaps? She glanced at Sam, noticed the way he continually scanned the crowd. As if he sensed more danger was coming. The thought urged her to go faster, and she pressed in closely behind Sam and his grandmother.

“I’m not surprised he saved you,” his grandmother said. “That’s what my Sammy does.”

“Saves lives?” Kat stole a glance at him.

“Yes,” his grandmother said cheerfully. “He’s a bona fide hero.”

“Grandma.” The word was a warning, but Sam’s grandmother didn’t seem at all concerned about heeding it.

“It’s what God put him here to do. And I think He’s proving that today.”

“Grandma, really. Enough,” Sam ground out, shooting his grandmother a look of half exasperation and half amused tolerance.

“Fine. If I must, I’ll stop telling her about you. For now,” she said with an innocent smile. “I’m Alice West, by the way.”

“It’s good to meet you, Alice,” Kat responded. “Though circumstances could be better.”

“They could also be worse,” Alice said.

True. Kat could be dead. The passengers in the atrium this evening could have been injured. The fire could have spread quickly through the ship. They could all be fighting over lifeboats at this very moment.

So many things could have been worse, and Kat tried to hold on to that. Morgan would call her a pessimist, but Kat was simply realistic. And there was no escaping the fact that she’d narrowly escaped death twice now, and she could happily do without another near-death experience.

She shuddered, wishing they could move a little faster. She couldn’t wait to reach the safety of her room. Kat glanced at Sam. He seemed on high alert, and she was curious about what his grandmother had divulged. She’d stopped believing in heroes a long time ago, but he seemed like the kind of guy who just might renew her faith.

“What floor are you on, Kat?” he asked without looking her way.

“Twelve.”

“Oh my,” Alice said with a glint in her eyes. “What a lovely coincidence. We are, too.”

“Grandma,” Sam cut in, his gaze still tracking the movement of the people in front of him. “How about you—”

“Attention all crew and passengers!”

The announcement sounded clearly through the speakers overhead, and voices in the stairwell hushed as passengers strained to listen. “This is Captain Philip Orland. As many of you know, there has been a fire in the atrium. We have the situation under control but ask that you proceed to your staterooms immediately until further notice, to clear the hallways and public areas for our crew to work. I want to assure you that we have highly trained fire and security crews here on the Jade Princess. The fire is out, and the damage was limited to the atrium. You can feel safe tonight.”

“How reassuring,” Alice said softly, and Kat smiled at the hint of sarcasm. Alice’s tone reminded her of Morgan’s dry sense of humor. Her best friend and Sam’s grandmother would have probably really hit it off.

“Room number?” Sam asked as they exited the stairwell.

“Twelve fifty-three,” Kat answered.

Alice looked thoughtfully at Kat. “I always thought the performers on cruise ships roomed with the crew.”

“Usually they do,” Kat said. “The room was negotiated into my contract.”

“You must be something special in the music world.” Alice grinned.

“I don’t know about that, but I have a great agent who likes to see just how much she can squeeze out of each of my contracts.”

“A balcony is worth that kind of effort, I’d say,” Sam’s grandmother said. “My Sammy played the piano for a few years.” Her eyes twinkled, and Kat had the distinct impression that Alice was on a mission. A mission to play matchmaker. And Kat didn’t want any part of it, especially not in the midst of what was happening on the ship.

She’d venture to guess Sam didn’t, either. He seemed determined to ignore his grandmother’s comment.

“Did he?”

“Oh, yes, but it was a battle to get him to practice. Whenever I was in charge of the kids, I’d have to stand over Sam or he would slip out of the house before I could catch him. And now look at us—he’s the one standing over me! The family sent him to babysit me, you know.”

Kat bit her lip to keep from laughing at the woman’s indignant expression.

“Grandma,” Sam said and sighed. “I think you should—”

“Kat!” someone shouted, and she knew without looking who it was.

Max.

Just about the last person in the world she wanted to see. She reigned in her irritation. A journalist for a regional magazine, Max had knocked on her cabin door their second day of cruising. He’d claimed his editor had assigned him a travel piece, but Kat didn’t buy it. He wrote for the entertainment department, not travel, and had never written anything else in the fourteen months they’d dated. The fact that his new assignment put him on ship with Kat seemed a little too coincidental.

“Kat!” he called again.

Much as she wanted to ignore him, she felt compelled to wait as he jogged toward her. He sidled up next to her, obvious concern in his blue eyes. Eyes that had once drawn her to him. They did have a way of appearing genuine. Even now, she found herself believing he was concerned for her, that he truly did care about her.

He’d proven the opposite, though, back in April when Kat had been in the hospital.

“What happened? Are you okay?” His gaze slid to Sam, who was watching the exchange intently, his gray eyes devoid of emotion. Alice watched, too, her red hat askew, her eyes flashing with interest.

“I’m fine.” Her answer was clipped, and she saw a look of hurt pass through Max’s eyes. She had never been good at rudeness, and she caved to the puppy-dog expression. “The chandelier above the piano fell in the atrium during my performance. It was a close call.”

“I should have been there,” he said, and Kat held back a sigh.

She, for one, was glad he hadn’t been. He’d sat in the front row of her other three performances on board. She found his presence odd and irritating, being that he’d never shown a huge interest in her career when they were dating. He was tone-deaf, his singing at church rivaling the mournful cry of a hungry calf, and he’d always preferred a loud ball game to a quiet concert. That should have been a red flag, but she’d somehow allowed herself to ignore it.

“Why?” she asked as Sam stopped in front of the door to her room.

“I could have made sure you were okay.” He glanced at Sam and frowned.

Kat wished she’d known Max had planned to purchase a ticket on the cruise. She would have made sure her room wasn’t on the same deck as his. Ever since the breakup, he’d been campaigning to win her back. But following her aboard the cruise had taken his efforts to a whole new level of obnoxious.

“She was okay, and she still is,” Sam cut in. “You should probably do what the captain said and return to your stateroom.”

“I’ll just make sure she gets settled in her room. Thanks for walking her here.” Max tried to dismiss Sam, but Sam wasn’t taking the hint. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, dark eyes steady on Kat.

“You want to go ahead and open the door?” he asked, and her cheeks heated.

“Right.” She reached for her purse, then realized she didn’t have it. “I don’t have my keycard. I left it with the concierge before the performance.”

“Come on down to my room, Kat,” Max suggested, and she almost laughed at his earnestness. As if he was her knight in shining armor instead of a cheating sleaze.

“No.” She didn’t add thank you, though the polite woman her parents had raised her to be demanded it. Morgan would have been proud.

Sam glanced at Max and back to Kat. “Are you traveling with someone who has another keycard?”

Kat shook her head. “No, but please don’t worry about me. I don’t mind waiting out the time upstairs.”

“Nonsense,” Alice said. “Come to my room. It’s no time to be alone.”

“Really, I can—”

“You’d be doing me a favor,” Alice insisted. “All this drama has really shaken me.” She pressed her hand to her chest and heaved a deep sigh.

“Grandma,” Sam warned. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” she responded, straightening her hat and brushing her hand down her bright red shorts.

“Act like you’re on death’s door to get Kathryn to go with you.”

“Who says I’m acting?” Alice said. “We’re all on death’s door. Now, come on. To my room. I need to journal everything before I forget it.” She grabbed Kat’s hand, and Kat didn’t have the heart to pull away.

Besides, it didn’t seem like the time to argue. Not when the captain had asked everyone to return to their staterooms and not when Kat’s legs still felt shaky with the remnants of her fear. And certainly not when Max was watching with the hangdog expression he’d been wearing every time she’d seen him since the cruise had begun.

He caught up with her again, his dark hair ruffled, fists clenched at his sides. It wasn’t a good look for him. He’d always been a laid-back kind of guy with a whatever-makes-you-happy attitude. It was one of the things she’d liked about him. But it had been their downfall in the end. He’d done what made him happy, and she couldn’t forget it.

“You can go back to your own room, Max.” She said the words quietly, trying not to make a scene.

He didn’t take the hint. “I’m worried about you, Kat. Let me just walk you to this kind lady’s room and—”

“I’m fine, Max.”

“I think what she means to say is that you’re not invited.” Sam speared Max with a warning look that stopped her ex in his tracks.

Max glared. She thought he might argue, but true to form, he turned from conflict. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” He turned on his heel and stalked away.

* * *

Sam didn’t know who Max was, but he didn’t like the guy. As a matter of fact, right at the moment, there were a lot of things he didn’t like. He didn’t like that Kathryn had almost been killed by a falling chandelier in the atrium. He didn’t like that his grandmother was on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where there had just been a significant fire. And he didn’t like the feeling of unease that had latched on to him right before the explosion and hadn’t let up since.

An image flashed through his memory. The man he’d seen hurrying out of the atrium and into the coffee shop. He’d let Security know about that. Maybe they could pull up footage and get an ID on the guy. Just to be safe.

He led the women to room 1237 and waited impatiently for his grandmother to open the door. He wanted to go back down to the atrium, talk to Security, see if they had any ideas about what had caused the explosion.

Finally, his grandmother managed to dig out her keycard from the oversize bag she was carrying and opened the door.

Kat hesitated at the doorway, and he nudged her forward. He didn’t want her wandering around the cruise ship any more than he wanted Grandma doing it. The safest place for both of them was exactly where they were.

THREE

“Well.” Alice crossed the room and dropped onto the bed. “I was looking for excitement when I signed up for this cruise, but a falling chandelier and a fire were not what I’d anticipated.” She took off her hat and tossed it on the nightstand beside her.

“I’d offer to call for some tea, but my hands are still shaking something fierce,” Grandma said.

“It would probably be a while before someone could bring it to us, anyway,” Kat said. “Would you like me to make you some?”

“No, no. Tea brewed in a coffee pot always tastes like coffee. But how sweet to offer. You just sit down for a bit. You’ve been through a trauma, Kathryn.”

“Thanks, and you can just call me Kat.” She perched on the edge of a brown leather chair, bare feet peeking out from under her gown. Sam caught a glimpse of sparkly silver toenails before she rearranged the hem of her gown to cover her feet. She clasped her hands together in her lap, absently twisting a plain gold band on her right ring finger.

“I wonder how something like this could happen,” his grandmother said. She ran a hand along her straight white hair, smoothing it down. She’d given up coloring it long ago and now just bleached it white every now and again. It was better than gray, she said, and more believable than blond.

“Trouble does seem to follow you, Grandma,” Sam said wryly. It’d been a running joke long before he’d joined the family as a troubled foster kid looking for roots. He closed the door with a quiet snap, his gaze settling on Kat.

“Which is why you came to babysit me, right? Imagine that.” Alice huffed, her hair nearly vibrating with the force of her indignation. “A seventy-two-year-old being treated like a toddler. It’s ridiculous, don’t you think, Kat?”

“Well, I...” She met Sam’s eyes.

He could tell she wasn’t quite sure how to respond to his grandmother.

“Should I remind you that you’re the one who insisted I come with you?” he pointed out.

His grandmother huffed again. “That was only because I knew you had more time available than the rest of them.” She looked at Kat. “Until this cruise, he hadn’t taken a day off in two years!”

He caught the speculation in Kat’s gaze. Grandma had a way of turning the conversation back to him, but he had another agenda, and before Kat could comment, he got to it.

“You and Max don’t seem friendly. How do you know each other?”

“We dated for a while.” She rubbed at a smudge of soot that stained the blue fabric of her dress. He could have told her it would never come out. The fancy dress was tomorrow’s trash, which was too bad. But at least Kat was okay.

“And you both just happen to be on the same cruise together, or did you come together and then separate?”

“He’s a journalist. He’s writing a travel piece for his magazine.”

Convenient. The smarmy ex-boyfriend had followed her on board. Why? To get even with her for something? Rig the chandelier to fall when Kat was performing? Even Sam knew his imagination was stretching there. Any number of things could have caused the explosion, and Max didn’t strike him as someone who could successfully plan and implement such an elaborate scheme. The guy probably came on board to try to win Kathryn back. Even so, Sam never operated on assumptions.

“What’s his last name? And what magazine does he work for?” At least he could look into the guy, corroborate the reasons for his trip.

“Pratt. Maxwell Pratt. He works for Miami Motions.” Kat pushed a strand of damp hair away from her shoulder. Whatever makeup she’d been wearing had faded, leaving only traces of mascara smeared under her eyes. The sprinklers had drenched her hair and soaked her gown. She shivered, and Sam snagged a blanket from the end of the bed, tucking it around her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she murmured, pulling it closed around her wet dress.

“Looks like your ex-boyfriend is still pining for you,” Grandma said, eyes glinting with interest. It would be better if Sam could interview Kat alone, but there was nowhere else to go, and he didn’t plan to wait.

“He’s been hoping we’ll get back together. But it’s over,” Kat said. He saw the finality in her expression and didn’t doubt her words.

“How long did you two date?” Sam asked.

“A little more than a year.” She didn’t want to talk about Max. He knew it, from her rigid posture, her brief answers. But Sam needed information, and he would get it.

“When did you break up?”

She looked at him then, brow furrowed. “I don’t want to be rude, but I’d rather not discuss Max.”

“I get that, and I don’t mean to pry. I’m just trying to piece together the facts.”

Kat’s gaze narrowed and she pulled the blanket tighter around her slender frame. “And my relationship with Max matters because...?”

She clearly wasn’t following his line of thought, and why would she? Any number of things could have caused the explosion. But Sam’s instinct told him whatever the cause, it wasn’t accidental.

“It may not matter at all,” he said. “But sometimes the smallest details help.”

“In this case, I don’t see how,” Kat insisted. She looked young and vulnerable, and Sam wondered why she was even here. Why would a world-class pianist take a gig on a cruise ship? It certainly couldn’t be for the money. Exposure? She didn’t seem as if she was desperate for it.

“Don’t mind him, Kathryn,” Grandma chimed in sweetly from her reclined position on the bed. “This is just who Sam is. That’s the problem with his being a Secret Service agent. He always thinks he’s on duty.” His grandmother looked as if she were watching a movie play out. He was tempted to offer to get her a bag of popcorn and a soda for all her interest in their conversation.

* * *

“Secret Service?” Kat met Sam’s eyes.

He shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal. Maybe to him it wasn’t, but it would be more valuable information to supply to Morgan later. Kat smiled as she imagined telling her friend all the details of the day. Knowing Morgan, she’d be disappointed she missed out on all the action. Kat, on the other hand, just wanted to rewind to those moments on the balcony before her performance. When she’d felt tranquil and safe. She didn’t enjoy chaos or drama.

“So you live in DC, then?” she asked, latching on to the chance to change the subject.

“No. I’m at the Miami field office,” he said, but moved right on with his objective. “You don’t have any enemies, do you?” Sam asked.

The question caught her off guard, and she looked at him seriously, trying to read his expression.

“That’s an odd question.”

“Not when you were nearly crushed by a chandelier,” Sam said.

Connecting the chandelier’s fall to foul play was a leap, in Kat’s opinion. She opened her mouth to say as much, but Sam suddenly pulled the other chair over and sat across from her. She almost laughed. His grandmother was right. It was as if he was in his own interrogation room with her. Samuel West did have the appearance of a Secret Service agent. Not that she’d ever met one. But he fit the image she’d stored in her imagination. Tall, muscled, dark hair, sharp eyes.

Only, he wore blue jeans and a black polo instead of a suit and tie. And they were in the middle of the ocean on a cruise, not back on land in a federal building.

“Enemies?” he prodded.

“None that I know of,” Kat said.

“So, you weren’t running from something when you took this job?”

“No!” The word came out a little too forcefully, and Kat knew it. She had been running from something, she supposed. From loss. Her father, the house, her relationship with Max. All of it, gone.

“Then why did you take it?”

She wanted to tell him it was none of his business, that she’d had enough of the interrogation, and she wanted to call down for her key. But Sam had saved her life, and she owed him more than an ungrateful response.

“It was time for a change. I wanted to try something new. My best friend has been working on cruises for years. She suggested it.” There. Simple, but true.

He searched her face, as if he could read her thoughts. She hoped he couldn’t, because her attention had been drawn just then to the way his polo stretched across a muscled chest.

“You needed a change from touring the world doing concerts...so you decided to work on a cruise ship. Touring the world, doing concerts.”

He saw right through her, she knew. But she didn’t want to discuss Dad. The fire. All the other reasons she’d taken the job. She looked into his piercing eyes and knew her efforts were futile.

“I canceled my tour back in November when my dad had a stroke. I moved in with him for a few months and started teaching piano at the University of Miami. My dad passed away in January. I needed a little time away.”

She didn’t mention the fire. She didn’t want sympathy points from anyone. The fact that her house was being rebuilt while she was away was only a small reason she’d left Miami. Max was another. Only he’d still found a way to stay close. She simply wouldn’t share everything about her life with a stranger.

Even if that stranger had saved her life.

“I’m sorry about your father,” Alice said. “It’s hard to lose someone you love.”

“Thank you.” She stood, unwrapped the blanket from her shoulders and laid it over the back of the chair. “I’d better call for my key. I’d like to get back to my room and out of this dress.”

She moved toward the phone, but Sam snagged her hand. She looked back at him, and her breath caught. The tenderness in his gaze tugged at her heart, a deep longing rising from where she’d shoved it away. Longing for constancy, companionship, family.

“I was hoping you’d stay with my grandmother while I talk to ship security down below.”

She tugged her hand out of his grasp and set to tying her wet hair back into a low bun. The cool dampness did its job and she pushed her feelings away.

“I do not need a babysitter.” Alice muttered the words under her breath. Crossed her arms defiantly.

“Noted, Grandma.”

Kat looked from Alice to Sam. It was none of her business, but she found herself increasingly curious about this man who had taken leave from work to care for his grandmother on vacation and then taken on Kat’s protection as his responsibility. Her cynical side reminded her that people who seemed too good to be true usually were. But the woman in her—the part of her heart that longed for companionship—sensed that Sam was everything he seemed to be. And more.

Alice stood and walked over to the balcony door. “What I need is a little fresh air and some company.”

Kat grinned. Yes, just like Morgan, Alice had a flair for drama. “I don’t imagine I’ll have access to my room anytime soon. I’m happy to stay until then.”

And she was. Even though she really wanted a shower and some clean clothes, she also didn’t relish the idea of going back to her room alone just yet. Surely the incident in the atrium had been an accident, but she was still shaken by how close she’d come to losing her life. And she had to admit she’d like to get to know Alice a little better.

“Thanks,” Sam said. “You should get some fresh air, too. You still look pale.”

“I did nearly get crushed by a chandelier,” she said, mimicking the words he’d used and trying to lighten the mood.

But Sam’s expression darkened. “Glad you haven’t forgotten.”

A cold chill swept up Kat’s nape, and her hand came up to press it away.

“Sammy, enough with your gloom and doom,” Alice chided. “I hardly think she could forget what happened just thirty minutes ago.”