Fool Me Once (First Wives #1)

“You’re not the police?”

“The ship doesn’t have police, Ms. Cumberland. We’re a luxury liner subject to maritime law.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“That’s what I asked,” Avery said.

“Ms. Grant said she left with you and your companions today at nine in the morning.”

“That’s correct.”

“My jewelry was in the safe when I left.”

“You looked in your safe before you went ashore?” The uniformed man didn’t sound convinced.

“Well, no. But it was the night before when I went to bed.”

“With your companion?”

Avery glared. “I’ve told you this already. Rogelio left after midnight.”

“Do you think Rogelio stole your stuff?” Lori asked her.

“He’s never been alone in my room.”

The officer said something to the remaining men in the room, and they quickly left.

Lori glanced around. “Aren’t they going to look for fingerprints?”

“I assure you, we will investigate every lead.”

“Your butler, Mr. Datu, says he has seen your companion in your stateroom many times.”

Avery shrugged. “That’s not a secret.”

“You trust this man?”

“Well . . .” Doubt waved over her face as she looked at Lori. “Yeah. I mean . . .”

“Mr. Bianchi, if there is a question about Avery’s friend, ask him a few questions, search his room.”

“We plan on doing that. We just want to make sure Ms. Grant would like to stick with her statement.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

His smile was meant to pacify. But only managed to tick her off. “Cruise ships are often the target of false claims.”

“You think she’s faking this?” Lori found her lawyer hat and pulled it down hard.

“I didn’t say that. Perhaps Ms. Grant misplaced her belongings.”

“Misplaced?” Avery stood.

“It has happened in the past. We hate to upset other passengers with false accusations—”

“I haven’t accused anyone of anything. I’m telling you someone stole my shit.”

Mr. Bianchi stood, placed his notebook in his pocket. “We will look into it.”

“Do you have security cameras?” Lori asked.

“Some.”

Avery rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe this.”

“I want to see them,” Lori told the man.

“We will see what we can find. I suggest you enjoy your evening, ladies. I’m sorry for this unfortunate occurrence; however, there isn’t much to do now but stand back and let us do our jobs.”

“Unbelievable.” Avery paced the room after the man left.

“Where is he going?” Shannon asked.

“Dinner, probably,” Avery yelled.

“What?”

“I don’t think they’re taking this seriously.”

“Why not?” Trina asked.

“Because they don’t have to. They’re not subject to American laws, and international waters have their own idea of what a crime is.”

“Stealing someone else’s stuff sounds criminal to me,” Lori said.

“Yes, but you’ll be leaving this ship in a couple of days, and the investigation will be left up to that guy.” The Italian that wasn’t a cop and wanted to rule out foul play by suggesting Avery lost her stuff.

Lori looked up when she heard a knock on the door. Reed stood listening. “I saw a few men from the ship hovering by Miguel and Rogelio’s room.”

“And?” Trina asked.

“I’m not sure. They were speaking in Italian.”

“Was Rogelio there?” Avery asked.

“No. Neither of them.”

“It’s not like they went far,” Shannon pointed out.

Avery sighed. “I can’t imagine he’d do this.”

Lori caught Reed’s stare.

A stare that she was sure matched hers.

Their idea of a night of fancy food and entertainment squashed, they all returned to their rooms to dress down and look over the ship themselves to find Miguel and Rogelio to ask their own questions. Agreeing to meet back on the pool deck in an hour, they separated.

Reed took up space beside Lori.

“You think he did this,” Lori said once they were alone.

He scanned the deck as they walked through. “I wasn’t happy with Miguel’s answers when it came to Trina.”

“But this is Rogelio.”

“Right. Miguel’s friend from school. Isn’t that what he told us?”

She didn’t remember.

“It could be random,” she said.

Reed stopped her, touched her arm. “Really, Counselor? Most crimes are committed by someone you know.”

“You sound like a cop.”

“I watch a lot of CSI.” He pulled her along his side as they searched the deck.

Poolside, an hour later, none of them reported seeing the Spanish duo.

“I haven’t gotten rid of Rogelio since we met, now he is nowhere to be seen,” Avery complained.

“It’s a big ship,” Trina said with a hopeful smile.

“We should probably get something to eat, let the ship’s authorities do their job,” Lori said.

“I have a sick feeling about this.” Avery slumped down in a poolside chair.

“Someone just jacked fifty thousand dollars worth of jewelry, of course you have a sick feeling,” Lori said.

Avery waved both hands in the air. “No, it’s not that. I don’t care about the stuff, I have insurance . . . but if it was Rogelio . . . damn it. Am I that naive?”

Shannon took a seat beside her. “Hon, we all met the guy. He seems normal to me.”

“Me too.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed. And I’m the cynic in the group.”

Avery dropped her head in both her hands. “I knew it was too good to be true. A hot cruise fling, no strings. Just fun. After my year and a half of purgatory, I deserve some fun, right?”

“Think that was the point behind this trip,” Trina said. “Have fun, slip out of purgatory.”

Avery pinned Reed with a glare. “You’re a dude, what do you think?”

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself. If he is behind this, chances are he’s done it before. That doesn’t suggest you have an inability to judge character. It means he’s a professional at manipulating. He had all of us fooled.”

Avery’s chest deflated. “Yeah, but I slept with the man.”

“I bet he shows up by morning,” Shannon offered.

Lori would bet her next paycheck he wouldn’t.




Miguel and Rogelio never reboarded the ship after the stop in France.

Reed wasn’t surprised.

Sasha, for lack of a real name, had labeled Miguel as an amateur thief. Thief, yes . . . amateur? Well, that was left to interpretation. And if Reed had been anywhere other than on an assignment, he would have picked up on their game and called them out on it. But to do so would have brought attention to his own game.

The last stop of the cruise was on the island of Majorca, in the city of Palma.

Instead of any activity, the women decided to sit on the beach and drink rum by the buckets.

Reed made it a point to hand them water to keep them from getting sick from too much liquor. Keeping an eye on them had become his mission. Well, one of his missions, in any event.

They were being reckless in their scorn, and as much as he wanted them drunk enough to start talking about their connections, and possibly clue him in to something to bring back to the person paying him, he didn’t want to see them hurt.