saw her and they approached each other cautiously. When she saw the tell-tale ponytail, Jade felt herself relax.
‘Craig.’
‘Jade?’ He came closer, studying her carefully. And then, perhaps sensing her mood, ‘You OK ?’
A lock of blond hair had escaped from his ponytail and curled over his shoulders.
In her industry—police, private investigation, bodyguarding—close crops or clean-shaven scalps were the norm. Those types of men didn’t have long hair. Perhaps because it was too easy to grab it in a fight. Or maybe because it was a sign of weakness; of femininity. The shorter the hair, the tougher the guy underneath it.
‘I’m just heading back to the resort.’ She almost had to shout to make herself heard over the noise of the ocean. Even so, the wind threatened to snatch her voice away.
‘I’m going down to the dive boat. I think I left something there.’
‘The boat’s covered with a tarp. I helped Monique with it just now. I don’t rate your chances of getting it off and back on again.’
‘Damn,’ Craig raised a hand and rubbed his beard.
‘What did you leave behind?’
‘My wallet.’
Jade was going to tell Craig that he’d do better to come down again first thing in the morning. She didn’t think that anyone would be willing to do battle with that tarpaulin, in that swell, on the off-chance there’d be something of value underneath it.
But then she remembered what she’d seen when she climbed out of the boat.
Monique, avoiding Jade’s gaze as she shoved something small and black into her back pocket. And doing it furtively, not in a way that somebody would handle a legitimate personal possession.
‘A black one?’ Jade asked.
‘Yes. Did you see it?’
‘I think Monique might have found it and taken it up to the resort with her,’ Jade said carefully.
‘Oh.’ Craig glanced down the beach to the jetty, where waves were pounding the dive boat against the dock bumpers, and then looked back at Jade again. ‘Did she say she’d found it?’
‘No. But you could ask her anyway.’
‘I suppose I could. Are you heading back that way?’ Now Jade saw Craig look down, with some curiosity, at the champagne bottle she held.
Jade began to wish she had smashed the damn thing on the floor after all.
‘Yes,’ she snapped. She didn’t offer any further explanation. Just turned, bracing herself against the wind, and walked up towards the resort with Craig, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of the scrawny man she thought she’d seen a short while ago.
She wasn’t really paying any attention to Craig as he headed across to the staff quarters and, after some hesitation, stepped up onto the covered paving and gave a gentle knock on the nearest door.
But when she heard his startled cry and saw him frozen in the doorway of the room he had just opened, Jade came running.
10
Jade hurried up the shallow wooden steps and along the corridor that led to the open door where Craig was standing, stock-still, staring into the room in disbelief.
Looking over his shoulder, Jade saw the small bedsit was splattered with crimson.
Red gouts were trickling down the peeling back wall of the kitchenette, where the dirty-brown curtain was twisting and flapping in the wind, and more of them streaked the tiled floor. It half covered the unmade double bed, thick-looking streaks that were deep red in colour, a stark contrast to the crumpled, off-white sheet.
The gruesome sight was bathed in bright light under the uncompromising glare of the bare electric bulb that hung from the wooden ceiling.
There was nobody inside the room.
Jade felt her heart start pounding, fast and hard.
She put a hand on Craig’s arm, aware of a smell in the air, incongruous and yet familiar. A strong, spicy odour. That smell … and the fact the room was empty …
And what was that gleaming on the tiles? It looked like a jagged shard of clear glass.
Jade let out a deep breath that turned into a small, relieved
‘Craig.’
‘Jade?’ He came closer, studying her carefully. And then, perhaps sensing her mood, ‘You OK ?’
A lock of blond hair had escaped from his ponytail and curled over his shoulders.
In her industry—police, private investigation, bodyguarding—close crops or clean-shaven scalps were the norm. Those types of men didn’t have long hair. Perhaps because it was too easy to grab it in a fight. Or maybe because it was a sign of weakness; of femininity. The shorter the hair, the tougher the guy underneath it.
‘I’m just heading back to the resort.’ She almost had to shout to make herself heard over the noise of the ocean. Even so, the wind threatened to snatch her voice away.
‘I’m going down to the dive boat. I think I left something there.’
‘The boat’s covered with a tarp. I helped Monique with it just now. I don’t rate your chances of getting it off and back on again.’
‘Damn,’ Craig raised a hand and rubbed his beard.
‘What did you leave behind?’
‘My wallet.’
Jade was going to tell Craig that he’d do better to come down again first thing in the morning. She didn’t think that anyone would be willing to do battle with that tarpaulin, in that swell, on the off-chance there’d be something of value underneath it.
But then she remembered what she’d seen when she climbed out of the boat.
Monique, avoiding Jade’s gaze as she shoved something small and black into her back pocket. And doing it furtively, not in a way that somebody would handle a legitimate personal possession.
‘A black one?’ Jade asked.
‘Yes. Did you see it?’
‘I think Monique might have found it and taken it up to the resort with her,’ Jade said carefully.
‘Oh.’ Craig glanced down the beach to the jetty, where waves were pounding the dive boat against the dock bumpers, and then looked back at Jade again. ‘Did she say she’d found it?’
‘No. But you could ask her anyway.’
‘I suppose I could. Are you heading back that way?’ Now Jade saw Craig look down, with some curiosity, at the champagne bottle she held.
Jade began to wish she had smashed the damn thing on the floor after all.
‘Yes,’ she snapped. She didn’t offer any further explanation. Just turned, bracing herself against the wind, and walked up towards the resort with Craig, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of the scrawny man she thought she’d seen a short while ago.
She wasn’t really paying any attention to Craig as he headed across to the staff quarters and, after some hesitation, stepped up onto the covered paving and gave a gentle knock on the nearest door.
But when she heard his startled cry and saw him frozen in the doorway of the room he had just opened, Jade came running.
10
Jade hurried up the shallow wooden steps and along the corridor that led to the open door where Craig was standing, stock-still, staring into the room in disbelief.
Looking over his shoulder, Jade saw the small bedsit was splattered with crimson.
Red gouts were trickling down the peeling back wall of the kitchenette, where the dirty-brown curtain was twisting and flapping in the wind, and more of them streaked the tiled floor. It half covered the unmade double bed, thick-looking streaks that were deep red in colour, a stark contrast to the crumpled, off-white sheet.
The gruesome sight was bathed in bright light under the uncompromising glare of the bare electric bulb that hung from the wooden ceiling.
There was nobody inside the room.
Jade felt her heart start pounding, fast and hard.
She put a hand on Craig’s arm, aware of a smell in the air, incongruous and yet familiar. A strong, spicy odour. That smell … and the fact the room was empty …
And what was that gleaming on the tiles? It looked like a jagged shard of clear glass.
Jade let out a deep breath that turned into a small, relieved
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