The doctor removed the compress, revealing an ugly bruise on Serena’s neck. As the medic’s fingers probed the area, a man with a hip-rolling walk approached one of the security officers, muttering something in his ear. He was allowed access to the injured woman. He squatted down and folded something into her palm.
Serena opened her hand and brought the item closer to her. It shone under the artificial lighting, just like the tears in her eyes.
If Marc ever got hold of that bastard, the guy would live to regret what he’d done. Only a coward would hurt a woman.
CHAPTER FOUR
THANASI KALDIS, the hotel director, ran a tanned hand through hair that was beginning to silver at the tips. He ground his teeth in frustration. This contract had been nothing but a nightmare from the very start. He’d been stuck with a mostly North American crew who weren’t used to working long hours, and complained every chance they got. And he’d had passenger issues on every single cruise. Retirement was beginning to sound better and better.
What had happened to the days when people came on board a cruise to eat, drink and relax? Now there was always an agenda or some kind of incident that required the police or law enforcement.
He had been happy to leave the Mediterranean, figuring all the drama of the onboard smuggling scheme that had been uncovered was over with. In the Caribbean he was hoping to get back to some kind of normalcy. But no, Patti Kennedy, his cruise director, and the ship’s librarian had come up with this ridiculous treasure hunt. Now, even before the ship sailed, passengers were frantically going through their cabins and moving furniture around.
He was counting the days to vacation. At the end of this cruise, when the ship repositioned and sailed down the west coast of South America, Thanasi was taking a much needed break. After attending Ariana Bennett’s wedding, it was off to Athens to see his family.
Ariana was the ship’s librarian and she was marrying a former undercover Italian police officer, Dante Colangelo, who’d been investigating the smuggling ring. He’d abducted her at a dig site, suspecting she was involved in the antiquities black market. But after spending time together and discovering that neither was the enemy, the two had fallen for each other. They’d planned a shipboard ceremony so that all Ariana’s cruise staff friends could be there; the more elaborate wedding and reception would be held in Ariana’s hometown, Philadelphia.
During his vacation, Thanasi was going to seriously consider getting a job shoreside. He’d been toying with the idea for a while, especially after the smuggling scandal, but usually dismissed it because wanderlust got in the way. But even these past few voyages had not been incident free, and a nice dull desk job on shore was sounding better and better.
Thanasi was especially upset by this most recent attack. Alarm bells were bound to sound off to the media. The d’Andrea woman was an heiress from a prominent Buenos Aires family. Since past sailings had ended with arrests, Thanasi was dreading contacting the authorities again.
It would mean another delay and the inevitable itinerary adjustments. The result would be passengers complaining. And if the d’Andrea woman decided to press charges, well, that would create even more problems and a longer delay.
Thanasi hated dealing with the authorities at foreign ports of call, but maritime law being what it was, he had no choice. Luckily they were in Key West. Still, it would mean kissing off his cherished personal time. He would now be too busy with the police and FBI.
Thanasi and Nick Pappas, the captain, would have to be available for questions. Nick had already placed a call to the owner, Elias Stamos, who was at his vacation home in Barbados. Elias should be calling back any minute.
Meanwhile the assailant had been taken to the brig, an isolated cabin kept open to contain unruly passengers. Now it was left to Thanasi and Patti Kennedy to get things back on track and deliver the cruise experience these passengers had come onboard for.
Patti, resilient and perky as ever, was already on the dais and in full command of the microphone while the Rhythm Dancers D.J. sat silently, headphones on, gaping at her. She was keeping things upbeat and light, trying to play down the seriousness of the situation yet at the same time not trivializing the attack. He had to admit she was good at her job.
Initially Thanasi had had his doubts about Patti. He was more comfortable working with male cruise directors. But although Patti’s style was different, she’d delivered to date. She was pleasant, outgoing, humorous and a very attractive woman, especially popular with male passengers, who came up with outrageous excuses to interact with her.
“Well, now that we’ve had our entertainment for the evening,” Patti announced, smiling her big smile, and tossing a full mane of chestnut hair off her face, “we can get ahead with the business of enjoying this cruise. Be assured the thief is under lock and key, in a cabin far away from you and me, thank goodness.” She gave a throaty laugh and the passengers laughed with her.
“It’s safe to return to your cabins to get ready for dinner. First seating will be in exactly half an hour. If you prefer alternative dining, then the Marco Polo and Olive Grove are the places to be. Both restaurants serve until eleven. And after dinner you’ll love one of our Las Vegas style shows. The entertainment features our talented dancers, the Alexandra’s Dream Team. Thanasi Kaldis, your hotel director, and I will be out on the Promenade later to answer your questions.”
Patti surrendered the microphone to the clearly smitten D.J., who helped her down from the dais. She was immediately surrounded by people. Hoping to take the pressure off her, Thanasi made his way over.
Seconds before he got to the stage, a tall, dark-haired man in expensive boots accosted him. “You’re the hotel director, aren’t you?”
“I am.” Thanasi held out his hand. “Thanasi Kaldis at your service.” The passenger grasped it with a surprising firmness that almost made him wince. Thanasi quickly stuck his hand in the pocket of his navy blue double-breasted jacket and waited to hear what he would say.
“The name is Gilles Anderson,” he said. “How could something like this happen on a cruise ship? That woman could have been seriously hurt.”
Thanasi had asked himself the very same question, except he’d phrased it differently. How could something like this continue to happen on his cruise ship?
He was used to people drinking too much and occasionally causing a scene. He was used to couples fighting, the occasional extramarital affair gone awry, one-night stands that turned into a disaster when one or another party expected more, the disappearance of items from cabins, people complaining about food. But smuggling and passengers attacks were different from the usual experience. And this public assault of a passenger on his ship was definitely not to be tolerated.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Thanasi answered, keeping his voice modulated and his response professional. “This ship holds a thousand passengers and is very much like a floating city. We have metal detectors that passengers pass through prior to boarding, and the luggage goes through a scanner. Short of running background checks on all of our guests, we are doing our best.”
Gilles Anderson didn’t appear appeased by his answer. In fact he’d become more indignant. His face had taken on a crimson undertone, and Thanasi could tell he was fighting to control his anger.
“Where was your security force when that woman was attacked? Have you seen the ugly bruise on her neck? You’ll be lucky if she doesn’t sue you.”
Thanasi had thought about that too. Americans were a litigious group, although Ms. d’Andrea was Argentinean. The first thing he’d had the Guest Relations personnel do was check her travel documents and that’s how he’d discovered who she was.
“I repeat, it was a very unfortunate situation and we’ll do everything in our power to make Ms. d’Andrea’s stay with us as comfortable as possible.” Thanasi removed his hand from his pocket and