Page 97 of Backtrack

“Lola Teariki,” she said, all business. “I’m his partner on the Marshals task force.” Cutter didn’t know if it was instinctive or on purpose, but Teariki’s lips pulled back in a half snarl, like she might break into a terrifying Maori Haka at any moment.

Joellen shook the offered hand, wincing. Lola had a grip that could pop the cap off a beer bottle.

“I’m Arliss’s ex-wife.”

“Yep,” Lola said, popping the P. “I reckon I should tell you up front, I’m on Team Mim.”

“Good to hear.” Joellen gave a tight chuckle. “I am also on Team Mim. Don’t know if this guy told you, but I’m the one who wanted the divorce.”

Lola’s gaze stayed locked on Joellen’s face. “And yet you called him at the first sign of trouble.”

“Oh darlin,” Joellen said. “This is hardly the first sign of trouble in my life. I love your accent, by the way.” She touched Lola’s arm before turning to Cutter. “It was stupid to call you, but for some reason I just thought, hey,Arliss is inAlaska, I should let him know someone’s following me.”

“Looks like you were right to do it,” Cutter said. “Does the name Bart Preston mean anything to you?”

“Not at all,” Joellen said. “Is that his name?”

Cutter nodded. “Have you ever seen him before today?”

“Last night on the top deck,” she said. “He was hanging around while my date and I walked around the track after dinner.”

Lola’s scowl burned on unabated. “Tell us about this date.”

Joellen’s face flushed, like she’d done something embarrassing. “Steve Cruz?” she said. “Not much to tell. I met him when we were boarding the ship. He’s a nice guy. A cop from Minnesota. We hit it off pretty well. At least I thought we did. We went for a walk after a nice dinner. I drank a fair amount of wine, so it wasn’t long before I had to pee. When I came out of the ladies’ room, he’d vanished. I haven’t seen him since.” She heaved a heavy sigh, tears welling. “Guess I’m so coyote ugly, he was willing to abandon the five-thousand-dollar Tom Ford jacket he loaned me when I got cold.”

Lola’s eyes opened wider. “What?”

“You know, coyote ugly. It’s when a guy wakes up next to you and gnaws off his own arm instead of—”

Lola’s frown came back with a vengeance. “I know what coyote ugly means,” she said. “What’s this about a five-thousand-dollar coat?”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Joellen said. “I asked Guest Services forhis cabin number last night so I could return it, but they were no help at all. Guess they thought I was a stalker or something.”

“Imagine that,” Lola said.

“Lola,” Cutter chided.

“Anyway,” Joellen said. “I never did locate him. To be honest, I’m really worried something might have happened. That Bart guy had to have seen something, but he freaked out when I asked him about it.”

Cutter shot a glance at Lola. Then, to Joellen, “Alaska Air has a handful of flights south out of Ketchikan every day. We’ll help you get a flight home from here.”

“What?” Joellen scoffed. “No way. I mean, you have the guy in custody. I paid for this cruise, Arliss. I plan to stay on it to the end.”

Cutter frowned. “Look, Jo, the person we arrested could be working with someone else.”

“Well, that’s a pleasant notion,” she said. “I thought I was the one being paranoid.”

“What time does your ship leave?” Cutter asked.

Joellen glanced at her watch, the Cartier he’d given her all those years ago. She saw that he noticed. “Don’t read anything into this, hon. It tells the time. There is absolutely no sentiment attached. Anyway, the ship doesn’t depart for another six hours.”

“Good to hear,” Cutter said. “Go back and stay in your cabin until we come get you.”

“Where are you going?”

“Ketchikan PD,” Cutter said. “See what we can find out from Bart Preston.”

“I can’t understand why he’d want to follow me,” Joellen said, half to herself.