Even before setting foot on the "Iris of the Seas" cruise ship, Hope Diamond knew she was facing trouble. She headed Diamond Security, a protection service for people at high risk, and she was on the cruise to protect her cousin's husband from an assassin.
What she didn't know was that FBI Agent Matt Dennison would be on the ship. His mission was to prevent a traitor from turning over secret military microfilm to an enemy agent. She and Dennison had fallen in love, but she had decided to end their relationship. Now, rather than telling him when she returned, she had to break the news aboard the ship.
When a cyclone whips the ocean into a frenzy and two people are murdered, Diamond and Dennison must let go of personal feelings and join forces to prevent another killing and find the microfilm before the ship docks.
Even before setting foot on the "Iris of the Seas" cruise ship, Hope Diamond knew she was facing trouble. She headed Diamond Security, a protection service for people at high risk, and she was on the cruise to protect her cousin's husband from an assassin.
What she didn't know was that FBI Agent Matt Dennison would be on the ship. His mission was to prevent a traitor from turning over secret military microfilm to an enemy agent. She and Dennison had fallen in love, but she had decided to end their relationship. Now, rather than telling him when she returned, she had to break the news aboard the ship.
When a cyclone whips the ocean into a frenzy and two people are murdered, Diamond and Dennison must let go of personal feelings and join forces to prevent another killing and find the microfilm before the ship docks.
âDonât let my husband be killed. Please, Hope!â The woman pressed her hands on the desk and leaned over. Protecting people is your business, and youâre the best.â Her voice cracked, and she pulled a tissue from a small white purse and wiped her eyes.â
Hope scooted around the desk and hugged her cousin. âTell me whatâs happened.â
âSomeone set our garage on fire and shot at us!â Ruth Austin sank into a chair.
Hopeâs face flushed. Diamond Security protected high-profile, high-risk clients. She wasnât going to allow anyone to harm her own family. âWhereâs Leonard?â
âHe thinks Iâm overreacting, so heâs waiting downstairs.â She tossed a hand toward the front of the building.
âWait here. Iâll get my business partner.â Tall and slender, Hope Diamond had short blond hair, and her eyes were deep blue. Her lips, which normally tipped up at the ends suggesting a smile, were pinched together.
She returned with a bald, mahogany-skinned man, who had just turned fifty. He wore a white shirt, tie with vintage cars, and was carrying a blue mug of steaming coffee with a whiff of cinnamon.Â
âRuth, this is Frank Madison. Heâs a combat veteran and the best protection guy in the business.â She turned to Frank. âRuthâs father and my dad are brothers.â
âTwo diamonds, eh?â
Hope took Frankâs cup. âIâll keep this for you. Ruthâs husband, Leonard, is downstairs. Would you ask him to join us?â
Ruth touched Frankâs arm. âOur car is parked in a twenty-minute zone.â
âNo problem. Weâll park it in our lot. Be back in a jiffy.â
âCome with me, Ruth.â Hope took her to the conference room. Sunshine streamed through the windows, and Hope set Frankâs coffee on the oak table.
Ruth had the same slender build as Hope, but her light brown hair was long, and her eyes were misty blue behind fashionable glasses. Her jacket and skirt had a hot designer look. The jacketâs classic Dior lines came alive with the bold color patches of Thebe Magugu and topped a short A-line skirt, similar to what Courrèges was showing. Afashionista herself, Hope frowned at not recognizing the designer of Ruthâs outfit.
âMay I get you a drink? Coffee, tea, soda, or something stronger?â
âA glass of water, thanks.â
Carrying in a carafe of water and glasses, Hope met Frank and Leonard at the doorway. A tall, thin man, with long, loose arms, brown curly hair, and eyebrows that reached above his horn-rimmed glasses, Leonard sidled around the oval table and sat in a leather chair beside his wife. âWe shouldnât be bothering you, Hope. Weâre not in the same league as your celebrity clients.â
She smiled. âYouâre in a league all your own, Leonard. Youâre family. Tell us why youâve become a target.â
âA target?â Leonard sighed. âThatâs Ruthâs idea.â
âTell them about your whistleblowerâs case.â Ruth folded her arms.
âItâs not a case yet. I was frustrated and printed out some whistleblower forms. I filled them in, but I havenât turned in anything yet. Theyâre sitting on my desk.â
âIâd still like to hear why you filled out the forms.â
Leaning on the armrests, Leonard faced Hope. âI work for MOSâMoons of Saturn. Iâm an accounting clerk, and MOS works on military projects. I came across an invoice for a quantity of parts, but the invoice had no packing slip connected to it. Thatâs a flag that the goods were never received.â
âWhat action have you taken.â Frank sipped his coffee.
âOn three occasions, I talked to the purchasing agentâthatâs Gilbert Melroseâwho ordered the parts.â
âWhat did he say?â
Leonard held up a finger. âFirst, the packing list had been misplaced. Second, the company was shorthanded, which was why they didnât answer my calls and emails. Finally, heâd contact the firm himself. So far, I havenât heard anything, and he dodges me whenever I head in his direction.â
âWas the invoice paid?â
âAccording to the printout, yes. I tried to find why it went through the system, but the computer folks havenât figured it out and donât seem interested in admitting to any glitch.â
âHow much money are we talking about?â
âA good $45,000.â
Hope turned to Ruth. âTell me about the fire.â
Leonard put his hand on Ruthâs arm, but she pushed it away. âA fire started in our garage two nights ago. Fortunately, our neighbors noticed smoke. Carlos pounded on our door, and his wife called 911. If it hadnât been for them, we may have slept until it was too late.â She sniffled and pulled out a tissue.
âThe fire department wrote it off as an accident. Nothing to fuss about.â
Frank shook his head at Leonard. âI saw the bullet hole in your car window. I wouldnât call that nothing to fuss about.â
Ruth nodded. âThatâs why Iâm here. We were driving home last night. When we turned into the driveway, a car screamed by. Somebody shot at us! The loud bang nearly gave me a heart attack.â
Hope gulped. âYou could have been killed.â
Leonard put up his hands. âIt was probably kids shooting off an air rifle. Our streetlights have been shot out more than once.â
âIt was a bullet.â Frank pointed his cup at Leonard. âI spent enough years with Special Forces to recognize a bullet hole when I see one. Plus, air rifles donât make a loud bang.â
Hope tapped her fingers. âWhat are your plans over the next few days?â
âIâm invited to an event MOS is holding on the Iris of the Seas cruise ship. Ruth is coming with me.â
âWhen does your ship leave?â
Ruth lowered her eyes. âTomorrow.â
Frank rubbed his scalp with the heel of his hand. âA fire and a shooting are no coincidence. Someone is serious about hurting you, and they could be on the ship. Iâd advise you to cancel your plans.â
Leonard put his hands on his knees and hunched forward. âIâm not ducking out based on two incidents that could easily be a coincidence. Sorry to disagree with you, Frank. Besides, I doubt the attacker will be on the ship.â
Silence lowered on the room like a lid pressing down over a steaming kettle. Hope shifted in the chair. âDoes anyone in the company know about the whistleblowing?â   Â
Leonard swung a leg over his knee. âI work in an open cubicle. The disclosure forms are on my desk for anyone to see.â
Hope locked eyes with Frank. He apparently understood her message and nodded.
âI disagree that the attacker wonât be on the ship. It could well be an employee. If you insist on going on the cruise, Frank and I will come, too.â
âThank you!â Ruth let out a breath.
âItâs up to you if you want to come.â Leonardâs teeth caught his lower lip. âI donât think itâs necessary.â
The sun reflected off Leonardâs glasses. Hope stepped over and twisted the rod to close the venetian blinds. She sat down, and her eyes settled on his. âProtection is a two-way avenue of trust between our clients and our agency. You must be all in, or we cannot take on as a client. The risk would be unacceptable.â
Leonard glanced at Ruth. Her eyes glistened. He jerked up and put an arm around her shoulder. âAll right. Iâd be foolish to turn down help from Diamond Security. What about fees? We wonât accept charity.â
Hope smiled. âIâm pretty sure I can arrange a family discount.â
Ruth reached over and squeezed her arm.
âLetâs talk about tonight.â Hope brushed a hand through her hair. âWe operate a safehouse for clients. Iâd like you to spend the night there.â
âWeâll have to go home and pack,â Leonard said.
âNo, that could be dangerous.â Hope poured water into a glass. âThe safehouse will have everything you need. A husband and wife live on the premises. They trained in Israel and are a trusted part of our team. Frank will drive you home in the morning.â
âWeâll do anything you say.â Ruth hooked her arm through Leonardâs.
âIâll put your cellphones in the safe,â Frank said. âWe canât risk calls in or out of the facility.â
Ruth took hers out of her purse and handed it to him. She held out her hand. âYours, too, Leonard.â
Frank turned to Hope. âIâll get Tony.â
A seasoned operative, Tony Manera was a handsome, young Italian with a warm manner who had served with Interpol. He shrugged into a suede jacket and said heâd be happy to drive Ruth and Leonard to the safehouse.
Ruth picked up her purse but hung back. âHope, I canât tell you how much I appreciate your help.â
âIâm happy to help. Come on. Letâs catch up with the guys.â
Hope had purchased the red brick building in West Hollywood a year ago when the staff had outgrown the small quarters in Beverly Hills. The building exuded the faded charm of old Hollywood, with oak flooring, casement windows, and ornamental molding.
Running their hands along antique bannisters, the two women hurried down the broad staircase and out the back exit. A gray, concrete structure, the garage was open on the street side, but the smell of grease and oil hung in the air. Three teenagers were jostling one another on the sidewalk. A man in a gray jogging suit was staring into the garage, but he hurried around the corner. A woman pushing a baby stroller was corralling a toddler. A horn sounded, and Ruth jumped.
âThatâs Fred. Heâs one of us.â Tony took Ruthâs arm and led her to a black SUV.
When Ruth and Leonard were buckled in, Hope helped Ruth fit the goggles and earphones of a wearable virtual cinema into place. âYou can enjoy a movie or video game during the drive.â The cinema prevented clients from identifying the safehouse location.
Although the safehouse wasnât far, Tony would drive around the city to ensure he wasnât followed, a skill he perfected in the winding byways of Europe.
Back in Hopeâs office, Frank frowned. âWe need a third operative. I didnât want to alarm Ruth, but she was with Leonard during both attacks.â
âYouâre right.â Hope tapped her teeth with a knuckle. âLetâs bring Lucy. Sheâll be good for Ruth. Ask her to make our cabin reservations as close to Ruth and Leonard as possible.â Lucy was the firmâs newest agent. Hope had taken her under her wings after her parents died in a car crash. They swam laps together and went to the same martial arts center. Lucy was a black belt in Judo, and Hope was a black belt in Karate.
Frank folded his arms. âYou know we canât take guns on board the Iris of the Seas.âÂ
âThis case scares me, Frank. We have no time to assess the risk, check on potential assailantsâand all the other stuff we do to ensure our clientsâ safety.â
Frank took her hands. âHope, you got into this protection racket against all odds. Itâs a manâs business, and you kicked butt. Ainât nobody gonna hurt Ruth and Leonard while Diamond Security is on the job.â
He let go of her hands, and she laughed. Thanks for chasing away my demons.â
âYou know Iâm fine if family discount means pro bono.âÂ
âI know, Frank, but Leonard needs skin in the game. Iâm nervous as it is, and if he bulks on cooperating, we could face a disaster.â She took a breath. âSomething else is bothering me. Itâs silly, but I canât shake the idea.â
âIâm listening.â
âI was blown away by Ruthâs outfit. It looked like a couturier number costing $5,000. That seems extravagant for Leonard, and Ruth doesnât work. Is there an angle here other than whistleblowing? As you noted, Ruth and Leonard were together during both attacks.â
âI donât think the idea is silly. Itâs a point to keep in mind.â He smiled and stood up. âRelax, weâve had tougher cases. Think of the fun we had at Secret Sands.â
âWeâre lucky the L.A. papers didnât pick up that story,â she chided as he left.
A month ago, Diamond Security had protected four billionaire women at a secret meeting in the Navajo Nation. What should have been a routine security assignment turned into a week of anything but routine. The protection business hangs on a fragile thread of trust. The death of a client can snap the thread and sink the business.
Hope leaned back and smiled. It was in the desert that she had met FBI agent Matt Dennison. The chemistry between them was very strong, and she had fallen in love with him. At least it felt like love at the time. He claimed he felt the same way and was planning to move to Los Angeles. A frown clouded her face. She was passionate about her business and was considering expanding. The idea of marrying and settling down made her nails curl.
When she confided her feelings to her dad, he told her it was important to do the right thing. She couldnât allow Matt to move out here expecting to marry her if that wasnât her intention.
She couldnât dodge the issue any longer. She hated the feeling of being deceitful and cowardly. As much as it would hurt, she would break off their relationship as soon as she returned from the cruise. Tears came to her eyes, and she wiped them away.
Her phone rang, with Tonyâs voice on the other end.
She took a breath. âAny problems delivering the packages?â
âA friend joined us leaving the building. I left him at Olvera Street. Weâve been at Mamaâs twenty minutes. Shall I hang around or call it a night?â
âGood job, Tony. Call it a night. Next week, youâll cover for me.â
âYou can count on me. Ciao.â
Shivering, Hope rubbed her arms. Ruth and Leonard must have been followed from their house. The danger was real.
Hope Diamond of Diamond Security is back again this time in a mystery on luxury cruise. She is hired by her cousin Ruth to protect Ruthâs husband Leonard who has been getting death threats. Leonard works for an influential company with government contracts and he thinks that someone has been cooking the books. He is planning on blowing the whistle on the suspected corruption and someone seems to be trying to silence him before he has the chance. Hope and her team have to protect Leonard and Ruth while they are on a weeklong company sponsored cruise. What Hope wasnât expecting was running into FBI Agent Matt Dennison her partner and flame from her first adventure Diamond in the Desert. What would bring the FBI onto this boat and does it have anything to do with the threats against Leonard?
I really enjoyed the storytelling and the pace of this mystery. There were a lot of possible suspects and the author did a good job of giving just enough information to have you suspecting everyone but not enough to spoil the ending. I liked the tension between Hope and Matt, they made a good team and their romantic connection seemed genuine.
Some of the side characters however seemed more like caricatures than real people. For example, there is a British woman who talks almost exclusively in British idioms. She throws so much slag and sayings into her conversation itâs hard to understand her. For a while there I thought maybe she was putting on a fake British accent and was thrown in to the story as a red herring.
The other thing that took me out of the story a little was that all the characters seemed a little old fashioned in a way that kept making wonder what era this story was set in. There are modern pop culture references and comments about news and events that seem to place it in the 21st century however some of the dialogue would have fit right into the 60s or 70s too.
Overall, I really liked this mystery and it kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. I plan on going back to read the first book in the series and look forward to what will happen next for the intrepid Hope Diamond.