Flash

always indulge the hope that she had come to search for him, he thought. He watched her scan the room with a shadowed, searching gaze.
    When she saw him, she started through the crowd. Satisfaction washed through Jasper. She
had
been looking for him. He had seen very little of her since their two dances in the lounge.
    And then he saw the simmering fury in her eyes. Beneath the anger was something else. something that could have been fear.
    Something had gone very wrong.
    When she came to a halt in front of him, he put the half-finished glass of spring water very carefully down on the bar.
    "What is it?" he asked quietly.
    "I have to talk to you. Immediately.''
    He took her arm and escorted her through the darkened lounge toward the doors that opened onto the deck. A moment later they were outside.
    The night was clear, the summer moon almost full. The silvery sheen on the black waters of the Sound was a perfect complement to all the glitter inside, Jasper thought. He wondered if the effect had been ordered up by Light Fantastic especially for the Silver Galaxy Foods Night event. If anyone could talk the supplier of moonlight into putting on a show, it would be Olivia.
    Lord, he was waxing poetic, he thought, chagrined. Maybe he should have switched to the spring water earlier in the evening.
    Only the barest hint of a wake disturbed the water down below. There was a small background shudder from the engines. The
Private Island
was barely moving. The captain was conserving fuel. It was not as though they had a destination, Jasper thought. A party cruise to nowhere.
    He felt the small shiver that went through Olivia's arm. It occurred to him that her gown offered little protection against the chill of the night air. He took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
    She looked at him with a small frown. "You'll be cold."
    "I'm fine." He put both hands on the teak rail and gazed out at the moonlit water. "You'd better tell me about it."
    She stood tensely beside him. "I got another message from the blackmailer."
    "Shit." The last vestige of his poetic mood disintegrated. "Where? How?"
    "It was shoved under the door of my cabin sometime this evening."
    Jasper absorbed the implications of that single statement. "What did it say?"
    "Just that the price would be a thousand dollars and that instructions for the first payment would come soon."
    He thought quickly. "We won't tell your aunt that there's been another demand. Not yet, at any rate. She'll panic."
    "You don't understand, Jasper."
    "What do you mean? You just said the blackmailer had contacted you with his new demands."
    "He did not contact me to tell me what Zara must pay for his silence regarding her secret." Olivia's eyes were deep in shadow. "The note I got demands money for keeping
my
secret."
    A quiet rage unfurled inside him. He said nothing while he dealt with it.
    "Do you realize what this means?" Olivia whispered. "The blackmailer is on board the
Private Island
tonight. He's here, somewhere, walking around on this boat."
    He forced himself to think logically. "We can't be certain of that. Someone could have delivered the note before we sailed."
    "I just told you, it wasn't in my room earlier when I went downstairs to my cabin to change for the evening."
    "What time was that?"
    "Shortly after we sailed." She clutched the lapels of his jacket very tightly. "It has to be someone on this boat, Jasper."
    "Not necessarily." He put his hands on her shoulders. Gripped her hard to get her attention. "The note could have been delivered to the
Private Island
before we sailed. A crew member might have been tipped to put it under your door."
    She turned abruptly to search his face. "There must be a way to find out if that's what happened."
    "Let me handle it. You've got work to do. I'll talk to some of the crew. See if anyone knows anything about a note that might have been delivered to the ship before sailing."
    She looked briefly stubborn, but in the end the logic of his suggestion overrode her resistance. She nodded once. "All right. Thanks."
    He glanced at his watch. "It's nearly two. You said you were going to try to catch a nap between three and five?"
    "I'm not likely to get any sleep now."
    "Maybe not, but you might as well go on down to your cabin at three, anyway. Put your feet up for a couple of hours, at least. I'll meet you there as soon as I've checked with the crew about the note."
    She hesitated again. At that moment the lounge door opened. A