“Yes.”
“And after that, you stopped telling her.”
I stared at Richard.
“How do you know?”
“Because the calls continued.”
My heart began pounding.
“They had access to passenger information from somewhere,” he continued.
“From where?”
“We don’t know.”
“We?”
Richard looked toward the corridor.
“Ship security.”
I suddenly felt colder.
“What does any of this have to do with my suitcase?”
Richard crossed to the wall and removed one of the photographs.
The man in the blue cap.
“He’s traveling under the name Jason Miller. We don’t believe that’s his real name.”
“Who is he?”
“We believe he’s part of an organized theft operation.”
I almost laughed.
“A theft operation?”
“They target older travelers, particularly people traveling alone.”
I hated how neatly I fit that description.
Richard continued.
“They contact people before trips. Sometimes they pretend to be cruise staff. Sometimes travel agents. Sometimes insurance representatives.”
“And then what?”
“They collect information.”
“What kind?”
“Addresses. Travel schedules. Financial details. Whether someone is traveling alone. Whether a house will be empty.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do they steal?”
“Whatever they can get. Jewelry. Credit cards. Passports. Banking information. House keys.”
He paused.
“In several cases, homes were burglarized while the owners were still away.”
I sat down.
Not because Richard had told me to.
Because my knees suddenly didn’t feel reliable.
“So Claire called the cruise company.”
“Yes.”
“And somehow that resulted in you sitting next to me at dinner?”
“Not exactly.”
“Richard.”
He sighed.
“The cruise line had received similar complaints. Their security department contacted law enforcement. I occasionally consult with a fraud task force.”
“At seventy-four?”
“You say that like you aren’t seventy-one and followed a suspicious man into a restricted corridor by yourself.”
I glared at him.
“Continue.”
His expression turned serious again.
“Your name appeared on a list recovered during a separate investigation.”
That frightened me more than anything he had said so far.
