"The boat's gorgeous, darling!" He was leaning against the chrome rails, his favourite duffle bag at his feet. "As gorgeous as the hostess." He did his best imitation of a strut, sauntering towards me and planting a kiss on the corner of my lips. Not even pretending to go for my cheeks.

"Marvin!" I tried not to shrink away from his overly familiar touch and forced a smile. Marvin T. Garcia. My one-night-lover once, decades ago—and recently, stupidly, on two separate occasions. What the fuck was I thinking?! I must have been hammered out of my senses. The moment I saw Marvin alone and early, I remember worrying. How was I going to avoid being alone with him all trip? That was his obvious intention. To get me alone...

I could have punched his smug face. He thought we had something. What the idiot didn't know was, we had nothing. He was a blip in my life, a bloody pebble that somehow found its way into my shoes and stayed there for nearly half my life. While Charlie was alive, he dare not even look me in the eye, but since Charlie's gone... it's like trying to swat a pesky fly that keeps circling you in cloying summer's heat. The annoying brats you'd love to squash if only it sat still for a fucking minute.

That's what I was thinking when I saw his stupid face that morning. Someone, please remind me why I keep inviting him to these things ... So instead of conversing with him, I simply said, "You're early."

He grinned, leaning closer to me. I could smell the coffee he'd had that morning, rancid on his breath. There was also a hint of whiskey, I think, though I could be mistaken. The man has a thing for naïve women and aged whiskey.

Anyway, as I suspected, he said, "I was hoping to get a private tour of your boat before the others arrive ..."

The innuendo was there, glaring down at me like the sun. Private tour of my boat, my ass. I knew what he was hoping would happen, so I fired back, "By others you mean your wife?" I couldn't help myself. Every time I thought about Bhawani married to this dipshit, I could hurl. And every time I thought about the few times I'd slept with him, I could throw myself off the fucking boat. But I was paying for this trip, so I stayed put, like cement.

"We're getting a divorce, remember?" he said as if that absolved his sins. Or mine.

What was done was done, though. I had no intention of giving him a private tour of my 'boat' or anything else. It would not happen again. Ever.

#

"Wait..." Hector brought her to a stop. "You mean to tell me you slept with this guy more than once after that one-night-stand?"

"I never claimed to be an angel, Heck." Devi threw him a look. "I'm human, and I've made a shit ton of mistakes ..."

"Right." Hector looked at his notebook. The name 'Marvin Garcia' glared back at him in blue ink. He imagined tripping the man up on that yacht with a splay of his legs. Take that, Marvin, you two-timing scum! "So, you slept with your brother-in-law, again. Twice from what I understand ... and he's not divorced yet? So, let's track back a little. When was the last time you and he had ...?" He cleared his throat and nudged his head to the side, unable to utter the word 'sex'.

"You're seriously asking me about my sex life?"

"I have to." He tried to smile but knew it came off awkward. "Sex, money, and jealousy are usually great motives for attempted murder."

Devi bit her bottom lip. "It was Charlie's death anniversary ... almost a year ago. Eleven years. I was lonely ... I've been alone for a long time, Hector. That does something to a woman. And I mean, yes, I've had meaningless sex since my husband, but, it's a whole other ball game, making that heart-to-heart connection ... wanting someone who knows you ..."

Hector hadn't meant to get caught staring at Devi when she looked up. He immediately stared at his notebook as if glancing at a vital note. "So you were vulnerable." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He scribbled a brief note in his book. "And he took advantage."

"No. Marvin didn't take advantage of me."

"I'm sorry, what?" Hector's head snapped up. This wasn't how those narratives about lonely women usually went. Usually, low-life scumbags manipulated the damsel-in-distress.

"I'm not some simple-minded girl. I think it was the other way around. I was lonely; horny." She looked away from him, towards the blinds that kept the sunrise filtered. "I wanted to feel loved. To remember what it was to be held. What it was to be"—she turned back to him—"cherished ... and I was definitely raging drunk when he knocked on my door ..."

Hector watched her as she absentmindedly traced her bottom lips with her hand, lost in her memories, and he couldn't help but wonder, is she recalling his kiss? His touch? And something carnal burned deep in the pit of his stomach at that thought. The thought of another man touching those lips ...

" ... I don't actually remember what he came for ... maybe money? I vaguely remember something about bailing their stupid son out of the lock up for another DUI or driving without a license ..." she continued. "But there he was, this man who flirted so easily, who made me feel seen and beautiful. So I guess I lured him into my bedroom, opening up that can of worms."

She turned back around to him. "When I woke, he was gone. Just like the first time."

"He sounds like a turd-bucket!"

Devi laughed. "Turd-bucket? I love that. I'm going to steal it if you don't mind."

Hector smiled, familiar warmth blooming in his chest. I made her laugh. And oh, what a laugh she had. Something so full of joy and innocence all wrapped up in one. It's safe to say he hadn't expected her to have such a carefree laugh, and he loved it.

He cleared his throat again, dispelling that bloom. "And the next time you—"

Devi remained quiet for a while, the quiet that hides guilt.

He waited, not as patiently as he thought he'd be. "When was the last time?"

Devi licked her lips, tears unexpectedly pooling in her eyes that she averted them. Even her voice broke a little as she prefaced her response with, "I'm not proud ... three months ago ... I'd had a fight with Bhawani. I was so angry with her. If I was going to be blamed and punished for something, I may as well do the fucking crime. I think I did it out of spite and I've regretted it since."

Hector didn't know what to say. He'd never been in such a situation with anyone. On the one hand, he felt sorry for Devi, her life seemed dark and lonelier than he'd ever imagined, and it partly explained why she'd come off callus and dismissive at the start. The other part of him felt horrible that someone could betray their sister the way Devi had betrayed hers. Yet, the cop in him had to stay neutral, which was proving a little difficult.

Devi, for better or worse, was someone he was warming up to. Why? He still wondered it himself, but she was the first woman in months if not years that he'd talked with so openly. He could be himself, the good and the bad. His mother didn't count. Obviously.

He scribbled a few shorthand notes in his book about the love triangle and tapped his foot. "So, we have Marvin on the scene with you. Who else?"

Devi, relieved that the awkward moment seemed to have passed between them, sighed. "Then came my sister and with her my nephew. They didn't seem pleased that Marvin was already there, with champagne in hand and hovering."

"Hmmm." Hector made a note.

"Bhawani can be cold sometimes, but her son, Vinay, can be a pure bastard."

"So your sister wasn't happy?"

"Would you be? If you found out from your scummy husband that he slept with your sister before you even got married and that she was, I quote, a better lay, than her, when he's completely off his face?" Devi stared at Hector.

"He said that?" Hector almost dropped his pen.

"No, but he might as well have, given he's been a scumbag all their married life."

Hector nodded. "So she doesn't know about the recent events?" Events. That's how he couched the affair so he didn't have to say the word 'sex' in front of her.

A knowing smile tugged at the corner of Devi's lips. "As far as I know, no."

He made a note, and then peered back up at her. "Who else?"

"Well, let's see." Devi furrowed her borrows.

#

I tried not to let my sister's sour mood bring mine down—she really hadn't wanted Marvin to join us. But the sun was blaring, the sea twinkling blue, and the breeze promised cool evening. Things were good. So I asked the Captain, who came by to introduce himself to us, if his crew wouldn't mind showing them to their quarters while I greeted the rest of the guests.

The next to board was my long-time lawyer, or I guess, Charlie's lawyer-slash-friend. Charlie trusted him to manage his affairs, and so did I. Don Nguyen. Behind him, my assistant, Unati Slater ambled along with her suitcase so big I thought she was planning to run away for months. Bless her sweet little heart—she tries too hard. To impress. To work hard. To get ahead. I admire a driven woman, ambitious, but sometimes I wish I could fire her—if only she wasn't so good at managing my schedule and actually assisting me. She's an aspiring writer—though I'm not entirely sure she's got what it takes.

The last to come on board was—

#

Devi cleared her throat.

Hector shifted in his seat. Waiting.

Devi drew in a deep breath. "The last to board was Ryan Peck—or Pecker as I liked to call him in private."

Hector frowned. He did not like the way she'd said that. Pecker. But he had to ask the next question, didn't he? For investigation, of course. "Pecker"—he scribbled the name in his notepad harder than he meant to—"how is he connected to you?"

Devi scratched her face uncomfortable and shifted her weight on the bed. "Numb bum."

Hector nodded faintly. Inside he was screaming. Tell me, woman, who the fuck is Pecker?

Devi cleared her throat again, bit her lips, and shifted her weight. She even eyed the bedroom open door behind him.

"Devi?"

"He's ... How do I say it ...? He's my, for lack of a better term—"

Just as she said "boy toy," Hector, too impatient for her to find the word, blurted, "Fuckboy?"

Devi's mouth fell open in shock at the young man in front of her. Fuckboy. Crude. But it hit the nail on the head. She flushed, and picked at the duvet cover. "I guess you could say that."

"I'm sorry. That was out of line." Hector shook his head, unable to look her in the eye as he wrote the two words down next to Ryan Peck's name: boy toy. "So we have your Marvin, your sister, their son, your lawyer, your assistance, and your ... boy toy ... What about the crew? How many were there on this trip?"

"The crew?" Devi stopped picking at the material. "What do they have to do with this?"

"Everyone on that boat is a suspect, Devi." He sat taller. "I have to rule them out, even the crew, so if you'll please?" He poised his pen at the ready.

"Well." Devi thought about it before she proceeded. "There was the captain, the chef, a housekeeping staff, an all-rounder waitstaff-slash-bellboy, someone you could ask to help with random things if you needed it."

"Do you remember their names?"

Devi shook her head.

"That's okay. I'll check the trip manifesto." Hector rose from his chair and stretched out his leg, walking to the window and drawing the curtains open before he glanced back at Devi. "Do you need a break?"

Devi blushed further. "I could do use the help to get to the bathroom ..."

"Right. I'll get Ma."

"No." Devi was too quick and Hector narrowed his eyes. "Dr Chen, please, if she's still around. She's practically seen everything."

Hector chuckled softly. "I didn't peg you for the shy type."

When Devi gave him a hesitant smile, he was more surprised. "You don't really know me yet, Inspector."

And no, he didn't, but boy did he want to. At that moment, standing meters away from the most fascinating woman he's ever met, Hector was thoroughly intrigues and infuriated. He'd hate to admit it, but there was something about Devi that brought out the inner cave man in him and all he wanted to do was drum his chest, pick up a log, and intimidate the heck out of whoever this Marvin, and for that matter, this Pecker guy were.

"Right. I'll go get Hilde for you." He hesitated a moment before dashing off, disturbed by that imagery.

"Then we can pick up where we left off?" Devi said, but Hector was gone before she could get his response.