Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [39]
Sheila smirked. “Doing a bit of paraphrasing there?”
“Maybe.”
Sheila gestured toward the bed. “Have a seat. You and I need to talk without Hunter and Cole being close by.”
“You’re going to shoot me,” Annja said. “May as well get it over with now, don’t you think.”
“Sit down, Annja. I won’t ask again.”
Annja took a seat on the mattress, actually grateful for the chance to sit. The strike to her head had rung her bell and she wanted nothing more than to cradle her skull and wish the pain away.
But she wouldn’t do that in front of Sheila. Plus, she needed to gather her strength before Sheila tried to shoot her.
Sheila watched her for a moment and then smiled. “You know, you and me, we’re a lot alike.”
“How do you figure that?”
Sheila shrugged. “Well, we’re obviously both gifted fighters. I’ve fought a lot of people—as I know you have—and very few can hold their own against me. Not that I’m bragging or anything.”
“Oh, of course not.” Annja sighed. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re alike, Sheila.”
“Means we’re more alike than we are different,” Sheila said. “Surely you can see that.”
“What I see is a woman who has sabotaged this operation and nearly cost the crew their lives for some reason I don’t yet fathom.”
Sheila smiled. “I wonder if you always take such a literal approach to your problem solving.”
“Meaning?”
“Are you only superficial? Do things look one way and you simply accept that as the fact or do you dig deeper? Do you see beyond the convenient and beyond the horizon to greet the grander vista.”
Annja frowned. “You should probably save the psychobabble for someone who actually cares about it. I don’t. I’m here for my friend. And he’s in trouble so I do my part to help.”
“Is he in trouble?”
Annja nodded. “He’s got a traitor on board. That’d be you.”
“Did I say I sabotaged the engine room?”
“Nope.”
“So, why are you convinced it was me? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking and all.”
“I saw the way you moved.”
Sheila started to say something and then stopped. Finally, she broke out into a grin. “Ah, yes, the seasick comment. It didn’t jibe with the way I walked.” She nodded. “I told you you were good.”
“I don’t need you telling me that. I’m well aware of my own talents. As much as I am my own weaknesses.”
“Well, you’re wrong on this one, Annja. Dead wrong, it would seem.”
“About what—you?”
Sheila nodded. “I’m not what you think I am.”
“You’re not a traitor?”
“Nope.”
Annja sighed. “Look, someone knocked me out yesterday. I suspect it was two people, actually, but whatever. And then today, we have the engine room mishap. Now, you’re the only person I’ve met on board who seems capable of doing that stuff, so in my book, it’s pretty apparent who the troublemaker is around here.”
Sheila nodded. “Well, I did knock you out yesterday. But it was just me. No one else.”
“And you’d tell me the truth, why exactly?”
“So we can build a little trust here.”
“Why would I want to trust you? You’ve got a gun on me.”
Sheila nodded. “That’s true. I do.” She smirked and lowered the gun. “Or rather, I did.”
Annja frowned. “Why did you do that?”
“You feel better with that gone?”
“Who wouldn’t?”
Sheila shrugged. “I can bring it back to bear on you in the flick of an eye so don’t give me cause to, okay? We need to have a serious conversation about what’s going on here.”
Annja leaned back. “So, what is going on around here?”
“First things first. Do you at least believe that I may not be the root cause of all the trouble here?”
“Maybe. I’m still getting over the knock to my poor skull.”
“An unfortunate event, I assure you. You weren’t supposed to be back at your cabin that quickly. I thought I had plenty of time to go through your gear.”
“Why would you need to go through my equipment?”
“To make sure you were who you said you were.”
Annja grinned. “Are there a lot of other women going around claiming to be me?”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I would be.” Annja looked at Sheila. The longer she did