Uneasy and confused by his sudden change in demeanor, I waited a minute before deciding to follow him down to the lower deck suites.
When I turned the corner toward Richard’s stateroom, I stopped dead in my tracks. Sitting right in the middle of the hallway outside his door was my own yellow suitcase.
THE DISCOVERY AT CABIN 408:
• My misplaced luggage sitting unattended in the hallway.
• The stateroom door left half-open.
• A desk covered with covert candid photographs of myself.
• An unexpected background in federal law enforcement.
My heart pounded in my chest. Why was my luggage outside his room? I approached his door, which was resting slightly ajar. Pushing it open, my eyes landed on the desk inside. Spread out across the surface were dozens of high-resolution, candid photographs of me—taken at the pool, in the dining room, on excursion buses, and even while walking alone on the deck.
I felt a sudden wave of terror. Was Richard a stalker? Had our entire romance been a calculated, sinister illusion?
The Truth Revealed: An Investigation at Sea
Before I could back away, Richard stepped around the corner. Seeing me standing over the photographs, he froze.
“What is this?” I demanded, my voice trembling with rage and fear. “Why do you have my suitcase? Why have you been taking pictures of me?”
