I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, but I’m not getting anything here.”
“In that case, let’s move on,” Hawk said, having more confidence in me than I did.
I nodded and followed him off the boat. We scrambled to the other side of the pier, where the last party boat waited. This boat also had three decks, although it didn’t seem quite as large as the last one. A short line of people waited to board, blocking our path, but that didn’t stop Hawk from pushing through the crowd to the front of the line.
With pursed lips, the ticket agent told him to go to the end of the line. Hawk explained that we were with the police and needed to get onboard, but the agent didn’t think we had time to look around before it departed.
“You can either go home or head to the end of the line and get your tickets like everyone else.”
Hawk glanced my way, wondering if it was worth buying a ticket. At a hundred and fifty bucks a pop, it was a lot of money for a dead end. As we headed back to the end of the line, Hawk voiced his concern. “I’m not sure it’s worth it. I mean, for all we know, the party boat Merilee got on that night could have been privately chartered for a special group, and this guy she met invited her along for that. It might not even be one of these.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I wish I knew what to do.”
The line moved closer to the front, and I picked up that Hawk was hoping I’d get a premonition. With all the leads pointing to this pier, shouldn’t I get something? If this wasn’t the right boat, we’d be wasting three hours that we could use investigating some of the other boats along the pier who hosted private parties.
Our turn came next, but I had nothing. Hawk gave me one last glance, and I shrugged. “I’m sorry. I just don’t know.”
Hawk frowned and pulled out his credit card to buy our tickets. He didn’t think the chief would consider this a work expense, but it was worth the risk. If nothing came of it, at least he could enjoy the night out with a beautiful woman.
I tried to act like I hadn’t heard that, but it was hard to hide my pleased smile. As he signed his name to the receipt, I glanced at the boat, taking in the lights and the thrill of excitement coming from the people around me.
“Shall we?” Hawk asked, offering me his arm. With a big grin, I took his arm to board the boat.
As we stepped over the water and onto the boat, I realized a song was stuck in my head. Row, row, row your boat, in a beautiful contralto voice, had taken up residence in my mind. My breath caught. This was it. Brimming with excitement, I met Hawk’s gaze. “This is the right boat.”
His brows drew together. “How do you know?”
“The song. I’m hearing the song.”
Hawk’s eyes widened with comprehension, and he broke into a relieved grin. It had paid off after all. Now came the hard part of figuring out what had happened to Merilee.
As we moved into the dining area, a hostess greeted us with a smile. “Welcome to the North Star Cruise Line,” she said, taking Hawk’s tickets. “I’ll show you to your table.”
Hawk sent me a smile, thinking, after you, so I followed her to an intimate table for two with an amazing view from the window. On this side of the boat, the glass window curved up and over our heads, giving an unobstructed view of the New York skyline along with the darkening night sky above us.
With the white linen tablecloth, flower centerpiece, and flickering candles, it was quite the romantic setting. After sitting down, I glanced at Hawk. “Wow. This is nice.”
“Well, it should be. The ticket guy made me buy the most expensive dinner package. I hope you haven’t eaten.”
“Actually, I haven’t. I missed lunch, too, so I’m starved. It’s been a busy day.”
“You can say that again.” Thinking of Taylor’s death, his lips twisted into a grimace. “And now you’re stuck with me for the next three hours. Let’s just hope we can figure out what happened to Merilee and get a handle on this case. Hopefully, someone will recognize her photo.” It relieved him to know we’d made it this far. Maybe I’d even pick up something more before the night was done.
A waiter came to our table with our menus. After taking our drink orders, he left us to select our meal. With several entrees to choose from, I had a hard time deciding, but I finally picked the maple-and-mustard glazed chicken breast. Hawk ordered the Italian beef meatballs, and we settled in to wait for our food.
I sent Chris a quick text, telling him I was stuck on the boat for the next three hours, but I’d let him know when we got back. He sent me a frowning emoji, so I sent him a bunch of hearts and kisses before putting my phone away.
Poor Chris, I sure put him through a lot. Maybe I could bring him on a boat like this tomorrow night to make up for it? I had to admit, it was pretty cool. I glanced out the window, surprised to find that we had already cast off from the pier, and I hadn’t even noticed. “Looks like we’re on our way.”
Hawk nodded, taking in the romantic setting and the sparkling lights of the New York skyline. He was thinking this was the perfect setting for a special night out with the woman he loved, and his thoughts turned to Charlotte. I picked up a tinge of regret that things hadn’t worked out with her.
After being together for three years, he’d thought she’d come to terms with his job as a police detective. But, in the end, it wasn’t enough… he wasn’t enough.
How did people do it? He glanced at me, wondering how my husband coped with my job. From what he knew, I’d been in several dangerous situations, so my husband knew I could end up dead. He must have a better attitude. Or he just loved me enough to put up with it. Maybe someday he’d find someone like that, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath.
I wanted to tell him not to give up, but I just smiled and asked him if he’d ever been to a Yankees game. That took his mind off Charlotte pretty fast, and I mostly listened to him talk about baseball until our food arrived.
We both enjoyed our meals and this peaceful interlude before we started looking for clues. I discovered that we had quite a bit in common. He was a couple of years younger than me, but we liked the same kind of music, and I made sure to get his recommendations for his favorite science fiction novels.
After our plates were cleared away, it was time to get to work. “What’s the plan?” I asked.
“Same as with the other two boats, but, since we have more time, we can talk to more people. In addition to asking about Merilee, we should find out if anyone remembers who she was with.”
He placed his napkin on the table and continued. “It’s probably a good idea to take a look around and see what goes on here. Something happened on the boat that’s tied to her death. Or it could be the guy she was with that night. I wish we knew more about him.” He wasn’t going to give up. Since I’d heard the song, this had to be our big break, and he hoped more would come to me before the night was done.
“Uh… yes, you’re right,” I said. “Hopefully we can figure it out.”
“Okay. Let’s get started.”
“Why don’t you text me her picture so I can show it around myself. We can cover more ground that way.”
“Good idea.”
As Hawk got busy with that, I felt someone staring at me. I heard no words, but I knew their complete attention was focused on me. Nervous tension tightened my stomach. Was this the same person who’d followed me earlier?
Glancing around the room, I spotted a familiar face, and my jaw dropped open.
Babe. What the hell? Ramos’s gaze switched from me to Hawk and back. Underneath his surprise and displeasure, I caught an unmistakable streak of jealousy. Meet me at the bar. Alone.
“Okay,” Hawk said. “That should do it.”
I snapped my jaw shut. My phone gave the notification that I’d received a text, so I quickly drew it out of my purse, grateful Hawk hadn’t noticed my inattention and flushed face. “Yeah. I got it.”
“Good. Let’s get started. Why don’t I head upstairs, and you can check around down
here? If you get anything, just send me a text, and I’ll come find you.”
“Okay.”
Hawk slipped away from our table, and I took a moment to touch up my lipstick and calm my racing heart before joining Ramos at the bar. Still, what the freak? Why was Ramos here? Even worse, why did it feel like I’d been caught cheating?
Unable to put it off any longer, I left the table and headed for the bar. “Hey there,” I said. “What a surprise. Right?”
“Who’s the guy?” Ramos asked, his voice low and his eyes narrowed.
“Uh… that’s Hawk… Detective Nathan Hawkins. You know… with the NYPD blue… uh… I mean… the NYPD. He’s the one I’m helping with the case here in New York, remember?”
Ramos’s lips twisted with distaste, but I also caught a hint of astonishment. Out of all the bars on all the boats in all the city, I had to walk into this one. Our gazes met, and we both smiled at his use of the famous quote.
He could hardly believe the coincidence, but… after all… I was Shelby Nichols… trouble magnet… woman in distress… and a mind reader who was always in the thick of things. He shouldn’t be so surprised. But this was lousy timing. Did I have any idea what was going on?
“Uh… actually no, I don’t.”
“So what brings you here?”
“We’re following a lead with the case we’re working on.” He raised his brows, so I continued. “Three women were murdered, and we think it was because one of them had been on this boat the night it happened.”
“How do you know it was this boat? There are lots of boats. What made you pick this one? Did you hear something?” He was thinking I might have picked up something from my meeting with the Bilottis, and now I was sharing it with the police instead of Manetto. Given the circumstances, that was not a good idea.
“I didn’t do that. This has nothing to do with the Bilottis.”
“Then why this boat?”
“Uh… well… that’s harder to explain.”
“That’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
Crap. “Uh… wait a minute. Does this boat have something to do with the Bilottis?” If it did, maybe my case was tied to them. Oh no. This could be bad.
Ramos huffed out a breath. “Shelby. Why this boat?” This was important, and Ramos wasn’t about to let me off the hook. He needed to know what linked the murder to this boat. What had I heard?
“Fine.” I glanced at the crowd, hoping Hawk wasn’t looking for me. “I heard one of the dead women singing in my mind. That’s where I got the clue. She was singing row, row, row your boat.” I glanced at Ramos. His brows rose right into his forehead, and he was thinking, holy hell. Are you serious? “Yes. It’s happened before. I just didn’t want to tell… anyone.”
“You mean anyone… as in me? Like you couldn’t trust me with that information?” He took a deep breath to calm down, knowing that he’d probably hurt my feelings. But what the hell? Why hadn’t I told him I could hear dead people? That was kind of a big deal. Then he thought of the words, row, row, row your boat, and briefly wondered if I’d lost it.
My breath caught. “I have not. If I had a chance to explain the whole thing, it would make perfect sense.”
“All right,” he said. “I’m sure it would. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know you were keeping secrets from me. I thought…” He shook his head. “I thought we were closer than that. But it doesn’t matter. We’ve got bigger things to deal with right now. We’ll have to sort this out later.”
Guilt that I hadn’t trusted Ramos with my second secret washed over me, but I pushed it away to focus on the matter at hand. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Bilotti owns this boat line. If someone was murdered, and you’ve traced it back to this boat, it might have something to do with him.”
“Is that why you’re here? To check up on him?”
“That’s part of it,” Ramos said, keeping his voice low. “Manetto has an interest in all of Milo’s business dealings, so I’m here to show Milo that nothing is beyond Manetto’s reach.”
“Oh… right,” I said. “I get it. But if he’s involved in my case, I can’t look the other way.”
Ramos nodded. “I get that. But I’m afraid you’ve already given yourself away. Unless you want to hide in the bathroom, Milo’s nephew is sure to spot you. Remember Tony? He’s our snitch, and he’s here on the boat as part of Bilotti’s organization. He might even know the detective, since Milo mentioned that you were working for the police last night.”
“Oh crap. This is bad. What’s he going to think?”
Ramos chuckled, thinking that was a funny thing for me to say.
“No… I mean about— ”
“I know what you mean,” Ramos said, taking pity on me. “We’d better stick together.”
Alarm spiked through me. “But what about Hawk?”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Ramos glanced over my shoulder. “Since he’s coming this way.”
“Dammit. What am I going to tell him?”
Before Ramos could answer, Hawk came to my side. “Hey.” His gaze fastened on Ramos, and his brows drew together. Did I know this guy? Had he been hitting on me? He opened his mouth to ask me if Ramos was bothering me, so I quickly spoke up.
“Hey. Look who I found. This is uh… this is… one of my long-lost relatives.”
Hawk’s brows rose with surprise. “You mean the family you’re here visiting?”
I swallowed and nodded, sure that Hawk would peg me for the biggest liar he’d ever met. Ramos’s eyes widened. He could hardly believe I’d tell such an obvious lie. He stood to his full height, towering a bit over Hawk, knowing he’d need to help me out. “Alejandro Ramos. We’re related on her Uncle’s side by marriage.”
He used his real name, and I about had a heart attack.
Ramos held out his hand and continued. “You must be Hawk. Shelby’s told me about you.”
While they shook hands, Hawk tried to figure out what was going on. This seemed like too much of a coincidence to have one of my relatives show up on a boat that I was investigating. So what was the connection? Had I told him I’d be here? But that didn’t make sense either. He and I had ended up on this boat almost by accident. I couldn’t have told him beforehand.
“I can hardly believe it myself,” I said, echoing Hawk’s thoughts, and rushing to explain before he thought about it too hard. “I mean… I’m sure you’re wondering how this could happen, right? It’s crazy. Who would have thought I’d know anyone here?”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s a crazy coincidence.” Something was off. Why was I lying to him about being related to this guy? Ramos had the cold look of someone who’d been around the block a few times, someone who might have had more than one run-in with the law.
Not wanting to come on too strong, Ramos sat down, and motioned for me to sit on the barstool next to him. Hawk stood on the other side of me and leaned casually against the bar, keeping his gaze glued on Ramos.
Not sure how to proceed, I glanced between them and settled my gaze on Ramos. “Uh… we’re looking for anyone who might recognize a woman in a photo we have.” Glancing back at Hawk, I asked, “So did you find anything upstairs? Did anyone recognize Merilee?”
“No. But I only found a couple of bars on the top deck. There’s more down here.” He nodded toward the bartender. “Did you show him the photo yet?”
“Not yet,” I said.
Hawk got the bartender’s attention, and he hurried over. “What can I get you?”
“Could I get a Diet Coke?” I asked. “And could you put some grenadine in it?”
“Sure.” He glanced at Hawk. “What about you?”
Hawk shook his head. “I’m good.”
“And you sir?” He asked Ramos.
“I’ll have what she’s having.” He dipped his head my way and sent me a sexy grin.
Unfortunately Hawk noticed, and I picked up a sliver of anger directed at Ramos. Didn’t he know I w
as a married woman? We seemed more familiar with each other than a long-lost relative. But he could tell I wasn’t completely comfortable around Ramos, and it set him off.
Yikes. Luckily, the bartender came back with our drinks, setting them in front of me and Ramos. “Thank you so much,” I said. “Hey, could you take a look at this photo of my friend? I’m trying to track her down, and she won’t answer my texts. Have you seen her recently?”
He studied the photo, taking his time, but came up empty. “I don’t know. Maybe, but I can’t place her. I serve a lot of people.”
“She would have been with a guy,” I said. “Dark hair and a short beard? I think they went to school together, but I can’t remember his name.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”
“That’s okay. Thanks anyway.” I slipped my phone into my purse and dug inside for some cash, but Ramos beat me to it.
“I’ve got this,” he said, placing a large bill on the counter.
The bartender thanked him and glanced my way. “There’s enough for a refill if you want one. Come back when you’re ready.”
“Really? That’s great. Thanks. I will.”
Ramos smiled, glad that such a small thing could make me so happy. I returned his smile. “Yup. You know it.” I clinked my glass to his, forgetting we had an audience until I picked up Hawk’s confusion. Oops.
Ramos quickly spoke up, turning to Hawk. “I can see that you’re busy, so I’ll get out of your way.” He picked up that Hawk didn’t like him much, but he was more worried about Tony spotting me with the detective. “If I can help—”
“Yeah,” Hawk said, showing the photo to Ramos. “You can. Have you seen her here before?”
Ramos didn’t bother glancing at the photo. “This is the first time I’ve ever been here, so the answer is no.”
“Oh. So you’re not from here?”
“No. I’m here for the family… gathering.” Ramos glanced my way, wondering what the hell I’d told the detective, and why the hell I’d told him we were related.
“That’s right,” I said to Hawk. “He wouldn’t know anything about this, except for what I’ve told him, which isn’t much.” Glancing at Ramos, I continued. “Thanks for the drink. I’d better get to work.”
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