Savasana at Sea

by Ava Dunne

  “What if the death, or deaths, didn’t happen on the ship? What if the murderer thought the cruise ship job kept him clear of getting caught and then Geri found out?”

  “We’ll have Wi-Fi tomorrow,” said Harmonia, “since we’re in port. We can do some research.”

  I spotted Costel making his way towards us. The way he looked at Harmonia and the way she smiled in response gave me the information I needed. I stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I returned my empty glass to the bar and exchanged some pleasantries with other staff members on the way out.

  “You still owe me that drink, Sophie,” Ewan Drummond called out as I walked past.

  “It’ll have to be another night,” I said. “The adrenalin from the day’s wearing off.”

  He gestured me closer and lowered his voice. “The launch? Definitely sabotaged. Watch your back.”

  “No one could have known which one I would step on to.” I didn’t want to tell him that Dhruv already told me about the sabotage.

  Ewan shrugged. As other crewmembers thronged around us, he raised his voice. “Sure ye won’t join me for that drink?”

  “Soon,” I demurred. After the conversation with Harmonia, I wasn’t sure what to do if he propositioned me. I wanted to focus more on Geri’s murder.

  Meditation. That’s what I needed. I headed down the decks, with the meditation room my goal. That would help me clear my head, bring me down from the day, and help me sleep. After a good night’s sleep, I wouldn’t be so muddled.

  Sebastian came out of the crew’s weight room, in a tank top and low-slung sweat pants, a towel around his neck. “Hey,” he said in greeting. He fell into step beside me as we headed down the crew stairs.

  “Hi.” I suddenly felt shy. “Did Gary turn up?”

  Sebastian shook his head. “I’m getting really worried.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” We passed through the crew door to the guest side of the ship.

  “Unless he gave you any idea where he might go to ground when you two were talking this afternoon, I don’t think so. You okay from your scare earlier? Both of them? How’s the head?”

  “Yeah, fine. I mean the head hurts a bit.” I tried not to flinch when Sebastian touched the bruise. His fingers were gentle. He might not be able to soothe the way Dean could, but it felt good. “Getting ready to dance was scarier.”

  “I wish we were still in port. I’d like to go back and take a look under the water. I want to know what you got caught on. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “It was an accident.” My words and tone didn’t sound convincing. We were at the door of the yoga studio.

  “I’m not so sure. I’m worried.” He frowned. “The launch was definitely not an accident, although you being there was a lucky coincidence for someone. I haven’t figured out all that yet. If sinking the launch wasn’t directed at you, what was the point?”

  “Um, ow? I’d hate to think I’ve racked up as many enemies as Geri, and in such a short time.”

  “Anyone who hated you is either jealous, or a fool.” He stared at me, his eyes intent, and then smiled. “You were great tonight. Dancing with Matt. You looked beautiful.”

  I smiled at him. “Thank you. I had fun.”

  Sebastian stared at me for a minute, then leaned down and kissed me. I rose on tiptoes to meet him halfway, kissing him back in a way that left no room for doubt. I took his hand. “Come on.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I unlocked the door to the yoga studio, led him inside, and locked it. I left the lights off. Moonlight streamed through the windows, and the slight motion of the ship felt both sexy and soothing. The yoga mats dried on the brightly-painted racks. The cleaning crew had come and gone. We wouldn’t be interrupted. I unlocked the cabinet and set out yoga blankets.

  “Seduced on a stack of yoga blankets,” Sebastian teased. “I like it.”

  “I can’t make any promises,” I said. “I can only live in the moment.” Was I being a hypocrite by echoing what Duncan said to me? Or did I finally understand that the parameters of my life had shifted?

  He put his arms around me. “That’s what life shipboard is all about.” He pulled me in and kissed me, long and deep. I never wanted it to stop. I slipped my hands under his tank top, running them up and down his chest before sliding them around to his back.

  “You know, I had fantasies of sliding you out of that dress tonight,” Sebastian admitted, slipping off my top. He moved down my bra strap and began to kiss my collarbone and work his way down.

  “Tobias made it very clear that I had to return it before I left the that deck,” I said.

  “Would have been fun,” said Sebastian. He unfastened my bra and let it fall to the ground. “But then, so is this.” He leaned forward to kiss me again. This is where I wanted to be, now, in this moment. I wanted Sebastian. And he didn’t smell like rosemary.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I WOKE UP IN A tangle of arms, legs, and yoga blankets, as the first light grazed across the studio. I felt safe, satiated, and happier than I had in a long time. I rolled over to look at the wall clock. “Oh, hell!” I breathed.

  He opened his eyes and grinned. “That’s hardly the greeting I expected this morning.”

  I dropped a kiss on his lips before answering. “I just have time to shower and change before class.”

  He pulled me down on top of him. “I think we have time for more than that.”

  …

  A handful of my early morning students waited outside the door by the time I returned. Sebastian and I had made love again, and I thanked my lucky stars that we packed away the blankets to the laundry before heading off to our cabins to shower and change. A messy pile of used yoga blankets with students waiting would have been uncomfortable. When I got to my cabin, I found a pale pink rose in a small bud vase on my bunk. That was a sweet, romantic gesture I didn’t expect from Sebastian.

  Duncan was in the morning class, trying to catch my eye, and I refused to look at him. I spent the night with the man I wanted last night, and someone who made it clear that he wanted me beyond a one-night stand. Besides, I needed to find a way to slip the locket into the battery compartment of the CD player. I had it hidden in the bottom of my mat bag. Keeping it in the room I shared with Angie was too dangerous. I didn’t want Angie to get hurt because someone was out to get me.

  “Are you trying to kill us this morning?” Bridey huffed, as I put them through twice as many sun salutations as usual.

  “Want to make sure the blood’s flowing,” I said.

  “Hmm, seems to me your blood’s flowing just fine,” Bridey commented, “along with a few other things.” Melodie and some of the other students giggled. Duncan frowned.

  It couldn’t be that obvious. I turned bright pink and turned my back on the class to change the CD.

  At the end of the class, Duncan waited until most of the students filed out and approached her. “Sophie—”

  “I can’t talk right now, I’m sorry.” I kept my tone pleasant.

  “It’s—”

  “I’m not interested, okay? You made yourself very clear the other night. Now I’m being equally clear.”

  “Your pal Sebastian Anger isn’t what he seems.”

  “Really?” I glanced at him. “There’s a lot of that going around lately.”

  Duncan turned and limped away. I didn’t feel sorry for him. He didn’t like Sebastian, and took a cheap, unfair shot. Another point against Duncan in my personal tally sheet.

  I waited until I was sure I was alone before stashing the locket.

  That’s when I realized I’d missed the opportunity to give him Geri’s list. I’d have to find another way to get it to him without getting questions I didn’t want to answer. Maybe I’d put it in an envelope and shove it under his door. Then he’d have it fingerprinted, and I’d be at his mercy. I’d let my pride get in the way, and used up whatever slack Duncan would
have cut me about how I got it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Neither Dhruv nor the FBI agents would cut me the same slack.

  As I tidied up after class, Jacques paused in the doorway. “You may think you’re clever and can get away with this insubordination, but there will be a price to pay,” he promised.

  “Don’t threaten me, Jacques,” I retorted. “I’m sorry you don’t like me, and I’m sorry you don’t think I’m good enough to be the Charisma’s yoga instructor. But everyone else thinks I’m doing a good job.”

  “Hmph!” Jacques snorted. “Geri was a lousy yoga instructor, but at least she knew how to play the game.”

  “What kind of game did she play with you, Jacques?”

  “Nothing I’d continue with you,” he sneered, before turning away.

  I hit a nerve, and he’d make me pay for that, and everything in which I’d thwarted him. But just how close were Jacques and Geri? His name wasn’t on her list, so she wasn’t blackmailing him. Could he have been her partner? Maybe her “shore” contact wasn’t on shore at all. Maybe he was someone else on the ship.

  Whoever it was, I was pretty sure the other party involved was male. I didn’t know how or why I felt it, but I trusted my instincts.

  I headed for the crew dining room to gulp down a quick breakfast, hoping to see Sebastian. He wasn’t there, but Harmonia was. “How was your night?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Good. Really good.” She looked at me, then looked at me again. “From the color and vibrancy in your aura, I’d say yours was pretty terrific, too.”

  “Gonna plead the fifth on that,” I laughed. “At least for the moment.”

  “I’ve been thinking about who started rumors about you taking over for Geri,” Harmonia changed the subject with far more grace than I would have. “So much yapping swirls around that it’s hard to pin it down, but I’m pretty sure it was a guy. I have to think about it more. If I meditate, maybe I can bring back the voice. If I can figure out the voice, I can figure out the rest.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.” I caught sight of Ernie and headed him off. “Any sign of Gary?”

  “No.” Ernie ran a hand through his curly brown hair. “We’re getting frantic. Sebastian thought he got drunk and fell overboard, because no one’s seen him. Or he went back to the resort before we left, but we called and no one there’s seen him, either.”

  “Do you know where Sebastian is?”

  “In the engine room,” said Ernie. “There’s a glitch. I ran up to grab something we can eat on the run.”

  “Oh, sorry,” I said. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”

  “It’s our job to make sure it’s not,” Ernie returned. “We have no intention of turning into one of those cruise ship horror stories.” He sighed. “We’ll be in port any minute, so there’ll be options.”

  “Hope it’s a simple fix.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled and loped off, arms full of fruit, power bars, and water bottles.

  Kristina asked for a quiet practice that morning. “My energy’s a little low,” she said. “I figure you’d think that was a good reason to get me moving, but I’d prefer quiet work, floor work.”

  “Of course.” I noticed the Larimar brooch on the sideboard as we stepped into the outside garden area. I reshuffled the prepared sequence in my head, guiding Kristina through a series of gentle, restorative poses, using bolsters and blankets.

  Every time I looked at a blanket, I thought about the hours spent naked with Sebastian on similar ones. I was glad Kristina’s eyes were closed for most of the practice.

  Once the private session was complete, I returned to my cabin, changed into capris and a tee shirt, grabbed my purse and list, and left the ship. Technically, we were at Port Canaveral, with shuttles available to Orlando, which was forty-five minutes away, and additional day excursions to Space Coast attractions. Tempting to sightsee, but I had other demands on my time. The Welcome Center was overwhelming. Expecting to find an easy shopping area abutting the cruise terminal, I was frustrated. I wound up grabbing a cab into Cocoa Beach, where I found a Walgreen’s and picked up postcards, nail polish, toothpaste, and a laundry basket, before taking a cab back and making it back on the ship by lunchtime.

  Before re-boarding, I pulled out my cell phone, guilty that I hadn’t missed using it while out of range on the ship. A series of increasingly frantic texts from Jack’s sister Cassidy concerned and exasperated me. “No cell service at sea,” I texted back. “Will stay in touch as I can. Let’s agree not to discuss Jack.” It felt wrong to sign it with “love” or anything else, so I only used my name.

  I dialed my grandmother’s number, out in Perdido Key. I wished I was close enough to visit for the day, but it was a good seven-hour-plus drive.

  “Any shipboard romance so far?” was Gamma’s first question.

  How does she always know?

  “Two of hearts,” Gamma continued. “Fell right out of the deck into my lap during breakfast.”

  “Gamma, you’re scaring me.”

  “Don’t be silly, Sophie, it’s good for you. How were the Bahamas?”

  “Beautiful. I sent you something.”

  “A present! I look forward to it. Thanks for calling. I don’t like the email machine. It makes decisions, and you can’t reason with it.”

  “I miss you, Gamma.”

  “It’s about time you went off and had adventures, Sophie girl. I plan to be around for a good long time. I’ve got to run. Time for Priscilla and I to beat Sid Fletcher and his cronies at golf.”

  “Are you sure Sid doesn’t let you win?”

  Gamma snorted. “Sid Fletcher is a gentleman in every way, except when it comes to his golf game. I wish he’d be a little less of a gentleman sometimes. I love you, sweetheart, and I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “Love you, too, Gamma.” I smiled, and headed back for the ship.

  Charisma’s Internet cafe, only useful when in range, was almost empty. I didn’t recognize the handful of other users from class or around the ship, so I figured I was safe. I signed in and searched for news stories about deaths on the Charisma. The only one I found was that of an elderly man who died of a heart attack on the rock climbing wall three years ago. Lindsey wasn’t in charge of the wall then, and the person who was had quit soon after. Unless Cosimo Allegheny was an ace at cover-up, there weren’t any mysterious deaths on board, until Geri died.

  That meant I had to do a search on every crewmember. Not something I could do in a single Internet session. I needed to prioritize. I ran the names I remembered from Geri’s list and found nothing. I’d take another look at it and try again whenever I could get Wi-Fi. I could ask London for help; he’d be faster. But could I trust him?

  The crew dining room was quiet. I grabbed a turkey and avocado sandwich, a bag of chips, and indulged in a soda, before heading to the crew pool. Staff members sunned themselves or swam laps. I found a shady corner, ate my lunch, and read the latest Linette Hush, one of the mysteries I’d brought along. The novel I’d been reading yesterday was damaged beyond repair when the launch went down, although they’d managed to retrieve my tote bag. I was grateful I hadn’t taken my diary with me, or that would be lost, too.

  I was starting to relax when she I heard, “Ms. Batchelder? May I join you?” and looked up to see Agent Vallejo. Today, she wore dark blue capris and a pale yellow top.

  “Yes, sure, have a seat.” I wasn’t sure if I was uncomfortable because of the exchange I witnessed between the agent and Sebastian, or because I felt guilty for not yet turning over Geri’s list.

  “It seemed best if I talked to you, rather than Detective Cooke.”

  “Okay. I’m confused.” What the hell story had Duncan spun to her?

  “Do you remember seeing any jewelry in Kristina Murray’s suite?”

  “Um, yeah. There was a whole mess of it lying around a few days ago. Yesterday, there was a beautiful brooch on the table. Her husband told me it was made out of something called Larimar. It was
on the sideboard, right by the sliding doors to the patio this morning when I gave her the daily private session.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. It’s a distinctive brooch, and I wouldn’t forget the conversation I had about it with Mr. Flaherty.”

  “The brooch is missing.”

  “It was there when we started our session today.”

  “Was it there when you left?”

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember. I opened them. “I looked at it on the way onto the patio. I don’t remember looking in that direction after the session. Ms. Murray has me clear her yoga gear into the suite. I place it near the sofa for Daciana to put away. I don’t remember looking at the sideboard when I came into the suite after the session. I was thinking about the errands I needed to run on shore.”

  “The brooch is gone. Ms. Murray reported it around lunchtime. Ms. Murray believes it was stolen.”

  Kristina thought I was a thief? “So, of course, Daciana and I are the most likely suspects.” I looked at Vallejo. “Does Duncan think I took it? Is that why he can’t come here and ask me, looking me in the eye? Or does he have another excuse?”

  Vallejo didn’t take the bait. “I have to ask anyone who might have had access to the jewelry.”

  “What about Dhruv? Does he think I took it? Is that why he isn’t asking me questions?”

  “Chief Bakshi is in your corner. He does not believe you’re a thief.”

  “Good, because I didn’t take it, and I doubt Daciana’s dumb enough to take it, either.”

  “Dumb enough?” A corner of Agent Vallejo’s mouth twitched.

  “Oh, please, we’re the two who are in and out of there most often. We’d have to be stupid to steal something, even though Ms. Murray constantly left a tangle of jewelry out in plain sight all the time.”

  “Are you suggesting she tempted the staff?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think she’s devious in that way. I doubt she thinks about it at all. She’s used to having people clean up after her.” I sighed. “First, people think I’m taking over Geri’s blackmailing business. Now, they think I’m stealing jewelry?” I looked up at her. “Would you like to come and search my room?”