Murder on Board

by Ivy Dawson

  Harry shrugged and made a waving motion with his hand before turning back to his book. Jax and Shae looked over at each other with dread in their eyes, and reluctantly got up to follow their boss.

  Mark led them to his office, his shoulders tense. As soon as they stepped through the door, he slammed the door and turned to them, his expression livid.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Chapter 7

  “Uhm…” Shae trailed off, looking awkwardly at Jax then at Mark while going blood-red. “I-, well… the captain said that… He said that…”

  “He said what?” Mark mocked, crossing his arms and leaning against his table. He raised one perfect eyebrow and glared at her challengingly. She let out a heavy breath and looked over at Jax for support. He gave her a kind smile and nodded gently.

  “The captain asked me to look into the murder of Nova Ashcroft,” Shae said bravely. Her voice started out squeaky, but she quickly felt strength flow through her words. She lifted her chin defiantly and looked Mark right in the eyes. “That’s what I think I’m doing.”

  “Yes,” Mark said, looking unimpressed. “I know that. I also know that he asked you to be discreet, didn’t he?”

  “Yes,” Shae said grudgingly, looking down at her feet in shame.

  “I wonder what qualifications make you suitable for this position?” Mark wondered out loud, still glaring at her with a smug smile on his face.

  Shae felt herself being transported back in time again. This time, she hid behind her dad as a massive man shouted at him.

  “Who do you think you are?”

  Her father had never seemed bigger to her in that second. He squared his shoulders under his tatty coat and looked the mammoth man right in his eyes. Shae felt that same attitude rip through her. She squared her shoulders and looked Mark right in the eyes.

  His eyes widened with surprise, but in a split second, the surprise was gone.

  “You’ll have to take that up with the captain,” Shae told him honestly. “I’ve got a job to do.”

  Mark clenched his jaw, and Shae could’ve sworn that she saw a glimmer of respect somewhere, but it was gone as soon as it came. He stretched his neck and shook his head at her.

  “Yes, you do. We’re going to dock in exactly one hour. You’re going to do the job you were hired to do and take pictures of our guests. You can get to your side project once you’re done with that.”

  “This isn’t…” Shae started, but Mark held up a hand to stop her. She snapped her mouth shut and glared mutinously at him. She doubted that the captain would want to get involved with their little dispute. He’d probably tell Mark to handle things.

  “And next time, be a little more discreet about it. After all, that’s why the captain hired you in the first place. It’d be a bummer if you got fired because you’re so loud.”

  “Hey, man,” Jax interrupted, frowning at Mark. Shae put a hand on his arm and quickly shook her head. Mark stepped forward, making no effort to hide his smug smile.

  “I thought it would take a prettier face to distract you from your grease and tools,” he told Jax. His smile proved that he was itching for a fight, but Jax didn’t give him one.

  When it became clear that Jax wasn’t going to retaliate, Mark waved them both away with a smug smirk.

  “That guy annoys me,” Jax muttered as they walked away.

  “Yeah, but he’s our boss so we better listen to him,” Shae sighed. “Thanks for all your help.”

  “This isn’t goodbye,” Jax warned her, waving his finger at her. “Don’t solve this thing without me!” Shae laughed at his antics and waved as he walked away.

  Two hours later, she was done with life. She’d never taken so many pictures before. She loved photography. It was something she’d always loved to do. However, this job didn’t require any imagination or creativity. All she had to do was snap pictures of families while the patriarch shouted something like “Who cut the cheese?” and expected her to laugh too.

  Inevitably, at some point, someone said, “now let’s do funny faces!” and everyone proceeded to pretend that they were demented.

  At least one teenager had to be pried away from their phone, and eventually a child started crying. And then the cycle started all over again. After the twentieth family, Shae was already starting to formulate an escape plan.

  She looked around at the stunning location. They were on a white-sand beach, and the crew had set out a bunch of games and a massive picnic. The guests were swimming, playing and eating while the South American sun turned them fire-truck red.

  Shae managed to quickly excuse herself from the mayhem, claiming that she needed to replace her lens. The truth was that she was starting to get a migraine and was wondering if this job was a good fit for her.

  As she got onto the ship, she noticed how quiet it was. It seemed like everyone was somewhere doing something. She marveled at how beautiful the ship was without screaming children and drinking adults.

  A lone figure paced up and down a piece of deck, and Shae recognized him immediately. Grant Ashcroft.

  “Excuse me,” she said, before she could really think about what she was doing. “I’m sorry, I need to talk to you.”

  Grant looked up and frowned. He quickly lifted his sunglasses and wiped at his eyes, then turned to sit down on one of the chairs on the deck.

  “What do you want?” he asked, his voice gruff. Shae wondered briefly if he’d really been crying or if it was all for show. She looked around and reminded herself that there was no one to put on a show for.

  “I really do have to ask a few questions about your wife,” she explained gently, sitting down next to him, and looking out at the ocean. “I’m trying to get a clearer understanding of what happened to her. So that we can catch whoever did this.”

  “You probably think that I did it,” Grant sniffed, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair as he spoke. “Everyone else does. Those security guys I spoke to this morning basically accused me of doing it.”

  “Did you do it?” Shae asked simply. He flinched as she asked, a miserable expression crossing his face.

  “No,” he said, his voice quivering as he spoke. “I love her. Loved. Loved her. I can’t believe she’s gone.” He leaned forward and hid his face in his hands, and Shae felt a sliver of pity for him creep into her heart.

  “I’m sorry to ask this,” Shae said with a sigh, “but witnesses saw you two fighting at dinner last night. Do you mind telling me what all that was about?”

  “Let me guess,” Grant said, his voice muffled, “Harry told you that? Did he also tell you that she was cheating on me? With him.”

  “He said you invited him on the cruise?” Shae said with a frown. Grant didn’t realize it, but he was giving himself more of a motive.

  Despite his display of emotion, Shae still suspected him. She’d seen murderers cry before. Only hardened killers showed no emotion. Most first-time killers were normal people who never thought they’d kill anyone.

  “I wanted to catch them in the act,” Grant admitted. “I thought they’d give themselves away or something. We were fighting because she was being so obvious about it, and I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I’m not an idiot!”

  “What happened after you left the restaurant?” Shae asked, not wanting to let him go off on a tangent. She needed him to focus on what happened that night, and maybe he’d give himself away.

  “She stayed behind with him,” Grant sounded genuinely upset, “and she never came back. It was him. I know he did it.”

  “Why would Harry want to kill her?” Shae asked curiously. “He didn’t seem like he had any reason to be upset with her.”

  “I don’t know,” Grant mumbled miserably, playing with his key card as he spoke. “Maybe it was a crime of passion. He didn’t love her like I did. I just wanted to keep her safe with me.”

  “She was afraid of water,” she reminded him, “and you brought her on this boat anyway. I met her yes
terday, and she looked terrified. No offense, but that doesn’t sound like you wanted to protect her.”

  “You don’t understand,” Grant said defensively, lifting his head and frowning at the ocean.

  “Then make me understand,” Shae prodded.

  “Nova nearly drowned when she was a little girl,” Grant explained sadly. “She had to go to the hospital and everything. She went ice skating with her nanny, but the ice broke and she fell through. Ever since then, she just never wanted to be near water again. I wanted to bring her on this trip to help her get over her fear. I didn’t think she’d get so sick.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been better to start small?” Shae suggested. “Maybe with therapy? I think that would’ve been less traumatic for her.”

  “It’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it?” Grant snapped.

  “You’re right,” Shae grimaced, shaking her head at her own stupidity. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Who are you anyway?” Grant asked in annoyance. “Police? Interpol? Who do you work for?”

  “The ship,” Shae admitted. “I’m a photographer.” She held up her camera as proof.

  “Then why are you investigating this murder?” he asked, his eyes wide. “Are you even qualified?”

  “I’m also a certified private investigator,” Shae admitted. It felt strange to finally admit it to someone. Not even Alexa knew.

  “Who works as a photographer?” Grant asked in shock. “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

  “My dad was a PI,” Shae shrugged, “and I followed in his footsteps. Look, I don’t think the test counts, I was just sixteen at the time.”

  “Who takes that kind of test when they’re a teenager?” Grant asked curiously. “I mean, I was blowing off school and going to football games when I was that age.”

  “Like I said, my dad did it. He was always taking me on cases and stuff.”

  “Best dad ever,” Grant scoffed. “What’s he doing now? Showing his grandkids crime scene photos or something?”

  “He’s dead.”

  Grant’s amused expression immediately fell off his face, and he looked at her sheepishly. She shrugged again, but he still looked guilty.

  “Is that why you wanted to be a PI?” Grant asked, clearing his throat and looking around awkwardly.

  “It’s why I stopped wanting to be one,” Shae admitted. She could pinpoint the exact moment her devotion for her father melted away. It was the moment that forced her to grow up and see him for what he really was.

  “I’m sorry,” Grant said awkwardly.

  “Don’t be,” she told him. “He knew what he was doing. Anyway, so that’s why I’m looking into your wife’s murder. We want to catch them before they get away with it. That’s why I need you to tell me about your wife. Every little detail could help.”

  “This is the weirdest day of my life,” Grant admitted shaking his head.

  “I know, I’m sorry,” she said sympathetically.

  “Look,” Grant said, “she only knew two people on this boat. Me and Harry. She didn’t have money on her, so she wasn’t robbed. That means that someone killed her for a different reason.”

  “The nature of the crime does suggest that it was someone she knew,” Shae admitted. “I mean, it seemed personal. Stabbing her would’ve been enough but pushing her into the pool was intentionally cruel.”

  Grant flinched, and she felt awful for doing that to him, but she needed to see his reaction.

  “That means that whoever killed her knew that she was afraid of water and knew what it would do to her.”

  “Like I said,” Grant mumbled, closing his eyes, “it was someone who knew her. And she only knew two people on this boat. Or there were only two people who knew how afraid she was. Harry and me. I didn’t do it. So, it must’ve been Harry.”

  Chapter 8

  “You again?” Harry asked, looking up from his spot in his sun lounger. Somehow, he’d managed to avoid getting sunburnt, and was a healthy shade of brown. He smiled up at her, his cheeks dimpling and his stark white teeth making his smile startling.

  Shae frowned at him as she sat down. Being so beautiful was just an unfair advantage in life. He was nearly at the end of his book, and she briefly wondered if she could ask him where he got it. She always needed a good book in her life.

  “I spoke to Grant,” she told him, hiding her camera under one of the cushions as a group of tourists walked by. She didn’t want to get dragged into another photoshoot and give Harry a chance to disappear.

  “Let me guess,” Harry sighed, putting his book down and placing his hands behind his head as he settled into his chair. “He said that I was having an affair with his wife?”

  “Something like that,” Shae admitted, watching him carefully. He didn’t seem the least bit upset that Nova was dead. It was like he didn’t care at all.

  “She was pretty,” Harry admitted, “but she was another man’s wife. I know to stay away from things that aren’t mine. I felt sorry for her, but I wasn’t into her that way. She was my boss’ wife, you know?”

  “When I saw the two of you yesterday, you seemed pretty close,” Shae pointed out, remembering the previous day.

  “Yeah, because we’re always around each other. She’s busy with this project for her father’s company and roped me into helping her. That’s why Grant is so paranoid. I didn’t do anything, she asked me to do it. The money is good, so I said yes.”

  “I guess you two spent a lot of time together,” Shae said.

  Harry seemed to be telling the truth. He sounded annoyed by how Grant was acting, but Shae knew that no one was ever truly innocent in these sorts of things. Grant may have been paranoid, but Harry couldn’t have been as innocent as he claimed to be.

  “All the time,” Harry rolled his eyes behind his glasses as he looked over at her. “I think she wanted Grant to think something was going on. She kept asking me to stay late, and we had dinner a couple of times. Nothing ever happened, she just cried a few times about how Grant was treating her.”

  “Wait,” Shae said, frowning. “How did she say he was treating her? And how regularly was she crying about him?”

  “Almost every day,” Harry admitted, “and I can’t always remember what it was about. I felt sorry for her, but it was none of my business. If she hated him that much, she should’ve just left him.”

  “I don’t think it was that simple,” Shae said sadly. “I think she just wanted someone to talk to about what was going on.”

  “I’m an employee,” Harry pointed out. “It’s weird when my boss asks me to stay behind, then cries about her husband for an hour. No offense, but that’s weird. And none of my business.”

  “You say that a lot,” Shae told him. “Why’s it so important that it’s none of your business?”

  “Listen,” he sat up and picked up his book. “I don’t care about their marital problems. They both used me in their twisted little games. I just want to do my job and leave at the end of the day. I don’t want to be forced into weird vacations with a fighting couple, or have my boss hate me because his wife has a crush on me. I’m sorry about Nova, but she never acted like a friend. She wanted someone who’d listen to her complain about her husband, but never do anything about it. I didn’t sign up for that. Imagine your boss calls you into the office after a full day of work and starts crying.”

  “I guess I didn’t think about that,” Shae admitted sheepishly.

  “No,” Harry snapped, getting up, “you didn’t. I didn’t kill Nova. Not because we were having an affair or whatever Grant said. It’s because I didn’t care enough to do it.”

  With that scathing sentiment, he stalked off with his book under his arm. Heads turned as he went, and Shae had to admit that she could see why Grant was so paranoid with Harry around.

  “Hey,” a tourist walked up to her, “are you the ship’s photographer?”

  A few grueling hours later, Shae was lying on her narrow bed. Her laptop was p
erched on her belly as she surfed the web. There were a few articles about Nova and Grant. Mostly a few luxury living pieces and some business interviews. Grant got most of the attention, but other than that, there wasn’t much about their personal lives.

  “I’m going to kill her,” Alexa announced as she burst into Shae’s room.

  “Who?” Shae asked lazily. The words on the computer were starting to blur, so she rubbed her eyes and yawned tiredly. It had been a lazy day.

  “Vanessa Langdon,” Alexa said in a high-pitched, nasally tone.

  “Who?” Shae asked again as Alexa dramatically threw herself onto the end of Shae’s bed. She lay there, staring at the ceiling angrily.

  “That reporter I’m babysitting,” Alexa growled.

  “Is she that bad?” Shae asked sympathetically, nudging Alexa with her foot. Alexa smacked her foot away and stretched out, forcing Shae to sit up.

  “You’ve got no idea,” Alexa sighed. “She complains about everything. And if I hear one more time about how she worked for a massive magazine, but ‘can’t say which one’ because of that stupid NDA, I’m going to throw her overboard.”

  At that moment, Luci walked in. She raised an eyebrow at them but said nothing as she sat down at her table to start doing her make-up.

  “I had to follow her around all day,” Alexa continued complaining, also ignoring Luci, “and get her everything she wanted. I wish I was a travel writer. I’d also just sit down and complain all day.”

  “You do that anyway,” Luci pointed out, smearing cream on her face.

  “No one asked you,” Alexa snapped. “Anyway. This woman is a nightmare. She’s the most demanding person I’ve ever met, and I’ve never seen anyone drink that many cocktails in one day. Seriously, how does she still have a liver?”

  “You should see the people in my club,” Luci said, raising an eyebrow, “they drink enough to flood the whole room.”

  “No, that’s just one person,” Alexa scoffed, “it’s all Vanessa. She drinks everything. I’m convinced that she’s going to finish all the liquor on this boat.”