Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 03 - Secrets at Sea

by Peggy Dulle

  “Let’s get out there and dance,” Emily said.

  Carmelita, Brian, Tom and Jack shook their heads.

  She looked at me and pleaded, “Come on, Liza.”

  I glanced at Tom. He frowned.

  When I looked back at Emily, she smiled, encouragingly.

  “Okay,” I told her.

  I finger-waved goodbye to Tom and Emily and I moved to the center and danced with the crowd, following the cruise director’s lead. We side-stepped and jumped together and I got more exercise than I had at the gym.

  When I glanced over, Tom stood alone on the side. Everyone else must have gone to get something to eat at the buffet. He watched over me, how nice. Maybe I could get him to join me?

  I signaled to Emily. “I’m going to see if I can get Tom to join us.”

  “Okay,” she said between sidesteps.

  I danced over to Tom. “Want to join me?”

  He shook his head, but smiled. “I’m too old and I like watching you.”

  I laughed and grabbed his hand. “Come on, you’re not that old.”

  He glanced at the crowd behind me. “Yes, I am.”

  “I might get hurt in there,” I told him.

  “I’ll come in and rescue you.” He wouldn’t budge.

  “Okay, then.” I waved and danced away.

  I found Emily in the center of the group.

  She frowned. “You couldn’t get him to join us?”

  “Nope.” I shook my head.

  “A fuddy-duddy, just like Jack.”

  We danced the Macarena, the Chicken Dance, and YMCA. The last song we did was a Mexican dance. We had to partner up, so Emily and I danced together. The band played the song and we danced, swung each other around and laughed.

  For the next dance we had to trade partners every time the cruise director yelled, “Fiesta!” So I danced with total strangers. The music got louder and faster and we kept changing partners, and soon we swung from person to person without much time in between.

  And then my stomach hurt. I was clearly not used to dancing so much. When I grabbed my side, it felt sticky. Someone had spilled a drink on me and I hadn’t noticed? Some partier, I was. I lifted my hand, covered in blood – my blood.

  Tom was at my side.

  “Liza?” he bellowed, shock thoroughly engrained on his face.

  My stomach lurched, sweat poured down my face. My legs buckled and the world went black.

  Chapter 23

  I felt nauseated and lightheaded. People were arguing. I kept my eyes closed and took in some deep breaths. Slowly my stomach settled and my head began to clear. I finally heard three distinct male voices: Tom, Brian, and someone else.

  “I don’t care,” said the voice I didn’t recognize. “If someone is trying to kill her, I want her off the ship.”

  “She’s safer on this ship than she’s going to be at home,” Brian insisted.

  “I can protect her at home,” Tom declared, anger and frustration evident in his voice.

  “But eventually, you’ve got to go back to work and so does she. Are you planning on quitting your job and becoming her bodyguard?” Brian asked tersely.

  No answer.

  “Look,” he continued. “This ship is a contained vessel. We know exactly how many people are here and who they are. You’re not going to have that in any city.”

  “Then she’ll have to stay in her cabin and not get off the ship,” the unknown voice said.

  “Liza is not going to agree to that,” Tom said.

  That was for damn sure, I thought. I tried to sit up, but fell back and closed my eyes again. I wasn’t going to be a prisoner in my own cabin for the next four days. This was my vacation and I planned to go horseback riding, shopping, and sailing in Mexico.

  “The wound is superficial, right?” Brian asked.

  “Yes,” the unknown voice said. “It only penetrated an inch into her skin. I only used five or six stitches on it. If she hadn’t been dancing, it wouldn’t have bled as much as it did. Her heart was pumping fast, so she lost more blood than she would have if she’d been just standing and watching the dancing.”

  “She still got stabbed,” Tom voice elevated with each word. I didn’t need to see his face to know he wore a serious frown.

  “If this guy wanted her dead, she’d be dead,” Brian said, “he’s a…”

  “Wait a minute,” Tom interrupted him. “I thought you said you didn’t have any idea who killed all those people.”

  Silence.

  Brian had forgotten to share something with Tom, I realized. That would not go over well.

  “Well,” Brian hesitated. “We do have some idea.”

  “And when were you going to tell me about it!” Tom growled.

  “Gentlemen,” the unknown voice said, “this is not the time for arguments, it’s the time to share information and make sure this doesn’t happen again.

  A voice of reason, how nice.

  “Okay,” Brian said. “There’s a professional assassin who’s been on our radar for about ten years. He’s really good, goes in quiet, kills, and gets away clean. We figure he’s surprising the people because none have any defensive wounds. Just quick deaths.”

  “And you knew this when you got onboard?” Tom asked deadpan.

  “Yes. Betsy was one of his,” Brian replied.

  I heard a loud crack, a thud, and metal things clanged to the floor.

  “What the hell?” the unknown voice said. “Why’d you deck him?”

  “Liza was right, you used her as bait. You want to catch this guy and you don’t care who he kills next.”

  “No, no,” Brian stuttered, “we care, it’s just that this is the closest we’ve ever gotten to him. He’s killed over twenty-five people in the last ten years; most of them were witnesses in protective custody.”

  “Well, you’re not using Liza as bait! We’re getting off this ship in Puerto Vallarta,” Tom insisted.

  I opened my eyes and coughed, “Excuse me?”

  I heard Brian scuffle to his feet, as all three men came close and stood over me.

  “Where am I?” I asked.

  “Infirmary, Miss,” the unknown voice said, although he did look familiar.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “Chief Security Officer Carl Lovantini. We met on your first day on the boat.”

  I nodded. “That’s right. What happened to me?”

  Tom stepped closer. “Somebody tried to kill you and we’re going home.”

  “The assassin?” I asked.

  “We’re not really sure, Liza,” Brian backpedaled on his earlier words.

  “I’ve been awake for awhile, Brian.”

  “It doesn’t matter anyway, we’re going home,” Tom declared with more force than in his previous statement.

  His face was grave and full of concern. But there was no way I was getting off this ship.

  “I need to talk to Tom,” I told Brian and the officer.

  Brian smiled, the officer nodded, and they left the room.

  When they were gone, Tom crossed his arms over his chest, set his jaw and said, “We are going home, Liza. And there is nothing you can say or do that will change my mind.”

  “I don’t want to go home.” I held up my hand before he could protest. “I want to go horseback riding, shopping, and sailing. Make it work, Tom. I’ll do anything you want, I’ll let you and Brian follow me into the bathroom, but I’ll finish this cruise. My parents took it and so I am taking it too.”

  “No.” Tom shook his head and sighed heavily. “Someone stabbed you, Liza. Do you understand that?”

  “Yes, but according to the doctor, it’s superficial. It wouldn’t have bled much if I hadn’t been dancing, right?”

  He glared at me. “That just means you zigged when he expected you to zag.”

  “Okay,” I conceded, “you could be right. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m finishing this vacation.”

  “Even if it kills you!”
Tom growled under his breath.

  “Yes, it’s important to me.” I closed my eyes, suddenly exhausted, and said, “Make it happen, Tom, just make it happen.”

  They must have given me something for the pain because I slept again and dreamt about being chased through the jungle. I ran but the person got closer. Then my dad was there, yelling for me to move faster. And then we sat in a boat together and he was fishing.

  “How are they biting, Dad?” I asked as I reached for a sandwich in the picnic basket we always took with us on fishing trips.

  He turned and smiled at me. “Pretty good, Bobby. I’ve caught five so far.”

  “Throw them all back?” I took a bite from the meatball sandwich he always brought for me.

  “Of course. They were meant to live out their lives in this beautiful pond, not be my dinner. Every thing deserves life, right?”

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  I heard music playing. No, it was someone humming — Tom. I opened my eyes but we weren’t in our room.

  “Tom?” I said and sat up. “Where are we?”

  He came out of the bathroom. “Well, you’re finally awake. Those drugs the doc gave you sure knocked you out. We had to get a wheelchair to bring you here.”

  “Where is here?”

  “I made it work,” he said triumphantly.

  “Excuse me?” I shook my head. Maybe I was still fuzzy from the drugs.

  Brian came in through a side door. “Well, I see sleeping beauty is finally awake.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Both of you are staying in the same room as me?”

  “No!” Tom insisted.

  Brian shook his head and looked at Tom. “I’ll let you explain.” And then he was gone, back through the side door.

  I sat up. “Tom, what’s going on?”

  Tom came over and sat down on the bed. “You told me you wanted to stay on the cruise, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Okay, this is my compromise. I got the ship to re-adjust a few passengers.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Slowly, Tom. I think I’m still fuzzy.”

  “Okay, they told the people who were in the suite next to Brian and Carmelita.”

  I interrupted him, “Jack and Emily?”

  “No. They’re on the other side.”

  “Oh.”

  “They told them they had won a free upgrade, relocated them to a bigger suite, and moved us here. There’s a connecting door between our suite and Brian’s. When I’m not watching you, he will be.”

  “What does Carmelita say about all this?”

  “We had to tell her part of the truth.”

  “You told her Brian was a cop?”

  Tom nodded.

  “How’d she take it?”

  “Oh, she was mad as hell. She hates being lied to. It took us a while to finally calm her down. But as soon as she knew this was about your parents, Adam, Betsy, and you, she was okay with it.” Tom smirked. “Although I think she’s still angry with Brian.”

  “You told her about Betsy?”

  He nodded.

  I noticed the sun shinning through the balcony doors. “Didn’t we arrive in Puerto Vallarta this morning?”

  “Yes, we docked a few hours ago.”

  I frowned. “What about my horseback riding?”

  “We still are going, but I changed the time on the excursion. We don’t leave until 2:30 this afternoon.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.”

  He shook his head and mumbled, “I still think we should be going home.”

  Brian stuck his head through the door. “And I think you’re safer here.”

  “Out! I’m watching her,” Tom shouted, closed the door between our two suites, and turned the deadbolt. “That guy is annoying.”

  I laughed, but then grabbed my side.

  “Serves you right,” Tom scowled.

  He was still mad. I knew he only wanted me safe, but running and hiding at home wasn’t the answer. Was it? I leaned my head back onto the pillow and closed my eyes. I felt his hand on my face. He pushed my hair behind my ears.

  I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

  He sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “I can think of a few things,” I said, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

  “You scared the hell out of me, Liza. I saw you stumble and then the blood, it was all over your hands and stomach.” His eyes filled with tears and he put his face into his hands.

  I’d never seen Tom this upset. I sat up, took both of his hands and brought them to my lips. “I’m sorry you were scared. But I’m okay, Tom.” I kissed his hands, then looked up into his eyes. “I’m fine.”

  He leaned down and kissed me. I brought my hands around his body and held him close. When I leaned back, his eyes smiled again.

  “What?” I said.

  “I love you, Liza.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Marry me,” he said.

  “What?” I sat farther back, my heart beginning to race.

  “You know, walk down the aisle in a church, say ‘I do’ and live together, forever.”

  I swallowed. “Okay, that was kind of sudden. We’ve only known each other for a few months. Don’t you think it’s early to be talking about marriage?”

  “Love me?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course, but…”

  “Marry me.”

  Okay, I did love him. That wasn’t the issue. We didn’t really know each other well enough to be considering marriage, did we? There were too many things we didn’t know about each other. I had just learned he could sing and was obsessed over karaoke, for example.

  I hadn’t even met his son yet. And where would we live? I didn’t want to give up my job, my school and the families I’d gotten to know in the last ten years. And Tom? He wouldn’t give up being sheriff in Gainesville or his wonderful house. How was it all going to work?

  “Stop thinking, Liza. We can work out the details later. Just say yes, I’ll give you a ring, and we can have a long engagement. That way you’ll be able to figure out how to introduce me, too.”

  I put my hands on the side of his face. “I do love you and I’d be honored to be your wife.”

  His eyes flashed with heat. He leaned down, taking me back down to the bed, and kissed me. We took it very slowly since my side still hurt from being stabbed, but it felt different, now that we had made a solid commitment to each other.

  An hour later, we showered together. The suite’s stall was twice the size of the one in our old room and there was a Jacuzzi tub, too. We had to be very careful of the bandages on my side, so it was more like a sponge bath. It’s always fun to have someone lather up those out-of-reach places.

  I dressed in brown Capri’s and a multi-colored tank top. I’d need the longer pants for horseback riding, but didn’t want to put on jeans.

  Tom came out of the bathroom wearing shorts. “Did you wear your swimsuit under your clothes?”

  “No, I have no intention of getting into the water with a horse.”

  “Chicken.”

  He grinned.

  “It has nothing to do with riding a horse in water; it has to do with river’s water quality.”

  “Actually, with your open wound that’s a reasonable thing to avoid.”

  I didn’t tell him I decided a long time ago I wouldn’t get in and it had nothing to do with my injury.

  “What do we need to bring?” Tom asked.

  I checked the Cruiser Notes. “Driver’s license, Navigator card, excursion tickets, cash for tips and any small purchases we might want to make, and a credit card for larger ones.”

  “Okay.” Tom got the items from the safe.

  We walked up to the pool deck to get some lunch. When we stepped outside, I got my first glimpse of Mexico. The ship was moored right at the dock. To the left was a lovely area, with sailboards and traditional Mexican houses painted in bright colors. It was lovely and the weather was warm. Then I turned to the
right.

  “What’s that?” I asked Tom.

  “It’s a Super Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club?”

  “Okay, that’s not what I expected to find when I stepped off the ship in Mexico.”

  Tom shrugged. “They have to have stores, too.”

  “But next to the dock?”

  We had a quick lunch and walked down to Deck A to the gangway.

  We had to show both IDs as we left the ship and had to put our Navigator card into a machine. A cruise employee checked our faces against the pictures that came up. It was efficient and made me feel safe.

  Three different cruise photographers took our pictures as we left the ship. I stopped. At the bottom of the gangway stood two men dressed in army uniforms. They carried machine guns and they were looking at Tom and me. My heart stopped and I gasped.

  Chapter 24

  “Easy, Liza,” Tom said.

  “But,” I said between short shallow breaths. “They have machine guns.”

  “They always have machine guns.”

  “What?”

  “It’s better than it used to be. Now you only see them at the docks and certain other locations. They used to be all over the streets, too.”

  “You mean they’re not here because of us?” I asked.

  “No, they would have been here anyway. But the way they’re looking at us, I think Brian told them about your situation.”

  The two men watched as we walked away from the ship. It felt very strange to have two men holding machine guns follow me with their eyes.

  On the dock, a man held a sign for our horseback riding excursion. We gave him our tickets and stood with the rest of the people. There were quite a few families going on this excursion with us. Several of the younger kids ran around and through the group. It took every ounce of control not to yell at them to get in line with their parents. After all there were men with machine guns standing a few feet from us. If I had known this was the favorite “family excursion” I might have let Tom drag me to the ATV Adventure.

  Ten minutes later we followed him to a parking lot and boarded a bus. It took us through a small town with rundown houses where kids wandered without shoes. It made me sad to see it. We have so much in America, we don’t realize how lucky we are until we see the way other people have to live, I thought. Then we were on the open road with fields on each side. The crop was something low and green. I wished farmers would put signs on their fields so I’d know what they grew. It was lovely until we came to a tall cement building topped with barbed wire and guard towers - a prison.