by Debby Mayne
“So do you sing?” Mrs. Bailey asked.
I shook my head. “Not much. I don’t have a great voice.”
Mr. Bailey chuckled. “I thought everyone in Nashville sang … at least that’s what they make it look like on those TV shows. Do you like country music?”
“I do.”
“So do we. Did you know there’s a country music band playing in one of the lounges later? You’re welcome to join us.”
“I didn’t know that.” I pondered what to say since I now realized that drinking and hanging out in the lounges was one of the main activities on the cruise. “It’s been a long day for me, so I think after dinner I’ll just head on back to my cabin.”
Mr. Bailey shrugged. “Suit yourself. I thought you might want to take advantage of all the wonderful things this cruise has to offer.”
“Thank you, but I’ll pass.” I hoped these people wouldn’t be so persistent about getting me to go to the lounge, or I’d spend half my trip trying to dodge them.
“Autumn, dear, I don’t want to sound bossy or anything …” Mrs. Bailey placed her hand on my arm. “But you’re much too young to be spending a lot of time in your room.” She made a sweeping motion with her hand. “There’s a whole world of fun out there, waiting to be enjoyed. That’s what cruising is all about.”
Her husband nodded as he backed off his last comment and decided to chime in. “Yeah, there’s a lot of fun to be had on this boat. I can’t imagine anyone—especially such a pretty girl your age—wanting to sit around in the cabin.”
“I …” These were clearly partiers, and they would never understand someone like me. So I figured I might as well join them for a little while. I could have a soda and leave after a few songs. Maybe after that they’d leave me alone. “Well, okay, I suppose I can go for a little while.”
“You’ll have a blast. We do line dancing and sing along with the band. It is so much fun.” Mrs. Bailey’s eyes lit up as she spoke.
Dinner was good, but the conversation was so entertaining I couldn’t think much about what I was eating. The people at my table had one cruise story after another—many of them leaving me in stitches.
“Eat up, Autumn. You’ll need the energy.” Mrs. Bailey shoveled another bite of chocolate cake into her mouth. She put down her fork and rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait to get you up on the dance floor. Harvey and I can show you some moves that’ll knock your socks off.”
An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over me. Mama had enrolled me in ballet when I was little, and after I stumbled over my own feet, the teacher actually told her I wasn’t cut out for dance. I was relieved because I hated making a fool of myself. Now I knew I’d have a choice between coming across as a party pooper or showing everyone on the ship how uncoordinated I was.
I’d barely finished my dessert when Mr. Bailey pointed to the door. “Look who just walked in.”
I glanced over in the direction he was pointing and spotted a tall, middle-aged woman with flaming red hair and eyebrows so heavily drawn she appeared to be in a perpetual state of shock. “Who’s that?” I asked.
“That woman—” Mrs. Bailey made a face and bobbed her head. “Her name is Aileen Graves, and she just happens to be the most hated person who has ever cruised the Caribbean.”
Mr. Bailey leaned over, cupped his hand to one side of his mouth, and whispered, “She likes to flirt with all the men and then make them look like fools.”
“Oh.” This cruise was turning out to be way more than I’d bargained for.
Mrs. Bailey nodded. “And there’s a rumor she murdered her husband, but no one can prove it.”
Chapter 3
My ears rang, and my mouth went dry. I’d never met anyone suspected of killing anyone—let alone a spouse. It sounded really weird—like something you’d hear in a movie.
“Murdered her husband?” I looked at the woman and then at the rest of my tablemates. “Do y’all know her personally?”
“Only on the ship. We were here right before the fiasco when people died on the boat. There’s even some speculation that she was responsible for that too.”
“Do you really think so, Mrs. Bailey? I heard it was a supergerm.”
“First of all, don’t call me Mrs. Bailey. That makes me feel old. You can call us Judith and Harvey. And secondly, I don’t for one minute think it was a germ that killed those people.”
Some of the other passengers nodded and mumbled that they agreed. My stomach lurched.
Harvey shot his wife a warning look. “We probably shouldn’t be talking like this with Autumn. I don’t want to scare her.”
“She needs to know these things. I’d feel awful if something happened, and we didn’t warn her.” She turned to me with a sympathetic smile. “If I were you, I wouldn’t trust anyone I meet on a cruise … except us, of course.” She smiled lovingly at her husband. “Harvey, sweetheart, we have to look after her, just like we’d appreciate it if someone did that for one of our children.”
Harvey made a face and nodded. “I suppose you’re right, but we still don’t need to frighten her.”
Judith craned her neck to see Ms. Graves. “Look what she’s doing now.”
I looked but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. But then some man approached, and she tilted her head back as she belted out laughter that was so loud we could hear it halfway across the noisy room. “Who’s that man?” I asked.
“That’s just it,” Judith said. “I’ve never seen him before. She’s doing what she always does, flirting with anyone who just happens to be close, never mind the fact that most of the men on this ship are married.”
I never liked gossip, and this felt icky to me. The problem was I was curious and wanted to know more, which made me feel even worse.
Judith continued on her rant, until finally, Harvey stood up and helped his wife to her feet. “That’s enough of this nonsense. Let’s get outta here and go cut a rug in the lounge.”
I remained sitting there for a few seconds, stunned by how he could talk about dancing right after his wife told me they thought there was a murderer in our midst. Harvey pulled my chair back.
I slowly stood. “Thanks.” My voice squeaked, so I cleared my throat. “I really don’t—”
“C’mon, Autumn.” Judith linked arms with me and led me out of the dining room. “It’ll be fun. I love sharing this stuff with first-timers. You’ll have so much fun you won’t ever want to leave.”
The cruise ship captain passed us on the way to the lounge. “Welcome aboard.” The sound of his booming voice coupled with his overpowering ruggedness made me wish I were invisible. He flashed a flirty smile in Judith’s direction. “Is this your daughter?”
Judith gave the captain a playful swat. “You know better that that, Captain Myers. This is Autumn. We just met her this evening.”
The captain grinned at me, this time in a softer manner. “I’m glad you met someone who knows the ropes. Have fun, you three. Let Jerome or Andrea know if you need anything.”
After we passed him and he was out of hearing distance, I spoke up. “Who are Jerome and Andrea?”
“Jerome Pratt is the purser, and Andrea Zeller is the new cruise director. We were on her first voyage right after the ship started sailing again,” Harvey explained. “Neither of them does a great job, but I’m sure they’ll get better over time. Anyway, it’s their jobs to make sure all the passengers are taken care of and having a good time.”
Judith nodded. “And the purser is responsible for the money.”
I never realized a cruise was so complicated, but it made sense. With all of this new information swirling in my head, I followed Judith and Harvey to the lounge where the music was loud, and the partiers were even louder. I hesitated at the door, but Harvey laughed and pulled me inside.
He pointed to a two-seater table in the corner. “Let’s grab that table before someone else does. You and Judith go on ahead and claim it, while I find another chair.”
>
For me, the next hour and a half was a miserable, delicate balance of trying to be polite and wishing I was anywhere but in the lounge. For Judith and Harvey, it was clearly loads of fun. They laughed as they pulled me up for a line dance in a space that wasn’t nearly big enough for the couple dozen or so people trying to bust a few dance moves. At least my klutziness didn’t seem so bad since everyone was bumping into and stepping all over each other.
After a while, I couldn’t deal with it anymore, and I decided to call it a night. It had been long enough that I didn’t think it would be rude to excuse myself. Judith and Harvey both gave me a hug, holding onto me until I promised I’d look for them again. Then I darted out of that lounge as quickly as my legs would carry me.
When I finally got to my cabin, I ran inside, closed the door behind me, and leaned against the wall. I looked around the room and saw that my luggage had finally made it, just as Betty had told me it would. That was a relief. I hated the thought of having to deal with the hassles of trying to track it down. One of my friends had that happen, and she said it was a couple of days into the trip when she finally got her stuff. Apparently, someone had it in their cabin, but they kept forgetting to tell the ship’s staff.
I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth. My head still pounded with the rhythm from the music in the lounge, and I doubted I’d be able to go to sleep right away. So I reached into my carryon bag and pulled out my e-reader.
It took a while to clear out my ears and my head. I finally fell asleep shortly after midnight. Although I had one crazy dream after another, I managed to stay asleep until morning.
What sounded like cattle stampeding past my door startled me awake early the next morning. I sat up momentarily, but a short burst of vertigo caused me to quickly flop back in the bed. What on earth was going on out there?
I took a couple of deep breaths before attempting to sit up again. The noise stopped, so I got up and walked across the room. After only a brief hesitation, I unlocked the door and pulled it open a couple of inches to take a look.
All I saw was one person pacing. She must have heard me because she spun around and stared right at me.
“Betty?”
The glazed look in her eyes concerned me, so I took a chance and stepped out into the hallway, in spite of the fact that I was still in my pajamas. She blinked a couple of times, but she never looked away.
“Are you okay?” She clearly wasn’t, so I amended my comment. “What happened?”
She slowly shook her head, turned around, and went back into the room a couple of doors down, leaving me standing there, wondering what on earth was going on.
I started back to my room, when I heard the sound of pounding footsteps again. This was too weird. I had no idea what was happening, and once again, I wondered why I thought this cruise was a good idea. I’d booked it because I needed rest and relaxation, but so far it was anything but restful … or relaxing.
Even though I was curious as all get out, I didn’t want to hang out in the hallway in my pajamas. So I went back into my cabin and closed the door. I went over to my handbag and pulled out my phone, but once I woke it up, I realized that if I was able to get service out here on the open water, my roaming charges would be through the roof. My friends had warned me about this, but I really wanted to talk to someone back home. Someone sane. Someone who loved me.
I sat down on the edge of my bed to ponder my situation. The sound of hollering down the hall grew louder as more people made their way outside their cabins. My breathing had become shallow, so I concentrated on taking several deep breaths, inhaling to the count of four and slowly blowing it out to the count of eight.
Whatever was happening outside the cabin was obviously not good. In fact, it might have been a tragedy for all I knew. With this ship’s history and from all the stories I heard last night, it could be anything.
My body was already tense before I began this trip, but now I was so anxious I thought I might explode. Being in a classroom with a bunch of hormonal seventh graders didn’t seem so bad at the moment, and I found myself wishing that was where I was.
After a couple of deep, cleansing breaths, I knew I couldn’t just sit here and worry. I needed to get out of this room and find out what was going on.
It took me about twenty minutes to shower, brush my teeth, get dressed, and make myself presentable. The volume of the voices had subsided, but I could still hear people milling about out in the corridor.
I placed my hand on the doorknob but hesitated to open the door as my mind began to tick off some of the possibilities. Maybe someone had been hurt. Or there could be a robber out there mugging people. Or worse …
Before I gathered the nerve to pull the door open, someone knocked. My eyes twitched.
“Autumn, are you in there?” It sounded like Betty.
“Yes.”
“Then will you please open the door? There’s something you need to know.”
Chapter 4
Against better judgment, I let Betty into my cabin. Her wild-eyed expression startled me, but I tried not to let her notice.
“You might want to stay here in your cabin for a few hours,” she said. “All kinds of you-know-what is breaking loose out there.”
“I heard. What’s that all about?” I gestured toward the sofa. “Have a seat.”
“I think I’ll stand. This is making me all jittery.”
I lowered myself onto the edge of the corner chair. “Do you know what happened?”
She held her arms out and gestured with her palms up. “I can’t give you the details, but I do know that there’s been an attempted murder.”
“Attempted murder?” Goosebumps rippled over my body as I remembered what Judith and Harvey had said about that woman, Aileen, possibly murdering her husband. “Are you sure?”
Betty glanced down and nodded. “I’m pretty sure. It takes a while for the cops to get here since they have to fly someone in on a helicopter.”
“Doesn’t this ship have law enforcement?” My throat constricted, so I coughed and took a deep breath. “There has to be some sort of protection.”
“Well …” Betty began to pace and acting even stranger than before. “They do have people who call themselves law enforcement, but I’ve been watching them for the past couple of years. If someone wants to do something bad, it’s really not that difficult if they know what they’re doing. The law enforcement folks onboard have their hands tied since there’s nowhere to take the criminal.”
I sank back in the chair and thought about what she’d just said, and then I thought about Mama’s request for me to ask Summer to join me. Once again, regret about not inviting my cousin washed over me. She’d know what to do.
“Do you know how the person was …” I cleared my throat again. “How he was almost murdered?”
“She. The victim is a woman.”
My eyes bugged. “Do you know who it is?”
Betty pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes, unfortunately, I do.”
“Who?”
“Aileen Graves.”
That shot Judith and Harvey’s theory out of the water … at least I thought it did. “Do you have any idea who might have done it?”
Betty’s face changed. “Could have been anyone. I don’t think there’s anyone here who’ll miss her if she doesn’t make it.” She glanced down at her feet before raising her gaze back to mine. “I felt sorry for her since no one would talk to her during dinner, so I invited her to my cabin.” Betty shrugged. “But she didn’t stay long. Next thing I know, someone’s trying to kill her.”
“It’s so sad.” I paused. “And scary.”
“Why do you think it’s scary?”
“You don’t think it’s scary that someone was almost murdered on this ship that you’re stuck on for a week?”
“Not really. I’ve been here long enough to know this isn’t all that common … and it has nothing to do with me, although it is a terrible inconvenience.”
“Yes, inconvenience. When something this big happens onboard, all the ship crewmembers turn their attention toward that instead of trying to make it an enjoyable experience for the rest of us.”
“But what about those people who died from the germs a few months ago? Do you think—?”
“You worry too much, Autumn. This is your vacation. You’re supposed to be relaxing.”
I looked directly at Betty who held my gaze for a couple of seconds before looking away again. She was acting strange, one minute telling me to stay in my cabin so I’d stay safe to telling me I worried too much.
“So what do you think will happen now?” I asked.
“Who knows? I’ve seen people die and get sick on the ship before, but this is the first known attempted murder case I’ve been involved with.”
Involved with? What a strange thing for her to have said. I wanted to ask her about it, but her behavior made me think I wouldn’t get a straight answer.
Betty moved toward the door. “Stay in your cabin for a couple of hours, Autumn, and then it’ll probably be safe to go out.”
“Maybe after I get something to eat. I’m hungry.”
“Then have something delivered.” Without another word, she walked out and pulled the door closed behind her.
All kinds of alarm bells went off in my head. She’d used some interesting phrases, almost making it seem as though she knew more than she was letting on. But what could she know? She was a little old lady who had nothing better to do with her life than live on a ship and interfere in the lives of other guests.
I wanted to smack myself for being so hard on Betty. I’d never been a mean girl, and I certainly didn’t want to start now. After all, most people had reasons for being the way they were, and something might have happened to her to cause her to be the way she was. I needed to have nicer thoughts about someone who was at least making an effort to be my friend and maybe even protect me … although her attempts were awkward at best.