by Dawn Brookes
“You must be looking forward to seeing them again,” Rachel said.
He wiped a tear from his eye. “More than words can say.”
Sarah took his hand and gave it a squeeze, while Rachel again noted a glare that would strike down dead coming from Lauren, only this time aimed at Sarah.
“Anyway, ladies, I’m on call from 6am tomorrow, so I’m going to call it a night.”
Bernard got up to leave.
“I’ll walk with you, I’m tired too,” said Lauren.
Bernard glanced at Sarah, pleading for help, but got a shrug of the shoulders in return. “Goodnight, you two. See you tomorrow,” she said.
Rachel watched them walk away and Sarah let out a deep sigh.
“He’d better be careful,” said Rachel. “She looks smitten.”
“She’s misunderstood his friendly demeanour to mean he’s interested, but I’m sure when push comes to shove, he’ll put her straight. You’d think she’d take the hint when he spoke about his wife and kids, wouldn’t you?” Her tone turned grave. “Shall we go up to your suite to talk – it seems to be getting louder in here?”
“That’s just what I was thinking.” Rachel finished her drink, and they headed back up to deck fifteen. As Rachel was swiping the door with her card key, Mario came out of Asimov’s suite, looking frazzled.
“Good evening, Miss Rachel, good evening, Nurse Sarah. Can I get you anything?”
“No thanks,” replied Rachel. “We’re good – I take it you’ve been busy this evening?”
“It has been hectic for the past hour. Mr Asimov has several guests and they conduct some business in there. Every five minutes my buzzer goes off and they order something else. First it was vodka, then it was food, and just now, more vodka. I’m hoping they are happy now – but one man is not happy. They are arguing. By the way, Miss Rachel, the tour guide you asked about, Thomas, is staying two doors down from Mr Asimov in balcony stateroom number 1508.”
“Thank you, Mario. You can forget about us for the evening, but can I request a pot of coffee around 7am please?” She looked at Sarah. “I want to hit the gym early before the other passengers get moving.” Sarah nodded understanding.
“No problem, miss – goodnight to you both.”
Rachel and Sarah entered Rachel’s suite and switched on the lights.
“I forgot how nice these suites are,” remarked Sarah.
The room was delightful, Rachel had to agree. “I am lucky, aren’t I? All courtesy of Queen Cruises. You should have got a free cruise too for being traumatised last year. You know, I’ve not seen your room. Is it the same as the one you left?”
“Yes it is, and I’m lucky that officers have their own rooms. And I’m in a balcony suite, although it has a restricted view. I have to ask you – what did you make of Lauren?”
“Well I can’t say she’s the friendliest person I’ve ever met. She seems a bit strange, but maybe she’s shy.”
“Agreed – I keep trying to be friendly, but she rebuffs any attempt. The only person she appears to like is Bernard, but her behaviour towards him is just weird. Maybe she’ll relax when she settles in. Thankfully Gwen’s a lot happier, so I suppose I’ll survive either way, and hopefully we’ll get Brigitte back at the end of the cruise.”
“Do you know how her father is?”
“No, not yet. I’m sure she’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
“Okay – I can’t wait any longer. Waverley said you had something to tell me.” Rachel cracked open the bottle of champagne that had been waiting since yesterday. Mario had refilled the ice bucket and left out two champagne flutes, which she now filled before taking a seat next to Sarah. “Cheers. Now spill the beans.”
“Cheers – I’m still digesting it myself. After I spoke with you earlier, I told Graham and Waverley about your concerns over Jefgeny in the corridor, and Waverley informed the captain. The ship stop was to do a quick search of the surrounding sea, despite the impossibility of being able to find him at that late stage if he has gone overboard.”
“Yes, Waverley told me about that, and that the man is still missing.”
“Well what he didn’t tell you was that the captain requested Graham take another look at the body of Erik Marinov, the man who died.”
Rachel’s ears pricked up as Sarah explained the events of the afternoon and about the suspicious needle mark hidden in the centre of a birthmark.
“If we hadn’t taken a second look, we would never have noticed it. Alex took it badly at first, but Graham has reassured him on that score. But it appears Erik’s death is suspicious. No-one can be certain because sometimes crew members get hold of drugs and inject themselves, but that would be into the brachial vein, not in the upper arm. We also checked he was right-handed. The needle mark, if it is that, was in the right upper arm, meaning it had been injected by his left hand if he’d done it himself.”
“The prime suspect will be his roommate then. Do they suspect Jefgeny did it?”
“They’ve not ruled anything out, but yes, and it might be why he’s hiding – if he’s hiding.”
“That seems the most likely scenario, but there’s still an anomaly going on within the Russian group. I’m sure that Jefgeny was frightened of someone in that group. Thomas told me he tried to speak to Boris, the diplomat, but was pushed away by his minders.”
“That’s odd because engineering staff have no contact with passengers and it would be inappropriate to approach them in such a way – unless he heard them speaking Russian and just forgot himself.”
“Mm, that thought has crossed my mind too, and that’s what Thomas seemed to make of it. There was another man in the group who spoke to Jefgeny, too. If it weren’t for Jefgeny’s disappearance, and now the suspicious death, I would agree with Thomas, but it all seems too much of a coincidence. You know how I hate loose ends. I take it Waverley is doing background checks?”
“You’d better believe it – he doesn’t want a repeat of last year, and he’s not happy with the possibility of having another murderer on board. He’d be delighted if it were Jefgeny so he could close the case. All suspicion points to Jefgeny, or another crew member who knew Erik. Waverley’s ordered a search of rooms on deck C to check for drugs and needles of any kind – the crew won’t be happy, but Waverley’s telling them it’s a spot-check, which happens occasionally. The suspicious death part is being kept quiet – even Lauren hasn’t been told.”
“What about the Russian party?”
“Waverley’s certain they’re not involved, but after last year, he trusts your instincts. On the one hand, he’s saying you should stay out of it; on the other, I think he’d like you to do some informal snooping. He won’t ask you, though, because he would be in trouble with the captain then, and he doesn’t want to put you in any danger.”
“I’ve already started my sleuthing. I’ll join the Russians for some of their planned activities tomorrow and see if I can find out anything else.”
“What are you looking for?”
“To be honest, I have no idea, but I’m hoping to recognise it when I see it. The mysterious encounter this morning might have been innocent – all I’ve got is a tenuous link to the Russian party.”
“Please be careful, Rachel.”
“I will.” She raised a glass to her friend. “Cheers! Here’s to us and to cruise number two, whatever it may bring.”
Chapter 13
“What the hell were you thinking of, trying to speak to that man this morning?” Vladimir Asimov shouted, beside himself with rage. He was not a patient man at the best of times, but Boris Stanislav was pushing him to the limit.
“How did you find out about that?” Boris shouted back, glaring at the minders.
“I’m informed of everything, you should understand that by now.”
“The man tried to speak to me – I guess he was Russian. What would you have me do – appear rude? If anything brought attention to an innocent encounter, it was your minders throwing their
weight around. I thought they would hit him – they scared him half to death.”
Vladimir stomached people like Boris frequently: social climbers who crawled their way to the top of the pile, wanting to be seen with all the right people. But he didn’t trust Boris one little bit, and for that reason, he’d assigned his own personal bodyguards to keep tabs on him.
“And I suppose you didn’t know the man?” Vladimir noticed beads of sweat appearing on Boris’s forehead and decided to let the matter go. He needed the diplomat’s co-operation – especially his ability to carry items on board in his diplomatic bags. “Let’s forget about it, shall we? But please try to be a little more circumspect in the future. I have a lot at stake, and neither of us can afford for anything to go wrong. We have to remember that someone must pay your boys’ school fees, and you wouldn’t want your wife to find out about your little indiscretions, would you?”
“I am not trying to harm the mission; it was an innocent misunderstanding. I promise to be more careful.”
Vladimir dismissed the minders for the night. “Come, Boris, let us drink vodka and forget about this little incident.”
Vladimir left the bedroom where he and Boris had held this private conversation and returned to the sitting room where the others were enjoying drinks. He caught Lucretia’s eye and smiled, reassuring her all was well.
The party went smoothly and Boris appeared to have gotten over his telling off. At least he doesn’t sulk, acknowledged Vladimir, and while I have leverage, he will do as I tell him. The effects of the neat vodka relaxed him as it reached the back of his throat before warming his insides. Tension in his muscles dissipated. Today had been challenging. First Nikolai had pleaded with him to slow the group down because he wanted to chat up some woman – the same woman Asimov had later been forced to dance with when Lucretia developed one of her headaches. Then his minders had informed him a crewman had tried to approach Boris this morning. That must have been the crewman he’d seen passing them in the corridor – he thought he recognised the man, and wished he’d paid more attention to his face. But why did the woman, Rachel, want to know whether he’d seen the crewman?
Tension returning, his head throbbed and his neck tightened as thoughts jumbled around. Usually a calm man, he’d felt jumpy and suspicious since agreeing to do a favour for an old friend who had saved his life when they’d worked for the Russian army many years before.
Lucretia interrupted his chaotic ruminations, and he stared up into her beautiful round green eyes, her red hair now loosely wrapped around her shoulders. At thirty, in the prime of her life, she had the kind of dazzling beauty that took his breath away. Like a diamond.
“Come on, darling. You are being inhospitable. We are on holiday, let’s dance.”
If only you realised what was going on, he mused as he allowed her to pull him up from the sofa. Vladimir hated keeping secrets from her, but she would never allow him to do what he was going to do and would be safer if kept in the dark.
The rest of the party were enjoying themselves and classical music filled the air. He pulled her to him and they smooched before moving on to a waltz. Vladimir was a good dancer, but not as accomplished as Lucretia. He’d met her in St Petersburg when she’d played the part of Floria Tosca in the opera by Puccini and mesmerised him, both with her beauty and her voice. He’d only attended the opera reluctantly at the request of a friend who wanted to discuss a business proposition, and they’d occupied one of the best booths in the house. While his friend droned on about microchips and a new company he wanted to set up, seeking Vladimir’s investment, Vladimir himself couldn’t take his eyes of the woman on stage.
Later, he summoned one of his bodyguards and arranged for someone to deliver fifty red roses to the singer’s room after the show, requesting an introduction. Having just come through a messy and expensive divorce, he wasn’t looking for romance, but recognised from the moment he met this woman that she would hold him in the palm of her hand.
He could smell her perfume as they danced, drawing him into sublime tranquillity. When he held Lucretia in his arms, he forgot about everything except the two of them. He embraced her, comforted by the effect she had on him as it pulsated through his body.
He stopped dancing and looked into her eyes. “I love you.”
The hour was late, and the others realised that their benefactor wished to be alone, so they left him with his woman.
Day 2
Chapter 14
Sarah tossed and turned all night with incessant worry about Rachel, Jefgeny and whether there was a murderer on board the Coral Queen. When she finally fell asleep, the sound of the telephone woke her again. On autopilot, she reached for the handset and flicked the light switch on the headboard, groggily answering, “Hello.”
“Sarah, it’s me.” The crackly, hoarse voice was barely audible.
“Bernard?” She tried to shake herself awake, glancing at the time – 5am. “This had better be life or death. Do you realise what time it is?” she snapped.
“Sarah, it’s really important. Can we meet by the pool?”
“Okay, give me fifteen minutes.” She forced her weary body out of bed and took a quick shower. The nurses were woken at all hours when on call, so after her shower, she was not only awake, but alert and wondering what on earth was so important that Bernard had called her this early in the morning.
The crew pool was not visible from passenger areas, situated below and in front of the Bridge – where the captain and senior officers navigated night and day that overhung the ship on both sides. Here, the crew got well-earned leisure time for themselves, and for many not allowed in passenger areas, it might be the only place they could breathe fresh air while at sea.
It was also where the crew let their hair down at occasional all-night parties. During these, they often called doctors and nurses to treat people who’d injured themselves falling over, or following alcohol-fuelled fighting. Senior officers turned a blind eye to most of the goings on as long as the behaviour didn’t put other crew or passengers in danger. It was like any Saturday night in any big city, she had been warned when she first joined the ship.
At this time of day, all was deathly quiet, and a morning mist created an eerie backdrop to the pool. Sarah had grabbed a bacon sandwich and a flask of coffee from the crew buffet on the way. With no sign of Bernard, she sat on one of the second-hand loungers scattered around the pool. A ‘Not in Use’ sign explained why it was so quiet.
She finished her sandwich and was on her second cup of coffee when Bernard appeared. He looked dishevelled with dark bags under his watery eyes. Sarah had been about to scold him for being late, but seeing he was upset, she mellowed.
“What on earth’s the matter?”
Tears poured down his cheeks. “I had too much to drink. Sarah, I didn’t see it coming.”
Sarah could imagine what he would say next, even though he was struggling to speak.
“Okay, Bernard, just tell me what happened.”
“On the way back to my room last night, I felt strange, unusually drunk. I’d only drunk three whiskeys – maybe I just hadn’t eaten enough. I came over light-headed so Lauren offered to walk me back to my room.”
His eyes filled with tears again.
“Go on.”
“She invited herself in and said she would help me get undressed.” At this point, he started sobbing. “You can guess the rest. I woke up this morning, and she was lying there, next to me. My head is throbbing. Sarah, I have never been unfaithful to my wife. How will I be able to face her or my children again?” Tears fell down his face.
Sarah sympathised, knowing despite his jokes and flirtations, he was a one woman man – until now, that was.
He has resisted offers from crew in the past. How did this strange woman worm her way into his bed, and how will we deal with it?
“Tell me you used something?”
“I don’t think so. I can’t even remember what happened – that’s what�
�s so strange. I can only assume we did it as she was lying there naked.”
Sarah fought the urge to laugh at his innocent use of ‘did it’. “Is she still there?”
“I guess so. I called you, dressed and ran. What am I going to do?” Tear stains marked his face.
“Look, Bernard, let’s be rational – it’s not the first time infidelity has occurred on a cruise ship and it won’t be the last. You had too much to drink, end of story. Tell Lauren at the earliest opportunity it was a mistake and it will never happen again. Then you need to avoid spending any time alone with her for the rest of the cruise. It’s not like she will be with us once Brigitte comes back.”
And let’s hope to God she’s not pregnant! she thought.
Bernard stopped crying and Sarah gave him a hug. “Anyone who knows you knows how much you love your wife. I can’t believe Lauren took advantage of your drunken state. You will get through this, and when the time is right, you can choose whether to tell your wife.”
He grimaced at that part. “How did this happen? I always stay sober. I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know how it happened, but it did. Now come on – time to get ready for work. Did you say you were on call today?”
“Yes.”
“Well at least you’ll be nowhere near her. I’ll get her to work with me for the day, and from tomorrow, she’s on her own. Are you okay going back? Do you need me to come with you?”
“I’ll do it. I want to tell her as soon as possible,” Bernard mumbled as he turned and headed back towards his deck, head-down, broken.
Sarah’s heart went out to him – he and Brigitte had been her best friends since she’d joined Queen Cruises and she would not let this strange woman ruin his life.