Baked Alaska

by Josi S. Kilpack

  It was Mary Anne, and Sadie felt the blood drain from her face. Mary Anne couldn’t get into her room without her ship-card—which Sadie had—but Glen would have a ship-card for the room too. Had Mary Anne realized hers was missing and borrowed Glen’s? Why wasn’t Mary Anne at the game? Had she suspected Sadie’s deception?

  Sadie crept out of the bathroom and walked to the door in time to hear the end of what the steward, presumably, said, “...without your ship-to-shore card.”

  “But you’ve seen me here for the last five days. Surely you can let me in. I’ve talked to you every day.”

  Sadie’s heart rate took off so fast she could barely breathe. She didn’t even need to look around to know there was nowhere in this room to hide. The closet was the obvious choice, but it was full of empty luggage.

  Don’t let her in, Sadie thought to the steward, as though he could hear her. Stick to the rules, Mr. Steward, and make her go to reception for a new ship-card.

  “I can’t find my ship-card, and I don’t have time to get my husband’s key. It’s an emergency. And if you don’t let me in, I’ll sue this company. Believe you me, they don’t need another lawsuit.”

  Panic filled Sadie as she turned to face the tiny room as though another hiding place had become available in the last ten seconds. What she wouldn’t do for a Room of Requirement or an invisibility cloak like they had in the Harry Potter books.

  She stepped back into the bathroom—hoping Mary Anne’s emergency didn’t include the bathroom—and pulled the door closed while formulating a completely elementary plan. The shower had a frosted glass door which might provide her some kind of cover. She reached above the sink and fumbled with the light fixture. She’d expected to have to unscrew the lightbulb but found the fixture to be plugged into an electrical outlet instead. She pulled out the plug, cutting half the light in the room, just as she heard the cabin door open.

  Her mouth was so dry she couldn’t swallow. She quickly stepped inside the shower and reached up to unscrew the recessed lightbulb there. On the third twist, the room was plunged into darkness. She tried sliding part of the shower door closed, but it made a scratching noise she couldn’t afford. She crouched down as low as she could and pressed herself as far into the corner as possible.

  The bathroom door opened. Sadie held her breath and heard the click of the light switch located outside the bathroom. Of course no lights turned on.

  “What the—?” Mary Anne said out loud. She clicked the switch twice more. “For heaven’s sakes,” she said, then louder added, “Steward!”

  Sadie heard a muffled answer.

  “The light in my bathroom is not working.” The switch clicked some more. “This is unacceptable. I don’t have perfect vision, you know. This is a hazard!”

  “I am sorry, ma’am. I will have maintenance see to it immediately.”

  “I need my husband’s medication right now. Don’t you have a flashlight or something?”

  Medication? That was the emergency? That meant Mary Anne would be coming into the bathroom. Please don’t have a flashlight.

  “Yes, one moment.”

  Mary Anne muttered a racial slur, and Sadie visualized herself becoming smaller and smaller in the corner. She was hidden behind two layers of frosted glass and the room was dark except for the light coming in through the doorway. If no one peeked into the shower or shined a light right at her, she might get out of this. She could feel her lungs compressing, the earliest sign of a panic attack coming on, and she clenched her eyes closed harder than ever while forcing herself to breathe as deep as she could and trying to convince herself that she was okay. For now, at least. Her face was hot, and her hands started to shake. She clasped them more tightly together around her knees.

  She opened her eyes in time to see a beam of light cross the bathroom floor. The light looked hazy through the panes of glass, and she hoped it wouldn’t show the shape of her hiding in the shower. They aren’t looking in your direction. They just want the pills. Still, she couldn’t breathe while Mary Anne was rummaging around.

  “Okay, I have what I need,” Mary Anne said. Sadie was still trying not to lose it. “You better make sure that light is fixed before I get back or I’ll be asking for a discount on my room.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the steward said as the bathroom door shut. A few seconds later the cabin door clicked shut as well, but it was nearly a minute before Sadie stopped shaking. She hadn’t been caught. Once the adrenaline faded, she unfolded herself from the corner of the shower and stood carefully, her muscles protesting as she straightened up on shaky legs.

  It wasn’t until she was standing that she realized the bottom of the shower had been wet, and since she’d sat on it, her backside was now wet too. There were worse things, she told herself. Take it in stride.

  She reached above her head and screwed in the lightbulb, then stepped out of the shower and into the bathroom to plug the light fixture back in as well, further illuminating the small space. She looked at the bottles of pills, consulting the pictures she’d taken in order to see what, if anything, was missing. All the prescription bottles were there.

  She checked the shaving kit and confirmed pretty quickly that the needles were missing. She looked back at the shelf of medications. She moved the bottles out of the way and realized that while the tropical fish bottle was still there, the plastic bottle of blue mouthwash was missing.

  What was happening here? Was Mary Anne involved instead of Glen? Or was it both of them?

  Sadie let herself out of the bathroom, feeling another rush of adrenaline that sent her out the cabin door and into the hall where she came face-to-face with the steward before she’d had the chance to consider the possibility he’d still be there. He blinked at her in confusion as the door snapped closed behind her.

  “The bathroom lights are fixed,” she said.

  He looked at her in confusion, but then smiled and shrugged. “I won’t tell,” he said.

  “Thank you,” Sadie said. She stepped around him, but he grabbed her arm. She instinctively pulled out of his grip, leaving him blinking again, his arm extended but holding nothing. “Sorry,” she said. “Um, I’m in a hurry.”

  His extended hand turned into a point. “I was going to say that...uh, your bottom...”

  Sadie put her hands on her bum and felt the wetness from the shower again. Shoot. She didn’t have time to change. Khakis were the wrong pants to wear when hiding in a wet shower.

  “Here,” he said, handing her a staff uniform shirt that he pulled out of the cleaning cart. It was mustard yellow, not her color, but it would save her from embarrassing notice. She took the shirt and smiled. “Thank you so much.” She put her arms through the sleeves, checking to make sure the hem hung low enough to cover her bum.

  Pete was in the casino with Glen and Mary Anne and probably wondering what happened to her. Within a minute, Sadie was in the casino and halfway to the tournament table. Mary Anne stood behind Glen at the far left end of the table. Sadie remembered the limp a split second before Mary Anne looked over her shoulder and gave her a rather tight smile.

  Sadie forced an equally tight smile in return while noticing one of the casino staff looking at her strangely, or rather, looking at the shirt. She worried he would say something and gave him a pleading look he seemed to understand. He smiled at her and went back to cleaning out the ashtrays. Maybe wearing the shirt gave her some kind of inclusion, like a secret handshake or something. She caught a glimpse of the back of Pete’s head and felt as though she could breathe again. Wait, was he sitting down?

  “Madam?”

  She turned and was surprised to see Henry not far away. He beckoned her out of the casino with a nod, but left before seeing if she was following.

  Sadie was torn between following Henry and going to Pete, but knowing Henry wouldn’t have risked coming up here if it weren’t important made the decision for her.

  Chapter 42

  She was only a few steps behind Hen
ry as he left the casino, following him out one of the side doors that led to the outside decks. Sadie immediately felt the cold through her wet pants. She didn’t have a jacket and there were still chunks of ice in the water. Henry stepped into the space between where two lifeboats hung, and Sadie followed.

  “You found something?” Sadie asked. They weren’t really hidden. Anyone walking on deck would see them and probably wonder what they were doing. But they would be harder to spot by someone not directly in front of them.

  Henry nodded and handed Sadie a piece of notebook paper.

  “Three cruises have had men die on board in the last sixteen months,” Henry summarized, pointing at the name of each boat and the date of the deaths. “I couldn’t find if the men spent time in the casino, but I will keep looking. The three names from the list you showed me were on all three cruises.”

  “Did the men die of heart attacks?” Sadie asked. She needed something specific to tie these deaths to Ben’s.

  Henry pointed to the second one that had taken place in May of the previous year. “This one had a full autopsy and was ruled foul play. He was injected with a combination of two elements.” He pointed to a line farther down the paper and Sadie read the words there: digoxin and calcium hydroxide.

  “Digoxin is a heart medication,” Sadie said. Was it one of the prescriptions in Glen and Mary Anne’s bathroom? “I’ve never heard of calcium hydroxide. But you said he was injected with something? You’re sure?”

  Henry nodded, and pulled another paper out of his pocket. “I looked up both elements.”

  Sadie took the paper and scanned through the definition of digoxin, then read through the explanation of calcium hydroxide. “Commonly used to increase the calcium levels in salt-water aquariums. Oh my gosh!” The bottle with the fish on it from Mary Anne’s room!

  “This means something to you?”

  “Yes,” Sadie said. She looked up at Henry as several things that needed to be done ran through her head. She needed to get this information to Officer Jareg, she needed to get Mary Anne and Glen removed from the casino, and she needed to find Pete. But she couldn’t do all those things at the same time.

  “Madam?” Henry said, worried. He must have seen the growing look of concern on her face.

  Her eyes moved from his face to the pocket of his jacket where the top of a pen peeked out. She grabbed the pen, turned over the paper Henry had given her, and wrote a short, quick note to Officer Jareg.

  Rydells are in the casino; needles in her purse! Come ASAP.

  “Henry,” Sadie said. “I know this is a horrible thing to ask you, and I will do everything on your behalf I can to make this right should there be any fallout, but I need you to find Officer Jareg and give him this paper. It’s a matter of life or death.”

  A look of fear crossed Henry’s face. Sadie knew that if Henry handed over the paper to Officer Jareg, it could implicate him in this whole mess; he could lose his job. But to his credit, he nodded. Sadie gave him a quick hug. “I need to get back to the casino. Thank you so much!”

  She ran back to the casino, scanning for Pete as soon as she entered the smoke-filled room. There were buzzers and dings from all the slot machines, and people laughing all around her. It made her dizzy.

  Sadie was almost to the table when she saw Pete. Startled, she came to a stop as her neck flushed with heat. Why was he still at the table? He was supposed to lose quickly.

  She walked a few steps closer and saw that he was neck and neck with Glen. Only four of the original six contestants were still in the game. What was he doing?

  Chapter 43

  Sadie’s heart was in her throat as the fourth man busted and pushed away from the table. Sadie navigated through the crowd in order to stand behind Pete’s chair. Weak applause accompanied the player’s exit—now there were only three.

  Pete, as the final qualifier, sat in the far right seat, while Glen, as the first qualified—after Ben was removed, anyway—sat in the far left position. Sadie didn’t know what to do. Should she interrupt the game? Was anyone other than Pete in immediate danger? She looked around in hopes of seeing Officer Jareg marching toward the table. He wasn’t; in fact there wasn’t a single security officer in view. Shouldn’t one be in the casino at all times? Anywhere that had booze and money mingled together should have some kind of security presence, right?

  The players placed their bets; Pete went conservative. The third player was down to his last five chips and put three in his betting circle. Glen put in a huge stack of chips, almost twenty-five percent of his winnings. Sadie glanced at him, this possible killer, and noticed he was sweating profusely. He sent a sidelong glance toward Pete—an angry, sidelong glance—and Sadie stepped closer to the back of Pete’s chair. She felt protective and wished they could take a time-out so she could tell Pete what she and Henry had found and get his help on figuring out what it meant. And ask why in the world he was still playing!

  “No touching the players,” the announcer said.

  Sadie looked around before realizing the comment was directed toward her.

  “I’m not touching him,” she said.

  “Back up, please,” the woman said.

  Pete looked over his shoulder at her and smiled slightly, clearly asking her to back up. Why was he still at the table? It was not difficult to lose everything at the blackjack table; people did it every day. And that was when their lives weren’t on the line.

  Sadie backed up, however, and tried to breathe normally.

  “He’s sure doing well.”

  Sadie jumped. When had Mary Anne come up beside her? “Yeah,” she said as calmly as possible while taking a casual step farther away from Mary Anne. The blue solution in the bottle must have been the medication and calcium stuff dissolved into some kind of injectable solution. Henry had said only one of the three victims from other cruises had had a full autopsy—perhaps the other two were older? Maybe they had a medical history of some kind?

  When Sadie spoke again she raised her voice to make sure Pete could hear her. “But you know how luck is—it can run out at any time.”

  The dealer won that round, and everyone lost their money, including Glen, who looked pale as the dealer slid his chips away from him. The players placed their next round of bets, and again, Pete went conservative. The next guy put one of his two chips in the circle, then added the last chip with an “oh well” shrug. Sadie watched Glen push half of his chips into his betting circle.

  “A fool and his money,” Mary Anne said under her breath. “I guess I better go cheer him on. This is going to kill him.”

  She moved away and Sadie breathed easier, but she still wanted to wrap her arms around Pete and drag him out of this place. The curve of the table gave Sadie a good view of Glen and Mary Anne at the other end. Glen looked terrible; the game was really getting to him. He coughed into the back of his hand, and Sadie hoped that his physical reaction to losing would buy Pete some time. Mary Anne had told the steward her husband needed his medication, maybe she meant it. Could Mary Anne have retrieved any of the medication from the bathroom without taking the entire bottle? But why take the syringes and the blue stuff?

  The next round was in motion. Pete had a three and a jack. Rough start. He vacillated for a minute, then tapped the table for a new card. He got another jack and busted. Both Glen and Mary Anne watched Pete’s chips be taken back by the dealer with intense looks on their faces. Glen wiped his hairy forearm across his forehead. If not for Sadie’s suspicions that one—or both—of the Rydells was a serial killer, she’d be worried about Glen’s gambling addiction, which was taking a severe toll. Obviously he needed help. Maybe they had programs for that in prison.

  The player in between Glen and Pete stayed at eighteen. Glen had fourteen showing. He tapped for a new card, got an eight, and went even paler as the dealer took his chips. Pete now had nearly double the winnings Glen had. The announcer signaled five more minutes before they would call the game. Glen picked up his dr
ink and took a long swig. Pete absently restacked his chips, and when the table was open for bets, he put the whole stack in the betting circle.

  The crowd gasped in unison. Mary Anne and Glen stared at the tower of chips in Pete’s circle, and Mary Anne leaned down to say something in her husband’s ear as the player between Pete and Glen put in a few chips as his bet.

  “No touching the players, ma’am,” the announcer called out. Mary Anne continued to speak.

  “Ma’am, he will be disqualified.”

  Mary Anne lifted her hands in the air dramatically and stepped away. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding the least bit apologetic. “Just wishing him luck.”

  The pit boss nodded, and Mary Anne lowered her arms to her side.

  Glen took another drink, wiped his forehead, and coughed again before pushing all his chips into the betting area. The crowd gasped again. Two players were putting everything in? They could both lose it all. Then what?

  Sadie could see the sweat rings under Glen’s arms. Was he okay?

  The dealer dealt the cards. Pete ended up with two sevens, the second player had eighteen again, while Glen had a five of hearts and a six of clubs—he was set for a twenty-one. The dealer had a ten of spades showing, but when he checked his cards, he didn’t flip them over, which meant he didn’t have an ace under there. The tension of the crowd was getting thicker by the minute. Pete held at the two sevens, eliciting another gasp from the crowd. He was holding at fourteen?

  Sadie looked around for Officer Jareg again. Where was he? What could be more important for him to be doing right now than stopping the Rydells from striking again? She couldn’t keep her eyes off the game for long. The temperature of the room seemed to be rising in conjunction with the tension in the air.

  The middle player held. Glen asked for a hit, and everyone watched eagerly. He got a two of clubs. He asked for another hit—the king of spades. The entire room moaned in commiseration for his loss. Glen froze and watched with wide eyes as the dealer pulled the entire stack of chips away from his betting circle, mumbling an apology.