by Ann Mullen
Billy, I thought to myself. I sure wish you would come to our rescue before we all freak out.
Savannah’s breathing grew faster and deeper as she tried to deal with the situation as best as she could in the dark elevator.
I stopped thinking about Billy, and quickly tried to figure out what I could say or do to help her through this. And then I said what Billy would have. “Everything’s going to be fine.” I held onto the handrail with one hand, and reached over and touched her shoulder. I could barely see her. “It’s just a glitch in the computer system. It’ll be back up soon. Trust me.” I looked over at Bella and asked her, “Are you all right?”
“I’m hanging in there, literally.”
Suddenly, the lights came back on just as unexpectedly as they had gone out, and the elevator started moving. When the elevator stopped and the door opened, the three of us couldn’t get out of there fast enough. We held hands like scared little girls as we walked at breakneck speed.
“I wasn’t scared,” Bella said.
“Me, neither.”
“Not me, either,” Savannah bragged along with us.
We could now laugh at what had just happened.
“Billy would call us silly `ge yas,” I joked. “He’d get a good chuckle out of this one.”
Reality set in as we entered the dining room. It seemed as if everything and everyone was dancing to the same song. The ship rocked, and then rose up and down as the passengers moved with it, balancing their plates as they walked.
According to everything I’ve been told about cruise ships, they didn’t usually sway like this. They were supposed to be smooth and easygoing. But then, there are the times when they hit rough seas. Those are the times when it really gets scary. Yet, those times are very seldom mentioned, and if they are, it’s in a fleeting moment of conversation not taken seriously. Nobody tells you about the rocking, swaying and bouncing. I felt as if I should strap a bungee cord around my waist and hook it onto the nearest pole. I realized that my mind might’ve been exaggerating the ship’s movement, but that didn’t change the fact that I was about to do something nasty. I could feel it coming on. Sea-sickness was setting in. My stomach felt queasy, and I knew that if I didn’t sit down pretty soon, the scene was going to get ugly. There was nothing more embarrassing than puking in public.
“Are you all right?” Bella asked as we made it through the crowd to the salad buffet table. “You look pale. That elevator mishap must’ve scared you more than you let on.”
“In fact, I’m feeling a little bit nauseated. Maybe I should sit down.” I looked around, but didn’t see a vacant table anywhere.
Bella waved to one of the crew members who immediately stopped what he was doing and swiftly walked over. “Would you please show my friend, Jesse, to my table, and bring her a cup of hot tea?” she asked him with a smile. “The choppy seas are getting to her.”
Jeremy, as his nametag read, took me by the arm and led me over to a table by the window, and then said, “When it’s a little shaky like it is now, most passengers seem to feel better faster if they can sit by a window. They need to see the ocean. It’s like riding in a car. If you can’t see where you’re going, the motion of moving can make you sick. So, if you look at the ocean, perhaps you’ll feel better. A cup of hot tea should help.” He motioned to another crew member and as quick as lightning, I was seated with a cup of tea in front of me.
“Thank you so much, Jeremy,” I said, sipping the hot liquid. “I feel better already.” I didn’t really feel better, but he had been so nice to me, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I thought the only thing that would make me feel better right now was to get off this ship. I smiled and said, “I think I just needed to sit down.”
“If there’s anything I can do, Mrs. Blackhawk, please let me know.”
“You know me?” I asked.
He smiled and said, “It’s my job to know everyone on the ship, and to see to their needs whenever possible. It goes without saying that all the crew members know Mrs. Constance and her inner circle.”
“I’m impressed that the crew takes their jobs to heart. It makes for a much nicer and personal cruise. Again, thank you. I would’ve hated to embarrass my friends by… well… you know.”
“Don’t worry. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I imagine not,” I said as he smiled and walked away.
A few minutes later, Bella and Savannah walked over to the table and sat down. They had fixed a plate of salad for themselves, and one for me.
“Just in case your stomach feels better,” Bella said. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I took a gander and threw together this salad. If you can’t eat it, don’t fret.”
“I am feeling a little better,” I replied. “I think this hot tea is helping. Jeremy said that it would also help if I could look out the window and watch the sea. At first, I thought he was bonkers, but there might be something to his remedy.”
Bella and Savannah smiled, and then Bella said, “Herbal tea, my dear. It’s supposed to relax you… do away with the tension. It works wonders for seasickness. I drink it frequently. It helps my stomach relax. You can’t live with a man like Loukas and not have some kind of stomach disorder.”
“Why, Bella,” I said, teasing. “I thought you and Loukas had a great relationship. What’s the deal?”
“We do, but after almost fifty years, the things that never bothered you before, start to bother you. Sometimes, I just want to pull out my hair… and his.” She started laughing.
Savannah and I couldn’t restrain ourselves. We started laughing, and between the two of us and Bella, we turned into uncontrollable laughing puppets. It was embarrassing… yet, oh so funny. Passengers were starting to stare, but that just made us laugh more.
“We have… to stop… or I’m… going to… pee myself,” Bella finally managed to say.
That made us laugh even harder. Our laughter must have been catching, because some of the passengers joined in. The laughing fits we all had suffered through finally wore themselves out, and everything was getting back to the normal. Lot of talking. Lots of buzz.
“I think I’d like something a little bit heavier,” I said as I pushed my salad plate aside, and stood up. “I want red meat!” I could tell my voice was getting louder, and my enthusiasm more intense, but that was okay, because I wasn’t seasick anymore. As a matter-of-fact, I felt fine.
Until…
I saw Maggie heading our way. She was not the same woman I had met a day earlier. She had a crazy, drugged-out look on her face, a plate in one hand, and a raised fork in the other. She was out of control. She screamed obscenities as she pushed people out of her way to get to us. She was moving so fast that she couldn’t stop in time to avoid bumping into our table. Everything on the table rattled, glasses tumbled over, and what was left of my cup of tea landed in my chair.
“What’s the matter, Maggie?” I asked in a condescending tone, hoping she’d get a grip on herself.
She dropped the plate on the table, and then took the fork and used the tines to pick at what appeared to be the beginnings of a sizable cold sore on her lip. She poked at it again, and this time drew blood.
“Stop it!” I commanded. “Don’t do that! What’s the matter with you? Are you on some kind of medication?”
“It’s him!” she yelled. “He’s the one! He’s got my daughter!”
All of us turned and looked to where she was pointing.
“Peter!” Maggie screamed above the noise of the crowd. “Where’s my daughter?”
A guy dressed in brown cargo shorts and a flowered Hawaiian shirt turned to look at us. That was probably the first time he had been caught off-guard—his first mistake. He turned back to the salad bar as anyone would do if whatever was going on didn’t involve them.
But he was too late. We all knew who he was. The telltale turning and looking directly into the eyes of the caller gave him away. He knew the voice; that’s what had gotten his attent
ion. He was busted.
Maggie jabbed at her sore repeatedly, smearing blood across her lip as she did. She raised the bloody fork, turned, and ran toward Peter Dawson. She barreled into him with the force of a linebacker, grabbing his arm, and then snatching him around to face her. She raised her hand higher, and then plunged the fork deep into the left side of his chest.
Peter Dawson fell to the floor—the fork still in his chest.
Instinct kicked in. I grabbed the linen napkin off the table and ran to him. By the time I made those fifteen or so steps, several crew members had already restrained Maggie Anderson. I bent down and pressed the wadded-up napkin to the wound as best as I could considering he had a fork sticking out of his chest. She had stabbed him so hard with the fork that the force of the blow had bent the handle.
“You’re going to be okay,” I said. “Help is on the way.”
I could see Savannah and Bella out of the corner of my eye. They were standing back out of the way with their arms around each other. They were obviously shaken. I know I was. But that was nothing compared to the spine-tingling feeling I got when Peter Dawson raised his head and whispered into my ear, “That so-called glitch in the elevator… was me.”
He smiled an eerie, Satan-like smile, reached over with his right hand, and then pulled out the fork. He didn’t even flinch.
I sucked in my breath and almost choked as I let go of the blood-soaked napkin. I stood up, and backed away in fear—a gnawing fear that was taking over my body. A chill ran up my spine. I’ve been scared before, but not like this. This time it was different… as if I… we… had been stalked. If Teresa had really been a victim of this man, I now knew how she must have felt. The fear was over-whelming.
But as hard as I tried, I didn’t believe she was a victim, and it made me angry—angry that she faked a very real situation—as if it meant nothing. It takes a mighty callous person to pull off something like that. I grabbed a napkin from the closet table and wiped the blood from my hands. I felt dirty and in need of a shower.
Peter Dawson showed no emotion as the response team prepared him for transport. He would be taken to the Med Center for treatment, and then released back out into the wild where he could hunt us down like a lion stalking his prey. Once a stalker…
Something had to be done.
Captain O’Riley walked over to us and said, “I just arrived. Are you ladies all right?”
Before Bella or Savannah had a chance to speak, I stepped in and said, “Captain, I want you to get a couple of those big guys over there, whom I can only assume are your bouncers in crew uniform, and have them escort Bella and Savannah to their rooms.” I looked at the two ladies and said, “Just trust me on this one.”
They nodded in agreement. They were probably too scared to make any rational decisions on their own, so they went along with my demand without complaining.
I looked at the captain and continued, “You and I need to go to my stateroom and have a talk with my husband. Right now. I’m sure you have someone who can control this situation here.”
Captain O’Riley agreed, and then motioned to the men I had pointed out. They were given strict orders about their roles in protecting Mrs. Constance and Savannah Kelley, and seeing to it that they safely returned to their rooms.
“Post one of them at each of their doors,” I commanded. “For at least one hour.”
“You have your orders,” the captain said to the men. “Make sure nothing happens to these ladies.”
Savannah seemed to be coming unhinged. She shuddered as she began to rant. “I can’t believe this! We haven’t been at sea two whole days yet, and we’ve already had one person die, Nell almost died, and another person was injured by a drunken woman.” She looked at Bella and said, “Sorry, Bella.” She looked back at the captain. “And now this. A crazed passenger stabs another one with a fork… at the buffet table… no less. What next? A shooting? We all know everyone on this gun-free ship has a gun.” Her voice was getting louder by the second, and tears spilled onto her cheeks. “I have one!” She turned and asked a passenger, “How about you? Are you armed as well?” She looked back at the captain and asked, demanding to know, “And when are we going to dock? There’s a storm out there that’s sure to kill us if some psycho on board doesn’t get to us first!”
“That’s enough,” I said to Savannah as I stepped in closer to her, gently taking her by the arm, and pulling her to me. “Get it together!” I whispered. “I know you’re scared. We all are.” I looked at Bella for support, and she shook her head in agreement.
“You’re Savannah Kelley, for Pete’s sake! These people are your fans, and they expect more out of you. They look up to you. You’re a celebrity. Now, pull yourself together and act like one.”
Savannah took a deep breath, and looked around slowly. She wiped her tears away and smiled that lovely smile of hers, saying to anyone who was listening, “I get scared sometimes. Even when I’m working on a book, I can get freaked out by some of the things that come out of my head.”
That statement pleased the crowd. The minute onlookers heard that she was terrified by the unfortunate events recently, they went wild. The response team had just taken out a man who had been stabbed by an uncontrollable madwoman, yet here they were applauding their idol… which only goes to reinforce my opinion of Savannah. She has the charm and know-how to appease anyone. And she can pull it together quicker than a speeding bullet. That takes star quality. I was proud to call her my friend.
Once Peter Dawson had been removed from the dining room, and Maggie Anderson had been led out by two of the captain’s men, a sigh of relief passed everyone’s lips.
“They’ll take Mrs. Anderson to a holding room until we can figure out what to do,” Captain O’Riley said as we walked through the crowd to the exit. “As for Mr. Dawson, yes, we found out that he lied when he registered as Perry Dickerson. His injury will be attended to.”
“Maggie needs medical attention, not detention.”
“I’ll get the doctor to check her out.”
We walked the wide hallway until we reached the elevator and then stopped. Captain O’Riley turned to us and said, “After your last experience in this elevator, I know you all must be a little anxious about riding in it again, but you need not worry. We had a computer glitch. It’s the first time it’s ever happened, but my men have corrected the problem. It won’t happen again.”
“So, you know about that?” Bella asked. “I knew you were on top of everything. I figured the sudden stop would register on your computer. I hoped it would. I didn’t say anything to my friends, but I had planned on reporting it to you after we had a chance to sit down and compose ourselves. Now, I guess I won’t have to. You already know.”
What I knew, and the captain didn’t, was that Peter Dawson had caused the elevator to stop. I would tell him as soon as we had an opportunity to speak privately. I didn’t want to upset Bella and Savannah further. Peter Dawson wasn’t going anywhere for a while, and my two friends could use a chance to settle down before I sprang this on them.
“I think I’d rather use the outer walkway,” Savannah said. “Another incident such as that, and I’ll have a nervous breakdown.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Kelley, but we don’t have a choice,” Captain O’Riley said. “The storm is catching up with us, and I’ve had to issue another warning to the passengers. No one will be allowed on any of the outer walkways until we have cleared the storm. It’s not safe out there. My crew is putting my plan into action as we speak.”
“We can take the stairs, can’t we?” I asked.
“I’m not scared!” Bella said. She reached over, pressed the button, and then grabbed Savannah’s hand. “Come on, girl. We can do this.”
The door opened, and the two of them stepped in.
“Come on!” Bella commanded. “I don’t want to be in here any longer than I have to either.”
Captain O’Riley, the two bodyguard/bouncers, and I immediately followed h
er order, and stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button for deck six, the door closed, and the elevator started moving. Within a few seconds, the elevator stopped, and the door opened again. We exited as if our coattails were on fire. I’m sure it would’ve been funny for anyone watching, to see six people scamper out of an elevator as if they had seen a monstrous-size cockroach, but funny it was not.
Chapter 12
We parted ways, each going to our separate rooms. Captain O’Riley stood watch until Bella and Savannah were safely inside with a guard posted at each of their doors, and then followed me.
As soon as I scanned the keycard and entered the room, I saw an empty bed. I called out Billy’s name.
Billy walked out of the bathroom with shaving cream on his face, and a towel wrapped around the bottom half of his body. The first thing I thought of was how sexy he looked. Even after all the melodrama around me, I still had the urge to admire my man. Hmm…
“Please excuse my appearance,” Billy said to the captain as he walked over, kissed me on the cheek, and then shook the captain’s hand. He looked back at me and asked, “Have you been a naughty girl today? I see that the captain had to bring you home.”
“Funny… ha… ha.”
“Please excuse me for a minute,” Billy said as he walked back to the bathroom to finish getting dressed.
“You go ahead and put on some clothes. Perhaps the captain and I will discuss the stabbing at the buffet table.”
Two minutes later, while the captain and I stood waiting, Billy came back out of the bathroom barefoot, wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a towel hanging from his neck. His damp, long, black hair glistened against his olive skin. His brown eyes sparkled in the light. He looked so sexy! My mind was not on my fears anymore as I winked at him in an effort to be seductive. He didn’t even pick up on it. Instead, he winked back, reached down, picked up the shirt off the bed, and then slipped into it.