He was careful to stay back from the door. He didn’t want them to see his silhouette. If he was careful, and very lucky, he might get out of the office unnoticed. Finally, the two people disappeared, and RJ exhaled air he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. He walked to the door, inching it open. Nobody was there.
The hallway was empty and quiet, and now that he felt safe, he told himself he didn’t regret coming down to look at Pam, to say goodbye to her. It was the least he could do. He looked down at his shirt and silently cursed. No nametag, and no time to go get one.
***
Jack awoke Saturday morning before his alarm clock went off at seven. He’d hardly slept. How could he? He’d only taken over for Curt a week ago, and someone got murdered. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but still felt somehow negligent. He’d wait another hour before finding the potential witness. Until then, he’d go back and look at the footage. Something was nagging at him, but he didn’t know what it was.
He showered and left. On his way he met Mr. Smalls. They talked as they walked.
“Well, Jack, this is a fine mess,” said Mr. Smalls. “Another fabulous cruise ruined. I’ve spoken to the captain; he’s turned the ship around. You’ll have about a week to sort this out. Once we reach Tampa, the police department there will take over the investigation.”
“A week’s a long time, Mr. Smalls. I’m going to find out who killed Pam Larsen before then. If I don’t, we might never know who did it. ”
Mr. Smalls pulled a small packet of antacid from his shirt pocket, popping two into his mouth. He talked while chewing.
“I hope so, Jack. So far the passengers don’t know what’s happened, but that will change quickly. Bad news has a way of getting around and an announcement of some kind will have to be made soon. It won’t take long for someone to figure out we’re heading in the wrong direction.”
When they arrived at the security office, Mr. Smalls kept walking and Jack went inside. Bobby and Jojo were starting their shift. Jack wondered at their ability to work all the different shifts with so little difficulty. But he’d observed that those two were less like grown men and more like overgrown teenagers. They seemed to have endless energy, and they’d said they liked the variety.
“Hi, boss,” said Bobby. Jack grabbed a chair and pulled it close to the monitors.
“You two must never sleep. Didn’t you work last night until eleven?”
“Yep,” they both answered. “Then,” said Bobby, “Jojo was here at what? 6:30?”
Jojo gave Bobby a cranky look.
“Yeah, 6:30. Couldn’t sleep last night, plus I had some work to do here.”
Must be nice to be so young, thought Jack.
“Pull up last night’s footage,” he said.
“From when, where?” asked Jojo.
“The footage with the murdered woman.”
“Okay, boss.”
Jack watched the monitor attentively, and he shook his head, annoyed. What the hell was he missing? Something was there, he knew it. Pam Larsen was standing near the railing, the other woman came out and stood close by. Pam was suddenly shoved against the ship and stabbed.
“Isn’t there any better footage?” asked Jack. “This angle is awkward. I’d like to get a better look at the woman who stabbed Pam.”
“No, this is all there is,” said Jojo.
***
Like Jack, Frank hadn’t slept long or well. His shift had ended at six a.m. He’d managed to sleep four hours and then was wide awake. He dressed, grabbed some coffee, and called Marni Michaels’s room.
“Ms. Michaels,” he said, “I was hoping we could meet. I have a few questions.”
Marni was already in the café at which they’d agreed to meet when Frank arrived. It was nearly eleven and she was standing near the lunch buffet. He admired her discreetly. She had an athletic body with muscular arms and legs, and with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, a severe look about her. She was wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
Frank walked to the table where she’d sat and took the seat opposite her. He noticed her eyes were red, but otherwise she looked well rested. She didn’t seem very distraught that her friend’s dead body had been found only hours earlier. He took out a small notebook and pencil.
“Good morning, Ms. Michaels. I’m sorry to have to bother you like this.”
“Let’s get this over with.” she answered, avoiding Frank’s eyes. Frank was surprised at her attitude.
“So, you and Ms. Larsen came on the cruise together?”
“Yes, but we didn’t spend a lot of time together. Pam liked to do her own thing.”
“You were good friends, close I assume?”
“I wouldn’t say that. She and I were coworkers, in a law firm.” Her voice seemed to fill with emotion. She looked away, then continued.
“We came on the cruise together because we were able to get a discount if we reserved adjoining rooms. We were friendly, but not really friends, if you know what I mean.” Frank nodded. He watched as she rubbed one hand with the other, an unconscious way of providing self-comfort.
“How long did you and Ms. Larsen work together?”
“About six months.”
“And when did you last see Ms. Larsen?”
“Last night, early. We talked about going to the costume party together, but then didn’t.”
“Did she go?”
Marni didn’t answer right away. She took a sip from her coffee cup.
“No.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what she did.”
“Did you go?” Marni seemed surprised by the question.
“No.”
“Well, what did you do last night?” Frank reminded himself that this woman’s friend had recently been murdered, and that she might be having a hard time talking about her friend.
“I went to the Captain’s dinner instead.”
“If she didn’t want to go to the party, and you went to the Captain’s dinner alone, do you know what she was going to do?” Frank watched Marni closely. She still hadn’t looked directly at him. He didn’t fancy himself a great expert, but he knew a thing or two about body language. And she seemed more nervous than grief stricken.
“I told you, I don’t know what she did. She was probably getting together with a man she’d met. They’d been hot and heavy since the first day of the cruise.”
“Did you ever meet this man she was seeing?” asked Frank.
“No. Are we almost done?” she asked. “I’m going to an exercise class. This has been very stressful for me.”
Frank closed his notebook and stood. “Well, that should do for now, Ms. Michaels.” She all but jumped up.
“Thank you for your time,” he said. “Once again, I want to offer my condolences for your loss.”
“Huh? Oh, right.”
Frank watched her rush from the room.
A few minutes later Frank walked into the security office. Jack was standing.
“What are you doing here?” asked Jack. “I thought you’d still be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” answered Frank. “Just had coffee with Ms. Michaels.”
“Oh yeah?” said Jack. “She have anything to say that could be of any help?”
“Apparently Pam Larsen had been spending a lot of time with one man in particular, but Ms. Michaels never met him.”
“You have a look on your face. What is it?” asked Jack. Frank shrugged.
“Something off about that woman. I know we talked about how different people react in different ways, but man, she acts like she didn’t even know Pam Larsen. When we parted, she was on her way to an exercise class.”
“I’ll be talking to her again later, get my own take on her. For now, I’m in search of a little old lady named Nene.”
Jack had spent the next two hours looking through passport photos until he found who he thought might be the woman from the previous night. He took a copy of Nene Albright’s passport photo and went up to the lido deck, where
eventually everyone ended up. He found Ms. Albright sitting on a lounge chair near the pool. A large towel covered her lower legs and feet. By her side sat two cups of cocoa, two chocolate doughnuts, and a piece of chocolate cake. She was using a napkin to wipe down her fork. When Jack drew near, she looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun.
“Jack, right?” she asked. “You met my sister and I yesterday as we were boarding.”
“Yes ma’am,” he answered, smiling. “I remember. And you’re Nene Albright, correct?”
“In the flesh,” answered Nene. She smiled then said, “All of it.”
Jack nodded toward the cake and cocoa. “Will your sister be back soon? I was hoping to talk to you about what happened last night.”
Nene reached over and picked up a cup of cocoa, and took a sip. “No, she’s getting a massage,” she said. “This is all mine.” She laughed softly then said, “I’m on vacation. I’m fully prepared to go home at least five pounds heavier than when I left and I can live with that.”
Jack sat on the lounge chair next to Nene.
“Ms. Albright—.“
“Call me Nene.”
“Ma’am, can you tell me exactly what you saw last night?”
Nene didn’t answer right away. She stared off into the distance, as if lost in thought. Jack waited patiently, some things shouldn’t be hurried.
“I’d just left the casino. There was nobody around, so when I saw movement out the corner of my eye, I turned. There were two women outside, one looked drunk. The other woman seemed to be holding her up.”
“What did they look like?” asked Jack.
“One had either blond or light brown hair. The woman who appeared drunk was a red head. You know my eyes aren’t what they used to be, and it had rained so the windows had raindrops on them. It was windy. I remember because I could see their hair blowing around. One’s hat blew off. Anyway, one minute the blond woman was struggling to hold up the other woman, the next minute she was dropping her. At first I thought she’d dropped her by accident, but then she ran off. So now I’m not so sure. Then, of course, the man from security arrived. He thought she was drunk. I went back inside and watched as medical personnel arrived. So sad. One shook their head no and that’s when I knew something terrible had happened. Everything happened very quickly. That’s all I remember. I mean, that’s all I saw.”
“Would you recognize the woman who ran away?” Nene picked up her cake and slowly took a bite, again seemingly lost in thought.
“No, I don’t think so.” she answered.
Jack stood. “All right. Sometimes details will come back to you, things you didn’t even realize you’d seen. If you remember anything, please come see me. Thank you for your time.”
Jack walked to the railing, looking out at the endless water. He took a step backward. He could admit that the ocean was beautiful, even romantic. But if he looked down at the violent waves too long, it made his stomach sick. He sighed. He was homesick, but not for Tampa. He missed Reno and everything he’d left behind—long walks in the evening, and the cool, but not cold, mountain air. He missed his family, and he missed Amy, but she was the reason he’d moved all the way to Tampa. He’d thought he’d left her behind, but she was still with him.
He forced his thoughts back to the investigation. He was determined to have a suspect in custody before they reached Tampa. This murder had happened on his watch, and he wanted to be the one to solve it. If the ship reached Tampa and he didn’t have someone in custody, he could only imagine the shit he’d get from the guys at the Tampa police department. They’d joke that he couldn’t catch a fish in a fishbowl. No way. Not gonna happen. He started walking. It was his turn to talk to Ms. Marni Michaels.
Jack found Marni as she was leaving an aerobics class. She had a white towel around her neck and was dabbing her forehead. Her hair was in a ponytail, but curly strands of hair had worked themselves loose at her forehead and near her ears, giving her a child-like look.
“Ms. Michaels. I’m Jack Harney. We met last night. Do you have some time to talk?” She started walking, and he followed.
“I spoke to that other security man earlier,” she said over her shoulder. Jack caught up and got in front of her. She stopped.
“I know, but I’d rather hear what you have to say first hand.” he said. With a slightly challenging look in his eyes, and said, “You don’t mind, do you?”
It was clear by her pursed lips that she did mind, but she said, “No, of course not. Anything to help. Could I go clean up first? I could meet you somewhere.”
“Sure,” answered Jack. “There’s a lounge on the sixth floor. Is an hour good for you?”
“Absolutely.”
***
Marni slammed the cabin door and began undressing. She felt sick, almost to the point of throwing up. The cruise had started out so great—music, food, and good-looking guys. A single girl’s dream come true. Now this. She thought about the last time she’d seen Pam. How could it be possible that it had only been the night before? It seemed like much longer than that. Maybe it was the stress. She and Pam hadn’t spent a lot of time together. Pam mostly did her own thing, but that didn’t mean Marni wasn’t completely freaked out that she was dead. Now she had to go talk to that detective. He made her nervous, partly because she was no big fan of cops and partly because he was hot.
She took a shower and dressed, then looked at her bedside clock. It had only been thirty minutes since she’d run into the detective. She could go early to meet him but didn’t want to. She hoped the other detective wasn’t with him. The other one creeped her out. She looked at the outfit she’d worn the night before, on the floor. That was one outfit she would never wear again. She’d forever associate it with death.
***
The place Jack had arranged to meet Marni was perfect for a quiet talk. Most people were eating lunch in one of the many restaurants or sunning themselves on deck. This meant the lounge was deserted and quiet. Jack sat in a cushy chair near a fireplace. He watched as Marni walked in. He waved to get her attention. She’d taken her hair out of the ponytail, and it flowed around her shoulders. She’d changed into a flimsy summer dress that highlighted her slender frame and with the sun behind her, it had become transparent. Jack looked at the notebook in his lap and shifted in his seat. As Marni sat, he could smell her flowery perfume. He reminded himself that she could be a killer.
“Now, Ms. Michaels,” he said without looking up. “You came on the cruise with Ms. Larson. I assume you were friends?”
Marni adjusted her dress around her knees. “More acquaintances than friends,” she said. “We worked at the same office.”
Jack watched as she tore the label off an empty soda bottle and started slowly tearing the pieces. He’d dealt with a lot of grieving people, but it never got any easier. He was tempted to console her, which made him angry at himself.
“I’d like to go over your activities last night. When did you last see Ms. Larsen?”
“Last night, around eight. We were supposed to go to the costume party together, but she had plans.”
“Did you still go?”
“No. I went to the Captain’s dinner instead.”
“So you didn’t see her again after eight?”
“No, and I’m so sorry. We argued, because of the whole costume party thing. I can’t believe my last words to her were angry.”
“Did she say what her plans were?”
“She was meeting a man. They’d met on the first day and he’d been coming on strong. But she was a classy lady. She wasn’t going to just jump into bed with him.”
“Did you go with a man?”
“Excuse me?”
“What I mean is, did you meet the man she was seeing? Would you recognize him?”
“No. She always referred to him as RJ. But I don’t know what those initials stood for.”
She absentmindedly pushed strands of hair off her face, then crossed her legs once, twice. They were toned a
nd tanned. Jack’s eyes traveled from her pink toenails up her leg. Their eyes met; hers were bloodshot. Jack felt bad for her. She smiled and Jack’s mouth went dry.
“I’m starved,” said Marni. “Do you want to eat?”
Jack’s first impulse was to say no. After all, Marni Michaels was a possible suspect. Eating a meal together could be considered highly inappropriate. He knew he should decline, get up, and leave. But something kept him in his seat. He didn’t really think she was responsible for her friend’s death. Plus, he’d skipped breakfast and a man had to eat. He’d planned to eat soon anyway. It’d be silly, he thought, to say no then go eat alone. He knew he was rationalizing and worse, that the uneasy feeling in his stomach had less to do with hunger and more to do with Marni Michaels’s sea blue eyes.
“Sure,” he said.
Chapter Seven
When Frank walked into the lounge, he was surprised to see Jack sharing an appetizer with Marni Michaels. He walked over to their table.
“Hi, boss. Ms. Michaels.”
Marni Michaels barely looked up. Jack met Frank’s eyes, refusing to appear uncomfortable. Jack knew Frank probably disapproved of his having lunch with a potential suspect. He imagined he could see the man’s disapproval on his face as clearly as if he’d said words out loud.
“Hi, Frank. I skipped breakfast and had finished interviewing Ms. Michaels, so it seemed like a good idea to get something to eat, while I was here. Would you like to join us?” Jack hated himself for explaining in such detail. He knew it was his own conscience that made him give such an unnecessary explanation.
“No thanks, boss,” answered Frank. “I’ll be over at the security office if you need me.” Frank left, his stomach growling. But better to go hungry than to watch your boss make a fool of himself.
Frank quietly entered the security office. He had worked on the cruise ship Forever for a year, yet he felt like he’d never spent as much time in its security office as he had over the last twelve-plus hours. When he walked in, he smiled. Sometimes Bobby and Jojo seemed more like an old married couple than coworkers.
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