Danger at the Dive Shop

by M. J. Mandrake

  Kitty winced, realizing that it looked like she was towing a body. “Don’t worry,” she yelled. “No to preocupes!”

  But Angelina either didn’t hear or didn’t understand because her hands went to her mouth, as if stifling a scream. Chica was standing beside her, and Kitty could see the fur was raised along her back, black lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl.

  “It’s not what you think,” Kitty called out again. She was only a dozen feet from the boat now. “I found it in the reef. Someone lost it, obviously.”

  Mark appeared from the other side of the boat and when he spotted Kitty, his face went pale. Grabbing the railing, he leaned over for a better look. “What happened?”

  “Nothing,” Kitty said, getting a hand on the ladder. “It’s just a dummy. See?”

  She flipped it over and grinned up at them. Angelina’s eyes bulged and she screamed, loud and long. Chica barked her most alarming bark, the kind that ended with a ten-seconds-long growl that made her whole body vibrate.

  “No, really,” Kitty said. “You don’t understand―”

  At that moment, she glanced down at the dummy’s face. She frowned, her mind struggling to process what was only inches from her eyes. Short, sandy hair had escaped from the dummy’s hood and it was plastered across the gray, mottled forehead. Dummies didn’t have hair, did they? That was a lot of trouble for a prop.

  She let go, pushing it around so she could see it better. Now that she was above the water, everything sprang into focus. The mouth was open and the tongue protruded, blackened and partially missing. A tiny crab perched behind the front teeth and it peered out at her, eyes stretched out on stalks.

  Kitty screamed and shoved the dummy away from her. Not a dummy. Not fake. Dead. Very dead. Kitty had never thought she was a screamer, but she was giving Angelina some competition in the shrieking department. She couldn’t seem to stop.

  There was a splash and Chica was in the water, doing her best to rescue Kitty once more from a life-threatening situation.

  As Kitty flailed in a panic toward the boat ladder, she half-signed, half-shouted words to Chica, who was now doing her best to get a good grip on the back of Kitty’s suit with her teeth. “I’m okay! I’m not in danger!”

  Just really, really unobservant and super, super unlucky. Mark hauled Kitty up the ladder and she turned, grabbing Chica’s collar. As they tumbled onto the deck, Kitty wrapped her arms around Chica.

  Chica had been right. She’d been right all along.

  Death had been stalking them from the very beginning.

  Chapter Five

  “Death is contagious; it is contracted the moment we are conceived.”

  ― Madeleine L'Engle

  Kitty sat huddled on the bench, clutching the terry cloth towel around her shoulders. She couldn’t stop shaking even though the sun was bright and warm. Large white patrol boats with ‘POLICIA’ written on the sides had secured a perimeter around where the body was found, and the reefs were slowly being cleared of divers. Kitty couldn’t imagine how angry the groups would be to have their very last day of treasure hunting cut short. None of their group had returned yet except for Lisa, Joan, and Christina. Glancing back at them, Kitty noticed that Lisa had forgotten to replace her bright red lipstick for once. Joan was staring into space, her hair a bushy mess. Kitty could see Christina talking, but her cartoony voice was quiet enough she couldn’t pick out specific words.

  Chica rested her head on Kitty’s knee, worried brown eyes focused on her face.

  “I’m okay,” Kitty said for the tenth time, but it was a lie and Chica knew it.

  Kitty reached into her bag for her cell phone. She should have texted Leander last night. She didn’t know what she would have said, but anything would be better than what she imagined now. Staring down at the screen, she swallowed hard. Would he come if she asked him to? Would he be allowed? An embassy attaché didn’t rush to help every American in trouble abroad. There were usually extenuating circumstances, like high profile suspects or victims. The cruise community protected its own and would definitely notify the embassy if Kitty were in trouble, but she wasn’t on duty now. Unless she called Tavish Edwards, her usual cruise ship captain and asked him to intervene somehow, she was just some lowly tourist who found someone dead and was probably going to spend the next day or so answering police questions.

  Two divers appeared in the water near the boat and surfaced. Everyone in scuba gear looked the same but Kitty knew it was Elaine by her hot pink gloves. Toto came to the railing and looked out at them, tail wagging. Mark was waiting at the ladder and helped Penny out of the water first.

  She turned and frowned at Kitty. “Where did you go?” she signed.

  “I got lost,” Kitty responded, her eyes on Elaine. As soon as they were both out of the water, she’d fill them in.

  Elaine flashed a smile at Mark, who didn’t smile back, and made her way toward Kitty. She looked out at the sea. “Look at all the police boats. They’re taking this treasure thing very seriously.”

  She stood up, feeling her knees wobble underneath her. A faint tremor still ran through her muscles and Kitty wondered if eating something would help her deal with the shock. But first she needed to fill in her friends. As snarky and petty as Penny and Elaine were, they still tended to see situations clearly. Sometimes they even had good advice.

  “Maybe you should sit down for this.” Kitty motioned toward the bench she’d just vacated.

  Both women froze. “Why?” Penny asked.

  “Yeah. Why?” Elaine looked around. “Uh Oh. Someone’s dead. I bet it’s that Texan. He was determined to find the treasure, no matter what happened. I bet he got in the way of the mafia.”

  “There’s no mafia here,” Penny said. “They have drug cartels.”

  “Well, then he ran into the cartels.” Elaine looked like she was scanning the ocean for drug runners.

  “Under the sea? In the reefs?” Penny shook her head. “Why don’t we wait for Kitty to tell us.”

  “Fine,” Elaine said. “But I’m still betting on the Texan and the cartels.”

  Angelina stepped into view, carrying a cup of piping hot coffee for Kitty. “I’m sorry. The police had questions.” She apologetically offered it to her, then gestured to Penny and Elaine. “Would they like some?”

  Kitty translated with one hand and then shook her head in response when they declined.

  “But maybe after I fill them in,” she added.

  “Okay. Whatever you need, tell me.”

  Kitty was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness for the young woman. She’d known Coleman much better than Kitty, and yet she was doing her best to make sure Kitty was all right. Angelina was already embroiled in some kind of tense situation with Mark, and now she might lose her job if the dive shop closed. Kitty could think of more than a few reasons Angelina would be justified in thinking only of herself at the moment.

  “Thank you. And if there’s anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  Angelina blinked away tears and headed back to the galley.

  She was sure Penny and Elaine were going to continue with their barrage of questions, but to her surprise, they both sat and looked up at her expectantly.

  “I found Coleman, the dive shop operator, dead in the reef. The police took his body, but we have to wait for everybody else to come back before they start questioning us.” Kitty started to cry. “Sorry. It was just sort of…”

  Penny jumped up and wrapped her in a big hug, her wet suit dripping water on Kitty’s bare feet. Kitty wanted to be tough and say it was fine, but after a few false starts, she gave up and let herself be hugged for a while. Then it was Elaine’s turn. A few minutes later, Kitty felt strong enough to step back and wipe her face.

  “That’s a real disappointment,” Penny signed, sitting back down.

  “Yup, I thought you’d found the treasure or something.”

  “Wouldn’t I be happier?” Kitty asked.

 
“Well, not if the mafia got wind of it and now you were on their list and―”

  Penny interrupted. “Cartels, not mafia, my dear. And tell us everything.”

  Sinking back down to the bench, Kitty explained how she’d thought she’d seen a lesser electric ray and had wandered into the cleft of the reef. She remembered how it had gotten darker and narrower, and then she’d realized she was alone. At this point, Elaine and Penny were holding hands, eyes wide.

  Kitty took a deep breath and described finding the body, thinking it was a mannequin, and deciding to bring it up to the boat so she did her part in cleaning up the ocean.

  Penny leaned forward. “Wait. Say that part again.”

  “Which part? The mannequin?” Kitty finger spelled the word just in case there was any confusion. “You know, a dummy. I thought it was a prop.”

  A twitching had started at the corner of Elaine’s lips. “And so you pulled it out of the reef?”

  “Right. It―he―was a little stuck, probably from rigor mortis, so I had to kind of,” she mimed for a moment, “get him under the chin. Then I swam upward and toward the boat.”

  Penny’s mouth was hanging open. “You realized it wasn’t a mannequin at the surface?”

  “Well, no. Only when Angelina was screaming and Mark looked like he was going to be sick.”

  Elaine burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” she signed quickly. “Sorry. Really.”

  “Ignore her. She’s got a morbid sense of humor. She probably wishes she’d found the body,” Penny said.

  “Not true! It’s the rescue position that got me.” She looked at them. “Oh, come on. It’s a little bit funny.”

  Penny rolled her eyes. “That’s so you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I can’t explain.” Elaine pulled off her pink cap. “Except that the fact you find this funny is so you that it should have its own reflecting pool, somewhere you can sit down and think about what you’ve just said.”

  Despite the terrible circumstances, Kitty was starting to feel better. “OK, it’s a little bit funny. It just didn’t occur to me that he was―”

  “Dead? Well, this is the third murder on your watch so I think you should be expecting it by now.” Penny winked to soften her words.

  On your watch. She hated the sound of that. Kitty leaned closer, which was silly because nobody on board could understand their signing anyway. “Chica has been acting strangely this whole trip.”

  They both glanced around. “When?”

  “So many times she tried to tell me something was wrong and I ignored her.” Kitty frowned. “She’s also been shadowing Angelina, but maybe that’s because she feeds her scraps.”

  They all looked toward the galley where Angelina was standing at the stove, not cooking. She was staring at the wall, motionless. Mark was a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest.

  “What about those ladies? What are they like?” Penny asked, shooting a glance at the three middle aged women huddled at the other end of the bridge.

  “Pretty quiet. I mean, not quiet, actually. They like to party a bit. But nothing suspicious.”

  “Before we went down to the reef, I thought that one with the bright red lipstick reminded me of someone,” Elaine said. “She made me think of that bank teller. You remember her, Penny?”

  “Oh, right. Now that you mention it.” She narrowed her eyes. “Her name was Miriam, I think. She wore that particular shade. Probably called ‘the blood of your enemies’.”

  “Lisa seems all right to me,” Kitty said, but little memories were popping up. The time Lisa bullied Joan into heading to dinner instead of spending time she wanted on getting her hair under control, and the way Lisa pretended she couldn’t hear Christina most of the time when the woman’s voice carried for blocks. Then again, Kitty might be tempted to do the same.

  “I don’t really know much about any of them except they’re on a high school reunion trip. I haven’t spent much time talking to any of them.”

  Penny and Elaine gave her matching looks of surprise. “But you’re always so social,” Penny said.

  “That’s my job,” Kitty reminded her. “In real life, I’m more into reading and taking naps.”

  “And yet here you are on a scuba diving trip,” Elaine said.

  “But I brought a book,” Kitty said, reaching into her bag and pulling out Hawthorne’s masterpiece.

  “Ah. The Scarlett Letter. How cheery.” Penny pulled a face. “I didn’t think anyone had to read those books anymore. If you want a sad story, I have some Nicholas Sparks books in my bag. You’re welcome to them.”

  Kitty put a hand over the leather book, as if to cover its ears from such criticism.

  At that moment, Andrew, Ren, and Jenny bobbed to the surface. The two divers from the other boat were right behind them. Kitty observed the group boarding, then taking in the news from Mark that Coleman had been found dead.

  Ren and Jenny turned to each other. Jenny buried her head in Ren’s shoulder and he rubbed her back. His eyes darted one way, then the other, as if looking for some explanation.

  The two young men stood motionless, confusion on their faces.

  Andrew took a moment to absorb the news, then removed his tanks, flippers, gloves, and the sagging wet suit. He adjusted his board shorts and then went to dump his gear on a bench. Sitting down, he dropped his head into his hands.

  Penny glanced at Chica. “Who is it, girl?” she asked.

  “Good idea,” Elaine said. “Chica knows. We need her to lead us to the killer.”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Kitty said. “And who said anything about murder? Maybe it was an accident. He was probably out here searching by himself and something went terribly wrong.”

  They both turned and looked at her, eyebrows raised.

  “Let’s just wait and see,” Kitty said.

  Shrugging, they started to remove their diving suits and get into some warmer clothing.

  Chica nudged the phone in Kitty’s hand.

  “But what do I say?” she whispered. She desperately wanted to talk to Leander. Scrolling to his name, she hesitated. Together they’d chased a murderer through the jungle, cheated death, and forced a confession from a psychopath. They were friends, and maybe something more. But she still wasn’t sure. If she did ask him, he would come. Wouldn’t he? She swallowed hard.

  Some days Kitty was sure she’d left heartbreak behind her. Other days, she knew that her fiancé’s betrayal would never leave her. She dreamed of her old apartment, sitting at the kitchen table, laughing with her best friend. The best friend who was now her ex-fiancé’s wife. Kitty was ashamed that the drama she used to mock in other people’s lives had brought its ugly, warped unhappiness into her own, and she’d worked hard to move forward. Part of that process was learning to trust someone besides Chica.

  Taking a deep breath, she tapped the photo of the European starling she’d set as Leander’s profile picture. His last name, Estornell, meant starling in Catalan and although she acknowledged that it was a silly coincidence, she couldn’t shake the growing suspicion that it held some kind of meaning. Starling and Swift. Not a couple, she reminded herself. Just partners.

  “Kitty?” he said by way of greeting.

  She gripped the phone to her ear, overwhelmed with gratitude that he’d picked up. “Hey, I need to talk to you, if that’s okay. I mean, if it’s a good time.” she said. Not a brilliant intro, but it would have to do.

  “I’m on my way somewhere, but I’m glad you called. I’ll have to hang up in a bit, but I’ll call you back as soon as I’m free. What’s up?” She could hear wind rushing in the background.

  Standing up, she went to lean against the railing. “I know this is probably really the wrong time…” Now that she had him on the phone, she didn’t know what to say.

  “Everything okay?”

  No. Not at all. “Oh, yeah. Mostly. It’s just that something happened and I wanted to let you know about it. The
re’s probably nothing you can do. I’m not asking you to do anything.” Kitty’s right eye began to twitch and she pressed the heel of her hand against it. Chica leaned against her leg.

  “Whatever I can do, I will.” The wind whipped away the last word, but Kitty understood.

  “Something bad happened.” She was having trouble saying ‘dead body’ and she didn’t know why. Dead bodies were pretty much their entire history and he hadn’t shied away from it before.

  “I’m listening,” he said, raising his voice. It sounded like he was standing on an airstrip.

  “You remember that scuba trip I won when I was playing bingo?”

  There was a short pause. “Yes.”

  “Well, I’m here now. Chica and I.” The sound of the police boats were making it hard to hear herself. She turned away from the railing and pressed the phone closer. Chica stood up, but kept looking out to sea. “I was swimming in the reef and I found a dead body.”

  There was a longer pause this time. “A body.”

  “Yes. Dead.” Anxiety swept over her. She didn’t know what she was afraid of, but she could barely force herself to go on. “I know you can’t just pick up and leave… wherever you are. And I know it’s not really your job to run to every American in trouble. I mean, we haven’t even been questioned yet. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Shouldn’t Chica have a life vest on?” Leander asked.

  Kitty frowned. That was random. And how did he know she didn’t? “She’s a good swimmer.”

  “I just figured since Toto had one, Chica would.”

  She took the phone from her ear and looked at it. Not a video call. He would only have seen the inside of her ear, anyway. Shaking her head, she tried again. “I know you’re probably busy―”

  “Actually, I am. A rather famous American died while scuba diving, and they’ve sent me over to assist in the investigation.”

  Kitty’s eyes widened in horror. Diving was deadly. If she ever won another trip, she’d give it away. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be really helpful.”

  She glanced up. A police boat was edging close to them, probably to send an officer to escort them back to the nearest dock.