“Hi, Jenna. I’m so excited to hear that you’re still on the team. You’re still here. Well, not where I can see you, but you’re here…and working.” Tressa’s words stuttered as she stared at her own image in the mirror. “Jenna’s in front of me, right?”
Jenna laughed so hard I thought she’d burst apart.
I rolled my eyes and immediately realized Tressa thought that eyeroll was to her. I shook my head. “That was not at you, Tressa.”
Jenna laughed even harder.
“I’ll need to relay Jenna’s conversations and reactions. At the moment, she’s laughing at me and I’m frustrated with it.” I glared at Jenna, and again Tressa stood right behind Jenna, so both got my expression through the mirror.
Tressa backed away.
“Jenna, please don’t stand in front of Tressa.”
Someone rapped on the entry door. Tressa rushed out of the bathroom.
I stared at Jenna. “Not funny.”
Jenna stopped and stuck her bottom lip out like a child. “I’m going invisible. Even though I can’t leave because I’m still tethered to you, I’ll try not to burden you with my presence.” She faded away.
“Jenna.” Now I felt like a big fat solid turd. “I’m grateful you’re my friend…my kindred sister. You know that I love you like a sister. Always and forever.”
“I know, me too,” Jenna whispered beside my ear. “Enjoy your evening with Derek, at least as much as you can with what you have to do.”
“So, Jenna’s here?” Derek walked in, scanning the room. “Hey, woman.”
“Well, she’s not here at the moment. She’s trying to give us space, so went invisible. I told you Jenna can’t leave the earth plane, so she’ll still be around us like I mentioned to you earlier.” My skin tingled as Derek’s focus stopped on me.
Then his expression sobered. “We need to make a quick trip to the city morgue, Kendra.” His arm swept around my waist.
“Another girl?” I slid my hand across his lower back, more to brace myself for his affirmation.
He nodded. “I’m sorry. Apparently, she was found on shore early this morning from some beach walkers. Gimbel neglected to tell us about it, even though he told Jackson that we’d be called. Jackson is none too happy about it and warns us to be vigilant about tonight. I’m not excited about taking you into the field again and wouldn’t if I didn’t think we may need your ability.”
“I understand. So, we’re headed to the morgue first and then to the cruise ship.”
Derek checked his watch. “Seven-thirty, we’ll need to make this fast in order to board the ship before it leaves the dock at nine.”
Tressa stood outside the door. “Here.” She handed Derek a bag filled with drinks and snacks. “Snacks for all of you. Ray just texted me. I understand he and Luke will be your eyes and ears from the shore. I’ll be here monitoring what I can and on call should anything arise.” She followed us to the entry door. “Good luck.” Then, she hugged me.
Jenna’s voice near my ear startled me on the elevator ride to the ground floor. She whispered, “Tressa likes you, Sparky. You’ve got a good friend in her.”
I’d grown fond of Tressa’s spunkiness and inquisitiveness. I appreciated her skills and her honesty.
Ray and Luke waited in the black van for us outside the lobby entrance.
We climbed inside the back. No eye contact with me, but it didn’t come across as anything unusual for Luke or Ray. Now that they knew why I was pulled in as a consultant, maybe I would have a chance at proving my skill could be useful.
“What’s in the bag?” Luke asked. “Anything to eat? I’m starving.”
Derek handed the bag to him. “Go crazy.”
* * *
Derek flashed his badge at the morgue attendant.
“Your assistant Tressa called and told us to expect you. I’ve already cleared the room, with the understanding your consultant would only take a few minutes to identify the body.”
That sounded like an appropriate cover story for me visiting the room in hopes of communicating with girl’s spirit.
The short balding man escorted us to the appropriate room. “The body is on table one.” He typed in a security code and the door automatically slid opened. “There’s a button on the wall that operates the door from inside. No code necessary.”
“Thank you,” Derek said. His fingers wrapped around my upper arm and guided me through the doorway. A whoosh indicated we were sealed inside. “That must be table one.” Derek walked me to it.
“There’s no spirit in this room.” I didn’t want to uncover the body.
Then, the body sat up, the blanket fell to the girl’s lap.
Derek and I jumped back.
“What the hell?” Derek studied the girl. “Why is she animated? Look at her raw wrists, she must have been bound.”
Suddenly her eyes popped open. Swirls of pitch filled the whites of her eyes as she stared at us.
I turned away and grabbed Derek, turning him to face me. “Close your eyes, Derek. Right now. Did you stare into her eyes?”
“My Gods, Sparky, what’s going on?” Jenna stood beside Derek, thankfully focused on me. Both of her hands pressed to her chest.
“I barely had a chance to look at her.” Derek went to turn his head toward the girl, and I gripped his jaw, turning him back toward me.
A stormy torrent of wind swirled around us and the stench of rotten eggs about knocked me to the floor. The inside of my chest blazed like an inferno, a telling sign of the dark entity in the room.
“What the hell is that odor?” Derek covered his nose, his brows furrowed.
“Do not look at that child,” I screamed at Derek, holding tight to his face. “Jenna, you either. I mean it. There’s something dark inside of that body.”
Buster’s monstrous voice filled the room, shaking everything not locked down. “This. Is. Only. The. Beginning. Bitches.”
The girl’s body slammed backward on the table, her eyes closed. The wind and stench vanished as fast as it had arrived.
“Sparky, why the hell was Buster inside that little girl? What does he mean, this is only the beginning?” Jenna stepped over to the table, staring at the girl. “This is like a damn horror nightmare.”
Derek stood beside Jenna and pulled the blanket back over the body. “Fill me in on the way to the ship.” He grabbed my hand, pushed the release button for the door, and we left.
Chapter Thirteen
Derek
The guys dropped Kendra and I a few blocks from the dock to keep the van, Ray, and Luke from being noticed.
Once they drove away, I said, “Tell me what happened in the morgue that I couldn’t look and I didn’t hear.”
My chest went tight as Kendra described the scene and what that bastard said. What the hell did it mean? More than ever I needed information about Buster. Tressa worked on it, but did she understand its status as a top priority? I would talk to her. I required a plan of action, and so far, I had nothing for even a tiny measure of offense or defense.
We barely made the last call for boarding the river cruise liner. Kendra and I jogged most of the way to the dock. I handed the uniformed steward our admittance tickets. He carried a holstered gun, walkie-talkie, and taser. I scanned the deck. More uniformed men strategically positioned, dressed-out like this guy. Must be high-level security.
“Dustin and Kay, welcome aboard.” He handed us a schematic of the ship, along with a couple free tokens for cocktails and appetizers.
Another dude in uniform ambled over. “Making sure you have no electronic devices or weapons, I’ll need to wave a wand and pat you down.”
“Is that really necessary? We know the rules.” I didn’t want anyone giving Kendra a pat down.
“If you want to stay on this ship for the evening, yes. It’s mandatory.” The guy stepped behind Kendra, waved his wand up and down her sides, front, and back. No doubt, looking for electronic devices. “Ladies first.” He hand-patted
mostly the inside of her legs, through her dress, where women might wear a holstered gun.
I wanted to rip his arms off. Kendra smiled at me as if to say ‘it’s all good.’ She knew what would change my focus.
“Okay, Dustin, you next.” I waited patiently for him to finish.
The first guy said, “If you have any questions or get lost, there are a number of security officers on every deck that would be more than happy to help. You’ll disembark here at one o’clock. I hope you enjoy your four hours of Midnight Bliss.”
I slipped my arm around Kendra and we strolled around the deck, ending back where we started, at the bar. “Let’s order a couple of non-alcoholic drinks, so we look the part of a couple out for relaxing fun.”
“That sounds good, Dustin. Mojito, please.”
I smiled at the way she said my fake name.
We stepped to the bar, and a scantily-dressed woman took our non-alcoholic Mojito orders.
“We need to watch her mix the drinks,” Kendra whispered. “Last time I ordered a drink from Vinny’s nightclub, I got an extra ingredient of truth serum.” Kendra looked up and grinned. “Never mind, we have our own surveillance team player on board with us. Jenna’s making all kinds of silly gestures about the big-boobed woman mixing our drinks.”
“I’m learning all kinds of secret ninja skills from you two.” I leaned into Kendra and whispered, “I’m happy that she’s with us. If she can do what she did to see Tory’s room, we’ll definitely know what’s happening on this ship tonight.” I totally relaxed. We came aboard with the best non-electronic surveillance ever invented. “I almost want a real drink right now in celebration.”
Kendra giggled.
I wasn’t sure if it was from what I’d just said, or if Jenna was animating jostling breasts, which seemed to be the main mixing move with our barmaid. “Careful, sweetheart. We don’t want to upset the curvy barmaid.”
“Jenna just asked if the barmaid had two black eyes. It did make me laugh, even though I tried not to.” Kendra grinned toward the barmaid. “Jenna says there’s no hanky-panky stuff in our drinks.”
I knew Kendra was watching Jenna, and that lightened the mood of why we were here. If Jenna found the abused teens, not Kendra, that would help in all sorts of ways to keep Kendra from breaking out of her disguise. I had a feeling Jenna knew that also. I counted a dozen officers on this deck alone, which told me there were way too many eyes on us. We’d have to play it up for the next four hours until we docked.
“There aren’t that many passengers. Have you noticed?” Kendra glanced around the bar area. “Maybe we should walk some more?” She leaned into me. “Jenna thinks it’s a good idea for us to stroll along all the decks available, so she can figure out if it’s the top level or the bottom level she needs to check. Her tether to me keeps her from going too far. She’s already checked one floor below us and the one above us, she can’t go farther than one floor either way.”
“Okay, let’s go to the highest floor we can and then to the lowest floor, and she can check both ways for us. Sound like a plan?” I reviewed the schematic of the ship and it showed two lower-level floors and four upper-level decks. Private rooms were scattered throughout the middle of every floor to be used by the passengers. Every floor presented a bar at the front or back of the boat. The top deck indicated hot tubs and spas. One floor above us displayed a casino on one end and a stage for live performances on the other. “Damn, this place is like a floating island. I’m sure we could survive on something like this for days.”
“Jenna mentioned we should go three floors up because she’ll be able to see the floor below us and the one above us.”
“Sure, we can do that. My lady.” I linked Kendra’s arm and we headed to the center of the boat, where the elevators were located. “Unless you’d like to walk up the stairway?” I stopped and raised a brow.
“Elevator is a good idea. The sooner we look everything over, the faster I can allow myself to relax. Right now, I have this heaviness inside me, like a bomb is going to drop in front of me at any moment.”
I pulled her into me and wrapped an arm around her shapely body. The scent from her hair wafted sensual femininity. “No matter what happens tonight, you will be safe with me.” I leaned down and kissed her, deep, full, uncaring who witnessed us. Her body molded into mine, sending a hit of lightning through me.
“Sir, Madam.” Another curvy woman, wearing the same skimpy attire as the barmaid, stood beside us. “It looks like you are enjoying the ship. May I offer a private room available to our passengers. They are included in your boarding fare package.”
Kendra stepped back from me. “Maybe later?” A blush coated her cheeks.
“Of course.” The woman added, “The rooms are for your own personal pleasure or to share with any uniformed man and/or woman dressed as I am. We all aim to please our passengers.” She licked her lips at Kendra, and then again at me.
“We’ll let you know,” I said.
She nodded, tipped forward a bit for a full-frontal display, then turned and swayed away.
“Jenna said, holy-smokin’ hot tatas.” Kendra smirked. “That is, in case you didn’t notice those melons all on your own.”
I chuckled. “Let’s get to the elevator before we get side-tracked again.”
“You side-tracked all on your own, mister.” Kendra knocked a shoulder into me. “You know how you rock my world. Those she-devils are playing unfair revealing giant portions of their assets.”
That made me grin, and it rocked my world, too, knowing that I rocked Kendra’s.
* * *
Kendra
The alcohol from earlier in the day finally wore off. Now, Derek gave me a high. Any time his fingers grazed any part of me, my body responded with wanton fury. Maybe Jenna was right in allowing myself to let go. Not tonight, but maybe after we closed this case. My attraction to Derek ran deeper every moment we spent together, and when we were apart, utter starvation for him overwhelmed me.
The elevator took us up three floors, when we stepped out Jenna stood in front of me.
“Okay, plan on walking a couple times around the ship. Once for me to go below and again for me to hit the floor above. Got it?” Jenna vanished before I answered.
“We need to promenade slowly, twice around the deck, once for below, and once for above.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Derek clicked his glass against mine and then tipped the Mojito to his lips.
I followed suit, taking a nice swallow. My throat went dry playing this spy game, knowing it was a far cry from a game. I’d never been around so much danger as I had the last few weeks. Even though I wrote about it in my stories, the real ominous threat of it smothered me.
Derek slowed his pace, head turning in all directions. He pulled me to the rail for a moment. We drank again. The nightlights along the shore looked like sparklers, and somewhere among the lights of the traffic, Ray and Luke watched the boat. Derek studied the dark shoreline ahead of us.
“The road staggers away from the shoreline for a number of miles, but the guys should be able to keep up with the ship. I didn’t tell you there’s a chance we may be going for a swim, did I?” He turned and kissed the tip of my nose.
“You know that I can swim, so I’m up for it.” The not so distant memory of an early morning swim to escape a burning boat warehouse brought home the real seriousness of the probability.
“I know you are. In fact, I’m dazzled more and more by all the effort you put into assisting with the cases.” His arm draped my shoulder as he took another drink and gazed at the shore view.
Vanilla filled the air, and then Jenna popped up beside me. “Holy-sex-trollops, orgies, and man whores!”
“Tell me about it.” I focused on the water and acted like I was talking to Derek as a few couples walked along behind us.
“What would you like me to say?” Derek responded, and turned to me.
“We’ve got company, getting the low-down and dir
ty,” I whispered.
His brows raised and he nodded. “Gotcha.”
“I checked the rooms I could reach below, and we’ve barely left the dock.” She fanned herself with her hand. “You would not believe all of the orgy stuff going on in those rooms. That’s why there’s not a lot of people on the decks. They are all in those rooms with huge beds full of naked moaning bodies. But, none of them are underage.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered to Derek, “Orgies in the rooms below, but no teenage girls.”
“You need to walk toward the back of the boat, I can’t quite reach the last few rooms down there.” Jenna vanished.
“Let’s walk some more, Dustin.” Using a name different than Derek’s seemed ultra-espionage to me. I enjoyed the play-acting.
He finished his drink. “Let’s head toward the bar and grab another non-alcohol cocktail.”
We walked hand in hand, feeling the fresh ocean breeze as we got closer to the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The bar area on this level stayed open-walled on all sides, with the exception of where all the bottles set on tiered racks against a mirrored wall.
Another barmaid leaned her voluptuous near-naked breasts on the counter in front of Derek. “What can I get for you, sir?”
He looked at me with wide eyes, apparently unable to speak.
“We’d like two alcohol-free Mojitos, please. Could we get them super-sized?” I smiled at Derek and then turned to the curvy barmaid.
“What’s the fun in no alcohol?” She stared at Derek, not moving away from shelving her tatas for display. “Maybe you prefer something besides drinking?” Her voice went husky as she leaned in farther, no bra, revealing all of what she owned.
I pushed Derek away from the counter. “We’d like the drinks, please.” I licked my lips, more play-acting, and boldly ogled her goods.
She sucked in a breath. “Right on it, Miss.”
I followed her up and down the bar as she mixed our drinks, to ensure I knew the ingredients she blended.
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