Stone Cold Foxe

by Haley Walsh

  Sidney punched in the other tapes, searching for the woman again near Skyler, but in the restaurant and on the desk, she didn’t see her again.

  It was time to call Mike.

  “Hey, Sid. What have you got?”

  “I sent you a passenger list. Could you cross reference that with the list of hoodie purchasers I sent earlier?”

  “I’ll give it my best. How’s it looking there?”

  “I wish I had more to go on than this. I was thinking it was a woman based on the profiling, and I did see a suspicious chick hanging near Skyler earlier today, but I didn’t see her on any of the later tapes.”

  “You still think it’s a woman? I’m not so sure. And our witness, that little girl at the wedding, clammed up. Can’t get a thing out of her.”

  “Damn.”

  “By the way, I’ve been checking out the list of Skyler’s classmates from the University of Redlands.”

  “Yeah? Any leads there?”

  “One of his former classmates turns up a lot in anti-LGBT stuff online. Has a website. A real redneck religious type. I’m checking him out now. And get this. He still lives in Redlands.”

  “All right. Keep on that and get back to me soon.”

  “I know it must be tough. Are the guys giving you a hard time?”

  “No, they’re actually being helpful.” She interrupted herself to yawn.

  “Don’t work yourself too hard, hon. Get some rest. We had an early start this morning.”

  “I will. I’ll just be at this for a little while longer.”

  “You should go to bed. I miss you, by the way.”

  “I miss you, too. I wish you were here and we were having fun.”

  “So a cruise isn’t so bad, then?”

  “Not at all. It’s just I don’t recommend five in a room.”

  “Do you think that maybe you should tell Skyler?”

  “No! You should see him and Keith. He’s so unguarded. He’s so…relaxed. I’ve never seen him like that. I don’t want to crush it.”

  “Well…you know best, I guess. But I do think you should knock off for the night. Get some rest. You’ll start again fresh in the morning.”

  “Maybe you’re right. I am bushed. Talk to you soon. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  She clicked off and stared at her phone. They had started out pretty early this morning. And she didn’t have it in her to watch one more tape. She thanked the security team, got them to print out the list, and excused herself, telling them she’d be back in the morning.

  Trudging back down to their cabin, she stretched and yawned. Opening the door, she noticed Jamie still sitting up reading on his phone, seemingly waiting for her. Dave was apparently asleep. Rodolfo and Philip hadn’t yet returned.

  “Hey, Sid.” Perched up on his bunk bed, Jamie waved.

  “Hey. Shouldn’t we be quiet?” She gestured toward Dave, gently snoring.

  “Oh, God no. Once he’s out he sleeps like the dead. It takes a fire alarm to wake him up. Literally. Anything to report?”

  “Nothing much. Some woman was checking out Skyler by the hot tub and was generally acting suspicious, but she didn’t show up on any other tapes. I’ll try to track her down tomorrow. In the meantime, I emailed you the passenger list. Knock yourself out.”

  Jamie fiddled with his phone and suddenly widened his eyes. “Oh shit. I didn’t realize how big this ship is.”

  “Yeah. I’ve got Mike working on checking this list against the hoodie buyers.”

  “What hoodie buyers?”

  “Remember? The suspect was wearing a brand new University of Redlands hoodie? I got a list of people who’d purchased one in the last year from the university bookstore. And Mike thinks it might connect to one of Skyler’s old classmates who’s a big homophobe these days.”

  “Oh, clever.” He scrolled through page after page. “But I think we’re overlooking something here.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “What if they aren’t a passenger? What if they work here?”

  “That would be an incredible coincidence. I mean, how could they be sure they’d get a job on the very ship on the very weekend Skyler would be here?”

  “Okay. What if it was a job that didn’t need that kind of planning? Something temporary? Or even a stowaway.”

  “Dammit. That’s a possibility too. Maybe I should go back to security—”

  “Honey, you are dead tired. Get some rest. We’ll get going on that in the morning.”

  “You think?”

  “I do think. Go to bed, Sidney. You’re no good to anyone right now. I’ll stay up a little and read this list. It would be brilliant to find them on this right away, right?” He sighed and muttered, “Of course I don’t know what I’m looking for…”

  “Right.” She dragged herself to the bathroom to brush her teeth and to change into her sleep shirt.

  They’d reached Catalina in the morning and had docked in the isthmus. Sidney headed over to security again.

  Lee greeted her and sat down beside her at the monitor. “So now you’d like a list of the crew?”

  “Not the crew necessarily. But there must be a list of employees. Temporary employees? People who might be recent hires for a limited time. And also…is it hard to stowaway on the ship?”

  “Well, you can’t get on without a boarding pass.”

  “You know and I know that these things can be forged.”

  “And they would have to be incredibly clever to do so.”

  “So just suppose they did get on board. What would be the next clue that they don’t have a cabin?”

  “The crew are very vigilant. If someone tries to sleep in a restaurant or on the deck, we’re always happy to escort them back to their room.”

  “I see. So it isn’t likely. How about posing as crew or an employee in one of the shops?”

  “Everyone has IDs with magnetic strips. Very hard to forge.”

  “How about steal? Say, if you’ve never met the person.”

  “They are photo IDs.”

  “But photo IDs can be forged.”

  “Yes, they can.”

  “Let me know if anyone has reported any employee that is acting suspiciously. Or they’re suspicious of them for any reason.”

  “Of course, Detective.”

  She thanked him and returned to the cabin to meet up with the boys. “So what have we got?”

  Dave scrolled through his notes on his phone. “Looks like Sky and Keith have kayak reservations on shore. They’re scheduled for a two-hour tour.”

  “Kayak? What is this?” asked Rodolfo.

  “It’s like a canoe only smaller,” said Philip.

  “Why would Skyler and Keith do such a thing?”

  Jamie called up a picture on his phone and shoved it into Rodolfo’s face. “See? It’s supposed to be fun, but I can’t even.” He shuddered.

  Dave put a comforting arm around him. “I know you hate that stuff, darlin’.”

  Sidney tapped her teeth with a fingernail. “Someone has to keep an eye on them. Who’s gonna volunteer?”

  Rodolfo raised his hand straight up. “I’d like to see these kayaks.”

  “Fine. Philip, go with him. The rest of us can hang with security and monitor the shipboard cameras.”

  “Oooo,” said Jamie. “I wanna spy!”

  She rolled her eyes. At least they were willing to help.

  Chapter Eighteen

  SKYLER HAD A BLAST KAYAKING, AND THOUGH HIS nose was getting a little red from the sun, he dubbed the excursion a success. Their personal photographer had taken some shots of them while they were still near shore and then he left them to have their fun.

  After Keith carefully and lovingly applied more sunscreen to Skyler’s face, they decided to prolong their Catalina stay by walking around Avalon and seeing the sights.

  “I was never fond of the beach because of my fair skin,” he told Keith as they walked along, watching a slew
of people on bicycles whizz past down the middle of the street, “but I’m kind of liking this.”

  “Not a lot of sunny beaches where I come from, but I did my share of spring breaks.”

  Skyler stopped. “Wait. This is a side I never knew about. Are you telling me you used to go to spring break and go a little crazy? Are there videos of Keith Gone Wild? Because I would very much like to see those.”

  Smiling sheepishly, Keith looked away from Skyler, scanning the ocean through his sunglasses. He looked perfectly at home in the sun, what with his tan and the loose shirt hanging open, revealing his toned torso. He was wearing shorts, exposing muscled thighs and calves. Come to think of it, Keith looked at home anywhere an underwear model would be.

  “I hope there’re no videos,” he said, a deep dimple creasing his cheek.

  “Come on,” said Skyler, elbowing him. “Spill it.”

  “I’m not going to tell you. That was private.”

  “Oh, come on! I’d tell you.”

  “And I don’t want to know that either.”

  “You can’t possibly still be jealous. You won!” He raised his hand and waggled his ring finger, showing off the wedding band. “You got me. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I still don’t want to know details. And I’m not sharing any with you. Now do you want a snow cone or not?”

  “You can’t distract me with frosty treats—Oh! There’s the snow cone guy!”

  Momentarily distracted with a snow cone, and spooning out the crunchy, flavorful ice, Skyler sighed, watching swirling clouds hang lazily in the blue California skies. “This is so nice.”

  “Are you enjoying yourself, babe?”

  “You know I am. Thank you so much for this.”

  “Thank you for all the work you did with our wonderful wedding.”

  He gave a brief bow. “You know, I—what?” He tore off his sunglasses and squinted into the distance. “I thought I just saw Rodolfo over there.” He pointed and Keith looked.

  “Maybe it really was Antonio Banderas.”

  Rodolfo looked remarkably like the Spanish actor, but when Skyler looked again he didn’t see him. “That was weird. Why am I hallucinating my friends?”

  “You need to get out more.”

  He smiled and slurped up the snow cone juice. Then he stuck out his tongue at Keith. “Do I have a blue tongue?”

  “You do. Is mine red?” He stuck out his tongue.

  “Yeah, and it looks tasty. Let me try it.” He reached up and kissed Keith. When he stood back Keith was looking at him with some surprise, before he casually looked around.

  “You’re very…open these days.”

  “I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the wedding? I just feel like…fuck everything. If people don’t like it they can look the other way.”

  “Well, all right!” He put his arm around Skyler and continued walking beside him. It was nice to do that, Skyler decided. Even if it still gave him a twinge of anxiety. He ran his self-defense training through his head just in case.

  “So what’s next on our agenda?” said Skyler.

  “Tonight, I thought we’d go to the casino for a while, then hit one of the shows. They’re doing Mama Mia in the main theater.”

  “Omigod, yes! You are too good to me! I swear, I’m going to watch tons of football with you when we get back home.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Seriously. I will. Because you have been so good.”

  “I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to play bottomless waiter again during those games.”

  “I thought you wanted to watch the games.”

  “Mostly. But I want you to enjoy them, too.”

  “Only if you play bottomless patron.”

  “I think that can be arranged.”

  “Too good to me,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  The shops in Avalon were a bit too touristy, and the tour of the Wrigley Mansion would have put them too late to get back to the ship, so they just stopped at a café to people watch and take in the sailboats coming into harbor from the sea.

  “Have you ever been on a sailboat, Keith?”

  “Yeah, I had a friend in college whose dad had one. We went out a couple of times.”

  “I can just see you out there with your cutlass and an eyepatch…”

  “Are you having pirate fantasies about me now?”

  “You’d better believe it. And me, the helpless captive, where you have your way with me. Arrrrr.”

  “I think all this sea air is getting to you.”

  “Now hold on!” Skyler jumped to his feet. “I could have sworn I just saw Philip. What is going on here?”

  “Skyler?”

  But he was taking off after him, or at least the last place he thought he saw him. He searched the shop but didn’t see any sign of him. Keith came up behind Skyler, wearing a scowl. “Babe, maybe it’s time to get out of the sun. We should get back to the ship. Take a cool dip in the pool.”

  “I am not seeing things.”

  “They can’t possibly be here.”

  “I…I guess you’re right. Yeah, let’s get back to the ship.”

  Skyler kept glancing behind him, even as they climbed the gangway up to the ship. They got to their cabin to shower and change, which turned into a little lovemaking halfway in and out of the tiny shower stall. Skyler forgot all about his doppelgangers when he sucked on Keith’s lips and showered the cum off of each other.

  “I like this married life,” he said, dressing in his swim trunks and donning a linen shirt.

  “Don’t get used to it.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, the rest of it; the ship, the vacation. Of course get used to…us.”

  “That’s better. Don’t worry. I know we’re on track. A little pool time?”

  “Yeah. You ready?”

  “Let’s go.”

  They took the elevator to the Lido deck and found a place under a cabana. Skyler settled in under the shade while Keith was able to lie in the sun. With his hat low over his face, Skyler got on his phone to check emails. Debbie’s list was there, and though he had been successful forgetting for long stretches at a time about the person who was trying to kill him, there were quiet moments when he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He knew it was waiting for him when he returned. No time like the present, he thought as he opened the file. If he could just figure out who he was looking for. The list was long, and he scanned each name with nothing coming to mind.

  Until he hit on it.

  M. Carson.

  A flash, like a gunshot flaring from the nose of a Glock, startled Skyler, making his heart pound. Their personal photographer was back again, taking another few shots. He seemed taken aback by Skyler’s expression and quietly bowed out.

  It took Skyler right back to that day. The sound of the gunfire echoing in that room, ringing in his ears, the smell of gunpowder, the shock of pain to his shoulder. That day was burned into Skyler’s memory, just as that scar from the bullet was seared into his flesh. Carson had shot him, meant to kill him. And when Keith showed up, and Carson had turned his gun on Keith, Keith hadn’t hesitated. He dropped Carson where he stood. At least, Skyler thought he remembered it that way. He had been in the middle of fainting from the pain, after all.

  Skyler turned back to his phone. M. Carson. The mere sight of that name sent a chill spearing through him. Coach Scott Carson was the one who had menaced the school and the football team with his outlandish scheme of selling drugs and guns, and forcing his White Power students to do the work for him. The scheme that involved the principal’s son changing the grades of his football players. The man who had killed Julia Meyers. The reason Keith had come to the school in the first place as an FBI agent. The man that Keith had gunned down to save Skyler’s life.

  “K-Keith…”

  “Hmm?” Keith was lying face down on a lounger. But Skyler couldn’t make his throat speak any louder.

  “Keith.”
<
br />   Keith turned. “What’s wrong, babe?”

  “I think…I think I found the person after me.”

  Keith scrambled up from the chair and crouched next to Skyler, all in a blink. “What have you found?”

  He showed Keith his phone. “M. Carson.”

  “Fuck. A relative of Scott’s?”

  “I don’t know. A sibling? A son?”

  “I’ll get this to the agents right away. You call Sidney.”

  Keith got on his phone and wandered off to talk. With trembling hands, Skyler punched in Sidney’s number. Strangely he heard what sounded like an echo of her ringtone nearby.

  “Hey, Skyler. What’s up?”

  “Sidney, I found the guy.”

  “What?”

  “On the hoodie list. M. Carson. I feel it in my bones. It’s Scott Carson’s relative.”

  “Okay. We’ll check it out.”

  Just then the ship’s horn blared. A half a second later he heard it in his phone. That was odd.

  “Gotta go, Skyler.” And she hung up.

  “Wait…what?” He stared at his phone, trying to make sense of it all through his fear, when Keith was at his side again.

  “Did you get through to Sidney?”

  “Yeah.” He stared at his phone another moment before he put it down. “I…I need to take a walk.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, that’s okay. I need maybe a few minutes alone.”

  “Sweetheart…”

  He took Keith’s hand and squeezed it as he rose. “It’s okay. Just a little walk.”

  Keith’s worried face was on his mind as he strode away. It was all getting to him. He thought the wedding and the honeymoon could make him forget but it was only putting off the inevitable. They were safe here, but as soon as they docked back at Long Beach it would all start up again.

  M. Carson. Who was it? He obviously wanted revenge. And he hadn’t been pulled into the dragnet that had captured the rest of Coach Carson’s Neo-Nazi flunkies. A brother, maybe.

  He got to the railing and glanced out to the sun-dappled water. Looking down, the sea churned under the wake of the ship in foamy waves. Even as far down as it was it managed to send up salty spray he could taste on his lips.

  “Hey, Skyler!” Startled, Skyler turned and was relieved to see Francis and his wife Bev.