by Haley Walsh
Mark didn’t look as if he would warm to that idea.
“You see,” said Skyler in his most apologetic voice, “there has been this person stalking me, trying to kill me. I thought it was you.”
“It isn’t! I don’t even know you.”
“I know that now. Keith’s got the perp back there. She…she held a knife to me.” Skyler put a hand to his neck. He was surprised to look at his hand and see a smattering of blood.
“Well good for you.”
The sound of feet running toward them thundered on the deck. Security. Some of the uniformed men passed them and headed for Keith, while three slowed and stopped around Skyler and his friends. Sidney came running up from behind them. “Skyler, what’s going on?”
He looked back over his shoulder and sighed. “A little of this, a little of that.”
EPILOGUE
THEY’D SPENT HOURS IN SECURITY. THE CRUISE line had papers for them to sign, and Philip, drawing on his earlier lawyer training, looked then over meticulously. A lot of release of liability forms, security reports, and police reports. They had reached port by this time in the early morning, and the Ensenada police had been asked to board. They took temporary custody of Macy, escorted by Sidney, until she could fly with her back to the United States.
Mark the photographer was convinced not to press assault charges, especially since the cruise line representatives told him that if he did he would never work their cruises again. But Skyler promised again to buy him a spanking new camera and even purchase all the photos he’d taken of him and Keith.
Mollified, the man was released and the ship’s doctor declared him fit, if somewhat bruised and sprained.
With the sunrise, the ship had gotten back into the swing as if nothing had happened. They certainly hadn’t told the rest of the ship’s compliment what had transpired. Oblivious passengers were lining up to disembark to Mexico, with hats and bags. The aroma of sunscreen hung heavily in the air.
The SFC had packed their bags and were waiting to leave as well.
“You guys, you don’t have to leave,” pleaded Skyler. “You’re already here.”
Philip waved him off. “We accomplished what we came here to do. And this is your honeymoon. We have no business sticking around.”
Skyler dithered. “Well, it’s not exactly the dream honeymoon anymore…”
“Nonsense,” Philip reassured. “Keith is here. You’re unhurt. It’s still a romantic cruise, or can be again.” He leaned in. “I think, if you—ahem—put your mind to it, you can get yourselves back in the mood. But not if we’re around.”
“Do you all feel that way?”
“God, Skyler,” said Jamie. “We felt bad enough being here spying on you. It’s time for us to go. We’ll catch a flight back to Long Beach.”
“We never wanted to be here in the first place, Sky,” said Dave. “We just didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.” He put his hand on Skyler’s shoulder. “We care about you, dude. And we care enough now to leave you two alone.”
“They are right, amante,” said Rodolfo. “We will all travel together on a cruise another time. But a honeymoon comes only once.” He grabbed Skyler and kissed him once on each cheek. “Bless you and your Keith.” He raised his face to Keith. “We leave our friend Skyler in your hands.”
“I’m so glad it’s over,” said Jamie. “But I still don’t get the U of R hoodie thing.”
“It was her husband,” said Skyler absently.
Philip shook his head. “But the police were saying he had nothing to do with it.”
“She said as much. Said he was into all kinds of football. Even local college ball. Bought the shirts. I’m sure she bought the hoodie for him. It was a red herring.”
Everyone fell silent as they seemed to consider this.
Skyler sighed heavily. “I don’t know if we should continue on this cruise. Maybe the bloom is off the rose.”
Keith wore a serious expression. It wasn’t Skyler’s favorite. “If you want to leave, babe, we will.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“I’ll do anything you want.”
“But what do you want to do?”
“Anything you want.”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” cried Philip. “You obviously both want to stay. Stay! Enjoy the rest of your trip. The crisis is over. The marriage has begun. Make the most of it.”
Skyler locked eyes with Keith. “What do you think? Should we continue?”
“I’m willing if you’re willing.”
“Awww,” said Jamie. If he was a cartoon there would be hearts in his eyes. “You two, kiss and seal the deal.”
Smiling, Skyler reached for Keith. “I can go for that.” And they did.
Skyler had thought that the dynamic of the trip would be darker after all that had happened, but instead, his mood had lightened considerably, knowing that it was all over. There was no worrying when they got back that it would all start up again. It was done. The guilty party had been dragged off to jail, her hapless and clueless husband trailing after her, and his friends had left the ship. He loved them, would have accepted it if they had stayed, but he was equally glad that they’d decided to go, because now he and Keith could be alone again.
Keith, too, seemed to have sloughed off his bad mood. Skyler supposed it was his FBI training that allowed him to separate crimefighting from his personal life. He seemed relieved that Skyler had wanted to stay, and it made Skyler feel one hundred percent that he had chosen the right course.
They had staked out a place by the pool, Skyler in the shade, Keith out in the sun, his furred chest glistening from sunscreen and sweat.
Skyler had eschewed Ensenada. He didn’t want to take any chances on anything else unexpected happening. He was satisfied looking out to the harbor and enjoying the rest of the cruise from the ship.
But even as he relaxed with the latest book on his phone, he kept thinking of Macy and the possibility of others like her. Her hatred had gone so deep that she had taken the time, without her husband ever being the wiser, to plot and plan. Were there others out there, waiting to do as she had done?
“No, Skyler,” said Keith softly beside him. “I can see it on your face. You can’t worry about this. This was a one-off, a million to one chance.”
“But I ruined our honeymoon.”
Keith sat up and turned, throwing his legs over the side of the lounger, and bending toward Skyler. “You did not ruin our honeymoon.”
“But I did. We were having a perfectly good time and then this happened. And it’s all my fault. I never should have gotten into sleuthing.”
“Except that you have a gift for it.”
“I—what?”
“Sweetheart, why do you think some people go into law enforcement? Yes, some are gung-ho to right wrongs, but others are good at the puzzles. They have a gift. And so do you.”
Taken aback, Skyler considered Keith’s words, flattered by their very nature. “You think I have a gift?”
“You’ve proven it. True, at first I just felt as if you were meddling, getting in the way of my investigation. But you kept coming up with pertinent information, thinking outside the box of us veterans, finding out more in-depth clues. You cracked case after case. I actually realized it when we first went over the possible stalkers, and I really did marvel at all the crimes you solved in so short a time. It was staring me in the face. You have a gift, babe, and I told you back at the White Party—maybe reluctantly—that I would no longer stand in your way, but I’m proud to be able to help you. I really am.”
“Wow. You really think I have a gift?”
Keith laughed. “Did you think you didn’t?”
“I don’t know. It just seemed to keep bugging me until I did something about it.”
“Well, it’s obvious to me.”
“But I did screw up this last one. I thought it was the photographer.”
“An honest mistake. I would have gone for him, too.”
> “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“You’re the most insecure confident person I’ve ever met.”
“I have confidence in some things, and not others.”
Keith edged closer and said quietly, “You can have complete confidence about the spell you’ve cast over me. Because I love you so much.”
“Enough to keep sleuthing with me?”
Keith got up and sat beside him. With his arm around Skyler, he pulled him close. “Just ask, Skyler. We’re a team, you and me. Watson to your Sherlock Homo, as Jamie would say.”
Skyler smiled. “Mr. Fletcher, you say the nicest things.”
AUTHOR’S AFTERWORD
I’m a big fan of Lord Peter Wimsey, that dapper sleuth from the 20s and 30s written by Dorothy L. Sayers. In fact, I preferred him over Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple simply because he was a fully realized character with an interesting backstory, and Ms. Sayers wasn’t afraid to let him change and grow over the series, a truly modern innovation in mystery writing at the time. Poirot never changed. That’s what makes him a little boring for me. Now, in the Lord Peter Wimsey series—SPOILER ALERT—he finds true love later in the books and in the last full novel, gets married and goes off on a honeymoon. In fact, the book is called BUSMAN’S HONEYMOON, a play on the saying “Busman’s holiday,” meaning, the bus driver, even on vacation, has to drive his family around. And so Lord Peter, peer and amateur sleuth, solves a murder even when on his honeymoon. It has been called a perfectly good love story interrupted by a mystery. That was definitely the inspiration for STONE COLD FOXE, except the murder Skyler must solve is his own impending one.
I do enjoy moving the character story arc of Skyler and Keith along. It’s sometimes hard to remember—even for me—that their timeline has only moved on a year, rather than the six plus years since the first book’s release.
So, Skyler and Keith are married. What a whirlwind courtship that was! I’ve been asked whether the series will be coming to an end soon, or will I be writing them forever. I’ll confess right now that I won’t be writing them forever. At some point, we’ll have to leave the Skyboy and his friends to live their lives without us peeking through the curtains like a bunch of pervs. But not yet. I mean, this actually would have been a great place to stop. It sort of revisited all of Skyler’s cases and bookended the first novel. But I still have a bit of their story to tell, not to mention our intrepid students. Come on, they’ve got at least two years left of school before they graduate! But I am of the opinion that a series shouldn’t go on forever. You don’t want to start repeating yourself. Skyler will end someday soon, but on a happy note!
As always, there are people to thank, and two are Ashley Hranek and Holly West for helping me out with the cruise ship information. I haven’t yet been on one myself. I must remedy that someday. I’d also like to thank my copy editor, and my long-suffering husband. He reads everything I write and his comments and critiques are invaluable to me. Plus he helps me with research. Heh. Thanks, sweetie!
Remember, if you want to talk to me or ask a question, you can reach me on Facebook at facebook.com/skylerfoxe.mysteries, and on my website at SkylerFoxeMysteries.com. Don’t forget to check out the fabulous audiobooks performed by my award-winning narrator Joel Leslie, and join the Skyler Foxe Street Team! Help promote the books locally and get exclusive content, the inside scoop, and free stuff! Go to my website to sign up for that or for my quarterly newsletter. Or both!
In the meantime, the whole gang will return when Skyler discovers that Keith is pretty handy in all sorts of rooms around the house, especially when they decide to buy their first home, a fixer-upper. Skyler tries his hand at construction, but as one might predict, it all goes horribly wrong. Not just with Skyler’s stumbling attempts, but there’s something strange about this old craftsman house. Could it be haunted? Skyler isn’t one to believe in ghosts…until they find a skeleton holed up in the wall. Someone is trying to cover up an old murder with a new one! Another crime to solve in the next Skyler Foxe Mystery, FOXE IN THE HEN HOUSE.