A Killing On The Water

by Blythe Baker

  “What’s going on?” I asked, approaching them.

  “These girls,” the nanny said, “have been laughing, talking loudly, and making all sorts of racket since they got home an hour ago. There’s a child trying to sleep across the hall. You would think their parents would have raised them to have some consideration for others!”

  “We weren’t being that loud,” one young woman—I thought her name was Erica—said.

  Another girl chimed in, “We’re on vacation, having a nice time, when this old lady starts pounding on my door and hollering at us to be quiet. She was making way more noise than we ever were.”

  The older woman sputtered and huffed before collecting herself enough to spit out, “Old lady! Really! If you don’t do something about these hooligans, I’m going to leave one-star reviews on every travel site I can find! Well?”

  I gave the woman a soothing smile. “Mrs.—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

  “It’s Ms. Greenaway,” she puffed out.

  “Ms. Greenaway,” I began again. “I’m ever so sorry about the disturbance. I’m sure these young ladies simply got carried away and forgot that the other guests would be trying to sleep at this time of the night. Isn’t that right?”

  “Well, I—” Erica began.

  “I’m sure if you go on back to bed, they’ll be more considerate from now on.”

  Ms. Greenaway stared expectantly at the other women, who finally gave their reluctant and half-hearted agreement. “Fine,” Ms. Greenaway sniffed, managing to stomp quietly back into her room and shutting the door gently.

  “I’m sorry about that,” I said to the young women.

  “Allison and I really weren’t making much noise,” Erica said.

  “I’m sure that’s true, but it’s pretty late. Her tiredness probably made it seem worse to her than it was. It’s good to be aware that you’re sharing a space, though. Do you have any special requests for breakfast?” I said, changing the subject.

  “No, thank you,” Allison said with a shrug. “We’ll just want to eat fast and get back out to where the film crew are shooting.”

  “The cute guy who’s staying here—Liam—is in charge of the filming, I think. He smiled at us yesterday,” Erica said gleefully. “I think he might ask us to be in the movie tomorrow.”

  I stopped myself from reminding her that it was only a documentary for TV, not a movie. Smiling gently, I said, “Oh, then you’ll want your beauty rest so that you’ll look your best if he does!”

  They quickly agreed and headed quietly into their rooms.

  Taking a deep breath, I started to turn toward the stairs, when a deep voice said softly, “You handled that well.”

  The filmmaker, Liam, stepped out of the shadows at the far end of the hall. He was tall and very handsome, with dark hair, pale eyes, and a gentle expression that I imagined would make people more likely to open up to him.

  I smiled. “Thank you. I’m sorry for the disturbance. Is there anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable?”

  “Have dinner with me?” he smiled hopefully.

  I paused, startled. Liam seemed nice enough but I had only exchanged a few words with the man since his arrival a week ago, mainly taking his meal requests. Had I given him the wrong impression at some point?

  “I’m sorry, I have a boyfriend,” I finally managed to sputter.

  If he was disappointed, he recovered quickly. “Well, I’ll just have to settle for an interview, then,” he said cheerfully.

  “For the documentary?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “You really want me to be in your documentary?”

  “We’d like to include a few local people telling stories about present day life on Sunrise Island and talking about how the island’s history has impacted their businesses. I’m guessing a lot of the tourists who stay at your B&B are attracted to the island’s history, the tales of how it used to be a haven for smugglers and pirates in the old days?”

  I nodded. “That’s true. There’s a lot of interest.”

  “Perfect, then. Will you do it?”

  “I suppose I will, if you think I’d be okay.”

  “You’ll do fine.” He grinned charmingly. “I’d like to take you out to the boat.”

  “Oh, wow,” I said, impressed.

  The “boat” he was referring to was a replica of an 18th century pirate ship that the filmmakers had arranged to have brought to Sunrise Island to be featured in the documentary. It sat anchored in the harbor near the marina and only the filmmakers had access to it. Getting to go out on the ship would be special.

  “That would be amazing!” I said.

  “We’ll talk more in the morning. I need to get you a contract, and we can set up a time for the interview,” Liam said. “I’ll see you then?”

  I nodded. “I’ll be around after I walk Jasper.” We said our goodbyes and I returned to bed, planning to dream of handsome men on pirate ships.

  But instead, I dreamed of gray skies and stormy seas. Somewhere in the background of all my dreams was the echo of Mrs. Harris’s frantic voice crying, “My ghosts are everywhere!”

  Chapter 3

  At breakfast the next morning, I overheard part of Allison and Erica’s conversation.

  “Did I leave my tablet in your room last night?” Allison asked, tucking a strand of pale hair behind her ear.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Erica said. Her words were garbled from speaking through a mouthful of blueberry pancakes.

  “I can’t remember where I left it. I think I had it yesterday morning, but I haven’t seen it since then.” Allison sounded frustrated, so I walked over to the table.

  “Did you say you’re missing a tablet?” I asked.

  Allison nodded.

  “I’ll keep an eye out for it when I’m cleaning today,” I promised. “If I find it, I’ll leave it on your bed.”

  “That would be awesome,” she said. “Thank you so much!”

  I smiled and noticed that the Prestons had come down, so I hurried over to escort Ray into the kitchen to find something he could eat. After a lengthy discussion, he finally agreed to a banana, two egg whites with absolutely no seasoning, and some unsalted almonds. I thought Page’s head was going to explode as she watched the man walk back to the dining room.

  With Ray’s breakfast menu settled, I was able to join Liam at his table. He flashed me what had to be an award-winning smile, sipped his coffee, and slid some papers across the table.

  “It’s really a basic contract,” he said. “It gives us permission to put you in the film and retains the rights to everything we record. We use clips from the interviews for advertising, and this gives us permission to use the footage for that as well. You can have your lawyer look it over, but we’ll need to have it signed before our interview.”

  At the next table, one of the other college girls sitting with Erica and Allison gasped. It must have shocked them all that Liam would want to feature a denim-clad woman in her thirties, instead of younger women in bikinis. I hid an amused smile.

  “We won’t be able to do the interview today, anyway,” Liam continued, glancing out the window. “There’s a storm coming in, and I don’t want to risk taking the equipment out on the waves. Get those papers signed, and we’ll see how it looks tomorrow.”

  I said goodbye. When he was gone, I dropped the papers on a table in the small study off the living room. I told myself I would bring them by the local lawyer’s office after the morning cleaning was done. I walked out to the front desk to make sure the weekend schedule was in order, and Liam reappeared.

  “You haven’t seen a red camera bag, have you?” he asked. “I thought I left it in my closet, but I can’t seem to find it.” He even looked handsome when puzzled.

  “I can’t say I have,” I said. “How big is it?”

  He gestured with his hands. “About like this? It has my initials on the side. It’s not a big deal—I have plenty of others. I don’t use it
that often because it’s so small, but it was a gift from my sister, so I’d like to find it before I leave.”

  “I’ll look for it when I’m cleaning,” I promised.

  “Thanks,” he grinned, waving as he left. The rain began a few minutes later, and the Prestons plodded down the steps. Their voices were raised, presumably so they could hear each other over the clomping of their feet.

  “I want to go to the beach!” the little boy demanded when they got to the bottom of the stairs. He stuck his bottom lip out and crossed his arms over his chest. Although his size said he was around nine or ten years old, his stubborn pose and pouty expression made him look younger.

  “Maybe later, darling,” Elizabeth Preston said. “You can’t go when it’s raining.”

  Ms. Greenaway carried her knitting into the living room and sat primly on a sofa. Her long, tightly-buttoned dress was dark green today. I wondered if she wore a corset underneath, and that was why she was so grumpy all the time. I bit back a smile before anyone noticed.

  Elizabeth pulled something from her purse and handed it to her son. “Have a chocolate and be a good boy for Ms. Greenaway.” She kissed his cheek, wiped away the smudge of lipstick she’d left there, and went to take her husband’s arm.

  “We’ll be back soon, Jacob,” Ray said. “We’re going to see if there’s anything suitable to do on this…island.” His nose scrunched up as he spoke. Sniffing, the couple turned and left.

  Jacob glared at me for a moment before stomping into the living room and throwing himself onto a chair.

  I took that as my cue to head upstairs. I reminded myself to look for Allison’s tablet and Liam’s camera bag as I began straightening up. Each of the rooms were decorated using a different dominant color, and the door handles had been painted to match. There were six guest rooms, with the three slightly smaller rooms in a row on one side. These rooms only had one bed and were intended for single guests or couples to stay in.

  Liam was staying in one of these, the grey room, which had a slightly more modern feel to the décor than the rest of the B&B, with pale grey walls and darker grey curtains and duvet. It had a sleek black bed, armoire, and desk and a black, grey, and white patterned carpet. I changed out the sheets and towels, remaking the bed before running the vacuum over the carpet. I looked under the bed and in the closet for Liam’s camera bag but didn’t see it, so I finished cleaning and restocking the supplies and moved on to Allison’s room next door.

  Allison was staying in the yellow room, which had a gorgeous white four-poster bed with matching dresser and desk and a feminine yellow-flowered duvet. I spent extra time cleaning her room and Erica’s green room in hopes of finding the missing tablet. It was nowhere to be found, so I moved more quickly through the pink room across the hall shared by a couple of other college students, and then I finished with the Prestons’ cream and blue rooms. The rooms on this side of the hall were slightly larger, with two full-sized beds to accommodate families or groups.

  Trying to ignore the occasional shouts and crashes from below, I finished cleaning and stocking the rooms and dropped the dirty sheets and towels down the chute for Page to wash. I tied the bags of trash closed and set them inside the storage room to take out on my way back down. Then, I went upstairs to check on Mrs. Harris.

  The old woman wasn’t in a talkative mood, but sat staring silently out the attic window. At least, she seemed calm and she wasn’t going on about ghosts this morning. That had to be a good sign.

  I gathered a few dirty tea cups and carried them down to the kitchen. I ran the hot water and poured in the soap, and then took my time washing and rinsing the mugs. I stretched to set the clean dishes on a towel because Jasper was napping on my feet, and I felt bad disturbing him over dishes. I heard Ms. Greenaway and Jacob thumping back up the steps as I worked, so I headed into the living room to straighten up after drying and putting away the mugs.

  On the floor were three small figurines of children wearing scarves and mittens. They could be arranged with a few of the other knickknacks on the shelves to show a friendly snowball fight. The children were a matched set—including the fact that the head of each was now broken off. The patterned pillows from the chairs and sofas had been tossed on the floor, and the curtains were pushed every which way. Glad that Page was on a grocery run and wouldn’t see the mess, I put everything back in place and took the figurines into the kitchen.

  I tried to call Mason while I glued the heads back on, but all I got was his voicemail. I frowned, glued the last head on, and waited for Page to return.

  When she got back to hold down the fort, I decided this was a good time to run into town. I left Jasper behind, shutting him in the kitchen to keep him from tracking muddy paw prints through the living room. The rain had tapered off again for now and I needed a little exercise anyway, so I put the contract Liam had given me into a bag slung across my back and hopped onto my bicycle. Then I headed on over to the lawyer’s office near Main Street.

  The lawyer, Jose Sandoval, photocopied the contract to look over that afternoon. He seemed busy, his dark, balding head nodding over his cell phone the whole time I was in his office, but he promised to look over the contract and call with his thoughts before dinner.

  On a whim, I headed to the diner by the General Store to grab lunch before going home.

  “Where’s Jasper?” Nancy, my usual waitress asked. The diner staff usually looked the other way when Jasper was with me. I’d caught a few of them slipping him table scraps when I was distracted.

  “I left him at home in the kitchen,” I told her. “We have some people staying with us who would have a fit if they saw any hint of muddy paws trailing through the living room.”

  “Snobby couple? He’s tall, she wears too much lipstick?” Nancy stuck her pencil behind her ear while she talked.

  I nodded. “Sounds like them.”

  “They were in here a while ago.” She rolled her eyes. “Nothing was good enough for them. The coffee was too hot, the muffin was too hard, and there was nothing at all that he could eat. He’s got—”

  “Delicate digestion,” we finished together.

  She chuckled. “Have fun with that pair. I don’t know why they’d bother coming to Sunrise Island if there’s nothing here for them.” She shook her head and retrieved her pencil. “Anyway, what can I get you?”

  I ordered the soup and salad special, and Nancy hurried off to help a group of people who were clearly in town working on the documentary. I waved when I caught Liam’s gaze, and he winked in response. I looked down to hide my blush.

  When the food came, I ate slowly, savoring the flavors of the apple and spinach salad and butternut squash soup and putting off returning to the B&B. The gray sky hadn’t cleared, so Jacob and his nanny most likely hadn’t left. There was no telling what I’d be walking into. When I couldn’t put it off any longer, I hopped on my bike and peddled the short distance home.

  When I stepped indoors, the first thing I heard was one of the eerie wails that sometimes came from Mrs. Harris’s room in the middle of the night. It was good to have confirmation that the sound really did come from the woman and not from the manifestation of the leftover energy of one of Sunrise Island’s less law-abiding former residents.

  The cry was followed by a different, shriller sound, like the terrified shriek of a child. Jacob?

  I ran up the stairs to find the boy in the hallway, clutching a jar of colorful marbles while hiding behind Ms. Greenaway, who was faced off with Mrs. Harris.

  “You’re followed by a dark cloud!” Mrs. Harris howled at Ms. Greenaway. “The ghosts have seen it all. That boy,” her crooked index finger extended toward Jacob, “brings darkness in his wake. An evil time is upon us.” She stepped closer to Ms. Greenaway. “Protect yourself! You too will be overtaken by the darkness!”

  Chapter 4

  Mrs. Harris looked up as I approached, and her face suddenly crumpled. “He took my marbles!” she cried, again pointing a bony finger
at Jacob.

  Apparently recovering from his fear, Jacob set the jar down at her feet. “Have your stupid marbles back, then,” he said with a huff, before stomping off into his room. Ms. Greenaway followed, glaring back at me before closing the door behind her.

  I picked up the marbles and helped Mrs. Harris back up to her room, not because she needed my help but because I wanted to make sure she went there without any detours into the guest rooms.

  “That child brings darkness!” she kept declaring in her gloomiest voice. “It’s an evil time for us all!”

  I got her settled in, and she seemed to calm down when she saw her marbles safely on their shelf again, so I escaped to the kitchen to see what Page was doing.

  “The Prestons made an impression at the grocery store,” she said when I walked in.

  “Hello to you too. How’s your day going?” I responded, rolling my eyes.

  Page ignored my sarcasm. “The Prestons came in when I was at the store this morning, complaining about how there’s nothing to do or to eat on the island. Then, the woman almost knocked over a display of melons when they didn’t have the kind of apples she wanted. I thought the manager was going to call Shep to come arrest her!”

  “They were at the diner, as well,” I told her, shaking my head. “Nancy said they made a scene there, too. It’s amazing how some people think having money allows them to act however they want.”

  Nodding at the growing row of repaired knickknacks on the windowsill, Page said, “I see the kid has been at it again.”

  “Yeah, didn’t you hear the racket a while ago? He tried to steal Mrs. Harris’s marbles.” I rubbed my temples, trying to convince my head to stop pounding.

  “I heard it. I was ignoring it. Besides, that woman lost her marbles years ago,” Page muttered.