by Sonia Parin
Jack.
“Tell me you’re all right,” he demanded.
Eve savored the sound of his voice. “I am now.” Jill had contacted him, just as Eve had hoped she would. “It’s all over, Jack. Don’t ask me how, but I’ve tied him up. And, surprise, surprise... not, he pleads innocence.” And, annoyingly, she wanted to hear the rest of his story.
Someone else had gone overboard? Did that mean someone else had been killed? Before or after Crystal? She and Jill had been playing around with a new theory. What if Crystal had seen something she wasn’t meant to?
“We’ve found something, Eve,” Jack said.
Eve sank into a chair.
“We searched Crystal’s house and looked through her computer. It took the tech guys some doing but they managed to get in. She took photos of the first day and emailed them to herself. At first we didn’t see anything of value, but we had a closer look... Something didn’t look right. I cross-referenced the information we have at hand. The passenger names, photos and cabin numbers.”
“Jack, I need you to give me the short version.”
“There’s a photo of a man coming out of a cabin. When we identified him using the passenger list photos, we checked his cabin number. The cabin he was photographed coming out of wasn’t his.”
Eve tried to make sense of everything Jack told her. “Why would Crystal have taken a photo of a man exiting his cabin?”
“She didn’t. She took a photo of one of the impersonators who was standing in the corridor. The man is standing in the distance.”
Frowning, Eve looked up and saw the cabin door pushed open. David appeared with Bronson hard on his heels.
David looked grim.
Eve held a finger up calling for a moment. She watched David and Bronson taking in the scene.
Eve looked down at the captain.
He’d tried to convince her someone else had gone overboard...
Turning her attention back to Jack, she said, “At some point you’re going to tell me who...” Although, she only needed Jack to confirm her suspicions.
Eve listened to Jack while she watched David helping the captain to his feet.
“Say again.”
Jack repeated the name. Eve nodded. It was the same name that had been bouncing around her head, but she still struggled to believe it.
“There is one thing I wanted to ask, Jack.” She drew in a breath and called for calm.
“What’s that?”
“Are you by any chance planning on meeting me in Florida?”
“As soon as I hang up, I’ll be on my way.”
“That’s a relief. I can’t wait to see you again.” She disconnected the call and looked up. The captain was spluttering away.
“Yes, yes. That’s enough of that,” Eve said. “David. Thank you for coming to my rescue.” She had to think fast and act even faster. “I don’t suppose you carry handcuffs on you?”
David grinned. “As a matter of fact, I commandeered a pair from one of the security guards.”
“You are so resourceful.”
He gave the kettle cord a tug. “You did a terrific job with this. What do you need handcuffs for? He’s not going anywhere.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Eve said, “May I do the honors?”
“Of course. You deserve all the credit. While you do that, you might want to tell me how you managed this.”
“The captain ambushed me along the way. I threw my phone at him and then grabbed the kettle.”
“That’s thinking on your feet.” David retrieved the handcuffs from his back pocket and handed them to her.
Eve knew she only had a small window of opportunity and she didn’t want to take any chances. “I don’t know what else I could have used to knock him out.” Using laughter as a distraction, she made quick work of slipping the handcuff on Bronson.
He instantly snatched his hand away. “What the... hey. What are you doing?” His reaction made her lose her footing.
He pulled his hand again. Eve tried to grab hold of his other hand. When she failed and saw that Bronson intended pulling again, she clamped the handcuff on her own wrist.
“Bronson Charles. I’m making a citizen’s arrest.”
“What? You’re mad.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “Why does everyone assume that about me?”
Chapter Fourteen
“Get it off me.”
Bronson yanked his arm back so hard Eve slammed against him.
“Eve.” David looked confused.
“It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” the captain said, “You’ve got the wrong man. Untie me.”
David looked from Bronson to the captain.
Pressing her hand against Bronson’s chest, Eve pushed herself off him, not that she got very far. “David. Do as the captain says.”
“Are you sure?”
She gestured wildly to the handcuff around her wrist. “You think I did this for fun. Bronson’s our killer.”
Her timing could not have been worse. In hindsight, she knew she should have waited for David to free the captain, making it three against one. But she’d had to do something. What if Bronson took someone else hostage?
“David, please hurry.”
Bronson clamped his free hand around Eve’s neck and pulled her back against him.
David now made quick work of releasing the captain. “Don’t be a fool, Bronson. Let her go.”
“That’s not going to happen. At least not until I get a firm assurance you’ll provide me with free passage off this ship.”
When in doubt... or peril, Eve thought, laugh in the face of adversity. “Yeah, that’s definitely not going to happen.”
“We’ll see who has the last laugh.”
Eve gave a brisk shake of her head. “You really had me fooled, Bronson. I thought you were one of the nice guys.”
“I am nice.”
“When you’re not pushing people off balconies. Who else did you kill, Bronson?”
“There’s no proof.”
The captain rubbed his wrists. “We’ve got you on camera. A body went overboard and you looked over the balcony.”
And then there was the proof Jack had found. “You saw Crystal take a photo of you as you were coming out of the cabin. Someone else’s cabin. This other person who went overboard. What did you do then, Bronson?” She slanted her head to face him. “Did you think the photo would tie you to the crime?”
His nostrils flared. The laughter she’d seen in his eyes before disappeared. “I had to get that photo back.”
“So you went to her cabin. Did you ask nicely?” Eve asked in a singsong voice.
“It was bad enough I had to wait for my chance. She had a string of people coming and going. When I told her to hand over the phone, she took another photo of me and she kept taking them. I had no choice.”
Eve imagined Crystal telling him to take a hike and when he refused, she took a photo of him and threatened to send it to the police. He’d pushed his way inside her cabin and had tried to snatch the phone off her. That must have been when her fruit salad turban came off.
Crystal had already emailed the photos she’d taken earlier to herself, the ones where Bronson had appeared in the background by accident. Jack had told her the email had a date and time stamp on it. It put Carlos in the clear as well as the silver Miranda Eve had seen when she’d tried to retrieve her luggage. Of course, by then Crystal had been in the water...
Crystal Reid must have been killed five minutes before midday so when Eve entered the cabin, she’d only been in the water for five minutes, still floating. Any longer and she might have sunk or drifted too far away for anyone to see.
“Did you have to push her off?”
Bronson gave her a raised eyebrow look.
She shook her head. “Why does everyone rush toward easy solutions?”
“I gave her the chance. I only wanted her phone. If she’d given me the phone...”
“What?” When
Bronson didn’t reply, Eve sighed. “Bronson, you didn’t plan any of this. I can’t have been that wrong about you. Things happen, we understand. A situation can get out of control and before you know it, you’re doing something impulsive and you think there’s no going back.”
He laughed, but not from amusement. His laughter had an underlying hint of evil.
“You think I didn’t plan it. I guess that bodes well for me. If I gave myself up and went to trial, I’d only need twelve gullible fools like you to sit in the jury and I’d walk away free.”
Although reluctant to admit to being a gullible fool, Eve decided to agree with him. “Yes, and if that doesn’t work, you could plead temporary insanity. That should reduce your sentence.”
He appeared to think about it.
“No, I’d rather not risk it. Even though I’m in the right. He had it coming.”
He?
Eve slid her gaze toward the captain.
“Steve Matherson.”
“Who... what was he to you, Bronson?”
“He’s the guy who ran me off the road. He put me in hospital for months while he walked away free. He got all his fancy lawyers to get him off the hook. He even managed to convince everyone it hadn’t been him behind the wheel.”
He’d come on the cruise to kill the man who’d run him over. The perfect crime, he’d thought having read an article about a man going overboard...
“There you go. You were driven by rage. He was guilty and he ruined your life. Anyone would sympathize with that. Don’t make this worse than it already is, Bronson.”
“It’s too late. I’m not paying for this crime. It was his fault.”
Eve silently rolled her eyes and wondered why people couldn’t accept responsibility for their own actions. They always had to blame someone else...
“Think about it, Bronson. Where will you go? You can’t run from this. The police have evidence linking you. Crystal sent the photos to her email account.”
“You’re lying.”
“She probably wanted to clear her phone because she knew she’d be taking lots of photos. And I’m not lying. I was just on the phone with Detective Jack Bradford. That’s how I knew you were responsible. The police have joined the dots and Detective Jack Bradford is not going to wait for the ship to dock. A S.W.A.T. team is on its way.”
“We’re not far off the coast now,” the captain piped in. “They’ll be here sooner than you think.”
Bronson growled. “There are boats on this ship. I saw one being unloaded when you tried to retrieve the body.” His gaze shot around the room. “You. The both of you.” He gestured toward David and the captain. “In the bathroom. Now.”
“The lock is on the inside,” Eve reasoned, “What good will that do?”
“Shut up.”
He sounded agitated. Eve didn’t want him to do anything out of desperation so she bit the edge of her lip. Whatever came out of her mouth next had to be enough to take his mind off locking David and the captain in the bathroom, but not get him angry.
“You have a whole ship at your disposal. Why settle for a small boat. You’ll have greater bargaining power. More leverage.”
“What are you saying?”
“You should take over the ship. Then the authorities will have no option but to listen to your demands. They might sacrifice one or two people but if you take the entire ship hostage—”
“The entire ship?” Bronson smirked. “When I first met you, you didn’t sound so crazy.”
“I am not crazy and neither is the innkeeper.”
“What innkeeper?” Bronson asked.
Eve scooped in a breath and shrilled, “The one standing behind you right now.”
He looked. He actually looked over his shoulder.
At the same time, Eve went limp. The moment she sensed him loosening his hold around her neck, she put one of her moves into action and aimed where it would hurt the most.
Bronson toppled over. Unfortunately, she happened to be in the way so he fell over her.
He was a tall man with a bulky build. Add to that the excess weight he had gained during his time in hospital... Eve estimated she had over two hundred pounds squashing her.
The more he squirmed in agony, the heavier he became.
She could barely draw enough breath to speak. “Argh! David. Get him off me.”
* * *
The captain had grabbed a small hand towel and was now using it as a fan. “She’s coming round.”
Eve groaned. She felt sore all over. Trying to lift her hand, she gave up and let it flop down again.
“Is it over?” she managed to ask.
“Yes. Bronson has been handcuffed properly and is now in the custody of my crew,” the captain said.
“Here, I’ll help you up,” David offered.
“Hang on. Give me a minute. This is the first real moment of relaxation I’ve enjoyed since coming on board.”
She saw the captain frown.
“No reflection on your wonderful ship. Circumstances being what they were, I didn’t have a chance in hell of relaxing.” She eased herself into a sitting position and wondered why she always ended up flat on her back. At least this time she hadn’t had a gun pointed at her.
“How are you feeling?” David asked.
Now that she thought about it, she felt slightly foolish and... gullible. If Bronson hadn’t tried to distract David, Eve would never have suspected him. “Where’s Mira?”
“Right here.”
Mira waved at her from a chair. Eve felt dreadful. She must have been so worried...
“Sorry, Mira.”
“What for? Life is never dull with you around, Eve.”
“If given the choice, I’m sure you’d opt for a different type of entertainment.”
“Not necessarily. Your spills and thrills are quite unpredictable. I never know what you’ll do next.”
“This will surprise you.”
Mira shifted to the edge of her chair.
“How do you feel about staying on and seeing the cruise to the end?”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, you still have your book reading to do. The killer has been caught. There’s no reason for us to worry.”
The captain cleared his throat.
“I suppose you want me to apologize to you.” Eve stretched her hand and David helped her up.
“It wouldn’t hurt but it’s not really necessary,” the captain said.
“Well, what was I supposed to think when you grabbed hold of my arm?”
“That I wanted to have a word with you in private? It’s what I said to you.”
He needed to work on his communication skills. “Yes, but... if you’d ran into as many killers as I have, you would have been highly suspicious too.”
“You really thought I was the killer?” The captain gave a brisk shake of his head.
“We’re even. You dismissed my suspicions as the ramblings of a mad woman.”
He cleared his throat and straightened. “I’d been prepared to apologize and acknowledge you’d been right, but I wanted to do it in private. We can’t afford to have anyone on board upset. It would only take one person to overhear a snippet for rumor to spread on the ship and create panic.”
“You might have mentioned that.”
“Eve.”
She turned to face her aunt.
“Not everyone finds the right words to say. Some people’s personalities are so immersed in their professional roles, they forget how to communicate with the average person... that’s not to say you’re average.”
In other words, her aunt wanted her to go easy on the captain.
Eve gave the captain a raised eyebrow look. “I think what my aunt is trying to say is that next time you should consider choosing your words carefully before approaching a suspicious person such as myself. I could easily misconstrue your actions.”
The captain looked slightly confused. “I suppose I owe you an apology.”
&nb
sp; Eve smiled. Her “Thank you” was drowned out by the sound of the ship’s horn.
Epilogue
“Wasn’t it nice of the captain to organize the accommodation for you? I’m so happy you decided to take him up on the offer.”
Jack put his arm around Eve. “I’m overdue a vacation.”
“We’ll have to outfit you with some proper sailing clothes. There are plenty of shops here.”
“This is the life.” Jill tucked her sunglasses in place and stretched out on her deck chair. A waiter stood nearby holding a tray of colorful drinks. “Thank you. I’ll have the pretty one with the pink umbrella.”
Eve looked at Jack. “Tell me again how Jill happened to hitch a ride with you.”
Jack gave a small shake of his head. “I’ll tell you just as soon as I figure it out myself. One moment I was on the phone telling you about the photos we’d found on Crystal Reid’s home computer and the next Jill was running around the precinct calling out my name. I guess it was easier to bring her along.”
“Oh, yes. The road of least resistance.”
“I think she’s been hanging around you too long.” Jack accepted a couple of glasses and handed one to Eve.
“So what’s going to happen with Bronson Charles?”
“That’s up to the authorities now. They have enough evidence to link him to the two crimes. Considering his history, a good lawyer will most likely try to get him a plea bargain. It’s all in the hands of the legal system now.”
One that had already failed him once...
“I can’t help feeling sorry for him. Honestly, he was a nice guy.”
“Who happened to come on board the ship with a ready made plan to kill the man he thought had ruined his life. That’s called a premeditated act.” Jack guided them toward a couple of deck chairs. “So how many people did you end up suspecting this time?”
“I went from one to ninety-nine and then back to one again. Well, strictly speaking, when I suspected the captain I thought he might have been in cahoots with Lillian Wordsworth. I guess I’m going to have to revise my tactics. It’s all well and good to be suspicious, but it can be distracting. For instance, all along I thought I saw the silver Miranda coming out of Crystal Reid’s cabin but she’d only stopped by to give her a message and when Crystal didn’t answer the door, she left. The arguments the neighbor had heard had been between Crystal and her sister...” Half-sisters, Eve had been told, and they’d never been on good terms. Eve sighed. None of it mattered now. She was on a cruise with Jack. She had to make the most of this. Once she returned to the island, it would be all hands on deck.