Surfboards and Suspects

by Stacey Alabaster

  Oh my gosh. Why were there so many people on this boat?

  I looked around and tried to find Claire, but she had disappeared. Oh no. Not again.

  She’s probably gone after that Michael to save him! I thought, trying to push through the crowd. Maybe she was trying to warn him. Maybe she didn’t even care that he was guilty, she just loved him that much and wanted to run away with him.

  Then I heard the honking of horns and my legs went wobbly beneath me. Oh my gosh. Are we moving? No way, I thought at first, and kept walking. It couldn’t be possible. I called out Claire’s name again and look desperately for Michael, running out onto the deck. That was when I realized I hadn’t been imaging it. The boat was moving. It had set sail.

  We were trapped.

  Carl was shrugging and telling me that I should have checked my emails for the updated agenda.

  “I NEED to get BACK for my WEDDING,” I said to Carl, who had no sympathy for either my predicament or the fact that I wasn’t actually a passenger so I didn’t receive the passenger emails.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, this boat doesn’t stop and turn around for anyone. Not even the queen.” He looked me up and down. “And you don’t look like the queen to me.”

  I groaned and shouted in frustration.

  No, I didn’t look like the queen, but I DID look like a bride who needed to get back to shore.

  Oh, this cannot be happening.

  I spun around and saw Claire standing there, looking just about as distressed as I was that we were on a boat headed for the South Pacific with no way to get off.

  I grabbed Claire by the shoulders and shook her like she had the ability to get the boat turned around. “Troy will think that I am abandoning him at the altar!” I shouted.

  “Just calm down,” she said. “Troy will understand.”

  She may have been distraught, but she did not actually seem that pressed about getting back to shore. She seemed almost resigned to our fate as shipmates. Well, maybe she just didn’t want me to get back to shore because she was jealous. The man she was in love with was a killer and I was about to marry a millionaire. But now we were both trapped. With a killer. Everyone on the boat was.

  Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me. Heels.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It was the same sound I had heard the night Dan Millen was killed.

  I spun around to see Captain Carl standing there, his shiny black shoes with a bit of a heel clicking along the floor as he walked toward us. I looked around in a panic. Surely he wouldn’t do anything to us right there, in broad daylight! But where was everyone? Why was it that the place was crowded when you didn’t want it to be but there wasn’t a person in sight when you desperately needed it?

  Carl sneered at us. “You two just don’t know when to give up, do you?” He smiled darkly. “Looks like I’ll have to take care of you just like I did Dan.”

  21

  Claire

  “It was you?” I asked Carl, only half-surprised. “But why? Why did you kill Dan?”

  Carl let out a dry laugh. “I might as well tell you since you two won’t be alive long enough to tell anyone. You think that gas leak was an accident?” He laughed again. “I did it on purpose so we could stop here. The only problem is that I did it a little too well. I had hoped to create a little leak but instead, I broke something that had to be completely replaced.”

  “But why?” Alyson and I asked at the same time.

  “Because even though I make a lot of money as the captain of this boat, I can make even more transporting drugs.” He smiled, his perfectly white teeth practically glowing against his tan skin. “But Dan was running his own side game and was being careless. I wasn’t about to let him get us both caught.”

  Alyson looked perplexed, a look she had perfected over the years. “But why did he take my surfboard?” She just couldn’t let that go.

  “I have no idea.” Carl shrugged. “Who can understand surfers? Maybe he just didn’t like you. He definitely wasn’t the smartest one in his little group. If it wasn’t for his friend, I don’t think he could’ve pulled off any of his scams.”

  My stomach tightened. “His friend?”

  Alyson looked at me, and before Carl said the name, we both knew who it was. Michael.

  Carl’s eyes narrowed and his face grew dark. “But I’ll take care of him right after I take care of you.”

  I held my breath. We were cornered. Just before he could carry out his threat, we saw something come down hard on the top of his head. He looked at us in confusion and then his eyes rolled back. He dropped to the ground and behind him stood Michael.

  I wanted to rush to him and throw my arms around him to thank him. But Carl’s words still hung in the air. Michael was a scammer.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, taking a few steps toward me. “I really like you, Claire. I want to be with you.”

  “Enough to give all this up?” I asked.

  His silence spoke volumes. “I’m sorry,” was all he could finally say. And he genuinely looked like he was.

  When we got back to shore, the wedding party was waiting for us. Well, for Alyson. I didn’t think anyone cared that I was there. The police rushed the boat and soon, Michael and a half-conscious Carl were being escorted away. Michael looked at me one last time, and I felt sick.

  “Hey, I’m sorry about your…friend.”

  I turned around to see Matt. He looked amazing. I wanted to run to him, but it didn’t seem right—me running to my ex-fiancé as my current boyfriend was being stuffed into a patrol car. I just sighed and shook my head, not able to find any words that were suitable for the situation.

  Matt walked up to me and pulled me close for a hug. At first, I let my arms dangle to my sides, but I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped them around him and took in his scent. What had I been thinking, trying to start a relationship with Michael? Maybe I just wanted to cover up the feelings I still had for Matt. Feelings that terrified me. Or maybe I felt like somehow, I didn’t deserve this wonderful man that had his arms wrapped me. Whatever it was, I had made a mistake. But how could I tell Matt? And was it too late for us?

  Matt pulled away finally but didn’t let go. He searched my eyes for a moment. “I’ve missed this,” he practically whispered.

  “What?” I smiled. “You being here for me after I’ve nearly gotten myself killed?”

  He laughed. “Yes.” But then he grew quiet again. “Seriously though, I’ve missed being close to you. I know we decided not to get married and I know we’re supposed to just be friends, but…”

  Before he could finish, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. He pulled me closer and deepened the kiss.

  “Hey!” We heard the familiar voice calling from behind us. “This isn’t your day! It’s mine!” We turned to see Alyson, standing side by side with Troy, and both were smiling wildly. “Come on!” Alyson said, waving us over. “Let’s get this thing started!”

  The music began to play, and Alyson took a deep breath behind me as I walked down the aisle first and she followed. The star of the show. Her hair was windblown and the bottom of her dress was wet and sandy, but she looked perfect.

  I reached the end first and then turned around. My breath caught in my throat when I saw how happy my best friend looked. I glanced over at Troy. He had tears in his eyes.

  J was scattering flowers with reckless abandon and had already used up the entire basket before she even reached halfway down the aisle. She just stopped for a moment and pouted. “Aww, no fair!” But the music kept playing and she kept walking.

  Matt was standing across from me on the other side of the aisle. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe one day, we’d give the whole marriage thing another try. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

  It was strange to watch my best friend take this huge, grownup step, right in front of me, before I did, considering I was always the more ‘mature’ one. But at the same time, it felt so right, and I knew some
how that it would always end like this. Alyson, for all her quirks and foibles, was in some ways the more traditional of the two of us.

  And I still had a bit of growing up to do.

  And a lot of adventures still to take.

  “We never actually planned the honeymoon,” Troy said, laughing as the bridal party got their wedding photos taken. Matt and I were doing a silly pose together, and I was laughing as I overheard their conversation.

  I butted in and wondered if maybe I could make a suggestion.

  “Anything except a cruise ship.”

  Epilogue

  Claire

  Two Months Later

  The swings were rocking slightly back and forth in the wind now that the autumn weather was setting in.

  I hadn’t been back in this specific park for a very long time. Too many painful memories. But on that day, it seemed sweet. The leaves falling from above me hit the ground and I walked over them, hearing the crunch as I headed toward the swing set. I might be an adult, but you’re never too old to hang out on the swings.

  I took a seat and took in the view of my town.

  I was waiting for my best friend to return from her honeymoon. I had two apples with me.

  This particular park was a little out of the way of the rest of Eden Bay. It was smaller than the skate park and the flower gardens in the center of town. Closer to Eden Bay High. So not a very far walk for when you were skipping school and hiding out for the day.

  I swung my legs back and forth as I picked up a bit of pace. A couple of teenage girls wandered into the park and looked at me with suspicion.

  I glanced over at them and wondered if they were supposed to be in school. Then I remembered that it was still a school holiday and they were probably just hanging out.

  “Alyson!”

  I was so excited that I jumped up off the swing and ran over to hug her.

  She was looking very tanned.

  She told me all about her honeymoon to the islands of Far North Queensland. Turned out there had been a few boats involved after all, but only small ones that took her and Troy island to island. No giant cruise ship. The ship that had clogged up our own town for weeks had finally moved on as well, and Wells was back on the force.

  “Give me one of those,” Alyson said with a grin as she looked down at the apples in my bag.

  There was the first chill of the autumn setting in. Soon, Alyson would be off to school. Her first year of university. Big changes. And soon I would be off on an adventure of my own. Maria and Bianca were going to look after Fabled Books while J and I traveled with Matt. He had enjoyed his little stint going pro and now had several competitions lined up. I had also started writing my second novel. This time, it was a romantic suspense—two aspects of my life I seemed to know quite well.

  We wandered back over to the swing set. Alyson now had her memories of that day flooding back apparently, and she was laughing telling me about how much fun the whole thing had been. The thrill of being caught. Of annoying our vice principle. She laughed again.

  “That’s not quite how I recall it,” I said, shaking my head, still feeling like I was doing something wrong by being there, a grownup on the swing. But Alyson threw her head back and pushed herself as fast and high off the ground as she could.

  “Oh, why the heck not?” I asked with a laugh and pushed myself as well, just as high, while the two young girls stared at us shrieking like children.

  Because for just a moment, that’s what we were. And no matter who else walked into the park today, they couldn’t destroy that

  Grownup life was beckoning us. But for just a little while longer, it was just me and my best friend.

  Thanks for reading Surfboards and Suspects. I hope you enjoyed this last story with Claire, Alyson, and the folks of Eden Bay. I really enjoy these stories written from two different perspectives. If you enjoyed the story, or even if you didn’t, it would be awesome if you left a review for me on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

  That’s all I’ve got for Claire and Alyson, but I have a lot of other stories you might enjoy. Head over to Amazon and check out all of them.

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