Cruise Ship Cozy Mysteries 05 - Cruise Conundrum

by A. R. Winters

  “Who’s that?”

  “We overheard Raina talking to a supposed friend of hers—Steph. She was arranging for Andy to do her wedding photos. Maybe there’s more to it.”

  “Search for her,” commanded Cece with a wave of her hand toward the phone.

  I did as I was told, typing in the names Raina and Steph together to see what we could dig up.

  “Society Sirens?” I said to Cece. It was the name of a blog that had popped up in the search results.

  “Oh yeah. That’s good stuff. It’s a gossip site for all the socialites and celebrities, about their day-to-day lives. Not just wedding stuff.”

  “Look at this.” I pointed at the screen at an article. “‘BFFs, or BEFs? The Remarkable Up-and-Down Relationship of Steph Thatcher and Raina Wilkinson.’” I clicked through to see the article itself.

  “So were they friends or not?” asked Sam, her little nose wrinkled in confusion.

  “Frenemy’s,” said Cece knowledgeably.

  “What’s that?” I asked her.

  “Enemies to friends. Or friends to enemies. You know, like the girl at school you pretended to like, but secretly you stole her boyfriend and tricked her into following a diet that made her put on weight.”

  Sam and I both looked at Cece in wonder. We’d never done anything like that in high school. I don’t think anyone did where we grew up.

  “Unbelievable,” said Sam as she read through the article.

  “It is, isn’t it? Unbelievable how naïve you two are,” Cece said, laughing at us.

  The piece explained how the two of them were often seen ‘out’ together at various events, but that there were tons of rumors about how they secretly hated each other—they’d been love rivals, fought over exclusive apartments, and even holiday homes.

  “So what do we think?” asked Sam. “Do we think Steph paid Andy to botch Raina’s wedding photos?”

  “Maybe,” I said nodding. “But I would bet money like that is exactly what Raina wanted Andy to do to Steph’s upcoming wedding. That’s why she was offering him six figures. Not to take photos of her and her husband, but to make a fool out of Steph. Don’t you think so?”

  “Makes sense.”

  There was a buzzing from Sam’s phone, and when she looked at the screen she frowned. “Xavier and Kelly need me. I’ve gotta go. Let me know how it goes?”

  “Will do. What are you up to, Cece?”

  “After eating all that? It’s nap time, honey-bunch. Let me guess—you want to borrow this?” Cece waved her lanyard and its keycard in my direction.

  “Sure do.”

  Cece lifted the card pouch off from around her neck and placed it over mine as if she was putting a lei around my neck.

  “Don’t you lose that.”

  “Of course I won’t.”

  “Later, guys,” said Sam, giving us a wave as she hurried off.

  “I’ll be on one of the sun loungers if you need me,” said Cece with a hand over her mouth as she stifled a yawn. “Bring it back when you’re done.”

  “You sure you don’t want to come with me?”

  Cece shook her head. “I’m exhausted. And anyway, you got me in trouble last time.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. Catch you later.”

  I watched Cece as she walked over to the nearest sun lounger. As she sat down, she pulled off her shirt to reveal a bikini top underneath her housekeeper uniform. She used her uniform to cover her eyes as she lay back on the lounge chair.

  Within moments, I could see the slow rise and fall of her chest. She’d managed to fall asleep already. She must have had a lot of practice at her afternoon siestas.

  Shaking my head, I gathered the plastic plates and cutlery and tossed them all into the nearest trash can.

  Raina would be busy at whatever the photography emergency was that Sam, Kelly, and Xavier were dealing with.

  That meant I had time to look in her room and see what I could uncover.

  Chapter 30

  A lthough on its surface Raina’s VIP suite was the same as all the others I’d been in during this cruise, inside, there was a completely different atmosphere.

  She had rearranged the furniture, pushing all the sofas and other furniture up against the walls, leaving most of the large open plan stateroom empty.

  What was she doing in here? Riding a bicycle around? Dancing like she was in a club? It was bizarre.

  I scanned the living room area first. Other than the rearranged furniture, there wasn’t too much of interest, except for the dining table, which had been pushed up against the French glass windows.

  On the surface of the table were several celebrity gossip magazines. The reason they piqued my interest was because of the “creative changes” she’d made to them. I walked over to the table and examined the stack of magazines.

  All of the covers had been altered, with the aid of a knife or a pair of scissors. Eyes had been cut out of some of the faces, and on others, the teeth had been colored in with black marker. I picked one up and flicked through it. Some of the pages had been ripped out, and others had just been vandalized like on their covers. Raina certainly had issues with some of these people.

  Tossing the magazines back down on the table, I headed to the master suite. There was a vanity mirror on a dresser with a stool in front of it on one side of the room, and in front of the mirror were half a dozen different containers of pills. I picked them up, looking through them. Some were just vitamins, but there were also antidepressants, sedatives, and some ADHD medication, as well as a couple of others I didn’t recognize. A smorgasbord of Ritalin, Prozac, Adderall, and more.

  It made me feel sorry for Raina. Having to take so much medication every day just to feel normal must have been a real burden. Maybe she’d forgotten to take her meds one day, and that’s why she’d vandalized the magazines and rearranged the furniture.

  Next, I went to the closet and pulled it open. Along with the predictable rack of dresses, and neatly folded designer casual wear, was the large room safe at the bottom of the closet. Since its door was hanging open, I decided to start my search there.

  I crouched down, pulled the door all the way wide open, and peered inside. I blinked, staring in recognition at something I did not expect to see on a cruise ship.

  There was a brown leather holster. Like you put on your belt when you were carrying a sidearm. Back in Cornridge, a lot of men and a few women liked to open carry with a gun on their belt. Although I never had, I certainly recognized a gun holster when I saw one. There was no sign of the gun though, luckily.

  I rummaged around in the safe, pulling out the rest of the contents. It was a stack of papers and photos.

  Curiously, I began to rifle through the pictures. There were a whole bunch of photos of Raina—glamorous ones.

  She was alone in all the pictures. One of them was an artistic shot of her nude, riding a horse. In another, she was under a waterfall wearing a sheer chiffon shirt that draped over the curves of her body. There was one of her sitting astride a large Harley Davidson motorcycle, in tiny jean shorts and a halter top.

  There were countless more. If she wasn’t a model, she certainly fancied herself as one.

  Underneath all the photos was an envelope, a thick cream-colored one, with Raina’s name written in elaborate gold cursive on the front. I pulled out the card that was inside it to reveal a wedding invitation. It was from Steph Wilkinson. I shook my head. It was all coming together.

  “It’s all coming together, isn’t it?”

  Did I say that…?

  Of course I hadn’t. I whipped my head around to see Raina herself staring at me, the missing gun from the holster clasped between her two hands, pointed at me with a surprisingly proficient grip. It certainly looked like she knew what she was doing.

  “I was just… tidying your room…” I tried. It hadn’t worked when Cece had said it to Rick, and it didn’t work now. Raina wasn’t having any of it. In a most unladylike gesture, she spat on
the floor next to her. That was what she thought of my excuse.

  “You couldn’t mind your own business, could you?”

  I shook my head. “This is my business. The game’s up, Raina. You should put the gun down and turn yourself in.”

  She snorted derisively. “Yeah, right. What kind of idiot do you take me for? No way. Here’s a better idea: I kill you, I throw your body overboard in the night, and then I go back to my happy little life without Andy, and without you. Don’t you think that sounds like a better plan?”

  From her point of view, I’m sure it seemed like the more appealing course of action than going to jail. But from my perspective, it was completely unacceptable.

  “You’ll never get away with it! My friends, they know I came here!”

  She laughed again. “Your friends? The cleaner, and the one helping Xavier? Yeah, right. What are they gonna do? Nothing. That’s what. Sure, they could make a few accusations, and I might even be investigated. But here’s the thing—I don’t have a lawyer. I have a team of lawyers. And I’ve got enough money to make anything go away. Seriously. Including your little friends. So I would stop thinking about them, if I was you, and start thinking about how you want your final moments to go.”

  I leaned back against the closet, not sure what to do. I was trying to work out what my options were. But I couldn’t see any. I mean, I could run at her, but from the way she was holding that gun, I knew she knew how to use it. That wouldn’t get me far. Bits of me would be spread all over the inside of the closet behind me.

  “You’re thinking about your options, aren’t you? I’ll tell you what they are. You can do what I’m about to tell you, or I’ll shoot you in the face. Right now. Easy choice, huh?”

  When she put it like that, it was.

  “What should I do?” I said quietly.

  Raina was keeping a careful watch on me, her finger resting on the trigger of the gun so that she could squeeze it at any moment. Her eyes were alert, and I couldn’t see how I could do anything.

  “Crouch back down again, and reach into that safe. Right at the back, on the shelf, you should find a bottle. Pull it out.”

  I hesitated. She gave another derisive snort.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not going to shoot you in the back of the head. My dresses are in there, for goodness’ sake.”

  Charming, I thought. I did as she told me and squatted back down, reaching to the very back of safe, which wasn’t visible even from my crouching position. My hands closed around a bottle, and I slowly pulled it out. I stood back up again, turned around, and held the bottle in front of me.

  “What is it?”

  “Something to make you sleep.”

  Sleep. That certainly sounded better than getting a bullet in the head. Or the chest. Or anywhere, really.

  “Sleep?”

  Raina nodded. “Yep, I’m going to give you a choice.”

  This sounded at least a little bit promising.

  “What’s the choice?”

  “Option one, I shoot you in the head, or the chest, or whatever, and kill you bloodily, right now. But the thing is, I don’t want to do that. And you don’t want me to either, do you?”

  “No, no thank you,” I said. “Is this what you did to Andy? Give him a choice?”

  Raina snorted and shook her head at me, her eyes locked on the entire time.

  “Andy? He was a fool. He made his choice when he turned down my more than generous offer.”

  “You offered him money to ruin Steph’s wedding photos?”

  She cocked her head at me, a small smile on her face.

  “That’s exactly right. But the idiot turned me down. I even offered to make it… a little sweeter.” Her face grew dark. “He said… Jessica, whoever that is, was more sweetness than he could handle. I didn’t like that much.”

  “So you shot him?”

  “I suppose I did. It was his own fault. If he’d taken me up on my offer, it never would have happened. Now you’re not going to be so silly, are you?”

  I shook my head at her. I’d be good. I wanted to live.

  “Good, then do as I tell you. As I said, I don’t want to shoot you. It would be such a hassle. I’d have to clean up every last bloodstain in the room, and I’m sure most of my clothes would be ruined. You know, I had to throw away a very nice shirt after dealing with Andy.” She frowned at the memory of it, clearly still annoyed. Like she wanted to get further revenge on Andy, even though she’d already killed him.

  “Then let’s not do that then. What’s the other option?”

  She smiled sweetly. But it was the kind of sweetness that hid poison underneath. I shivered as I watched her.

  “There are some drawers in the closet. Open the second one from the top, and you’ll find a rather lovely silk scarf. It’s a shame, but I suppose you’re worth it, a bright girl like you. Take out the scarf.”

  I did as I was told and withdrew a rather lovely deep purple silk scarf. I rubbed it between my fingers enjoying the smoothness of it. Then I realized how silly it was to be admiring the murderess’s wardrobe choices.

  “Now what?”

  “Now, you empty the contents of that bottle onto the scarf, and then you hold it up against your face and nose, until you pass out. Got it?”

  I nodded uncertainly. “And then?”

  “It doesn’t matter what happens then, does it? You’ll be asleep.”

  I stood there holding the scarf in my left hand, and the bottle in my right, not moving.

  “Indulge me. Tell me what you’re going to do.”

  “Very well. You’re going to be passed out. Then, during the night, while you’re still unconscious, I’m going to drag you outside and throw you overboard. You’ll have a nice, peaceful, sweet death. It sure beats being blasted in the face with this little thing, doesn’t it?”

  I shook my head rapidly. “No, no, no. No, Raina, you can’t.”

  “I can’t? What, am I going to be put in time out?” She laughed again, a cruel one. “Go on. Open the bottle.”

  As slowly as I could, I followed her instructions and twisted the lid open carefully. What else could I do? I didn’t want to be shot. And the longer I dragged it out, the longer I would have to figure out a solution. Not that I was optimistic about finding one.

  Things weren’t looking good. They weren’t looking good at all.

  The only slight consolation I had was that I knew Ethan, Cece, and Sam would never let her get away with it. They’d figure it out, and all the lawyers in the world wouldn’t save her once the wrath of my friends was brought down upon her. It wasn’t much consolation though. I’d much rather carry on living.

  When the lid was off the bottle, I held it in a trembling hand.

  “Toss the cap on the floor. Scrunch up the scarf, hold it over the top of the bottle, and turn it upside down.” She stared at me pointedly. “Come on! I haven’t got all day. This gun’s getting heavy.”

  I stared at her, hoping she was going to lower it.

  “I’m not going to put it down, if that’s what you’re thinking. If you drag this out too long, I’m just going to shoot you. I can always buy another wardrobe full of clothes. Don’t worry about that.”

  “That’s not what I’m worrying about.”

  Raina let out a surprised laugh, amused by my comment.

  Robotically, methodically, I did as I was told. Soon I had the scarf covered in the strong smelling liquid that I guessed was chloroform, or something else very much like it. I’d only ever seen it in the movies, but Raina seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

  “Now sit down. Actually, lie down, on your back, nice and flat. Down there.” She gestured with the gun to the floor in front of the closet.

  Trying to be slow about it without being obvious, I lowered myself to the floor and then lay down on my back. I’d never felt so vulnerable.

  If I was going to have to go, maybe this would be the best way. Peacefully.

  “Now, hold the sca
rf above your mouth, and let it rest just on top. Nice and easy. You’ll just doze off, like you’re in an operating theater.”

  “I’ve never been in an operating theater,” I told her.

  “Whatever. Just do it.” She stepped a bit closer to me. “Actually, if I shot you now, it probably wouldn’t mess up anything in my wardrobe. Maybe I’ll do that.”

  I saw her finger tighten on the trigger, and not wanting that, not yet, I did as I was told, placing the scarf over my mouth and nose. I stared up at her, my vision blurring almost immediately.

  Within seconds, I was seeing double. One Raina standing above me, and then another darker one right behind her, arms raised over her head and a bottle in her hands.

  “Oh no you don’t!”

  There was a crack, a yell, and the sound of breaking glass. Blinking against tears, I snatched the scarf away from my mouth and tried to sit up, gasping for fresh air. Something had just happened but I wasn’t sure what.

  “Adrienne! Are you okay?”

  It was Cece. My guardian angel.

  “How…?”

  “What, do you think I’ve only got one key card?”

  Cece crouched down next to me, putting her arm around my shoulder and squeezing me as I began to sob. In front of me was Raina, unmoving on the floor, the remains of a smashed bottle of champagne surrounding her bleeding head. I stared at her, worried that Cece might have killed her. Not upset at the death, of course, but at the possible legal hassle Cece would have to deal with as a consequence.

  I breathed a little easier when I saw that Raina’s chest was slowly rising and falling. Now she was the one asleep.

  Cece kept her arms wrapped around me, talking to me. “It’s all right. Your girl was here to save you. Don’t worry—you can thank me later…”

  Cece continued to whisper sweet compliments about herself, and all the ways I could pay her back, while I continued to slowly breathe in and out, my woozy head clearing up.

  “We… did it,” I said. “We solved… the murder.”

  “Shhh. Just think of how I saved you instead. Think of how much you owe me.”

  With a breathless giggle, I let her prattle on.

  “Hot Stuff is on his way too. Take it easy now.”