by Kathi Daley
“Does anyone know where Harris is?” Connie asked. “He is the president of the company. He really should be here if there is some kind of problem.”
“Evan told me that both Harris and his wife are sick, so they are staying in their cabin today.” I had told them the truth, if not the whole truth.
“He did look pale last night, and Dotty looked awful,” Yvonne said.
“Is that what is behind the route change?” Cynthia screeched. “Does Harris have some sort of deadly virus? Have we all been exposed? Are we all going to get sick?”
“I don’t know for certain,” I answered, “but I don’t think that is what is going on. Is anyone else feeling ill?”
Everyone said they felt fine.
“You said you spoke to Evan. Where is he?” Connie asked.
“He is on the bridge talking with the captain. I’m sure he is in there getting the answers we need.” I gave Ty a look that I hoped served both to provide support and an apology that I was about to leave him to answer questions on his own. “I don’t know much yet, so I’m going to ask you all to be patient. Mac and I are going to go down to the kitchen to help Trevor with breakfast. Help yourselves to coffee and we’ll be right back.” I grabbed Mac’s arm and headed toward the stairs.
“You know something,” she said as we trotted down the stairs.
“Lucy is dead. She has been since yesterday. I haven’t found the body—I suspect it was tossed overboard—but her ghost is on board, or at least it was last night.”
“Someone murdered her?”
“I think so. She doesn’t remember. Alyson and I are still trying to sort that out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I might have been able to help.”
“I wanted to. In fact, I had a plan to get you alone today to tell you all about it. I only found out about Lucy after dinner, and you and Ty had already retired for the evening. I still might have come knocking on your door, but I couldn’t very well tell you about my seeing a ghost with Ty standing right there.”
We slowed as we reached the bottom level. I glanced at the door that led to the engine room and bridge. The door was still closed.
“Okay, so Lucy is dead. What else is really going on?” Mac asked.
I started down the narrow hallway toward the kitchen. “According to Alyson, neither Harris nor his wife are in their cabin, as Evan assured me they were. I suspect they may be dead as well, although I have no way of knowing that unless their ghosts show up, which is actually sort of unlikely, because most souls don’t linger here on earth. Alyson also said just a few minutes ago that all the cabins were empty, yet I didn’t see Evan’s wife, his assistant, or her plus-one on the upper decks. I don’t suppose you’ve seen them?”
Mac said that she hadn’t. I sure hoped they weren’t dead too. Perhaps Evan had allowed them to debark before the ship headed out to sea yesterday. If he had stopped to let the ship’s crew off, which I hoped is what had actually occurred, it sort of made sense that he’d allowed his wife, his assistant, and her date to leave the vessel as well.
“Alyson said that Evan is on the bridge with two men Trevor and I are pretty sure weren’t part of the original crew,” I added. “The door is locked. I don’t know what happened to all of them. Hopefully, they were escorted off the ship when we were docked, but at this point I have no idea.”
“This is just too crazy,” Mac said as we entered the kitchen, where Trevor had a wonderful-smelling feast ready to transport in chafing dishes.
“Tell me about it,” I said. “We need to get the group upstairs fed and, hopefully, pacified for a bit. Trevor and I plan to try to figure out what in the heck is going on after that. We need your help. You can tell Ty the truth, or you can make up a lie. Just tell him something so that you are able to spend the day with us.”
“Of course. I’ll talk to Ty. We’ll figure this out.”
“Cell phones and internet aren’t working, so we’re on our own. Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone about Lucy or the missing passengers.”
“I won’t. I know what to do. Let’s get this food served before it gets cold.”
Chapter 9
It was while everyone was eating that Evan came into the dining room to address us. He started off by saying that he was needed downstairs and only had a moment. He informed the group that Harris and his wife had both come down with a virus, and that Claudia, Lisa, and Brody, had contracted it as well. He explained that all of those who were showing symptoms had been quarantined to their staterooms, as had most of the ship’s crew, which was what ship policy dictated in situations like this. He assured us that while highly contagious, it didn’t seem the virus was deadly, and he encouraged everyone to voluntarily quarantine themselves if they began to feel ill.
Clint asked the reason the ship was headed out to sea. Evan replied that they were taking precautions until they had additional information about the virus, which was not at all what he’d told Trevor and me earlier. In my mind, the man was clearly guilty, guilty, guilty. Evan concluded by telling us we were welcome to any food or drink we could find, and that he would keep us updated as new information was available. Then he headed back downstairs.
The group as a whole seemed to have decided to spend the day in their cabins, away from one another, to prevent spreading infection, just in case any of us had already been affected. Most everyone finished their meal before heading back to their staterooms. That was fine with me. It meant Trevor, Mac, Ty, and I could investigate without them in the way.
“Okay, so Evan totally lied,” I started off. “He told Trevor and me that the change in route was planned to provide a change of scenery, and he just told the others it was because of the virus some of the passengers had contracted.”
“Why would he lie?” Ty asked.
“I’m not sure yet, but I intend to find out.”
“Did it seem to you that the others took the news better than they probably should have?” Mac wondered. “I mean, the ship, which was supposed to have stayed close to land at all times, is now in the middle of the ocean on its way to some unknown destination.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “People were curious about what was going on, but I didn’t sense panic, and not one person asked about a doctor or inquired about what was being done to prevent further outbreaks. We know the virus is a ruse, but they don’t. It seems there should have been a lot more questions.”
I glanced at Ty, who was frowning at all of us. “I feel like you all know something I don’t,” he said.
I glanced at Mac. She took Ty by the hand. “Let’s have a seat.”
I wasn’t sure whether she wanted Trevor and me in on her conversation with Ty, but then she invited us to sit down with them, and we did.
“There is a lot more going on than Evan led the group to believe,” Mac said. “Yesterday, Trevor and Amanda discovered that Lucy is dead. Most likely murdered. They have been looking into things behind the scenes, and now it seems that there are a lot of people missing from the ship too.”
“I thought Lucy had an emergency and got off the ship in Port Townsend.”
“That is what Harris told everyone,” Mac said. “But then Amanda found out that Lucy had not debarked as we were told but was, in fact, dead. It was at that point that things got very complicated.”
“Found out?” Ty looked at me. “How did you find out that Lucy was dead? Did you find her body?”
“No,” I admitted. “We think she was tossed overboard, although to be honest, we aren’t even sure of that.”
“So again, I have to ask, how do you know she is dead?” There, I realized, was the question I’d been expecting. I glanced at Mac.
“Amanda can see ghosts,” Mac said.
Ty didn’t respond right away, but he didn’t freak out either. I guess that was a good sign.
He looked at me. “You can see ghosts?”
I nodded.
“All ghosts?”
“No. Just the
ones I am supposed to help.”
“Have you always been able to see ghosts?”
“No.” I sighed. “It started when I moved to Cutter’s Cove when I was a teenager. I was able to see the ghost of the man who lived in the house my mom and I bought and, with Trevor and Mac’s help, I was able to help him get the answers he needed to move on. Since then, I have seen a lot of ghosts, and the three of us have done our best to help them as well.”
Ty narrowed his gaze. “I see. So you saw Lucy in ghost form?”
I nodded. “Last night. After the reception. She was standing on the top deck looking at a boat that had tied up to this ship.”
“A boat?”
I nodded. “When I approached Lucy, she was staring at something in the water. Eventually, I realized there was a boat tied up to this ship. I saw two individuals cross over to the ship and then, a while later, I saw four people leave this ship and board the smaller boat.”
“Did you see who was coming and going?”
“No. It was dark. I could only see forms, not faces.”
“Did Lucy know who was transferring between the two vessels?”
“No. I think she was somewhat dazed. In fact, she didn’t realize that she was dead at first, but she knows now.”
Ty looked around. “Is she here? With us?”
I shook my head. “She is lurking around somewhere, but she isn’t here right now.”
“Does she know what happened to her?” Ty asked.
“No. She can’t remember. It isn’t all that unusual for a newly dead soul to block out the details of their death, especially if they were brutally murdered.”
“Does she remember anything at all? Like who killed her?”
I answered Ty’s question. “The last thing she remembers was being at the meeting Harris called yesterday morning. A lot of money had been embezzled from the company and they needed to figure out who did it. She seemed to think that the reason Harris called the meeting was to smoke the thief out. She doesn’t remember anything after that.”
Ty raised a brow. “So you know about the money?”
Now it was my turn to frown. “You know about it too?”
Ty nodded. “When I did the computer updates, I noticed some discrepancies. I brought those discrepancies to Harris’s attention, and he promised to look in to them. I think part of the reason he gave me the tickets to this cruise was because I helped him find a leak in the organization. I was sworn to secrecy and promised not the mention the missing money to anyone, which is why I never brought it up to any of you. Harris identified two people as being behind the missing money and fired them. He told me that he planned to replace the money his investors were out with his own fortune and was taking steps to prosecute those involved. I thought the whole thing was over, but if he called an emergency meeting yesterday, he must have found additional withdrawals.”
“Lucy found more money missing,” I confirmed. “Hundreds of millions of dollars that should have been invested on behalf of their customers but never was.”
Ty let out a long whistle. “Damn. Did Lucy say anything else? Did she say who Harris suspected of taking this money?”
“No. I don’t think she knew. She made it sound as if Harris didn’t know, but I think it might have been Evan.”
“Evan?” Ty seemed surprised by that suggestion. “Why would Evan steal from the company? He is the vice president, and he makes a heck of a good salary.”
“I don’t know. But there’s more.”
“Go on,” Ty said.
“Trevor and I spoke to Evan this morning. He heard us knocking on Harris’s cabin door and came out to say that the reason the ship had been taken out to sea was to mix things up a bit, that the change in itinerary had been planned from the beginning. I asked about the ship’s crew and he said they weren’t around because they hadn’t wanted to go as far north as they planned, so they’d gotten off the ship at the last port, that a new staff was lined up and would be picked up along the way. He did say that both Harris and his wife were sick and planned to stay in their cabin. I have since been able to confirm that their cabin is unoccupied. Evan didn’t mention Lisa and Brody to us at all, but their cabin is unoccupied as well, so I think they might have met with the same fate as Harris and Dotty.”
Ty’s voice rose slightly. “You think Evan killed all these people?”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that yesterday, Harris told everyone that Lucy and Lance had left the cruise at Port Townsend. I know that Lucy is dead. I don’t know where Lance is or whether he is alive or dead, but their stateroom has been completely cleaned out. Add that to the fact that Evan told us that Harris and his wife were ill and staying in their cabin, which is empty, and I can only come to the conclusion that he is behind whatever is going on.”
“How do you know the staterooms aren’t occupied?”
I decided not to bring Alyson into the picture just yet. “I broke into all the rooms and took a look around while Trevor was making breakfast. I felt like I needed to get a feel for the overall situation. I found all of them completely unoccupied, including the crew cabins. I am fairly certain that the only people currently on this ship are the four of us, Evan, Bret and Cynthia, Connie and Jason, Shelley and Vinnie, Clint and Yvonne, and the two men who appear to be piloting the vessel.”
No one said a word after I finished. I think everyone needed to take a moment to work through my words and our situation in their own minds. It was a pretty crazy set of circumstances that we’d woken up to this morning.
Ty looked at me. “So what do we do?”
“I’m not sure,” I answered. “There is no cell or internet service. I checked.”
“I have a satellite phone,” Ty volunteered.
“Mac does too. The signal is blocked. I do think you should try yours, of course, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope. I called a cop friend last night and filled him in on what I knew at that point. He knows I can see ghosts, so I was able to share the details of Lucy’s demise with him, and he was going to look in to some things for me. He promised to call me back this morning, so I hope when he can’t get through, he or other law enforcement will come looking for us. He knows which ship we are on and where we were supposed to be sailing. He won’t know about the changes, but Woody is a smart guy; he’ll figure it out.”
“I met him. At your house,” Ty reminded me.
“That’s right, you did. I think all we can do right now is try to keep everyone contented and safe and wait for someone to save the day.”
Mac ran a hand through her thick, curly red hair. “It seems if Evan hijacked the ship, he most likely is following some predetermined plan. Where do you think he is heading?”
“International waters,” Trevor said. “It makes sense. If he was the one to embezzle the funds and he found out that Harris realized there was more going on than whatever had been attributed to the two fired employees, I’d say he might have arranged to get out of the country. We could be meeting up with another ship he plans to transfer on to.”
“And then what?” Mac said. “What will happen to us?”
I was sure that we all realized that if Evan managed to make his connection, we’d be witnesses in need of elimination.
“We need to figure out a way out of this before he makes his connection, if that is, indeed, what is going on,” I said. “We need a plan. I am not ready to die and I don’t think any of you are either, so I suggest we get to work.”
Chapter 10
After we had finished bringing Ty up to speed, I checked in with Alyson. I went into the cabin bedroom and called to her. She materialized, appearing to be happy and relaxed, unlike pretty much everyone else on the ship.
“So, what is going on with Evan?” I asked. “Were you able to listen in on any of his conversations?”
“I was.” Alyson nodded. “It seems that he and the two men sailing this ship are trying to meet up with someone. It sounds as if a rendezv
ous point has been established, but they are having a hard time with the ship’s navigation system. To be honest, I think they’re lost. They don’t seem to have a clue as to what they are doing. If I had to guess, not one of them has operated a ship like this in that past.”
Well, wasn’t that just wonderful?
I took a deep breath to try to calm my nerves. “So neither of the men I overheard on the bridge are real captains?”
“They don’t seem to be.”
“Did you happen to overhear their names?”
Alyson shook her head. “They didn’t use names at all when I was listening in. Their English is broken and I couldn’t make out every single word but one of them did mention the name of someone they were planning to pay off when this journey was over.”
“And who was that?”
“Andrei. They didn’t say much more about him other than to comment that it would be good to get him off their backs.”
“So, what you are saying is that Evan seems to have hijacked this vessel and has headed out to sea with two men who don’t have a clue how to navigate it.”
“That is exactly what I am saying. The three of them are arguing back and forth about the fact that they seem to be lost. Everyone is blaming everyone else. It’s total chaos down there.”
“Wonderful.” I groaned. “As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.” I bit my lower lip. “Is Lucy around? I think it might be time for her to move on. Her body isn’t here, as far as Trevor and I can tell, and if we can’t find it, it is unlikely we will be able to discover exactly how she died. With everything else that is going on, I’m not sure we can prove who killed her or why, although I suspect that Evan had something to do with her death.”
“I’ll see if she’ll come talk with you,” Alyson offered. “Maybe if you let her know what is going on now, she will either remember something or decide that it ultimately doesn’t matter and move on of her own free will.”
