Murder Times Two

by Diana X Dunn

  “Your usual?” he asked as she slowly crossed the room in her spiked heels.

  “Sure,” she drawled lazily, mimicking the effects of a day spent drinking in the hot sun.

  She sipped the cold drink and then turned slowly away from the bar. “Just the two of us?” she wondered out loud, but the words were hardly out of her mouth when the door opened again.

  Henry Martin rushed in, looking around quickly. “I’m not last, then,” he gasped, clearly worried that he might be.

  “Not even close,” Suzy assured him as she took in yet another boring gray suit, white shirt and black tie combination that seemed to be all that the man owned. At least it was easier to look at than Randy’s ensemble.

  The door swung open again and Chrystal slithered into the room, clinging vine-like onto Max’s arm. Behind her, Suzy heard a glass shatter as Randy spotted the couple.

  “Good evening, Max,” Henry rushed over to greet their host.

  Max looked around and smiled vaguely at everyone. “Can I get a drink?” he spoke in the general direction of the bar, without addressing Randy directly.

  Randy said nothing as he quickly mixed up Max’s customary beverage.

  Chrystal smiled silkily. “Something for me as well, please. I’m sooo thirsty.” She leaned in to whisper something to Max that made him smile and Suzy could feel the anger radiating off of Randy behind her.

  The door swung open yet again and Peter Palmer entered, breaking a bit of the tension. Captain Grayson followed immediately behind him, his military bearing and immaculate uniform drawing even more attention to Peter’s rumpled and ill-fitting suit.

  “Don’t you own another suit?” Chrystal snarled at Peter. “You’ve worn that tatty brown one every day since you arrived.”

  Peter flushed. Clearly his charm offensive on Chrystal wasn’t working as well as he’d hoped. “I thought I was only staying one night when I got here,” he defended himself. “Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.”

  Suzy noted with interest the nasty grin that spread over Henry’s face as Peter finished speaking. It was a surprising look from the normally bland man.

  At precisely six-thirty everyone began to make his or her way toward the table that was set for eight. Chrystal immediately seated herself to the right of their host, angering Randy even more. He waited a moment for Max to say something and then, when Max remained silent, he tossed his head and deliberately sat at the far end of the table, as far from the couple as he could be.

  Suzy quickly dropped into a chair next to him, with Captain Grayson grabbing the chair on the other side, leaving the two business rivals to fight for the chair opposite Chrystal on Max’s other side.

  Max waved at the coveted seat. “Leave this one for Genifer,” he told the men.

  Suzy caught Randy’s eye and raised an eyebrow. Even Genifer didn’t normal break the house rules. As Marta bustled in with the soup course, the door swung open and Genifer arrived in her typical style.

  She pushed the door open and stood, dramatically poised and silhouetted in the door frame for a moment before she tossed her head and took a few steps into the room. Her hair, which extended down her back nearly to her waist, had been dyed red today, and her eyes were colored a brilliant green. Her dress was black lace and fit her like a second skin, accenting every generous curve and graceful hollow.

  She didn’t look a day over twenty, although Suzy knew she was much closer to thirty than she would probably admit. Still, Suzy had to acknowledge that she looked stunning and even Randy, who was really only interested in men, gave her a second look.

  “Wow, if she wasn’t Max’s kid, even I might be tempted,” Randy whispered as Genifer glided past them to take her place next to her father.

  “You wouldn’t have a chance,” Suzy shot back with a wink to soften the cutting remark.

  “Too true,” Randy sighed. “I guess I’m not good enough for either of them anymore.”

  Suzy shushed him. “Max loves you. He’s just playing with Chrystal,” she told him. “You get like this every time he finds a new playmate.”

  “I think this one is different,” Randy moaned.

  “You always say that,” Suzy chuckled, even though she agreed with him this time.

  Marta scurried around, serving soup and then salad and then a succession of other courses that were all delicious and, no doubt, dreadfully fattening. With each new course came bottle after bottle of the finest wine. Suzy tried hard to resist clearing her plate with every course, but staying on Martha’s good side was at least as important as her waistline.

  At the top of the table, Genifer and Chrystal seemed to be having a contest to see who could eat the least, both using their forks to push their food around their plates, but not actually consuming more than a random bite. Chrystal didn’t seem to care in the slightest what Marta thought of her, and Genifer had so much history with the older woman that Marta would love her no matter what.

  “I guess you can’t eat anything if you are going to fit into that dress,” Suzy remarked to Randy, watching Genifer push away yet another plate of barely touched food.

  “You manage to eat and you look wonderful,” Randy told her.

  “I’m going to have to hit the gym in the morning,” she replied ruefully. “Otherwise I’m going to have to go shopping for bigger clothes.”

  On her opposite side, John Grayson was focused on eating. He politely squashed any attempts at conversation that Suzy made, instead forking up his food with deliberate motions. His eyes never left Chrystal as he chewed.

  Henry made a few tentative stabs at conversation, first with Max and later with anyone who might respond, but for the most part no one spoke. Peter kept his head down, pointedly ignoring everyone.

  Chrystal occasionally whispered something to Max that made him smile or mutter a quick reply, but as everyone waited for dessert to be served, Suzy couldn’t remember a meal she had ever eaten that had been less convivial.

  As Marta headed away to bring in the dessert, Max cleared his throat and stood up.

  “Today is a very special day,” he told everyone. “Today we are celebrating my lovely daughter’s birthday.”

  “Oh, Dad, really?” Genifer rolled her eyes. “Like I want to be reminded that I’m getting older?”

  Randy stifled a chuckle.

  “Don’t be silly, darling,” Max patted her arm. “You look more stunning and younger every day.” Genifer rolled her eyes.

  “Anyway,” Max continued, “I had Marta prepare you a birthday cake. Just like the ones you used to have when you were a little girl.”

  Genifer raised a single eyebrow at Max. “Seriously? Like I would eat birthday cake?”

  Max flushed under her gaze. “Honey, come on, I thought you might like an old-fashioned birthday cake just like Marta always used to make you. You loved them when you were a little girl.”

  Genifer sighed deeply and cast a despairing look down the table at the others. “And now I suppose I shall have to pretend to be deeply touched by your thoughtfulness and actually eat a bite or two of the stupid cake so that I don’t hurt your feelings?”

  Chrystal laughed harshly. “Wow, spoiled much, are we?”

  Max frowned down at her and then at his daughter as well. “Never mind,” he told Genifer. “We don’t have to have the cake. You don’t have to pretend anything with me. Any time you want to go on out there and get a job and look after yourself, you feel free to do so.”

  Genifer shook her head. “It always comes back to that, doesn’t it? If I don’t like it here, if I don’t follow the rules and do what you want, then I have to go and get a job and work and stuff. I still don’t understand why Mom and Dad didn’t just leave all their money to me, instead of leaving it to you so you could raise me. It isn’t like you didn’t already have plenty of money of your own.”

  Randy gasped from his seat beside Suzy. “It is getting ugly in here,” he hissed under his breath.

  Suzy could see
fire in Max’s eyes as he looked at Genifer. “Your mother didn’t trust you to not simply spend every penny on wasting your life or buying yourself an unsuitable husband,” he told the girl. “You were only eleven when she and your father died and your mother could already see what sort of adult you were going to be. She didn’t trust you with a single penny, and I think she was absolutely right. As for your father, well, none of the money was his, remember? He married my sister for her money and then got her killed chasing the sort of wild adventure that he couldn’t have afforded without her.”

  Marta shuffled in now with a large iced birthday cake that had “Happy 29th Birthday Genifer” written on it in bright pink icing. Genifer took one look at the cake and then jumped up from the table and ran from the room. Max sat back down and frowned down the table at his guests.

  “I’m sorry you had to witness that little exchange,” he said after a few moments of awkward silence.

  Everyone rushed to assure him that they didn’t mind, of course, but Max was clearly upset. Marta took the cake away and returned a moment later with bowls of chocolate mousse for everyone. As everyone picked at the dessert, the awkward silence returned.

  While Marta was clearing away the last few dishes, Chrystal leaned toward Max. “You know, I think maybe you need a break from all of this.” She spoke softly, in an intimate tone, but made sure she was speaking just loudly so that everyone else could hear what she was saying.

  “What are you suggesting?” Max asked her.

  “Let’s dock at SunInc and get a villa, just the two of us. Let’s get away from Genifer and all the work stuff and your old friends.”

  Max studied her for a moment and then looked down the table at the others. For a moment no one spoke as they all considered what Chrystal had said.

  “Really, Max, we need to sort out a few things before you consider such a proposal,” Henry was the first to jump in.

  “I’ve got a few more little issues to straighten out with you as well,” Peter threw in. “We can sign everything tomorrow morning, if you’re really eager to get away.”

  Henry glared at Peter, who looked back at him unperturbed.

  Randy had turned bright red as Chrystal spoke, presumably furious about being lumped into the old friends category. He and Max had been lovers for several years and had even considered a legal commitment or marriage. Now this artificially enhanced blonde was threatening to come between them.

  “A villa at SunInc?” Randy interjected. “Ghastly.”

  “So you won’t mind that you aren’t invited,” Chrystal glared at the man who was her rival.

  Suzy stood up and stretched, catching Max’s eye as she did so. “I’m not a huge fan of SunInc, either,” she said, her tone making the destination sound as tacky and undesirable as it actually was. “Still, I suppose it makes a change.”

  “And why exactly are you even here?” Chrystal snarled at her. She knew that Suzy was also a potential rival, even if Max mostly ignored her.

  “Max and I are old and very dear friends,” Suzy replied with a grin. “We have several friends in common. We grew up in similar circles.”

  Chrystal frowned at the implied insult. Suzy knew that she hadn’t grown up with rich parents who spoiled her, like Max had. Suzy’s fake history gave her a similar background. Chrystal, on the other hand, had had to work for everything she had in the world. Right now, the most important thing she had was Maximilian Hart’s attention. She wasn’t going to let anything stop her from capitalizing on that.

  “Well, maybe you’d like to go and spend some time with one of your other friends for a few weeks,” Chrystal suggested. “Leave Max and me to have some alone time.”

  “Maybe,” was all that Suzy was willing to reply.

  Captain Grayson stood up. “Are there any instructions on course changes, sir, or should I just keep us moving as usual?”

  Max frowned. A whispered remark from the woman next to him seemed to make up his mind. “Set a course for SunInc,” he told the Captain. “It will take at least twenty-four hours to get there. That should give me time to clear up my business and figure out whether I actually want to go ashore or not.”

  Chrystal beamed at him and then glared triumphantly at the others. Randy slumped back in his chair, the picture of defeat. Suzy sat back down and patted his arm as Peter and Henry began to bicker back and forth about appointment times with Max for the next morning.

  Max stood up and shook off Chrystal’s arm as she rose with him. “Suzy, would you like to come back to my cabin with me for a drink?”

  Chrystal looked as if she had been slapped and a stunned silence descended on the room as everyone looked at Suzy.

  “Of course, I would love to, Max, darling,” Suzy smiled and nodded as if the request was nothing unusual.

  In her head she speculated wildly as to the reason behind the highly unusual invitation. Her big worry, of course, was that her cover had been blown in some way. Max quickly laid her fears to rest, however, once they’d made their way to his enormous suite of rooms.

  “I feel like I needed to talk to someone who isn’t intimately involved in all of this,” he told her, as he shut and locked the door to his sitting room behind them. “Everything is getting ugly and mean and I need the voice of reason.”

  As he spoke, he opened yet another bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses. He took a long swallow and Suzy followed suit. She was glad now that she’d taken that extra dose of neutralizer. She hadn’t drunk much at dinner, but it was easy to pretend to drink in a crowd. You couldn’t do the same when you were drinking with just one other person.

  “I’m not sure what I can tell you,” Suzy answered, “but we can talk as much as you like.”

  They sat on a comfortable sofa with their wine glasses, the bottle within easy reach.

  “Why didn’t we ever sleep together?” Max started with a question that Suzy wasn’t expecting.

  “I guess because you were madly in love with Randy when I first came around.” Suzy slid closer to him. “Is that a proposition?” she flirted.

  Max grinned and pulled her close. “Maybe,” he teased, looking into her eyes.

  For a second Suzy thought he was going to kiss her, and Max seemed to think so as well, but then the moment passed and he sighed. “I think I have enough problems in my life right now,” he told her.

  Suzy pulled back a little bit, still lightly touching Max, but in a less intimate fashion. “So do you want to tell me about it?”

  “Chrystal is very tempting,” Max shook his head. “When I came out of the shower after my afternoon meetings she was naked in my bed.”

  Suzy raised an eyebrow. “How did she get in?”

  “That’s a great question,” Max told her. “I have no idea.” He shrugged. Suzy knew he wasn’t overly concerned about security on board. He trusted all of his friends and his staff was carefully selected and vetted. If doors were locked, it was more from habit than concern.

  “Anyway, she tried to persuade me to join her, but I didn’t want to be late for dinner.”

  “I bet she loved that,” Suzy said drily.

  “She wasn’t too pleased,” Max agreed, “but she was quick to pretend she didn’t mind because she didn’t want to upset me.”

  “If you can see through her so clearly, why are you even remotely interested?” Suzy couldn’t help but ask.

  “I keep asking myself the same question,” Max admitted. “There is just something about her that keeps drawing me in.”

  “You know Randy is very upset,” Suzy said cautiously.

  “Yeah, I know,” Max frowned and rubbed his face and then downed his drink and poured himself a refill. “I love Randy, really I do, but I’ve never been very good at being faithful. Besides, we’ve been together a long time and I keep thinking it might be time for a change.”

  “So are you going to get a villa in SunInc with Chrystal?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m usually so decisive, and now I feel overw
helmed for some reason. The work stuff isn’t helping.”

  Suzy forced herself not to answer immediately. She was dying to ask lots of questions about the business deals that were troubling the man. They could well be important to her agency, but she needed to stay in character. Suzy, the spoiled rich girl, wouldn’t really be interested in Max’s business deals unless they impacted the fun on the ship.

  “I can’t remember you ever having two boring businessmen on the boat at the same time before,” she probed tentatively.

  “Yeah, that was my first mistake,” Max shrugged. “I wanted to be done with Henry before Peter arrived, but Henry is such a stickler for details that we didn’t manage to finish everything. Now Peter is here and his ideas are rather different than Henry’s and I’m wondering if I should cancel the deal with Henry and go with Peter instead.”

  “I don’t have any idea how to advise you on that!” Suzy said emphatically. “Business just isn’t my thing.”

  “Never mind,” Max patted her arm. “I’m sure you are good at lots of other things.”

  Suzy mentally gritted her teeth at the patronizing tone, as outwardly she smiled flirtatiously at the man. “So is that a proposition?” she simpered.

  Max laughed and then refilled both of their drinks. “And I have no idea what to do with Genifer either,” he ignored her question and moved on.

  “Throw her overboard?” Suzy laughed.

  “Don’t tempt me,” Max shook his head. “I’ve tried hard to be a good substitute for her parents, since she was dropped in my lap, but I don’t think she appreciates my efforts one bit.”

  “I’m told children never do,” Suzy told him. “Another area where I’m no expert, I’m afraid.”

  Max grinned at her and then pulled her close again. “You are really tempting me to find your area of expertise,” he teased her.

  Suzy licked her lips and then tipped her head up toward him. “What an interesting idea,” she cooed.

  Max looked at her for a moment and then lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was thorough and well practiced and Suzy forced herself to relax into it. After a long moment Max lifted his head and looked quizzically at Suzy.