High Jinx

by Shannon Esposito

  M.J. stepped forward and desperately grabbed her hand. ‘Yes, yes, you can. We’re going to be so happy together, I promise.’

  She was shaking her head and trying to pull her hand out of his grip. ‘No, M.J., we won’t!’

  She finally succeeded in getting her hand loose, grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. ‘M.J., I’m sorry, but this baby isn’t yours.’

  TWENTY-FOUR

  There was a collective gasp from everyone … everyone except M.J.

  He dropped his head and then slowly nodded. ‘I know.’

  ‘Lulu!’ Selene cried. ‘M.J.? What’s going on? Whose baby is it?’

  Lulu let her hands drop to her sides and faced Selene like a woman staring down a firing squad … half terrified and half resigned to her fate. ‘Selene, I’m so, so sorry. It … it’s Michael’s.’

  ‘Holy hell,’ Devon breathed beside me. I felt my heart drop along with my jaw.

  ‘Whoa,’ Beth Anne whispered.

  ‘It was just once. We both knew it was a mistake,’ Lulu was trying to explain. ‘My dad had just died. I thought I could be with M.J. and at least the baby would grow up with its rightful family. Michael didn’t want me to do that. He wanted to tell you the truth.’

  So that was probably Lulu who Breezy overheard Michael whispering to on the phone.

  Lulu glanced over at M.J. ‘I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.’

  Selene jumped up, her fists clenched, her chest heaving. ‘You mean the baby would grow up with our family money, don’t you? You. Little. Slut! You seduced my husband for the money, didn’t you? Did you kill him?’ She launched herself at Lulu with a deep cry of rage.

  Wait? What? Selene was accusing Lulu? That didn’t make sense.

  M.J. jumped in front of Lulu and held out his hand. ‘Stop, Mother.’

  ‘You’re still defending her?’ she cried, her eyes wide with shock.

  Sven rose to his feet. Devon stood up, too. I knew they were sensing the situation getting out of control. They were right. An emotional storm was brewing. Its electrical charge was as palpable as a physical storm. We needed to protect Lulu and the baby. I slid off the sun pad and moved in a wide circle to stand next to Lulu. She clutched my hand when she felt me near her. It was damp and shaky. I could tell she wanted to flee but there was nowhere to go. We were all stuck, surrounded by miles and miles of water. Devon stood on the other side of M.J., watching Selene with apprehension.

  M.J. looked more determined than ever as he stared at his mother. ‘I’m going to raise this baby as mine, Mother. I’m sorry you had to find out it was Dad’s. I was hoping that would stay between me and Lulu.’

  ‘You knew?’ Lulu squeaked. ‘But how? Why didn’t you say anything to me?’

  ‘Because I don’t care. If this is how God answered my prayers and put us together, so be it.’

  Selene was holding her hand on her forehead. ‘Are you insane?’

  M.J. shrugged. ‘Probably. But I will do anything to be with Lulu. She’s all that matters to me. Don’t try to get in the way of that.’ His attention flicked to Sven. ‘Any of you.’

  Selene’s gaze narrowed and moved to Lulu. ‘You will be a part of our family … over my dead body!’ She rushed forward but M.J. was ready for her. He stopped her with a stiff arm and threw her back with force. She tumbled into the sun pads, losing a sandal. Chloe darted under the chair.

  Seeing Selene lying there sobbing where she landed, her hair fanned over her face, set Sven off. With a growl, he launched himself at M.J.

  M.J. was too fast, though. In a flash, I felt his hand clamp my wrist like a vice. Pain shot through my shoulder as he yanked me in front of him. He pushed my arm up and back behind me. This must be some self-defense move and, holy hell, it hurt. His fishing knife blade pressed into my neck.

  I squealed as it bit into my skin. Sven had enough empathy to stop dead in his tracks. The ropey veins in his neck bulged.

  What was going on? My brain couldn’t process what was happening. Why was M.J. holding me at knifepoint?

  ‘Don’t move,’ he said into my ear. ‘Lulu, I’m sorry, honey. I’m going to fix this.’

  Everyone was screaming at him at this point. Lulu had her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.

  I made eye contact with Devon. His expression morphed from surprise to rage to deadly calm.

  ‘M.J.!’ Selene cried. ‘What are you doing?!’

  I noticed Devon going for his gun. Unfortunately M.J. noticed, too.

  He slid further behind me so I was between him and Devon. ‘Put it on the ground nice and slow. Then kick it over here.’ His breath was hot on my neck, his heart beating fast against my back. Our shirts were glued together with sweat despite the chill in the air. When Devon hesitated, he increased the pressure of the blade on my neck. I winced as I felt it poke through. A trickle of warm blood ran down into my shirt. ‘Do it now. I really don’t want to hurt her but I will.’

  Devon pulled out his gun slowly and laid it on the deck with an expletive. Then he stood and kicked it over to M.J., who immediately pushed me across the deck and grabbed the gun.

  I fell into Devon’s arms, clutching him tight. He stroked my hair, whispering, ‘You’re all right, love,’ I think to reassure himself as much as me.

  As M.J. backed up against the bar, pointing the gun at us, Lulu tried to reason with him.

  ‘M.J., put the gun down. You’re right. We … we belong together. Just put the gun down and I’ll marry you. You have my word. I’m sure everyone here is willing to forget this ever happened.’

  Emboldened by Lulu’s words, Selene pushed herself up and stepped toward her son. ‘Oh, for God’s sake, give the gun to me, M.J. You’re not going to shoot your own mother, are you?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ I said quietly. As the shock began to wear off, the confusion was lifting. Pieces were clicking into place. His obsession with Lulu … the baby. The fact that he already knew he wasn’t the father. He said he ran into Selene and Cali coming out of the library after I screamed. That meant he was near the kitchen, too. And if it wasn’t Cali or Selene who tried to run me down, it had to be M.J. My own voice sounded far away as I stared at him in disbelief. ‘You killed your father.’

  The silence that followed was our answer.

  ‘M.J.!’ His name was a cry of anguish thrown at him from Lulu. ‘Please say that’s not true!’

  He moved behind the bar, steadying himself with one hand. His face was white. He looked like he was going to be sick. But the gun was still pointed in our direction, ready to fire if anyone made a move toward him.

  ‘Please don’t hate me,’ he said to Lulu. ‘I just got so angry. I went into the kitchen, I was so excited. I told Dad I was going to ask you to marry me. I was confused by his anger at first. He said he couldn’t have this lie between us. That’s when he told me that the baby wasn’t mine. That he had gone to comfort you when your father died a few weeks earlier and you two had made a mistake. That the baby was his. I just saw red. I couldn’t let him take you away from me. Let him steal our future together.’

  We were all startled by a sudden scream as Selene let out a gut-wrenching cry and fell to her knees, sobbing. Sven kneeled down, trying to comfort her as she rocked back and forth, her face in her hands.

  ‘Oh, M.J.’ Lulu wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach. Even in the waning gray light I could see her face pulled taught, stricken with grief. ‘What have you done?’

  ‘Did you kill Oliver White, too?’ Devon asked gruffly.

  M.J. swung his attention to Devon. His jaw tensed but his voice was suddenly flat, emptied of emotion. ‘I had to. He saw me, in the kitchen that night arguing with Dad. He didn’t say anything to the police because he didn’t want to get involved. But when the police started looking at him for Dad’s murder, he decided to try to blackmail me. I had to kill him.’

  ‘But they had a suicide note?’ Beth Anne sounded confused and defiant. Carl put
an arm around her and pulled her protectively closer.

  ‘Which I wrote and printed out on his computer.’ M.J. eyed us all and then seemed to come to some sort of decision. I really hoped it didn’t have anything to do with us being shark bait. He waved the gun. ‘Elle, come here.’

  Devon growled, gripping me tighter. ‘M.J., I won’t let you harm her.’

  ‘I’m not going to harm her if she does what I ask.’

  ‘We don’t have a choice,’ I whispered to Devon. ‘We have to keep him calm.’

  Reluctantly Devon released me. ‘Be careful.’

  On shaky legs, I moved to stand in front of the bar. This close to M.J., I could see the sweat rolling down the sides of his face. His eyes had changed. They were wide like a panicked animal. I glanced at the gun. His hand was the only steady thing about him. He reached beneath him and pulled out a trash bag from the bar. ‘Take this and gather everyone’s phones.’

  It was amazing how that thought made me panic. The little piece of plastic in my purse was an anchor to the rest of the world. A way to call for help. A way to record the killer’s confession. Neither of those things were happening now. I took the bag, my gaze glued to the gun.

  ‘Yours first, Elle. Put it in.’

  I reached in my bag, dug beneath the Human Gills gadget, making sure M.J. didn’t see I’d swiped that, and pulled out my phone.

  ‘Slowly,’ he warned. I dropped it in the trash bag. ‘Now gather everyone else’s.’

  My body went through the motions of standing in front of everyone while they threw their phones in the trash bag, but my brain was desperately searching for a way out of this mess.

  Beth Anne gripped my hand as she tossed her phone in. Her makeup was streaked from tears but her eyes blazed with anger. ‘You OK?’

  I nodded.

  ‘No talking!’ M.J. yelled.

  I turned and moved back toward him. I could swing the bag at him, take him by surprise. Then one of the guys, or all of them, could rush at him. Would they hesitate? Would he get a shot off first? What if he hit Lulu and the baby accidently? No, I couldn’t risk it and it didn’t matter if I could. Before I reached him, he stopped me.

  ‘Throw the bag overboard.’

  With an internal groan, I did what he said. I walked over and dropped it over the railing. There was enough moonlight that I watched it sink into the dark waters.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  ‘Now, go into the stateroom,’ he said when I forced my legs to walk me back to him. It all seemed so surreal, like I was floating instead of walking. ‘Lift the coffee table lid. There’s a tackle box in there with a bag of zip ties. Bring those out here.’ As I moved behind him, he added, ‘Don’t try anything funny. I’m sure you care about a few of these people out here and would hate to see them hurt.’

  I nodded in understanding and did as he asked. The stateroom was eerily quiet, cool and dark. I wondered where the captain and other two crew members were. Probably down in their private quarters enjoying their evening. After all, the guests were supposed to be celebrating an engagement right now. If only I could signal to them somehow; make some noise to get their attention. The yacht was just too big. As I opened the tackle box and lifted the baggie of zip ties, I noticed a Swiss Army knife poking out from beneath some lures. I slipped it into my bag. It was small, but it was a knife. If anything I wouldn’t feel so defenseless.

  I looked around at the solemn, scared faces as I emerged back out on the deck. Sven had gathered up a crumpled Selene and helped her to a chair where she quietly sobbed in his arms. Beth Anne and her husband clutched each other tightly next to them and Devon sat stiffly on the other side of Beth Anne. Lulu had moved closer to M.J. – I’m sure not of her own accord – and had her head lowered. I gained strength from Devon, who I could see by the way he was glaring at M.J. was more angry than scared. Was he formulating a plan to get his gun back and stop this madness? I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  ‘Everyone place your hands together in your lap.’ M.J. waved the gun. ‘Elle, make sure you pull the ties tight. It’s up to you to make sure no one tries anything and gets hurt.’

  As if on cue, Sven suddenly jumped up and charged at M.J. The gunshot echoed in the night air. With an oof!, Sven dropped to the deck. He rolled over and clutched his neck. Blood poured from between his fingers. A mewing groan came from his lips. Then his limp hands dropped beside him and he lay still.

  ‘Nooo!’ Selene screamed and jumped up.

  ‘Sit down!’ M.J. yelled.

  Devon moved to help Sven.

  ‘Devon, don’t.’ M.J. leveled the gun at him. ‘Elle, put the zip ties on Sven’s hands first.’

  I looked at him in horror from where I’d reflexively crouched when the gun shot went off. ‘But M.J., he’s really hurt—’

  ‘Now!’ he yelled. The ocean breeze lifted the smoke away from the gun. My ears were ringing. My heart was pounding like a jack hammer. I couldn’t move.

  ‘Elle.’ Devon’s voice penetrated the shock. ‘It’s OK. Do it. He won’t care now.’

  Suddenly we heard yelling and footsteps coming from the stateroom. M.J. jumped to the side and grabbed Lulu. The captain, chef and bartender came barreling through the smoked-glass doors.

  ‘What in the world?’ Captain Bronson focused on Sven lying motionless and bleeding on the deck. Then the chef, who’d changed into nylon running shorts and was barefoot, grabbed his arm and pointed silently at M.J. I watched Captain Bronson’s face morph from confusion to shock.

  M.J. gripped Lulu’s arm and leveled the gun at them. ‘Good. Party’s all here. Now you three can take a seat with everyone else.’

  I suddenly remembered Cali. As the men complied, I moved quickly to Sven. Don’t think about the blood. Don’t check for a pulse. I made myself put the zip tie on quickly and pulled it tight. Then, turning away just as quickly, I pushed myself up and moved to Selene.

  As I looped the zip tie, I mouthed, Cali?

  She shook her head slightly. ‘Tranquilizers.’

  My heart dropped. She wouldn’t be any help for a while. Probably wouldn’t even wake up until this was all over. One way or another. Maybe that was for the best.

  I almost broke when I got to Devon. He squeezed my hand as I took his and whispered, ‘I love you.’

  ‘I love you,’ I whispered back as I pulled the zip tie, trying to leave it loose.

  ‘Tighter,’ M.J. called.

  Dropping my head in defeat, I pulled it tighter.

  ‘Elle, back here. Now.’

  Every step toward him felt like an eternity. Lulu was staring at everyone. We made eye contact and I could see the terror in her eyes. She choked on a sob. ‘M.J., please!’

  He ignored her. When I got close enough he waved me around the bar, where he instructed Lulu to zip tie my hands while he held the gun on us.

  ‘I’m sorry, Elle,’ she whispered. Her eyes were swollen now. ‘This is all my fault.’

  ‘No, it’s not. It’s my dad’s fault,’ M.J. said, growing more agitated by the minute. ‘This isn’t the way I wanted us to start our future, but we can’t change it now. What’s done is done. But Lulu.’ He waited until she glanced up at him. ‘Make no mistake, we will be together. Whether it’s in life or death is up to you.’

  There was desperation in the way he was looking at her that broke my heart and terrified me at the same time. The look of a man obsessed. It wasn’t love. It was possession he wanted. And if there ever was any doubt he’d do whatever it took to have Lulu, it was swept away by that look.

  ‘M.J., you don’t have to do this,’ I pleaded. ‘You don’t have to hurt anyone else.’

  ‘But I do. Because everyone needs to get off my yacht.’ He grabbed my arm and began to pull me across the deck toward the guardrail. He was muttering under his breath. I lost my footing and stumbled, but he only dug his fingers into my arm harder and dragged me. I got my feet back underneath me and tried to yank my arm free. He pressed the gun against my tem
ple. By the time we reached the guardrail my breathing was shallow and hard. I was gasping like a dying fish for oxygen. Panic was setting in.

  ‘M.J.!’ I heard the panic in Devon’s voice, too. ‘Let her go!’

  As the cold metal released from my temple, I saw Devon had pushed himself up to standing. Please don’t. Please don’t be a hero, I pleaded with my eyes. But M.J. wrapped his arm around my throat and pointed the gun at Devon.

  ‘No!’ I screamed. Breaking his hold on me, I bent over at the waist and flung myself back as hard as I could. There was a crack as the back of my head hit M.J.’s face. The impact reverberated through my skull, the pain blacking out my vision for a moment. I heard his own cry of pain from a distance. Unable to break my fall with my hands bound, I landed hard on the deck. I rolled to my side and caught sight of Devon leaping toward us. His bound hands were in front of him like a battering ram. His face was twisted in rage. The others were struggling to get to their feet behind him.

  Crack! I heard the shot as Devon’s feet left the ground. I reached out with my fingers. ‘Devon!’ His forward motion continued but it was no longer controlled. His head hit the side of the yacht with a thud and he crumbled like a ragdoll as M.J. jumped aside.

  ‘Devon!’ I scrambled to try and get near him but M.J. grabbed my hair and pulled me back.

  ‘That’ll be enough, Elle.’

  ‘Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God,’ I whispered. He had to be alive. The burning sensation in my scalp as M.J. pulled me to my feet was nothing compared to the pain ripping through my heart. That pain exploded and numbed me as I waited for any sign of movement from Devon. Please, please, please be alive.

  The screams of the others barely registered. It was background noise to my pleas to the universe. Was he breathing? The only movement so far was a red stain of blood spreading on his shoulder through his jacket. It didn’t look like he’d been hit anywhere vital, but I could still hear the crack of his head hitting the side of the yacht. That had to have done some damage.

  ‘Shut up!’ M.J. yelled. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against his bloody nose. He glared at me. ‘I think you broke my nose, Elle. Not very nice.’