Waves of Murder

by J B Raphael

  “Ship’s personnel are not allowed to date passengers,” she answered sadly.

  “Oh well,” Jon said, “that’s a great shame, you’re beautiful.”

  She said, “Perhaps we could meet ashore, you know, by accident, that would be no problem,” she almost begged, “I know this island, it’s my home,” she added, “my brother has a bar called ‘Rodrigos’, I finish at 4 o’clock.”

  “Good,” Jon said, “shall we say 5 o’clock?”

  Jon caught a cab at the quayside, “Rodrigos Bar please,” he said to the driver whose driving skills left a lot to be desired! How many clutches must he go through in a year? he mused. Rodrigos Bar wasn’t exactly 5*, but it was busy, and Jon recognised some cruising faces and made sure to smile or give a little wave to them, good he thought, they’ll see me with another female. Anita was on time, and out of her work uniform. She was indeed beautiful, now her hair hung down to it’s full length, almost blue-black. Her breasts fighting to break free of the gaily coloured fitted blouse she wore. Her long tanned legs well shown from a white mini skirt. Jon stood up from his bar stool and said, “You look fabulous, thank you for coming.”

  Her brother appeared from the other end of the bar, “Anita,” they kissed cheeks across the wicker-work bar, and started speaking in Spanish. He looked at Jon and said, in Spanish, “Who is this man?”

  Jon caught the gist of what was said, the word ‘hombre’ being the clue. “I’m Jon,” he said, holding out his hand towards Rodrigo, “ how do you do.”

  Anita intervened and said, “I’m sorry Jon, this is my brother Rodrigo.” They shook hands and continued speaking, but this time in English. Rodrigo looked at Jon’s clothes and his Rolex watch and said something in Spanish and laughed. Anita smacked his hand playfully.

  “What did Rodrigo say?” Jon asked.

  “He said you are rich Englishman, he’s very bold, I’m sorry,” she added.

  Jon laughed and said, “No, I’m a car salesman, from London.”

  “You have a Ferrari?” Rodrigo asked.

  Jon laughed, “Just a small Lexus,” he lied, not wanting to mention his Merc SLS.

  Rodrigo had never heard of Lexus, and changed the subject. They drank cocktails, “On da house!” Rodrigo announced, they were called ‘sex on the beach’, fruit juice and rum.

  Of all the bars in the West Indies, she had to walk into Rodrigo’s, Katti was suddenly there carrying packages from her shopping trip. When she saw Jon with Anita, her face dropped but she rallied well, smiled and waved. Jon beckoned her over and introduced the two girls. The meeting was cool as they looked each other up and down. Jon, inwardly, was enjoying it! “Well, goodbye ladies,” Jon said, “I’ve got to get back to the ship to do an email to London, business, sorry!” He hailed a scruffy cab outside, with a smile on his face.

  Back on board he returned to his stateroom and laid on the bed. He had accomplished, with Katti’s help, what he had set out to do, that was to take any suspicion away. But this was just the first of many to make a distance between himself and Katti, until she would be murdered, he would be forgotten by staff and crew as her escort. That night Jon went to the American burger bar, dressed in jeans and T-shirt, a casual evening on his own, he thought. After his burger dinner he decided to go to the large casino. As it was still early it wasn’t busy, of course Anna was there and Jon sat next to her, saying “Hello Anna.”

  Her face lit up as she fingered the large pile of chips in front of her. He wondered how old she was, 50 - 55, but in decent shape. A good skin and well groomed greyish blondish hair, in fact she was quite attractive. “Hef you not being with Kattinaya tonight?” she asked.

  “No,” said Jon, “we’re having a rest,” he added, and winked. Anna smiled and winked back. He changed $500 into chips and thought he would follow Anna’s bets. They started to attract a small crowd, Jon’s $500 had grown into $5,000, Anna was almost hidden by her pile of chips.

  Suddenly a large man in a DJ came over and said, “The management requests that you vacate your places and give other passengers a chance.” He carried with him a large wooden box for Anna’s chips, and they were escorted to the cashier’s window, inwardly Jon was pleased, he’d had enough and Anna was showing signs of fatigue. She had won $22,000, and Jon had won $8,000.

  “Shall ve celebrate with champagne and some caviar?” she suggested.

  “Why not!” he said. They found a quiet corner in a ‘quiet’ room and ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon, and a dish of Beluga caviar. They chatted about travelling and holidays, and Jon learned that Anna’s family ran a string of casinos in Russia, ‘the new Russian rich’, he thought. He never dreamed that one day he would meet her two brothers.

  “You hef argue with Kattinaya?” Anna asked.

  “No, no,” said Jon, “she is a lovely girl, but we are just taking a break or we might get tired of each other,” he said, smiling.

  “Perhaps you vood like to escort me to dinner and dancing vun night?” she asked, with a wicked glint in her eye. That night came two days later when the ship had docked at Dominica.

  Dominica

  A very hot day, about 100f, the sundecks were crowded as were the pool areas. He saw Anna laying on a sunbed, he walked over to her, his shadow caused her to look up from her fashion magazine. She smiled and said, “ Ello lovely man, you good today?”

  “Yes,” Jon replied, “and I can see you are very well,” he added.

  “Tenk you,” came the answer to the compliment. Jon looked closely at her body, with great interest. Wearing a one-piece bathing costume, she was lovely, not quite Katti but fairly close. Long slender legs, slim waist and a pair of lovely firm-looking boobs. “Vill you sit with Anna ?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’d love to,” he replied.

  “Tonight ve hef dining?” she asked.

  “Of course,” Jon said, “but I should have asked you!” he replied.

  “Oh pfff, in Russia voman ask man to date, no western ideas!” she laughed. He pulled a chair close, there were no spare sunbeds. “Tonight, we will dance the night away.”

  “It’s a formal night, DJ and party frock,” he spouted.

  “Goot,” said Anna, “and then ve hef some love, yes?” Jon then did something he hadn’t done for years, he blushed! “You don’t fancy Anna?” she asked.

  “Er, yes, but let’s see how the night goes,” he responded.

  “Goot,” she said, “I need a men, and in my country, ven a voman wants a men she, how you say, goes for him, okay?” she said, patting his hand.

  Perhaps this will be more entertaining than he first thought, after all she is a damn good looking woman, he was quite looking forward to this evening, the ‘Black and White Ball’.

  Not many people ventured into the town, they probably thought the same as Jon ‘seen one hispanic market place and you’ve seen the lot’, the souvenirs, the vendors pushing their wares into your face, he didn’t fancy it. He was concentrating on Anna and her diamonds, but he would stick to his plan and wait to get to get his hands on them. He would wait until their was a greater time at sea, on the way from Cuba to Miami, he mused, the ‘Bermuda Triangle’, people, planes and ships have been known to disappear there!

  He didn’t have a white DJ, but he had a white silk suit jacket, with a black silk shirt and black bow tie, he was sure to look good, and he did. He met Anna in the ballroom bar which was very luxurious. She looked amazing, did he think 50 - 55, she looked more like 35, beautiful. He bowed when he stood, as she walked in wearing a long low-cut black dress slashed up to the thigh, with a white zig-zag pattern across it. Fabulous, he thought, and of course, diamonds, lots of them, wow! there must be 200 grands worth there, he assessed.

  “You are hensom tonight,” Anna said, “I am lucky voman to be vith yoo,” she added, “ve vill hef a goot time tonight, I think,” she said, looking him up and down. They had dinner in the ‘West Indies’ restaurant and then went to the ‘Jamaica Night Club’. “Ve are now goink to hef
fun, yes?” she said to Jon, who was looking at her beautiful cleavage, and oof course, the diamond necklace.

  “No gambling tonight?” Jon asked.

  “No, I hef plenty of money, perhaps next veek, yes?” she answered.

  “Yes,” said Jon, thinking ‘I’ll soon have all that money from you’ and wondering how much she had stashed in her suite, 50k, 60k ? He’d find out in a few days. His eyes lit up when he saw Katti enter the ballroom with a young man who was smart and good looking. Good, he thought, bloody good!

  They didn’t dance every dance, but almost, Anna stood up and took Jon’s hand to lift him off of the comfortable settee, “Now ve hef more fun,” and started to lead him out of the venue. He made sure that Katti saw them leave together. He looked over towards her and her escort, and waved, Katti gave a half-hearted smile and waved back. “Kattinaya is jealous thet she sees us together, yes?”

  “I don’t know, she has a man that’s all she really cares about,” he said.

  Anna laughed out loud. They’d had some drinks, but they weren’t drunk, Jon had purposely stuck mainly to Perrier water, he’d only had one large gin and tonic. Anna had a little more, but not much. They went into suite B220, and immediately she threw herself at Jon, kissing his mouth and face, he responded by doing similar and undid the zip at the back of her dress. To his surprise, she wasn’t wearing a bra, her breasts were round and firm, it was the expensively made dress that created the cleavage. Then the penny dropped, she’d had surgery, but he didn’t give any indication that he’d guessed until she herself said, “London last year, ‘arley street men, £15,000, they are very goot, yes?”

  “Beautiful,” Jon said, ‘deja vu’ he thought, as she undid his trouser zip and fell to her knees taking his manhood into her mouth. This must be a Russian thing, but it was fantastic, he reached a climax quickly, with a groan. Anna went into the bathroom and re-appeared completely naked, but where were the diamonds?

  They were both naked by now, on the kingsize bed, “Now we fuck, yes?” she said laughing. The sex was fantastic, she romped like a girl in her 20’s, as many positions as the human body could manage, for three hours.

  Jon was exhausted, but Anna still had energy, “I must sleep now,” he said.

  Anna laughed and said,” I vill be beck for more in ze morning!” and laughed again as she put her head on his chest.

  He excused himself to go to the bathroom, laying on the little side table was his quarry, all the jewellery, just casually slung with abandon! Her attitude made Jon feel easier about taking them, the uneasy part would be her disappearance.

  They ordered breakfast from room service and sat up in bed, after which they had sex again. Then Jon went back to his stateroom to change, as he walked along the corridor he saw Katti’s escort walking towards him, still dressed in dinner jacket. They nodded, it was obvious where he had been and what he’d been doing with Katti.

  St Lucia

  Jon and Anna watched as the ship docked at the quayside at St Lucia, the dock went a long way out to sea, probably there was not enough deep water. Buses were lined up to take sightseers into the main town. Anna said that she would like to go because she had heard that the town is beautiful. “Okay,” Jon said, “get your stuff and we’ll catch a bus, I’ll wait at the gangway,” he said.

  “Five minoots I’ll be,” Anna said.

  Another town, another island, but this could be different. He was escorting £200,000 and that was definite, until he had done the deed. They rode on the bus which was air-conditioned, it was too high and quite cold, Anna cuddled up to Jon, she was only wearing a thin silk voile blouse and skimpy shorts. ‘Oh, those legs’ he thought. When they stepped down on to the side walk the heat hit them, probably about 90f, and her nipples no longer protruded. As he guessed, the usual traders called to them and pushed their ornaments into their faces. It was only when Jon looked into an elaborate mirror, that he saw the reflection of Katti’s escort from the previous night looking furtively behind him. Was he following them? he thought. His spine went cold, a fucking body-guard, of course. He was looking after Katti and Anna from a distance, they were very wealthy, Russian nouveau riche, loaded with diamonds. He had been hired to look after the girls, he hadn’t spent the night with Katti, and when he saw him the next morning outside Anna’s suite he was probably checking on her too. All this went through Jon’s mind, and he decided to leave well alone. There’s not a diamond in the world that’s worth my life. But perhaps there was a way .... get rid of the bodyguard.

  Anna and Jon found a quite nice cafe for lunch and feasted on lobster, but Jon could still see ‘him’ lurking at another table doing his best not to be seen behind a pillar. Whoops, Jon thought, may be Russian mafia, and I’ve got no fucking plan’B’. Only one thing for it, the bodyguard had to go, now the follower would be followed, and at the right moment would go for a swim. Yes, thought Jon, and as soon as possible, he would soon be running out of time. That evening his plan would go into top gear, he made no date with Anna who accepted his reason of being tired and wanting an early night. He dressed in black, he didn’t know why, but he thought it was applicable for what he hoped to do. He would stalk the ‘bodyguard’ once he had found him on the vast ship. Eventually he spotted him walking alone along the inner promenade deck. Walking in the opposite direction, they just nodded to each other, then Jon dived into the nearest shop. Unfortunately it was the men’s boutique, and Anita was on duty, “Ola,” she said, blushing.

  “Ola,” Jon answered in surprise, “how are you?”

  “I’m fine,” she replied, “I am very unhappy with you, you are very bad man when you leave me with that woman in my brother’s bar.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jon said, “but I had some business to attend to from London.”

  “Can we meet tonight?” she asked.

  Jon thought quickly, “Yes,” he replied, “I’d love to, shall we meet at the Crows Nest Bar?” she said.

  “But you are ship’s staff, and it is not allowed.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, and produced a blonde wig from under the counter, she put it on and was immediately a different girl.

  Jon laughed, and said, “Brilliant! shall we say 8 o’clock?”

  “Yes,” she said, and blushed. Jon thought, sex or murder? Sex won hands down.

  At 8 o’clock Jon walked into the Crows Nest Bar and saw Anita sitting in a booth next to the bodyguard and Katti. He nodded and smiled, mouthing to her ‘how are you?’ Katti smiled and nodded and cheekily blew him a kiss. I’m still in there, he thought. Sitting next to a new blonde Anita, who looked stunning in a red silk low-cut top and a short black mini skirt, legs to die for, he thought, he kept his eye on Katti and her escort. “We go and dance now, please?” Anita said.

  “Yes,” he replied, as he took her hand to pull her to her feet. Entering the nightclub, Anita was already dancing as she walked in. Even though the lights were dimmed, heads turned at the sight of her, especially the men.

  “Tonight we have a lot of fun, yes?” she asked Jon.

  “Yes,” he replied, as he saw Anna with Katti and the bodyguard sitting at an opposite table, they all nodded, the girls looking Anita up and down. Anita pulled Jon on to the dance floor and purposely danced close to their table, shaking her beautiful rear at the trio. The little minx, Jon thought, as he just stood there in admiration, just waving his arms about!

  At about 2am they left the club, “Shall we have some love making?” Anita suggested.

  Jon was slightly shocked, and said, “You are very naughty, but the answer is a big yes,” as they stood and kissed. He thought, the woman’s come on was a Russian thing, but then they were in this area once, he mused, and laughed to himself. Still, it would be nice to spend the night with a woman that you didn’t intend to kill. Their love-making was different to what he had become used to. She started kissing his genitals, but didn’t take his manhood into her mouth, perhaps Latin American girls didn’t, but the effect was amazing. She
guided his manhood to her and thrust herself upon it, she did most of the work and screamed when she orgasmed. Jon thought it was one of the best he’d ever had. Her scream must have been heard beyond the door. She left, and went back to her small cabin at 4.30am, luckily she didn’t have to open her shop until 10.30 am, so she would be able to get some well needed sleep.

  Jon now had to concentrate on the job at hand, get rid of that bloody bodyguard as soon as possible. Until early evening, he sunbathed on his balcony, then he dressed in a smart-casual outfit and went down to the shopping mall. He walked quickly past the men’s boutique and didn’t look in, he was on a mission, but he didn’t quite know what. A West Indian souvenir shop had a magnificent display, then he saw it, a beautifully engraved knife with a leather sheath, perfect, he thought as he looked at it. “Careful, that baby is very sharp!” said a young Hispanic man.

  “I’ll take it,” Jon said, paying in cash so there was no credit card record of the transaction. Now, how would he use it? He would have to play it by ear, once again he thought, the follower would be followed, but this time Jon would be carrying his new 8” steel, very sharp, friend. He had no romantic meetings for two nights, then just as the ship was approaching Puerto Rico his chance came. At about 2am, taking a slow walk around the promenade deck, he saw the bodyguard alone right up at the bow rail, as per the scene in the film ‘Titanic’. Wearing soft soled shoes, he edged along the super-structure, he ran as fast as he could, knife in hand, and plunged it into his back, slightly right of the spine. His prey fell to the deck, grimacing in agony, Jon pushed the body through the rail with his foot, and then threw the knife and sheath into the sea. He looked up at the Crow’s Nest, there was no one there to have witnessed the deed. He started to shake as he walked back to his stateroom, he needed a drink, a very large and very strong one. He sat on the balcony with what was a quad brandy, still shaking, I’ve killed three human beings he thought, three people have met gruesome deaths because of me. He poured himself another large brandy, another two brandies followed, until he collapsed in an alcoholic stupor on to the bed. Mid-day saw him open his eyes, then a knock on the door confirmed that he was awake. He struggled from the bed, wobbling on his almost lifeless legs, “Just a minute,” he almost shouted. He put on a robe and opened the door.