Masked to Death (A Faith Hunter Scrap This Mystery Book 5)

by Christina Freeburn

  The top two drawers in the closet bureau were empty, the bottom holding Ronnie’s undergarments. Why were those drawers empty? My stomach tightened. Where were her scarves? “Ronnie had her jewelry makings out earlier. She gave me a few crystals to fix my tiara so Odessa didn’t flip out over it being broken. The rest of her jewelry items aren’t here.”

  “She might have stored them in the safe. Some of her crystals are pricey.” Garrison opened the cabinet where the safe was located. He pulled out his wallet and took out a credit card. “Ronnie gave me her extra card in case she lost hers. She has a habit of forgetting where she places things and didn’t want to be locked out of her safe.”

  “Are her scarves in there?” I flipped through all the hung-up clothes. It was a silly question, but there weren’t any in the closet. Slowing down, I went through all the dresses, skirts, and blouses again. There wasn’t one scarf. I didn’t know much about Ronnie, but I knew she loved her scarves.

  “No, she’d have kept them in the closet.” Garrison looked into the safe.

  “There aren’t any here.”

  “Are you sure?” Garrison headed over. “There’s nothing in the safe. I don’t like this.”

  Ronnie didn’t jump. I felt it deep in my soul. She was pushed. I bet the person I saw in the hallway was responsible or knew something about her fall. “Neither am I. Not only am I not seeing any of her favorite accessories, but her dress for the wedding is gone. Earlier she told me her tiara was missing. I bet she figured out who stole it and confronted them.” My guess was her brother.

  “Missing?” Garrison turned me. “I saw her with it earlier.”

  “Maybe she finished her new one.” No. Garrison hadn’t known she was sick so he hadn’t seen her since earlier this morning. Ronnie had been working on the tiara when I stopped at her room for my dress.

  “She would’ve told me. There’s no way she’d have passed on the opportunity to prove she was a better designer, and that Odessa had made a mistake not letting her design them.”

  Was Ronnie wearing the dress and the tiara when she fell? Or had someone taken them? Why?

  The door handle inched down. There was singing coming from the hallway and the handle sprang back up. As soon as the voices faded, the handle moved again.

  Trouble was walking in. “Light,” I whispered, mimicking the motion with my hand.

  Quietly, he hurried to the light and turned it off. He slipped onto the veranda, grabbing the dark blue comforter from the bed and wrapping himself in it, allowing him to blend into the night.

  The door creaked open. I hid in the closet, maneuvering myself so I faced out. With my uninjured hand, I picked up one of Ronnie’s pumps, holding it with the heel facing out. Thankfully, she liked her heels high and spiked. My heart thudded. Someone shuffled around the room. A thin light swept through the crack of the closet door. I shuffled deeper into Ronnie’s clothes. The space wasn’t big enough to hide all of me from view, and if whoever was searching the room moved the garments, I was caught. Drawing in small breaths, I calmed myself. I needed my wits about me. Besides, I had backup standing on the balcony.

  What if the intruder also brought someone along? My hand trembled. The doors opened. I tightened my hold on my weapon of choice, or rather desperation. A hand reached in, moving the hangers and flashing the light inside. I inched back. My back found the end of the closet. The light headed in my direction. Not wanting to be blinded, I ducked down and charged, knocking the person flat on his back. The element of surprise worked for me. I grabbed the flashlight and threw it. The man rolled me off of him. I sprung to my feet as he clambered to his, readying the shoe for attack.

  Garrison flew from the patio, wrapping the man in a bear hug and lifting him from his feet.

  The guy twisted, throwing the pair off balance. They crashed to the ground. I flipped on the light.

  “What the hell?” John Roget blinked at me, rising to his feet.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. “How did you get in here?”

  “I have a key.” John showed it to us. “I could ask you two the same question.”

  “She was my best friend.” Garrison fisted his hands. “How did you get a key? Ronnie would’ve never given you one.”

  “I have one.” John walked over to the sliding glass door, inspecting every inch of the frame. “Doesn’t matter to me if you believe me or not.”

  I placed my hand over the phone receiver. “It should. One call and I’ll have security here.”

  “Honey, that won’t work on me.” John pulled out a small camera and took pictures of the frame, then the carpet. “If you call security, they’ll want to know why you and Garrison are in here. It’ll get back to Ted and Bob, which I know neither of you want to happen.”

  “But then they’ll know you’re here in Ronnie’s room.” I crossed my arms and glared at him. I so disliked when my ace hand was trumped. “You don’t want them to find out.”

  “I don’t care.” John walked back to the closet and examined it. “My sons aren’t overly fond of me anyway. Finding out I’m searching Ronnie’s room won’t ruin our relationship.”

  True. While I didn’t think being in Ronnie’s room would ruin mine and Ted’s relationships, it sure wouldn’t help.

  Garrison, on the other hand, wasn’t backing down. “I have every right to be in here. Ronnie gave me a key to her room. She’s my best friend. It wouldn’t be strange for me to be in here.”

  “You got me there,” John said. “But you don’t want anyone knowing I’m in here.”

  “And why wouldn’t I?” Garrison crossed his arms and sent a death stare at John.

  “You’ll end up in the brig and thrown off at the next port. Make this trip better for Bob.”

  “Because there’s a jewel theft ring on this boat and his mother is involved in this mess. It’s likely the reason Ronnie went overboard was to protect her brother who I’m positive was Odessa’s partner.”

  I stared at him. Except to me, the guy had kept mute about the case for the last two days. Telling Garrison his future mother-in-law might be involved in a matter that caused his best friend’s death was heartless.

  “You’re a liar.” Garrison fisted his hands.

  I had to get John out of there before Garrison knocked him out. The man had it coming, but there was no way I wanted Garrison in trouble. Sometime this week, he was supposed to marry Bob, not get bailed out of jail by his future husband, if you could even get bailed out of a brig. For all I knew, Garrison would be stuck in a cell until we returned to the United States.

  “There’s nothing, besides what you think John, that links Odessa to the jewelry thefts,” I said. “You need to leave. Garrison and I can explain why we’re here you can’t.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” John said. “The captain will be coming in here to collect Ronnie’s items to send to her family. You don’t want to be here.”

  “I do.” Garrison sat on the bed. “I’ll let them know I’ll pack up Ronnie’s belongings. I’m the only family she really has. Nothing should be given to William.”

  “Trust me, you don’t want to be here,” John said.

  “We don’t trust you,” I said. “That’s the issue.”

  John eyed me sideways. For some reason, my comment wiggled itself under his skin. Good.

  A buzz filled the room. John glanced down at his cell phone. “We have to go. Now.” He grabbed my arm, and pushed open the door. His hasty movements almost slammed me into the doorway.

  “Knock it off.” I tried shaking off his grasp. The man was strong.

  “Get in front of me.” He maneuvered me around to the front of him. “Head for the elevator. If anyone yells my name, keep walking until we get to the end of the hall. You duck around the corner, then I’ll head back.”

  “Why?”

  “Regardless of the fact that you don’t trust me, you’ll have to.”

  “What about Garrison?”

  “He’s on his own, da
rling. I’m only making myself responsible for you,” he said. “I dragged you into this godforsaken mess.”

  We reached the end of the hall without anyone calling out to him. Keeping me in front, John pressed the button, making sure his movements didn’t stop him from shielding me.

  “How many of those dang things are there?” He lifted his chin to indicate the tiara I still wore.

  “Four,” I said. “Mine, Ronnie’s, Odessa’s, and Claire’s.”

  His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Claire? My granddaughter was given one of those?”

  “Your ex-wife had them made for the wedding,” I said.

  “I know that. I didn’t think she’d be so stupid as to give one to our granddaughter.” The elevator opened, and John placed a hand in the small of my back, pushing me inside. “I’ll meet you at your room. Even if they’re in Ronnie’s room, I have to check one more thing.”

  “Who?” I tried escaping the elevator, but John blocked my exit.

  “The captain, a security team, and my sons.” The doors closed.

  I guess meeting with the captain was what Bob had planned on doing. He had some doubts about Ronnie’s accident and was checking on it. I had a feeling Bob downplayed it because he didn’t want Garrison getting involved in case something criminal was going on.

  My stomach tumbled to my feet. I didn’t have my purse. I must’ve dropped it when I discovered the message. It wasn’t in Ronnie’s room. Who had it—and the bracelet?

  FIFTEEN

  I walked onto the fifth floor and went to the guest relations desk. A few passengers sat on the chairs around the atrium, gazes fixed on the windows. Even from inside, I saw the spotlights from other ships sweeping across the ocean. How long would they look? The fog made a nearly impossible search even more of a pipe dream.

  I swiped at the tears pooling in my eyes. I wanted my room. I needed to decompress. Think through everything that happened today. Claire hating me. Ted. John. Ronnie’s death. Garrison. A good cry was what I needed most. I hated crying in public. It left me feeling weak and out of control. Everything was so out of my control right now, I didn’t want to add my emotions on top of that. I needed to have something bend to my will.

  “Can I help you?” the guest relations manager asked.

  “I lost my stateroom key. I’d like to get another one.” I told her my room number.

  “I just need to verify your identity,” she said.

  “That might be a problem. My driver’s license is in the safe in my stateroom. I can’t get it because my purse is gone, along with my room card.”

  She smiled at me. “We have your photo stored, so all I need to do is take a look at it, and if you are you, I’ll have another one printed out for you in a jiffy.”

  This was pretty painless.

  “Describe your purse for me? I’ll check lost and found for it.”

  I described my purse even though I doubted it was there. Everything in me said to keep the last place I saw it—Ronnie’s room—a secret.

  Something tapped my shoulder. “Looking for this?”

  I pivoted, and my left hand swung out and swatted the counter. I hissed out the pain.

  Garrison was holding my clutch.

  “My friend found it,” I called out to the woman who was searching the back. “I don’t need a duplicate room key.”

  Or at least I hoped I didn’t. I should’ve checked before I made the bold announcement. I opened the purse. My room key was inside along with my cell. Coldness tingled across the top of my head. “My bracelet is gone. Where did you find my purse?”

  Garrison took hold of my arm. “What happened to your hand? Did John hurt you?”

  It was a lovely shade of purple and puffy. “It was stepped on. Not by John.”

  “Let’s get you into better light.” He led me to a set of chairs near the windows. The backdrop was the cruise ships’ continual search for Ronnie. Around us gossip flowed. Jumped. Pushed. One woman wildly described to her friends Ronnie’s descent to the water.

  “My hand isn’t important,” I said. Garrison shouldn’t have to hear anymore.

  Somehow, he blocked out the voices. “Of course it is. It could be broken.” He gently examined my hand.

  “I can still move my fingers.” I squirmed as his fingertips drifted over the injury. “I’ll be fine. There are more pressing issues going on.”

  “At least this is one I can do something about.”

  I grew still and allowed Garrison to finish the examination.

  “It’s not broken.”

  I held in my “I told you so.”

  “I have some over-the-counter muscle relaxers in my room. It should help with the swelling and pain. I’ll drop some off to you.”

  I had to refocus Garrison’s attention. “Where did you find my purse? I have to find my bracelet.”

  “I advise against that. I found it on the balcony in Ronnie’s room. You must’ve dropped it when you went outside.” Garrison scooted a chair over close enough to drape an arm around my shoulders. He tugged me toward him. I dropped my head onto his shoulder and he rested his head on mine. “Someone pushed Ronnie into making that decision. I’m going to find out who.”

  “We will.” William had kicked my tiara on purpose, sending it over the railing onto the lifeboat. Ronnie went to get it. Had it not been an accident, but planned? Quinn designed the tiaras. Were Ronnie and William using them as a way to get the diamonds off the boat? Did the stones accidentally—or on purpose—get swapped? Had Quinn given me the wrong tiara?

  “What are you thinking, Faith?”

  “Craziness,” I said, not wanting to share my rambling thoughts with him. I couldn’t let him know I suspected Ronnie was involved in a jewel theft. To mask my thoughts, I took off my tiara and studied it, giving my brain another focus. Some of the other crystals weren’t secured all the way. Quinn had brought the dress and the tiara to me. Had Quinn decided to keep the real stones for himself? Was that why he’d been killed? Because he had tried double-crossing his partner?

  A bright light shined into the atrium. I squinted and turned my head. The Coast Guard had arrived and a helicopter was in the air, bright lights shining down onto the water.

  Garrison walked over to the windows, gaze fixed on the copters. “Why didn’t she come to me instead of jumping?”

  “She didn’t.” I followed after him. “Ronnie was trying to get away from someone. Why else would she have used a scarf?”

  “No. That’s not why.”

  Two cruise ships, our ship, and a Coast Guard cutter continued to circle the area where Ronnie had fallen. As the sun rose, the spotlights were put away and the crew members trained binoculars on the water. Cruisers were returning to their rooms or going about their regular day. A few grumbled about the delay the search was causing and worried we wouldn’t make it to port on time.

  “Ronnie jumped overboard to save William.” Garrison’s shoulders slumped with each word. He aged right before my eyes. “She took her tiara, the evidence, with her.”

  I leaned into Garrison, not wanting anyone to hear us. “You think Ronnie was involved?”

  “I want to believe she wasn’t. But she’d do anything to save her brother, including killing herself.”

  “Why not just throw the evidence overboard?”

  Garrison heaved out a sigh. “Ronnie wasn’t in a stable frame of mind. You mentioned she appeared ill earlier. I went to check on her and see if it was a physical illness, or her mental illness affecting her.”

  “Why wouldn’t William help his sister?”

  “William was the type of man to use Ronnie’s illness to his benefit. She’d get confused and forget things, and William would make her believe she did horrible things when it was actually him.”

  I shuddered as fear raced through me. I’d been up against some bad people before, but never someone truly evil. If William allowed his sister to kill herself for him, there was no other word for it. He was evil to the core.
What were John and I up against?

  “William’s working with someone on the ship and wanted Ronnie to know he was here,” I said. “It wasn’t a coincidence they were assigned to the same boat.”

  “I know one person who’d have enough clout to make it happen.” Garrison stared into my eyes. He pressed his lips together and continued to keep his gaze riveted to mine.

  No. No. No. I shoved, pushed, and kicked at the thought forming in my head. I couldn’t go there. Heck, we shouldn’t go there. Yet, not only was the name in my head, but it was embossed in large letters. Odessa, the woman who had all aspects of the wedding under her control, who clashed with Ronnie, and who the captain apparently doted on. As Odessa told me, nothing happened on the ship that she didn’t know about.

  “This isn’t going to go over very well,” I said.

  “It won’t. But if we take into account all the facts we have, Odessa’s the answer. She bought all the supplies for the tiaras, insisted you take off the bracelet, and John Roget has been keeping a polite distance from all of us, even though he’s always done his best to make my and Bob’s lives miserable. Why did he decide not to crash the wedding? I’ll tell you why, because he didn’t want Odessa knowing he was on the boat.”

  I was the one who let that surprise out of the box. There was one issue with the theory: Claire. “She gave a tiara to Claire. I can’t believe she’d drag her granddaughter into this.”

  “I agree with you on that.” Garrison rubbed his temples. “I don’t know what to think. It’s not a coincidence William was assigned to that station. He wanted Ronnie to know he was here.”

  Now I was rubbing at my forehead. I didn’t know if the brewing headache was from the twisting and turning of my thoughts, a lack of sleep, adrenaline wearing off, or a combination of all three. Or a fourth reason: we had to keep the truth from Ted and Bob. The only one who’d want to arrange a meeting between William, a ne’er-do-well, Ronnie, the protective sister, and John, the man on the hunt for a jewel smuggler, was Odessa. The best way to get away with a crime was hand over a suspect better than yourself.

  “If we go down this route, it’s going to break Ted and Bob’s hearts whether we’re right or wrong.”