“What?”
Kyle walked over to a computer on the bar blaring music and hit the mute button.
There was a loud shocked gasp from the corridor.
They turned to find a young woman standing behind Grace, her wide frightened eyes taking in the room.
“Hello,” Grace said glancing over her shoulder.
The woman’s gaze widened even further before she pivoted on her heel and took off down the corridor.
“We’re going to have company soon,” Grace said as Kyle looked around the room.
Just then, the sound of someone moaning caught their attention.
Grace stepped away from the doorway letting it slam behind her, as she and Kyle stepped behind the bar where Officer Mulligan lay, moaning softly as his eyes fluttered open and close.
He looked around blearily as he pressed a hand to his head. “What happened?”
“You tell us,” Kyle said helping the security guard to sit up.
Mulligan winced as he touched the back of his head. “I don’t know. I was making myself a drink and then I saw stars.” He blinked as panic came into his eyes. “Where’s Mr. Rycroft?” Groaning, he rose to his feet, swaying slightly as he stumbled forward calling Leo’s name. They followed the guard through the empty cabin and then finally out onto the balcony, picking their way through the shattered glass and toward a pair of bloody handprints on the railing. They glanced over the railing and down at the ocean.
Mulligan wiped his hands down his face. “This is a nightmare. I better let them know we have a man overboard.” He turned on his heel and strode unsteadily towards the phone.
They turned their attention towards the sea as the ship started to slow down.
Grace’s ears pricked at the sound of glass crackling under someone’s foot.
She glanced over her shoulder, surprised to find Courtney behind them in a sparkly multicolored striped sequin dress.
Courtney’s mouth fell open as she stared at the shattered glass on balcony. She looked at them with a worried expression on her face. “Are you two okay?”
Grace heart sunk as she stared at the girl. “What are you doing here, Courtney?”
“Mr. Rycroft invited Tucker and me to a party.” Her eyes widened as she looked around. “Must have been some party.” Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw her stuffed toy in Grace’s hands. “Oh Gracie!”
Grace and Kyle exchanged baffled looks. “Leo Rycroft invited you?” Grace asked, passing the toy to the girl. At Courtney’s nod, she added, “And you came?”
“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “I’m sorry I’m so late. I had the hardest time choosing something to wear.”
“You hate Leo,” Kyle said with a baffled expression on his face. “Why would you come to one of his parties?”
“Oh, that’s old news,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Leo and I made up a few hours ago. He told me he stopped drinking and begged for my forgiveness for the way he acted.” She jerked her thumb towards the cabin. “What happened?”
“We’re not sure,” Grace said. “Courtney, where’s Tucker?”
“Oh, he’s taking a shower. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”
Kyle eyed the girl suspiciously. “How did you get in here?”
Courtney pointed to the connecting door between her balcony and Rycroft’s. “The door was unlocked.” Her gaze fell to the bloody handprints and she gasped. “Oh my, Mr. Rycroft is gone, isn’t he?” She shook her head sadly as she turned her attention to the ocean. “Poor Mr. Rycroft. I guess he’s really in Davy Jones’ locker now.”
* * *
Grace stared up at the ceiling of her cabin, lost in thought. “What if she did it?”
Kyle sleepily grunted next to her.
“She has plenty of motive. She has means. Opportunity. What if Courtney is the murderer?” She rolled on to her side and stared at Kyle’s face. She lovingly ran her fingers over his cheekbones before tapping his forehead.
His eyelids fluttered open. “Huh?”
“As much as it kills me to say this, I think we need to accept the fact that Courtney might be the killer.”
“Okay,” he said as his eyelids drifted shut.
“You’re not giving this much thought.” She shook his shoulder. “What do you think?”
He mumbled something incoherently as he rolled over on his stomach.
“What?”
One eyelid popped open. “I think it’s Tucker.”
“Tucker? Why?”
Lifting his head, he said, “He had access to Leo’s cabin too. Mulligan and the other officers didn’t waste much time dragging him out of the shower and taking him to the brig. They obviously suspect it’s him.”
“But what’s his motive?”
“You heard Leo backstage. Tucker was afraid the truth would come out and he’d lose Courtney. Four people knew that he was working for the magicians: Leo, Penny, Bruce and Alex. Now they’re all missing or dead.”
“I can’t see Tucker killing four people just so his wife doesn’t find out he was a plant. He apparently confessed everything to her this afternoon and she forgave him pretty easily.”
“If she’s the murderer, who attacked her in the shipwreck?”
“I never saw anyone else. For all I know, she had her foot planted against the wall while I was trying to pull her out. She may have just been trying to throw suspicion off herself.” She closed her eyes. “You still haven’t explained why Tucker would attack her. If he was just going to kill her anyway, he didn’t need to worry about keeping his secret safe.”
“He wasn’t trying to kill her.” He rolled over on to his side and pulled her closer. “He was trying to kill you.”
She snuggled into his side. “Me?”
“You two were wearing the exact same wet suit and you both had your hair pulled in buns. With those masks on, he could have easily mistaken her for you.”
“Why?”
“Maybe he thought you knew too much.”
She fell silent. After a moment, she shook him awake again. “What about Mulligan?” she asked, knowing that she was grasping at straws.
“What about him?”
“He could be a suspect. We only have his word he was knocked out. I didn’t see any blood on him, did you?”
“No,” he said slowly, “but what’s his motive.”
“Greed,” Tucker said from somewhere in the room. “Penny told me that he’d do anything for money. All you have to do is name your price. He’s constantly smuggling contraband off and on the ship. Bruce threatened to rat him out once. They hated each other.”
Grace and Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise.
Grace pulled the covers up to her chin as Kyle turned on the light. “What are you doing here?” she screamed.
“I wanted to give you the good news,” he said excitedly. “They let me go. Isn’t that great?”
“Great,” Kyle said sitting up. “Get out.”
“How did you get in here?” Grace demanded, taking care to keep the sheet tucked underneath her chin.
Tucker pointed to the balcony. “Your door was open.”
Grace’s face blushed. “How long have you been in here?”
“Not very long.”
“Define very?” Grace ground out.
“Well…”
Grace’s mouth dropped open. “Kyle,” she said with a do something tone of voice.
Kyle wiped a hand down his face. “Tucker, the list of people who want to kill you is growing by the minute. Get out.”
“Hey, is it okay if Courtney and I camp out on your couch? She’s kind of freaked out about all the murders that’s been going on.”
Kyle shook his head. “Tell Courtney—”
“Absolutely,” Grace said touching Kyle’s arm.
Tucker seemed surprised. “You don’t mind?”
“Oh no,” Grace said. “We insist.”
Tucker smiled in relief. “Thanks a lot. I would have hated to wake her
up and tell her we had to go back to our cabin. Well, goodnight you two.”
“Why are you letting them stay with us?” Kyle asked as soon as the bedroom door closed.
“Why not? They apparently can come and go as they please. Besides,” she added with a sigh, “I’m afraid one of them is a killer and the other their future victim.”
“Yeah, but which is which?”
Chapter Twenty-two
Day Four
“They arrested her this morning. Threw her right in the brig.”
Grace’s ears pricked up. She glanced at the women standing in front of her in the breakfast buffet line as they filled their plates.
“Well, I’m not going to feel safe until she is off this ship. Can you believe it…a female serial killer?”
“Terrible,” her friend confirmed, “absolutely terrible.”
Grace leaned forward. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t help but overhear. Who are you talking about?”
“The killer that’s been stalking the cruise,” the shorter of the two said. “She killed another one last night. Threw him off his balcony. Knocked the poor security guard guarding him right out and almost killed him.”
Grace glanced toward their table by the window where Kyle, Tucker, and Courtney sat. “Yes, but who did they arrest?”
The taller of the two waved a pair of tongs in Grace’s face. “The assistant cruise director,” she said as though it was obvious. “You know; the surly one.”
“I knew it all along,” her friend said. “Could tell right away. She was always talking about death. It was obvious when you think about it.”
“I heard she put some kind of rat poison in the food but she wouldn’t eat anything that didn’t come out of a can.” The woman frowned at her plate. “I hope she didn’t do anything to this food.”
Grace finished filling up her plate and returned to the table.
Courtney stared out the window at the tropical island nearby with a glum expression on her face.
“What’s wrong, Court?” Tucker asked over a mouthful of eggs. “Why aren’t you eating?”
“I’m not hungry,” she said with a depressed sigh as she pushed her uneaten omelet around with her fork. “Our whole honeymoon’s ruined. I don’t see why we can’t go to the island today.”
“We talked about it this morning,” Tucker said. “It’s just too dangerous.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Once they figure out who the killer is, I promise I’ll bring you back here and we’ll spend the whole day at Turquoise Island. Just you and me.”
Grace unwrapped her silverware. “I just heard they arrested someone.”
Three pairs of eyes turned to her. “Who?” they each said simultaneously.
Grace looked at Kyle. “Meredith.”
Kyle choked on his coffee.
At Tucker and Courtney’s confused look, she clarified, “Merry, the assistant cruise director.”
“Finally the nightmare’s over.” Courtney turned to Tucker, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “You know what that means? We can go to the island today.” She did a little patty cake clap as she bounced up and down in her seat. “This is so great! I thought our whole honeymoon was ruined.”
Tucker glanced from his wife’s hopeful expression towards the island and back. “Okay,” he said, his face softening, “we’ll go to the island.”
Courtney squealed in delight, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing tight. “Just you and me, right?”
“Just you and me,” he confirmed with a smile.
“What a relief. I was starting to feel like a prisoner. What with all the security guards following you around yesterday. It’ll be nice to get you alone,” she said leaning into his shoulder for a moment before attacking her omelet with gusto.
Grace watched the exchange with growing anxiety. “Why do you want to go to the island? There’s so much to do on board.”
“Oh, but Turquoise Island is so romantic,” Courtney said before reaching into her bag and pulling out a white piece of paper. “Oh, guess what, honey? Daddy felt so bad about the way he talked to me before we left that he went and bought us a special honeymoon extravaganza excursion. I’m so glad we get to use it. I would have hated to go home and tell him that we didn’t. He would have been so mad.” She laid the paper down on the table and pointed to the itinerary. “A horse drawn carriage will pick us up at eleven and give us a tour of the island before taking us to a secluded spot where we can have a romantic picnic for two. Then when we’re done seeing the sights the carriage will take us to the lighthouse so we can add our very own lovelock. Doesn’t that sound so romantic?”
Kyle frowned. “I thought the lighthouse was being renovated.”
“Not according to the itinerary,” Courtney said with a shrug before turning back to Tucker. “What do you think, sweetie?”
“Well, it sounds great, but could we skip the lighthouse?”
Courtney slowly lowered her fork. “Skip the lighthouse? Why would you want to skip the lighthouse?”
“I hate heights. You know I get nervous staring out at the ocean from our balcony.”
“But, honey, we have to go. It’s the most romantic spot on the island.” She smiled dreamily. “Young lovers from all over the world go there to place a love lock on the railings at the top of the lighthouse.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a lock. “I’ve already got the lock. We have to go.”
“A few seconds ago you weren’t even planning on going,” Grace pointed out. “Why did you buy a lock?”
She blinked for a moment then said, “They came with the excursion package.” She held out the lock for them to see. “See, it has our names on it. Cute huh?”
“I’m surprised you want to go back there,” Tucker said.
Kyle glanced at Courtney. “You’ve been to the lighthouse before?”
She nodded. “A group of us went to check out the damage from the hurricane. They wouldn’t let us go to the top, but we got to walk around the grounds. It’s really pretty there. I can’t wait to go back.”
“Were you there, Tucker?” Kyle asked.
Tucker shook his head while Courtney answered for him. “He was sick that day.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I offered to stay and take care of him but he wouldn’t let me.”
“I didn’t want you to catch my cold, but if I knew you were going to go to the lighthouse, I would have stopped you.”
“Why?” Kyle asked.
“It was too dangerous,” Tucker said. “The crew kept telling people to stay away.” He turned to Courtney. “You should have listened to me.”
“I didn’t get hurt.”
“No, but Leo Rycroft scared you.”
“He didn’t scare me,” Courtney protested. “Being annoyed is not the same thing as being scared.”
“That’s not what you said when you made it back to the ship.”
“What did Leo do?” Grace asked.
“He spent the whole time following her around,” Tucker said. “He wouldn’t leave her alone.”
Courtney looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat. “It was nothing. He was just being a jerk.”
“Did you see Leo with anyone?” Kyle asked.
“No, it was just him and me at that point. Most everyone else had left. I guess, I shouldn’t have asked for his autograph, but I was so amazed by his little performance that I couldn’t resist.”
“He was performing at the lighthouse?” Kyle asked with a frown.
“Yep,” she said before taking a bite of hash browns. “I only caught the tail end of it though. I came up just as he did his disappearance act.”
Kyle leaned forward. “What disappearance act?”
She shrugged. “One second he was at the top of the lighthouse, and then bam, the next, he was at the bottom.” She lifted a fork to Tucker’s lips. “Here try this. It’s good.”
Tucker pushed her hand away. “Tell them what happened afterwards.” He leaned across the table. �
�They got into a fight.”
“We didn’t get into a fight,” Courtney said with an exasperated sigh. “As we were boarding the ship, I told him that I had tickets for the magic show that night and that I’d see him there. I was hoping he’d take the hint and leave, but he just got more aggressive. He made a bunch of lewd comments and then tried to kiss me.”
“What did you do?” Grace asked.
“I ducked. He got stuck in security for some reason and I made my escape. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to that show that night, but Tucker really wanted to go.” Her voice hardened slightly. “Now I know why.”
Tucker ducked his head. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I needed the money. I had no idea Leo would act like that. I told him to leave you alone before the show, but I guess that just made him mad.”
Courtney took her fork and knife and attacked her omelet. “I told you all that stuff in confidence,” she said as the knife scraped along the dish. “You shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I didn’t know it was a secret or anything,” Tucker whined. “It was supposed to be fun. Leo had never acted like that before.”
“Stupid, drunken fool.” She cringed. “Oops. Mustn’t speak ill of the dead. Oh, well, I’ll be so glad to get off this ship and have some fun today. It’s too depressing here.”
“Are you sure you should be going?” Grace asked. “I’m not sure either one of you is out of danger.”
Courtney tilted her head to the side. “But they found the killer.”
“Meredith didn’t kill anyone,” Grace said.
“Then why did they arrest her?”
“Good question.” Kyle picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. “I think we ought to talk to her today.”
“Well, while you two do that, Tucker and I are going to go have fun.” Courtney gazed up lovingly at Tucker. “As long as we stick together, nothing’s going to happen to either one of us.”
“I have a great idea,” Grace said trying to interject some cheer. “We’re on our honeymoon. Why don’t we join you two instead? Meredith can wait.”
Courtney’s brow furrowed. “That would be great, but I don’t think you can.”
“Why not?”
“There’s no more tickets left. Apparently, it’s some kind of special excursion. Only one ticket per cruise. But maybe we can do something together afterward.” She glanced out the window with a frown, then at her silk blouse. “It looks like it’s going to rain. I better change into something else.” She reached for her bag with one hand while pushing against Tucker’s shoulder with the other. “Come on, honey bunny,” she said as she pulled him up with her. “I’m just so happy we get to go. I didn’t know what I was going to do with that lock.” She gave them a small finger wave before taking Tucker’s hand and dragging him from the dining room.
The Body in Davy Jones' Locker Page 21
