“We’ve ordered an active search,” Donald Fisher said, falling into step with Quinn. “Every team member is looking for Rowan Gray. We’re going floor to floor.”
Quinn knew that was good news but he couldn’t stop his heart from sinking. “No one has seen her?”
“Glenn Markowski talked to Sally Jenkins. She was with Ms. Gray about twenty minutes ago. She said she was fine and working on her makeup.”
“Twenty minutes ago?” Even though he was worked up, Quinn couldn’t help but be relieved that they had a timeframe to deal with. Rowan was fine twenty minutes ago. Hopefully she remained fine. “Okay, if Sally saw Rowan twenty minutes ago, that means that Rowan couldn’t have gone far.”
“If she’s wandering around … .”
“I didn’t say she was wandering around,” Quinn clarified. “I don’t believe she left her room of her own volition. I believe she was taken.”
“Not by the men being restricted to their rooms,” Fisher said. “We’ve had eyes on them all day.”
“I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing,” Quinn admitted, rolling his neck until it cracked. “What kind of report can you give me?”
“Sir?”
“I mean … have these guys been angry? Have they tried to leave their rooms? Have they given you any grief?”
“Oh, well, they haven’t been happy,” Fisher replied. “I don’t know that I would refer to them as angry. They seem … worried. They seem agitated. They’re not happy about being watched, but they’ve spent the bulk of the afternoon hiding in their rooms. They haven’t given us any problems.”
“That doesn’t mean they haven’t been plotting their next move,” Quinn said, shaking his head. “Okay, I’m going to hit these guys one at a time. I’m going at them hard.”
“Do you think they somehow took Ms. Gray? I’m not sure how that’s possible.”
“I’m not sure who took Rowan,” Quinn replied. “I do know I’m going to find her, though. If these guys didn’t take her – if they don’t know who took her – then that means we’ve been looking in the wrong direction this entire time.”
“What will you do if they don’t know?”
“I’ll burn this ship down to find her if I have to,” Quinn replied, stopping in front of the first room and raising his hand to knock. “I’m done messing around. I’m finding out what happened to that missing girl tonight … one way or another.”
22
Twenty-Two
“Kara?”
It took everything Rowan had not to let her mind combust as she stared down the teenager.
“You act as if my being here is somehow a surprise,” Kara noted. “You saw me in your room.”
“Yes, but you smacked me over the head with a … well, something … and I’m having trouble remembering exactly how I got here.”
“That would be an empty wine bottle,” Kara supplied. “I found the cart in the hallway by your room. I had to wait for someone to go into your hallway before I could shove my shoe in to keep the door open. I don’t see why everything has to be behind locked doors. It was a total pain.”
“Everything is behind locked doors for safety purposes.”
“Obviously that didn’t work,” Kara said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry I had to hit you. I considered handling everything in your room, but I didn’t want to leave evidence behind so it seemed safer this way.”
“This way?” Rowan rubbed the back of her head, cringing at the soft spot there as she frowned. “How did you get me here?”
Kara leaned against the deck railing and smiled. There was something disjointed about the expression, as if the wires in Kara’s head weren’t firing on all cylinders … or the batteries were dying … or she was legitimately crazy. Rowan leaned toward the latter.
“It wasn’t hard,” Kara replied. “I hit you over the head and you didn’t go down completely the first time. I had to do it twice. I thought you were dead for a second, but I didn’t get that lucky.”
“Lucky?” Rowan was flustered. “You wanted to kill me?”
“I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter,” Kara replied. “I’m running out of options. I wanted to take care of you there, but I heard voices outside your balcony and I figured that meant there were people around. I couldn’t risk it. If you’d left us alone, it wouldn’t have come to this. You really have no one to blame but yourself. It’s not my fault that you stuck your nose in our business.”
Rowan had no idea what she was talking about. All she could clearly understand without stretching the limits of her mind was that Kara had somehow missed the sanity bus and hopped on a motorcycle to Crazy Town. Now the young woman was careening toward a cliff without a helmet.
“How did I stick my nose in your business?”
“Is that a real question or are you buying time?”
Rowan wanted to ask what she was purportedly buying time for, but on further consideration she realized she didn’t want things spelled out for her. Er, well, at least not the terrible things that could lead to her death, that is.
“It’s a real question,” Rowan replied. “I have no idea why you think I’m in your business. That’s really not my style.”
“You’ve been watching us.”
“I … no, I haven’t.” Rowan hoped Kara couldn’t see through the lie, but given her delayed reaction she was fairly certain that wasn’t the case.
“Yes, you have,” Kara countered. “You’ve been interested in us since we arrived. At first I thought it was because you were looking out for us. We’re adults, but we’re still young. I thought you were acting motherly.”
Rowan felt somewhat insulted. “I’m only ten years older than you.”
“Yes, but that’s a lifetime where we’re concerned,” Kara said. “Anyway, you watched us that first day. You took photos of other people, but you were most interested in us.”
“Did your friends notice?”
“They’re not much for observation. Kylie only notices herself and Hayley and Jessica are always wrapped up in Kylie. I’m the only one who notices things.”
“Uh-huh. And why do you think I was watching you?”
“I have no idea,” Kara replied. “Perhaps you sensed something was off. Perhaps you really were just worried about us. I don’t really care. Your interest wasn’t a concern until Jessica died.”
Rowan stilled. “Died?”
Kara snorted. “You haven’t been holding out hope that she’s alive, have you? You can’t be serious. Oh, part of you believed you really might find her. That’s so … pathetic.”
Rowan kept her temper in check as she calmly sucked in a breath. “You killed Jessica?”
“Let’s not play games,” Kara said. “I can tolerate a lot, but game-playing isn’t something that sits well with me.”
“I’m not playing games. I honestly want to know.”
Kara wrinkled her nose, her blue eyes flashing. “Don’t do that!” She extended a warning finger. “I know you know. I figured it out when you stopped to talk to me when you thought I was upset. You made a big show about making me feel better, but I knew why you were there.”
“I was there because you seemed worked up,” Rowan countered. “I had no idea you killed Jessica.”
Kara studied Rowan, her face impassive. “I almost believe you.”
“Great. Can I go?”
“I said I almost believe you,” Kara clarified. “I don’t believe you, though. You know what I did. I don’t know how you know, but you know.
“It took me awhile to realize what was happening,” she continued. “You kept showing up wherever we went. Mostly it was on the deck, but I noticed you watching us in the dining room every night. Then you followed us around when we were at port.”
“I didn’t follow you,” Rowan protested. “I was on a date with Quinn. The port isn’t very big. It was a coincidence.”
“That may be partially true – and I have no doubt you’re involved with the security guy,
which is killing Kylie, by the way – but you were following us,” Kara countered. “I’m not an idiot.”
Rowan considered arguing that point but felt it probably wouldn’t end well if she pressed matters. “Why did you kill Jessica?”
“Because she was in the way,” Kara replied smoothly. “We’ve all been friends since we were kids, but all friendships aren’t created equal. Kylie is the center of our universe. She enjoys living there. I enjoy letting her live there. She’s a pain, but she thrives in the limelight.
“I, on the other hand, am not nearly as comfortable with people as Kylie is,” she continued. “I much prefer letting her do all of the work while I reap the rewards. She sucks people in, she draws them to her. I let that happen and maintain friendships and popularity through her.
“It’s been that way for as long as I can remember,” she said. “I was comfortable with my place in life until Kylie announced that she was going to the university instead of community college. The plan had always been for us to do two years at community college together before transferring.”
“I’m not sure what to say to that,” Rowan admitted. “Why couldn’t you go to the university, too?” She had no idea which university Kara was referring to, but it was hardly important given the circumstances.
“I needed time to save up money. Not all of us have endless funds like Kylie’s parents. I actually have to work for things. They’re not automatically given to me.”
“I still don’t see what the issue is,” Rowan said. “So Kylie is going to a university. Is there some reason that this will automatically end the friendship?”
“End? I can’t be certain. Irrevocably change the friendship? There’s no doubt about that.” Kara was grim as she shifted her stance. “Kylie is the type of person who makes friends wherever she goes. I don’t have that luxury. She would’ve gone off to the university and left the rest of us behind. She would’ve made new friends and forgotten all about us.”
“But … .”
Kara cut off Rowan as if she didn’t hear her. “I could’ve lived with that,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been happy, but I could’ve lived with that. Then Jessica announced she was going to the university, too. She managed to get in and secured financial aid before she even told us about it.
“I was furious,” she continued. “Kylie was so excited. They made plans to live together. They were hoping to get in one of the newer dorms. Instead of everyone enjoying our summer vacation, everything became about Kylie and Jessica moving in together.”
“And you thought that if they lived together that would cut you and Hayley out of the equation,” Rowan surmised, shaking her head. “That hardly seems like a reason to murder someone.”
“Oh, no?” Kara clearly didn’t like Rowan’s tone because she balled her hands into fists and clenched them at her sides. “Kylie has been my best friend since kindergarten. She’s my only friend. Oh, she uses me to do whatever she wants. I know that. She’s my friend, though. We were supposed to be best friends forever. That’s what she wrote in my yearbook.”
Rowan widened her eyes, dumbfounded. Kara was clearly unbalanced and she’d taken an unhealthy interest in Kylie’s life. She saw everything she did and felt as being normal, when it was the exact opposite.
“That’s what everyone writes in everyone’s yearbooks,” Rowan said. “High school friendships don’t always stand the test of time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not necessarily a good thing either. Friendships change as people grow. It’s simply the way of the world.”
“Not my world,” Kara said, shaking her head. “Kylie and I are going to be friends forever. I’ve made sure of it.”
“By killing Jessica?”
“Jessica had it coming,” Kara replied. “I confronted her after she announced she was going to college with Kylie. Do you know what she said? She told me to get over myself. She said she wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity for a great education because I didn’t want her to go.
“That’s gratitude for you,” she continued, making a disgusted face. “I’m the only reason those idiots even had the qualifications to get into college. They always copied off my papers. I did most of the work when it came to group projects. I helped them when it came to studying. I did all of it. Me!
“I never really thought about Jessica one way or another until she betrayed me,” she said, her eyes busy as they scanned the fiery horizon. The sun would set soon and then Rowan knew she was out of options. Kara would attack when darkness fell. “Then I knew she had to go. I figured this ship … this cruise … would make things easy.”
“But … how?”
“It was pretty simple,” Kara replied, locking gazes with Rowan. “Everyone drank at the outdoor bar that night. Jessica and Hayley wanted to be inside, but Kylie wanted to be outside. Outside was better for me, too.
“I didn’t drink,” she continued. “Not alcoholic beverages, at least. I pretended to drink like everyone else but the drunker they got the more they lost track of who was ordering what. Kylie was infatuated with the engineers, and because she wanted to keep up, Jessica made a big show about it, too.
“I waited until I was sure everyone was distracted and then I asked Jessica to walk to the room with me,” she explained. “She wasn’t happy about it, but when I told her I was afraid to go alone she agreed so we went back to our room and I pretended to go to the bathroom while she stood on the balcony. Then I snuck up behind her and hit her with a beer bottle when she wasn’t looking. She didn’t even see it coming.
“She was already unsteady on her feet because of the alcohol so she went down quick,” Kara said. “After that I just dragged her to the railing and dumped her over. She was heavier than I expected – dead weight and all – but it only took a few minutes. Then it was done.”
“Was she still alive when you dumped her in the water?”
Kara shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m sure she wasn’t for long. You know, sharks and stuff. It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“It probably mattered to Jessica.”
“But she’s gone,” Kara said. “I’m back on top and she’s gone.”
“The police are going to arrest you, Kara,” Rowan argued. “You’re going to go to jail. How do you figure that means you’re on top again?”
“Because they have no evidence. No body, no evidence. They can’t arrest without evidence.”
“That’s not even remotely true,” Rowan countered. “Sure, they only have circumstantial evidence, but they have physical evidence, too. Quinn collected samples of Jessica’s blood from the balcony. He put it in evidence bags.”
Kara’s face drained of color as she stiffly turned in Rowan’s direction. “What?”
Rowan decided on her plan of attack almost immediately. “It’s true,” she said, planting her hands against the deck and struggling to keep her feet beneath her as she tried to stand. “Quinn found the blood. No one believed your story. We just pretended we did to keep you calm. Why do you think we were following you?”
“No, that’s not true.” Kara vehemently shook her head. Rowan couldn’t tell if she was falling apart because her plans were unraveling or Rowan was agitating her.
“That is true.” Rowan was happy that she managed to remain on her feet even though her head throbbed and she felt unnaturally shaky. “We weren’t watching you out of curiosity or to protect you. We were watching because we figured you would do something bad.”
Rowan decided to play a hunch. “For example, we know you were planning on taking out Hayley, too,” she continued. “You changed your mind when you heard about the engineers being suspects. You thought maybe you could foist all of the suspicion off on them, but to do that, you had to leave Hayley alive.
“I’m betting you figured Kylie would have no choice but to go to community college with you if Hayley disappeared, too,” she continued. “You probably thought she’d be grief stricken and sad, that she’d cling to you. That was never goi
ng to happen, though.”
“You don’t know that,” Kara spat. “I know Kylie much better than you do.”
“And you said yourself that Kylie only cares about herself,” Rowan pointed out. “Kylie was going to go away to college no matter what. You were never going to be a part of that decision-making process.”
“You lying bitch!” Kara launched herself at Rowan, taking the weakened woman by surprise.
Rowan barely managed to sidestep the girl and she stumbled over one of the chaise loungers in her haste to put distance between them. Rowan’s knee landed on the lounger and she grunted and she pitched forward. She hoped to have enough time to roll to her side, to put the chair between herself and Kara as a form of protection, but she was still moving too slowly to accomplish that.
“I’m going to kill you,” Kara seethed, grabbing the back of Rowan’s hair and dragging her toward the railing. “I’m going to kill you and everyone is going to think you killed Jessica. They’ll believe it, too. They’ll think you committed suicide out of guilt.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Rowan sputtered, fighting against Kara’s grip. “This isn’t going to work. People are going to know it’s you.”
“No, they won’t.”
“Yes, they will.” Quinn appeared out of nowhere, his face handsome and grim as it caused Rowan’s heart to flip. He avoided her gaze and focused on Kara as he took three large steps in the girl’s direction. He wisely kept enough distance between them that Kara didn’t feel penned in. He didn’t want her to panic. “People already know it’s you, Kara. I’ve transferred the information to my security team and they’re forwarding it to the mainland even as we speak.”
Kara’s face flushed with fury. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not lying,” Quinn said, his voice calm as he held his hands palms up. “We figured it out when Rowan went missing. There are security cameras in the crew hallways. It wasn’t hard.”
“But … no!” Kara was beyond frustrated. “You’re ruining everything!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Quinn said. “You’re out of options, though. Jessica is dead. Your culpability in the murder is known by a lot of people. Pretty soon Kylie is going to know what you did, too. Do you think she’s going to be happy?”
Welcoming Seas (A Rowan Gray Mystery Book 1) Page 19
