by Trimboli, TJ
Tears streamed down Bobbi’s face. She charged back at Joe catching him off guard.
“BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!” She screamed.
Joe remained silent.
Bobbi composed herself best she could wiping away the tears.
Two doors opened, followers of Kendra slithering out. They held a bag full of casino chips. They strolled up to the dead bodies.
“HEY!” she shouted. “No one is to be up here right now. I made that painstakingly clear at the meeting.”
One of the followers, a woman, approached. “We were given explicit instructions by—” “I know who. I don’t give a fuck what she told you. Fuck off.” Bobbi spat.
The woman would not be dissuaded. “If the bodies of the dead are not given the coin, or chip in this instance, then they will have nothing to barter with for safe passage in the afterlife.”
Bobbi had just about all she was going to take of Kendra’s snakes this morning. She pulled her revolver from its holster pointing it at the woman. “Maybe they can barter with your life.” The woman backed away and she scurried the rest of the clan back inside the ship.
She holstered her piece.
Joe stood by shaking his head. “Look at you. How much longer will you let yourself unravel like this? He’s a life chord that is strangling you more and more by the second.” He slowly approached her. “Do yourself a favor and cut that chord.” He stood practically on top of her.
Bobbi made no move to back down. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek. He probably thought it was over him, all men do, but truthfully, the foul odor of the bodies stung at her nostrils dampening her eyes.
He wiped away the tear for her slowly leaning in for a kiss. His lips locked with hers yet she made no move to return the kiss, she simply allowed him to have this one. He parted his lips, his tongue searching for a path into her mouth.
She grabbed him by the shirt pushing him off her. “I can’t…and even if I did, you would never replace him.”
Joe backed off and that’s when she saw him pacing back and forth just beyond the pool. He muttered under his breath slapping himself in the face.
Joe caught her eye and turned to see what she was looking at.
“Joe!” She shouted trying to stop him from looking but it was no luck. He turned and saw Trent, in all his glory, freaking out in the distance.
“We need to get Valentina,” he said heading for the door.
“NO!” Bobbi shouted grabbing at his shirt.
He ripped himself free of her. “She’s our leader, she needs to be aware!”
Bobbi composed herself. “I’m the sheriff. He’s my responsibility,” she said with such grim determination that she could have sworn he audibly gulped.
He nodded at her standing his ground.
She turned towards Trent unclasping the latch on her holster. Resting her hand just above the handle, she cautiously approached her husband. “Trent…Trent it’s Bobbi. I need you to stop pacing and look at me.”
He paid her no attention yammering away to himself. “The foul stench of death plagues the air…be true to thy own virtue…the seneschal…”
His words gave her pause. Where have I heard that before?
As she got closer, she saw just how much a toll he must be placing on himself. Patches of his hair were gone, her best guess was he’d pulled them out. He was wearing pieces of clothing she knew he would never be caught dead in.
Which means he’s stealing…But that doesn’t make him a murderer.
His eyes were blood shot like hundreds of the perps they bagged over the years on pot charges.
He’ll never admit it but he’s been crying. Does he realize that he’s killed? And that’s when it hit her, just where she had seen this before.
In my dream.
She placed her hand on her gun and with more force she shouted, “Trent. Look at me.” He stopped dead in his tracks turning towards her.
The first thing she noticed was the fear in his eyes.
It’s like he was visited by his father’s ghost or something. He looked terrified. His lips trembled. “Bobbi?” He softly spoke.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
His arms reached out latching onto her shoulders. “You need to help me. I’m losing it. You need to arrest me, now!” He said forcefully.
Joe wasted no time in running over. “HEY!” he yelled. “Get your hands off of her.” “Joe, stay out of this. I’ve got it.” She shouted back at him.
Joe was already next to her forcing himself into the equation. He was by no means a small man but Trent was not the man he wanted to go toe to toe with. He refused to heed her warning ripping Trent’s hands off of her.
“Joe.” She barely got the words out before Trent threw the punch.
Joe stood no chance of defending himself taking the punch right smack on the center of his jaw. He flew back onto a set of pool chairs.
She grabbed Trent pulling him back. “What’s the matter with you Trent?” She screamed.
“I’m losing it Bobbi. You need to do something. Every minute I spend on this ship distorts my view with reality. I need to get off this ship, you need to get me off this ship,” He pleaded. Before she could stop him, he had his hand on hers forcing the gun into her hand. He guided her hand placing the barrel of the revolver on his lips. “You need to put me out of my misery. If I drink anymore, I’m fixing to lose it completely. I didn’t murder anybody…yet, but if I stay on this ship another second, there’s no telling what could happen. You need to do this, please!” He cried. He stuck the barrel in his mouth. Before he could pull the trigger, Joe collided into him knocking him backwards. They both flew into the pool.
A pool devoid of any water.
They fell eight feet to the concrete lining below. Joe landed on his shoulder, the sound of the bone snapping from the pressure filled the hollow tomb. His agonizing screams echoed through the pool. Trent managed to flip backwards a full revolution landing on his legs. They gave out as he landed, his ass taking the brunt of the damage. He rolled over onto Joe splitting his lip open with right hook after right hook.
Bobbi searched frantically for a way into the pool. The ladders dropping into the deep end had been destroyed during the night riot, leaving the long way in. She ran around the side of the pool never taking her eyes off of Trent. She screamed and shouted at him to stop but in his blind rage, he must never have heard her.
She’d made it to the other end of the pool when Joe struck back. He head butted Trent dazing him. He used his legs to send Trent tumbling over onto his back. Joe slid over returning the favor to Trent, punch for punch. She dropped into the shallow end of the pool, revolver in hand. Joe had a smaller frame than Trent but his hands were meat hooks compared to Trent’s. Each punch bruised his face, bloodied his lips, broke his nose. He landed one last punch that caught Trent in the mouth cracking multiple teeth. She didn’t see what happened next, only Joe’s screams as he fell back away from Trent.
“Son of a bitch! He bit me. The fucker tore into my finger.” Joe roared.
Trent sprang up as nimble as a cat and pounced on top of Joe. He squeezed at Joe’s neck.
Blood rolled down Joe’s arm. He tried to knock Trent off but he used his weight to his advantage.
Bobbi finally made it to them, pointing the muzzle of the revolver against Trent’s head. “Let him go Trent or I’ll shoot,” she said unconvincingly.
“Do it, please. Put me out of my misery,” Trent spoke calmly.
Joe’s face turned purple. He clawed and scratched. His eyes met hers pleading with her to shoot him.
“Trent, don’t make me do this!” she shouted.
“I’m sorry Bobbi but I need to die.” He cried.
Joe’s arms went limp, the last few breaths escaping his body.
Bobbi slammed the butt of the gun down against Trent’s head. He yelped releasing his grip on Joe. Trent fell over, blood seeping from his skull.
Joe sucked in as much air as he could gasping for b
reath.
She knelt down next to Joe. “Are you okay?” She said looking into his eyes.
Words wouldn’t come to him but he managed to nod his head once as he coughed for air.
She turned her attention to Trent.
He sat against the edge of the pool defeated, his face unrecognizable through the blood.
She pulled out the only set of handcuffs she had left. “You know the drill.” Trent slid forward lying on his front, his hands placed behind his back.
She cuffed him. “I’m sorry Trent but I won’t kill you.” She mustered up the courage to say.
He rolled his head to the side looking at her. Though blood oozed down his face, she could’ve sworn he looked at her lovingly. “I know sweetheart, I understand…so take me to someone who will.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
VALENTINA
A bird nestled against the railing of a window, clipping at its feathers. It peered into the room nipping at the glass to find a way in. When none came to the bird, it simply took off into the sky.
Valentina watched it for as long as she could until the bird disappeared in the sun.
How I wish I could be that bird right now. Unshackled and free to roam.
She surveyed the room to find herself surrounded by dozens of shaved heads. Since the murder of that woman this morning, Kendra’s followers had doubled and all she could do was sit by and let it happen. Kendra had played her like a fiddle. If she was to strike back now, she had to play it as close to the vest as possible. She had a plan, one that was crazy enough to get her back at the forefront of her people but it would cost a great deal.
It may destroy the council.
Not that it mattered to her. She had no one to truly turn to. Xao rarely spoke or spent any time with her, Morris was off fishing, most likely never to return, just like the others, and Bobbi was too caught up in the ways of love. She even managed to gain Richard’s subservience in her quest to spare her killer husband. No, this she would have to do on her own, council be damned.
The captain left me in charge for a reason, I will not let them tear me down so easily. She saw Becky approaching with a plate of beans for her. She feigned a smile to the young girl as she arrived.
“Good morning. Thought you could use some food,” Becky said.
“Thank you dear.” Valentina mixed the beans with her plastic fork wary to eat another day’s fill.
“Have you seen Bobbi yet?” Becky asked.
“Not since this morning. Why?”
“She usually comes in around this time to check on me, I just get a little worried when she doesn’t stick her to schedule. I start getting these images of her lying in a room somewhere bleeding out.”
We could only be so lucky.
Valentina was a cold person but not evil, she didn’t wish ill will on the Sheriff but if she happened to turn up dead, it would make her life a hell of a lot easier. It was, after all, Bobbi who was responsible for her falling victim to Kendra’s trap. She could understand wanting to prove your husband’s innocence but she couldn’t forgive ignorance on her part as an investigator.
She had a job to do and failed and now mine is ten times harder.
“I’m sure she’s fine child. That one is a survivor. She won’t go down easily.” Becky smiled and walked away disappearing into the kitchen.
Valentina pushed her plate away watching Kendra’s snakes bicker amongst themselves. She sat by herself in the corner of the room realizing she was the only one left in plain clothes.
You will not best me, Kendra.
Xao strolled into the room like a tortoise.
She never got a clear answer from the man on his age but the way he walked and his soft way of speaking led her to believe he must be pushing eighty. He looked ready to keel over at any moment. She whistled grabbing his attention. He hobbled over to her and she kicked out a chair for him. He said nothing, simply nodded.
“Good morning Xao,” she said.
“If you say so,” he replied.
She ground her teeth masking her irritation. “Do you have any news for me?”
“None that would please you,” he said turning his attention to her plate of beans. He pointed at the food.
“Have at it,” she told him.
He dug in.
Richard appeared slapping Xao on the back. “And how are we all this morning?” He asked sitting down.
“You are surprisingly happy this morning, care to share?” Valentina asked him.
“Should I not still try to put a positive spin on my situation?” He quipped. “The world has crumbled to shit, yet here I stand, alive and healthy with a scintillatingly warm sun at my back.
Ain’t that right Xao?”
“In a sense. It’s hard to find joy in so much death around us, but you prove a good point. What is living without joy? It is something we are desperately lacking at the moment.” “Exactly. So here I am, just call me the joy spreader.” Valentina scoffed.
“I take it you do not agree?” he asked her.
Valentina narrowed her eyes at him. “You Americans always make light of your situation. Joke this and joke that but there is nothing to joke of, now wipe that smug grin from your face and give me something I can use. We are losing this ship and you make jokes. Jokes won’t get us anywhere. Where are the men you sent out to find us land?”
“They have a lot of islands to scour. They could be back today, they could be back a week, month, or months from now.”
“If they return at all.” She rolled her eyes.
“They will, they are very capable men. They will come back but until then, we need to take care of business here. Bobbi is out doing what she can but she can’t do it alone,” Richard replied.
“Forget Bobbi. I sent her to find her husband to keep her busy so the adults can get things done. Her mistake last night has cost us too much ground.” “You can’t blame her for what happened,” Xao said.
“I believe I just did.”
“It was the right move given the circumstances. We had the evidence and he came forward,” Richard said.
“And he lied. She is supposed to be an investigator. A damn good one too, by her account. I don’t know how cops do it in America but in Russia, we are taught to know when a statement given by a perp is a lie or not. We are taught to tell when someone is being truthful or lying to save someone else’s skin. She should have seen that in Ahmed and now, he’s dead and there is still a killer out there. Even worse, is it has lost us the trust of the people. I intend to get that back.”
“How?” Richard asked.
“Like I said before, by working together. I’m going to give Kendra a seat on the council,” she stated.
Richard sat back breathing out a sigh of what she could only assume was tension. He and Bobbi had been at Kendra’s throat since the day she gave her first sermon. She didn’t care.
Richard would get in line or he would relieve himself of his duty. They all would.
Xao said nothing, simply continued to eat his beans.
An act which made the blood in her skin boil. I am tired of playing games with these fools.
“Have you thought about this, truly?” Richard asked.
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I don’t trust her one bit but the people do and that I can use. With her on the council, I can watch her every move and be a part of every decision she plans to make. We spent far too much energy in attempting to destroy her, we need to align ourselves with her and move onto the bigger picture; stopping these murders and getting off this ship. She said it herself, until we are all one, we will be doomed to purgatory upon this vessel. I’m just giving her what she wants.” She grinned.
“This is not a good idea,” Xao chimed in.
“And why is that?”
“She is dangerous and a dangerous person is an unpredictable one. Once she is upon the council, what is to stop her from coming after your seat?” “Let her come for it. She will find I am not so ea
sily bested.” “Except last night,” Xao quipped.
She gritted her teeth struggling to let that dig at her slide. “And what would you have me do, in all your infinite wisdom?”
“Maybe we aren’t supposed to get off this vessel. Perhaps, this is our plight, to prove that we don’t deserve the lives we have been giving at the top of the food chain.”
“Is that it, Xao? You want us all to die here?” Valentina asked sharply.
“Maybe that’s just what we deserve.”
Shouts of horror echoed through the cafeteria.
Valentina turned her attention to them. Dozens of people were falling through the air outside the windows. She kicked her chair out from under her running to the windows. Looking below, she saw at least twenty people fall fourteen stories to the murky waters below. She could hear the splashing through the window. None of the twenty bodies ever resurfaced. She hit her head against the glass, a single tear strolling down her face. She wiped it away before turning back to face Xao and Richard. “Is this what we deserve?” She shouted.
Many of Kendra’s followers turned to her, enraptured by her words.
Xao simply arose from his chair and walked away.
“We do not deserve this fate Xao! We deserve to live dammit. All of us. The people murdered in the night riot deserved better Xao. My children deserved better. They deserved to live!” She screamed. “If you walk away you are done, off the council. Do you hear me?” He was already long gone.
The stress continued to gnaw away at her soul.
CHAPTER TWENTY
BOBBI
She raced from room to room in search of Stuart. There was precious time before Valentina called for a ship wide search for Trent and she had to have him off the boat by then. When she left him, he was begging to be taken to her but Bobbi couldn’t bring herself to do it. As much pain as he’d caused her on this ship, the thought of existing when he did not was unfathomable. It was a completely selfish line of thinking but she didn’t care. Since this ship went dark, everyone had been selfish to boot, now it was her turn to have a go with the emotion and she intended to give him a fighting chance. That is, if she could get him to fight. The man she once called lover had no fight left in him but she would change that.
