by Cindy Bell
“Don't worry,” Bekki said and patted her shoulder gently. “We're here to party, remember?” she frowned sympathetically as Sammy groaned. “Well, maybe a little less partying. How are you feeling?” she asked with concern.
“Horrible,” Sammy shook her head, and then grimaced. “I can't believe I can't shake this dizziness, and the headache is too much,” she frowned and blushed a little. “I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you.”
“Don't think that way,” Bekki said sternly. But she was starting to get more than a little concerned. “Are you sure that you're not sick? Maybe being on the ship is making it worse?”
“I don't think so,” Sammy said and narrowed her eyes. “It's more like I drank a whole case of beer and then washed it down with another whole case of beer.”
“All I know is I'm glad I didn't drink that,” Bekki laughed a little. “The bartender must have been trying to impress us with that extra dose of alcohol he added in.”
“Yeah, or knock us out,” Sammy laughed a little and then groaned. She walked back over to her station to finish organizing it. Her words stayed with Bekki as she walked over and picked up the broom to clean up the hair on the floor. Sammy had mentioned it as a joke, but was it possible that the bartender had been trying to knock them out? If the drinks weren't normally so strong, why would he make such a strong courtesy drink for her and Sammy? It didn't make much sense to her. Then she thought of Bobby snoring at the end of the bar. Maybe he hadn't been drinking as much as she thought? Maybe he'd had the same drink that Sammy had.
Bekki decided that after the salon closed for the day she would see if she could find that bartender and ask him a few questions. As she swept up the hair from her last customer, she was reminded of the bloody tissue she had seen fall out of his pocket. It still seemed odd that he would decide to keep it rather than throw it out. Maybe he was so embarrassed having dropped it, that he just wanted to hide it as quickly as possible. As she swept she began to get annoyed. The more she swept the dirtier the floor seemed to be.
Then she noticed it wasn't just hair. Something dark was mingled in with it. She leaned down and picked up a bit of it. Almost immediately she knew what it was. Coffee grounds. She remembered stepping in them that morning in the storage room. Maybe she had tracked them into the salon? When she checked the soles of her shoes she didn't see anything on the bottom of them.
“Odd,” she muttered to herself and finished sweeping. As the evening approached the salon got quite a bit busier. All of the ladies on the ship seemed to want their hair to be perfect for their night of gambling and dancing. Some of the men also came in for trims of their hair or beards. By closing time Bekki could see that Sammy was exhausted. They had barely managed to grab a lunch between customers.
“How about we order in for dinner?” Bekki suggested.
“Sounds perfect,” Sammy sighed and they walked out of the salon together.
Chapter Six
As Bekki and Sammy walked back towards their cabin, Bekki's thoughts about Sammy's reaction to the drink surfaced once more.
“You've never had this kind of reaction to any kind of alcohol before, Sammy?” Bekki asked as she opened the door of the cabin.
“Never,” Sammy said firmly. “Even the thought of food right now still makes me a little queasy.”
“Well, we'll order something light,” Bekki suggested and walked over to the phone. As she placed their order she flipped through her phone to see if Nick had called. She frowned as she saw that he hadn't. Then she remembered what the investigator had said about reception. It was likely that they weren't in an area where the calls could reach her.
After the food was delivered and they had eaten, Bekki still felt too uneasy to rest. Her mind kept returning to that drink.
“I'm going to go out for a bit, okay?” she said to Sammy who was already curled up in her bed.
“Mmhm,” she mumbled from her pillow before yawning.
Bekki headed for the dance floor to see if she could find the same bartender from the night before. When she walked in the flashing lights and throbbing music made her stomach flip. She was sure she was growing out of her dance club phase. One night of dancing in a club every few years was more than enough. She walked up to the bar which was already crowded with patrons. There were two bartenders working but neither of them looked familiar. Bekki waited until one was free and waved her over.
“Hi, what can I get for you?” she asked in a friendly tone.
“Nothing for me,” Bekki said quickly. “I was just wondering if you could tell me where the bartender is that was working the bar last night?”
“Oh, Peter?” the bartender smiled and winked. “He is quite a hunk, huh?” she giggled.
Bekki managed a smile as she thought it was easier than explaining the entire situation.
“Yes, that's him,” Bekki nodded quickly.
“Sorry hon, he called in sick for tonight,” the bartender said with a frown. “I'm sure he'll be back on by tomorrow night.”
Bekki nodded a little. “I have one more question,” Bekki said as she leaned a little closer. “What exactly is in those complimentary drinks that are given out to guests?”
“Huh?” the bartender looked confused for a moment and then shrugged. “It's just a glass of white wine unless someone requests something different, like a beer.”
“So, it's not normally a Lucky Streak?” Bekki asked with growing confusion.
“Is that a special kind of drink?” the bartender asked and shook her head. “I've never heard of it before.”
“Thanks for the information,” Bekki said with a grim frown and walked away from the bar. As she left the dance floor, she was putting the pieces together. If Peter, the bartender from the night before, had been lying to them about the complimentary drinks there had to be a reason why. It could still be that it was his way of flirting with Bekki and Sammy, but Bekki was starting to doubt that. If he had called in sick for that night then maybe he had ingested the same drink. Maybe one of the ingredients was bad. With the bartender who was working having no idea what was in the drink, Bekki was even more determined to find Peter.
Andrea had set her and Sammy up with a luxury passenger cabin, but she knew there had to be a wing of the ship that was allocated to staff only. She noticed a few people in cruise uniforms who were walking in one direction, so she decided to follow them. As she walked behind them in the hallway she could hear them talking quietly to each other.
“I can't believe she's dead, she was so young,” a tall and lanky man was saying to a woman with a long, thick braid down her back.
“I know,” she murmured in return. “To think most of the passengers on the cruise don't even know it happened. I hope it stays that way or we might have some panic.”
“Nothing stops the cruise from cruising,” the man replied with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “But seriously, I wonder if it had something to do with that investigation.”
“What investigation?” the woman beside him asked.
“Apparently she was being investigated by the ship's financial department,” the man said.
“You're not serious?” the woman asked. “Oh boy, what was she doing?”
“Well, it wasn't proven,” the man pointed out. “But I guess since she's had the job a lot of the money the croupiers have access to went missing. Just small amounts here and there, but enough that it got noticed.”
“If I was going to steal money that's how I would do it,” the woman replied. “Not that I would,” she added quickly.
Bekki quickened her pace to keep up with them. She wanted to know exactly what the investigation had been about.
“All I know for sure is that she had been called into the financial office a few times. If they found anything I can't say for sure. But she was acting pretty strange the last few days,” he added. “When we were getting ready to leave the dock she kept watching the boarding passengers. I asked her if she had a friend or family member coming on boa
rd, and she snapped at me to mind my own business.”
“Huh, that's not like Rose at all,” the woman said with a shake of her head. “Did you tell the investigator about it?”
“No way,” the man shook his head. “I'm not getting in the middle of an investigation. You tell an investigator one thing and next thing you know you're sitting on a witness stand. Besides, I'm sure it had nothing to do with her murder, and the cruise management should tell him about the financial stuff.”
“Well, if she was stealing she might have got involved with some dangerous people,” the woman said. Bekki was so engrossed in their conversation that when the woman in front of her suddenly stopped short she nearly slammed into the back of her.
“Excuse me,” the woman said as she spun around to face Bekki. The man beside her reached out to steady her.
“Sorry,” Bekki said with a frown.
“What are you doing in this area?” the man asked.
“I'm working in the salon and I got a bit turned around,” Bekki explained quickly. Then it occurred to her that she might be able to find out more about the bartender, Peter, from them. “You see I was at the bar last night and a bartender there, Peter…”
The two exchanged a knowing look before looking back at Bekki.
“I asked him to hold onto something for me while I danced, and he agreed, but I forgot and left it behind. I went back to the bar and it isn't there, so I’m hoping to find Peter's cabin so I can find out if he still has it.”
“Peter is down that hallway,” the man pointed to a corridor that led off to the right. “His cabin is the third one on the left.”
“Thank you, so much,” Bekki said with genuine gratitude. “I'm sorry for almost running you over.”
“It's no problem,” the young woman said and then lowered her voice. “But just in case you haven't heard you should be careful. One of the members of the casino staff was murdered.”
“Really?” Bekki asked as she wasn't sure if it would be wise to reveal that she was the one who had found the body. “How terrible.”
“Her throat was slashed,” the tall man said and made a sharp motion with his fingertip across his throat.
“Terrifying,” Bekki shivered. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Just be cautious,” the tall man said. “I'm sure they already have a suspect in mind, after that skirmish in the casino.”
“Oh,” Bekki nodded with the expected amount of shock. “Sounds like this trip is going to be very eventful.”
“Hopefully, that's the last big incident,” the woman rolled her eyes.
“Thanks again,” Bekki walked down the corridor they had pointed out. She counted the doors on the left until she came to the one that belonged to Peter, the bartender. She paused outside the door and listened closely to see if there might be someone inside. She could hear a phone ringing. She waited a few moments to see if anyone would answer.
“Yeah?” she heard a rough voice say after the phone stopped ringing. “Why are you calling me here? You shouldn't be calling me while we're on the boat!”
Bekki's body tensed. That certainly sounded strange to her. She pressed her ear against the door to listen more closely to what Peter might be saying inside.
“I don't care, you just need to be cool. Seriously, just cool off and don't call me here again,” he said sharply. Bekki waited a moment to be sure that the conversation was over. After a few moments of silence she knocked lightly on the door. She heard a scuffling sound, and then a voice that sounded much fainter and ill than the other voice she had just heard, called out.
“Who is it? I'm sick!”
Bekki tightened her lips and knocked harder. This time the voice sounded annoyed when she heard it.
“This better be important,” he yanked the door open and froze the moment he saw Bekki standing there.
Bekki scrutinized his expression when he saw her. She noted the surprise in his expression and the subtle fear in his eyes.
“What are you doing here?” he asked forgetting to pretend to be sick for a moment. He coughed to cover his mistake.
“I'm so sorry to bother you,” Bekki said and narrowed her eyes just enough to let him know that she wasn't actually sorry to bother him at all. “But that drink that you gave my friend last night made her so very sick. I'm concerned that she might be allergic to one of the ingredients in the drink. But when I asked the bartender who was working tonight she had never heard of the drink. She couldn't tell me the ingredients.”
Peter exhaled slowly, and the flush in his cheeks grew much darker.
“I serve hundreds of drinks a night,” he explained dismissively and glanced away from her. “I can't even remember you or your friend. Who told you where to find me?”
“That doesn't really matter, does it?” she asked and furrowed one eyebrow. “I'm pretty sure you'd remember us, since you made us both Lucky Streaks, a drink that none of the other bartenders have ever made. You told me that it was the only drink you were allowed to give. So, was that a lie?”
“Look,” he groaned and rubbed his hand across his forehead as if he had a pounding headache. “I'm not feeling well. I can't remember last night. I've got a fever, I've got the chills, I've been throwing up all morning. Unless you want to get sick you probably shouldn't be hanging around here.”
“Oh, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine,” Bekki said with a touch of attitude in her tone. “Now, if you don't mind telling me exactly what you put in that drink, because I don't like seeing my friend suffer.”
“Listen lady, I don't know what you're thinking, but I didn't put anything in anybody's drink. If your friend can't handle her liquor, that's not my fault, is it?” he shook his head a little.
“No, it's the fault of the person who spiked her drink,” Bekki corrected and took a step closer to him. “Now you can tell me what you put in her drink or I can find out from the manager whether you were really told to keep serving Bobby, or not. Maybe he just slipped you a little extra cash to keep the alcohol flowing.”
“Are you seriously accusing me of drugging someone and accepting bribes?” Peter asked with alarm in his tone.
“Who was that on the phone?” Bekki demanded. She heard some footsteps approaching from behind her in the hallway, but she ignored them as she knew that she would only have one chance to ask Peter these questions.
“You were listening to my phone conversation?” he asked with even more irritation.
“You want to explain what it was about?” Bekki asked without backing down in the slightest.
“Wow, really?” he shook his head and coughed again, laying on his fake illness very thick. “Sure, I'll tell you about the conversation that I just had with my girlfriend,” he growled in return. “She knows that I don't like personal phone calls while I'm on the ship, but she called me anyway. Is there anything else that you need to know about my personal life?”
“Excuse me, is there a problem here?” Todd asked as he stepped up behind them. Bekki frowned as she glanced over at him.
“I believe that this man might have spiked my friend's drink last night,” Bekki said before Peter could have a chance to lie.
“This woman is nuts,” Peter shook his head and coughed. “She was listening to my phone conversation with my girlfriend. I've had stalkers before, but this one takes the cake. Listen lady, I'm just not into you,” he glared in Bekki's direction.
“Excuse me?” Bekki hissed and held up her hand to display her wedding ring. “I am more than happily married I'll have you know, to a police detective, I might add,” she glowered between the two men. Todd was looking warily at Bekki.
“So, you decided to question Peter instead of coming to me about your suspicions?” he asked grimly.
Bekki took a slight step back as she realized that Todd was less than pleased with the action she had taken.
“I just wanted to find out the ingredients of the drink he served,” Bekki offered as innocently as she could. “But he didn't want to tel
l me them.”
“Because I'm sick,” Peter barked and then coughed quickly to make his voice sound weaker. “I'm supposed to be in bed, not defending myself.”
“Bekki, I can take this from here,” Todd said sternly.
“Not until he tells me what was in those drinks,” Bekki insisted as she stood between them. “I don't want my friend to get any sicker, and I need to know if she needs emergency medical care.”
“Oh, she's just got a hangover,” Peter rolled his eyes and then waved his hand in her direction. “Now get out of here before I get security to put you in the clink.”
“Oh, so you have friends in security?” Bekki asked before Todd turned around and looked her straight in the eyes.
“Bekki, I need you to leave now,” he said with authority in his voice. “This is an open investigation and I can't allow you to interfere.”
Bekki opened her mouth to argue further, but the hard look in Todd's eyes made her stop. He wasn't Nick, and he wasn't going to let her get away with anything. She was in the middle of the ocean and no one was going to show up to help her out if she got in the middle of a legal mess. Finally, she frowned and took a step back.
“All right,” she muttered as she walked away.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Peter called out mockingly as she stalked away. She knew that Peter was probably weaving a story about a woman's crush on a bartender as she left. Her mind was filled with anger. She was certain that Peter was making up the story about his girlfriend being on the phone. Yes, his words made sense, but she was certain that he did something to their drinks the night before. She was determined to find out just what that was. If she couldn't get that out of Peter directly then she would have to find it out another way.
Bekki was not going to be deterred by any investigator. She was going to find out exactly what was going on. The cruise had been anything but enjoyable, and she was even more convinced that Sammy had been poisoned. She headed straight to the dance floor, again. If Peter wasn't going to admit what he used, then she was going to find out what it was.
