Cruise to Murder (Z & C Mysteries, #2)

by Kane, Zoey

  “How do you suggest we get inside?”

  “I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

  The police car took off down the road. Just as they were about to come out from hiding, another car came up the road and parked in front of the cottage—a black sedan with tinted windows.

  A man with black hair, wearing a suit, got out of the driver’s seat and started walking up the stone walkway.

  “Do you recognize that man, Mom?”

  “I think I do recognize him… Mike! The man that said hi to Butch at lunch.”

  Mike turned a key and went inside.

  Zo left her tropical blind and snuck up to peer into a window. Claire stayed put, but panicked for her mother’s sake. Zo opened the door quietly once she saw that Mike had gone into another room. She tiptoed across the way and unlatched the window and returned back out the door, pulling it shut quietly.

  “I don’t like it when you take chances like that, Mom.” They waited what seemed like an hour sitting down and whispering together. Finally, Mike came out, locked the door, got into his car and drove away.

  With some effort and Zo bruising an elbow, they both got inside. The house seemed empty. It hadn’t been swept or dusted in what looked like years. As they explored, they found a kitchen with rust stains on the sink and cracked linoleum. An entryway from the kitchen led to stairs going up and to another dusty, empty room on the left, which was probably at one time a bedroom. To the right was another bedroom, which was neatly clean with a desk and cabinets. Looking around they found maps with no marks on them, pencils, pens, a stapler—nothing at all unique. The files and cabinets were empty.

  “This is not what I expected from a billionaire,” Claire remarked.

  “I agree. This place is not treated like the tropical island getaway that it could be.”

  Claire looked disappointed, then spotted something of interest. “Wait, Mom! Do you see how polished that one brass light switch is? Look at the rest—dirty, dull and unremarkable.”

  Zo took that as an invitation to push it, top and bottom. No results; nothing.

  “It looks like a dead end,” she said, flicking the light plate with a fingernail as she stood thinking.

  “The only thing that is out of the ordinary is the coincidence of Mike being here. Weird!” She gave one really exasperated hard flick against the switch plate with her nail and it swung open. Behind it was a two-by-three inch indentation that had another push button. Claire pushed it. A portion of a wood-paneled wall opened like a door and revealed three shelves.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The two looked at each other with smiles.

  “What have we got here?” Zo said.

  “Ha! I know where your broach is, Mom.” Claire spotted it among other things on a shelf.

  “Quick, let’s take pictures with your phone of everything here. Don’t touch anything unless you put it right back how it was.”

  Claire got busy, opening different documents and taking pictures. On a spurt of excitement, Zo took back the broach, pinning it to the inside of her shirt. Before they left, they relocked the window they came through, and locked the front door from the inside and pulled it shut. Then Claire took pictures of the outside of the house and the grounds.

  They were so glad to get back to their cabin aboard ship. Both took steamy showers and ordered their meals in. It was true what Larry said; the captain on the intercom stated that Customs was not letting anyone off the ship and that there would be an extra party arranged on the main deck with dancing and entertainment the next day.

  “At least we know one thing; that one of the people at our table took my broach. Who do you think it was, Claire?”

  “I think it was Mike. He after all was the one who drove to the cottage with a key.”

  After the two enjoyed their dinner they decided to browse through the shops. Then they would order tea and cookies and go through Claire’s pictures. They looked at hats, jewelry, scarves, belts, candy, and art work. A quartet was singing in a nearby lounge, adding ambiance to the fun.

  “I’m going to go down to the medical station on the third deck and get something soothing for my throat.” Zo rubbed her neck. “It’s beginning to tickle like I’m due for more coughing.”

  “I’m getting tired, Mom. I think I will go back to the room after I purchase this wallet and take a nap, before all the entertainment tonight.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you there.”

  Zo decided she better go to the restroom first. After finishing up, washing her hands, and then exiting, her eyes caught a glimpse of something from the island that interested her. She stopped in the corridor of the men’s room and ladies’ room, squinting her eyes, peering past the deck of the ship and the shoreline. There was smoke wafting up from a spot on the island, and she was certain she could see some orange flames.

  Someone walked by and into the men’s room. Zo stepped aside and then back to find the comfort of leaning against the wall. She soon found her thoughts were distracted by interesting words from low voices nearby.

  “Have you obtained the cameo pin yet?”

  “No. This is getting out of control.”

  “You are going to arrange an accident and throw the two overboard.”

  “What if they are good swimmers?”

  “Don’t worry about it. People can get skull fractures falling from the ship.”

  “I’ll make the call right now.”

  There was a pause, and then the man taking instruction gave instruction to the one on the other end of his call. “Yeah. Do ’im now… and? Yes.”

  The man resumed his conversation with the former. “He said don’t worry about a thing. He’s on his way.”

  Zo didn’t wait to hear what else would be said. She took off with her heart in her throat and adrenaline coursing through her blood. The elevators took too much time with people standing and waiting, so she ran up the four flights to her deck. Her heart felt like it was going to tear from straining and breathing hard. She had to get Claire and get out of there. If Claire wasn’t in the room yet, she would have to go looking for her.

  Zo slid her key card and pushed the cabin door open. There stood Mike. He was holding Claire’s wrists behind her back, while his other arm was around her shoulders with a knife against her neck.

  “Welcome, Mommy,” said Mike. “You tell me where the pin is and I will let Claire go. Doesn’t that sound reasonable? Whereas, if you don’t, I will slit her throat.”

  “Well, Mike.” Zo’s heart was now in her throat as she quietly tried to control her breath. “You have such a smooth mellow tone to your voice. Too smooth to be proposing a blood-dripping murder, don’t you think?” She moved slowly and deliberately casual toward him. “I do have that pin. Why does everyone want it?”

  “That,” he said with a Cheshire smile, “is for me to know. Now, hand it over!” His voice was now angry.

  “Just a moment…”

  “Give it to me,” he growled, pressing the knife against Claire’s skin. Claire looked at her mom with pleading eyes.

  “So, if I give you my broach, you will let us go?” Zo knew that was not the plan, but the questions gave her time to move in closer to him.

  “Sure. All will be well. No harm done.” His voice resumed to a mellow, almost musical, tone.

  “Okay,” Zo said. “Look. Here it is.”

  She started unbuttoning her shirt to bra level and showed a flash of the pin. His eyes zoomed right in on it. Zo feigned trying to unpin it, acting as if she could not turn the little clasp. “Could you undo it? I must be nervous.”

  He pushed Claire to the floor. “Stay, or I’ll kill your mother!”

  With Mike’s eyes still focused on the pin, Zo took a quick step backwards and then rocked forward with all her might, giving a straight blow to the temple with her fist and then an upper cut to the nose. Claire popped up, quickly putting an arm around his neck, tightening the squeeze with her other arm, giving Zo the perfect opportunity to
kicked him in the stomach. That doubled him over. Claire let go of him, before he hit the floor.

  Zo said, “Stupid man! Don’t ever come between a mother and her baby! The momma bears wouldn’t go for it and neither do I. And, do you know what we are going to do? Throw you overboard, after we hit you over the head and it will all look like an accident.” She forced an evil laugh.

  Mike strained to talk. “What? Are you nuts? You think you are so smart. There are two more assassins on this ship. You got a death warrant on you for tonight. You won’t get away!”

  “Yeah? Watch us! Come on, Mom!”

  They entered the hallway and ran to the elevators. Ding! A bell went off and after a couple of seconds, that felt more like twenty, doors opened. There was an old couple standing there, who looked a little surprised at seeing two ladies come in, frantically pushing the “close doors” button. The door finally started to close, but not before a hand caught the door. It was Mike. He was about to enter with his knife and the old couple screamed.

  All of a sudden their attacker burst into flames. “Agghhh!” he screamed.

  Zo pushed the button to the main deck.

  Claire looked at the stunned couple, and reached for the old guy’s cane. “Excuse me.” She pushed Mike out of the way of the elevator doors, and he fell into a heap.

  The elevator kept going down, until it dinged and the doors opened to the main deck, where a happy crowd was waiting to take the elevator up. Claire gave the cane back to the old gent and they, all of a sudden, got the fortitude to push their way out of the elevator.

  “We’ve got to get off the ship, Claire. I actually heard the plot to kill us outside the men’s room. There are people that we don’t know and wouldn’t recognize if we were standing next to them.”

  “Where should we go then and what should we do?”

  “We have to stay out of sight.” She pulled on her daughter’s wrist and the two trotted to small seated cove by the windows. It was out of the way and in the shadows.

  “Let me look at your pin, Mom. I am still wondering why everyone wants it.”

  Zo gave it to her and Claire began turning it over and over, trying to figure out its puzzle.

  “This is crazy, Claire…”

  “Yes, yes it is.” She looked up from the pin. “Why is it that neither one of us is talking about a man blowing up into flames like the dog?”

  “Oh, yeah, huh. Well, I’m thinking I’m glad he did burn.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “Maybe his feet drag too much against the carpet.”

  “You mean,” Claire laughed, “he blew himself up when touching the metal elevator door?”

  “Whatever it was, it saved our lives. And, well, I guess I take the weird as normal these days. It seems to be pretty much our lives, doesn’t it? Does that make us superheroes, honey?” Zo smiled at the moment of levity.

  “Oh, definitely! I’m Wonder Claire. Who are you?”

  “Butt Buster. You can call me Mom.”

  “Okay, BB, we need to think what we are going to do.”

  They both were quiet, as different scenarios were being rehearsed through their minds.

  “Oh, oh. Look at this, Mom.” It was dark out. Claire was holding the cameo up to the light from the ship’s walkway outside the windows.

  “Well, I’ll be darned. It looks like there is extra detail if one looks through the cameo with light. There is a tunnel under the well toward the Koona Caves.

  They both looked through the window and over in the direction of the Koona Caves… “It’s a fire!”

  “I saw it when it was just a bright light,” said Zo. “You know? I think that it is coming from the direction of the cottage by the well.”

  “Mr. Belmont’s? It is!” concurred Claire. “We are in deep yogurt! I think the psychos who have been after us, and murdered three people we know of, are trying to cover up their tracks. They know we know something… I only wish we knew what they think we know.”

  “Exactly. I think we can cross out the ‘love triangle’ as the motive.”

  In their seated window nook, inside the ship, Claire’s eyes caught glimpse of something that startled her. “Mom, act cool. I think I see a man staring at us from the deck.”

  Zo shifted slightly, darting her eyes. “A creep with a bone necklace?”

  “Yes, him.” Claire didn’t look.

  “Come!” Zo suddenly stood, grabbed her daughter by the wrist again, and took off running with her.

  The two ran through the halls, knocking shoulders with strangers. Claire looked back. The man who appeared to be a native from the island, with dark tanned skin, had burst through a door to the inside of the ship, chasing them—his eyes deadpan, his top lip drawn up on one side from a freakish scar.

  “He’s following us!” Claire breathed.

  Zo didn’t respond. She was too focused on getting away. Guests of the ship quickly moved to the sides of the aisle as they saw the women bounding down the halls.

  “Should we scream?” Claire asked.

  “Let’s just get to our room.”

  A cleaning cart was rolled in front of them. They almost hit it. A nearby stairway brought more people into the intersection. A tattooed hand suddenly reached through the sea of people, grabbing Zo by her hair. Claire grabbed a mop from the cart and whacked the man. His grip released and they veered down the stairs, since there was no way through the crowd. That took them to the eighth deck of the atrium.

  The killer followed and was now in a maze of picture boards and a throng of people. His eyes, deeply sunken in, carefully scanned the crowd, trying to catch sight of the mother and daughter. He walked through the crowd of customers who were studying over their photos, some laughing and some smiling in satisfaction. When he finally looked down, he focused in on a pair of pumps and sandaled feet, which could be seen through a space at the bottom of a picture board.

  He put a hand down into a deep jacket pocket and took hold of the handle and trigger of a gun.

  Zo and Claire were standing still and silent, hardly breathing, when Claire pointed to the wall in front of them. There was a shadow creeping toward them of a man. The shadow moved a hand, pulling out what appeared to be the shadow of a gun.

  He jumped around, gun pointed at the now empty corner. His targets had vanished. Blinking in rage, he pocketed his gun and trotted, merging with the crowd, looking again for the two.

  It was a busy evening. People were either going to dinner or coming back headed for a theater show. Zo and Claire wound their way through the crowd as fast as they could go.

  Looking behind in nervousness, their eyes darted back and forth to see how close their assassin might be to shooting one of them. They spotted him about twenty feet back. Their hearts pounded against their chests. They managed to wedge themselves into a filled elevator that was about to go up.

  The elevator was stopping at every floor, letting people in after a few would get out. The thought of their pursuer possibly being behind the door each time was a terror.

  The elevator doors opened at the level just before their cabin’s floor. A few people pushed their way out and then a woman in a wheelchair was being sweetly accommodated. People moved tighter up against the walls of the elevator carriage. Helpers took their time, pushing and pulling the wheelchair backward and forward, to line it up for exiting.

  “Aaaaagh!” Claire screamed, shocking everyone to a pale standstill. She pushed her mother forward past the wheelchair and its entourage, out into the lobby. She followed, squeezing herself through and out.

  “Sorry, Mom, that scream has been in me since the photo gallery. They just took too long on that last stop.”

  “Claire, honey. You poor sweetie!” But Zo was just as full of adrenaline.

  One woman was heard to say, “Well, I never!”

  Claire responded, as she and her mom headed for the stairs, “You mighta, if you knew what we know!”

  “What does she mean by that?” ask
ed another woman in worry. “Never mind. Let me off! I don’t like elevators anyway.”

  Half the passengers rushed out.

  Zo and Claire were finally at their home lobby, when around a corner a big man stepped in front of them. “What’s the hurry? Why are your eyes wild? What’s happening, you two?” He took hold of Zo who wrenched herself free to continue to run toward the hallway to their room.

  “Get away, Butch!” Zo commanded.

  “Huh?” Butch looked confused.

  “Get away from us or you will be killed!” The women were running toward their cabin.

  “What did I do? I don’t kiss that bad.” He yelled after them, jogging behind.

  “Not from us. From the freak with the bone necklace, who is out to shoot us!” They kept running.

  “Another freak?” Butch questioned, surprised. “Wait!” He quickened his steps to a run. “I want to die with you!”

  “Yeah, he says that now, Claire, but wait till the first shot is fired. Then wee-wee-wee all the way home—to Momma.”

  They were breathing heavily. Zo had her key card out and was trying to insert it, but her hand was shaking too much.

  Claire took it, inserted it and opened the door. “You think they have Depends that big?”

  “Ha ha ha. Good one!” Both of them slammed the door shut, Claire dead-bolting it.

  “Let me in!” Butch was pounding on the door.

  “Oh, crappers! Let him in,” relented Zo.

  “Is a zombie making you say that, Butch?” quizzed Claire.

  “No one in sight. Wait! Help! Help!”

  Claire quickly opened the door to help. Butch stepped in dusting his shirt off at one shoulder. “Hi, ladies,” he said nonchalantly, then put his hands in his pockets and rocked from toes to heels as the two looked at him a second, dumbfounded.

  Claire slammed the door shut, dead-bolted it, and the duo sprinted to the patio door—throwing it open and looking at the life boat that hung in the left corner.

  Two shots came through the dead bolt.

  Zo and Claire climbed into the boat, with Butch scrambling from behind.