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

by Kane, Zoey

  “I knew that those hypnotized, fake zombies wouldn’t do anything that Larry here didn’t tell them to do. With him asleep, they weren’t going to harm anyone. Eventually, he came to enough to escape the police, who were on his trail, thanks to you two.”

  The ropes were released from around the two women. They rubbed their wrists, feeling a slight burn from fighting against them.

  Butch, while keeping an eye on Larry the Great, made a call for a police unit to come and pick him up. They sent three cars with lights and sirens up the driveway to the hotel. Six of them went in. As Larry was being handcuffed and taken by force, he awoke. Realizing what a predicament he was in, he called to Butch, Zo and Claire over his shoulder, “It’s too late! It’s timed to go off at twelve o’clock tonight.”

  “You two go back to the ship now,” Butch told the Kanes. “I’ll call Security ahead of time and vouch for you, since you don’t have your IDs. I am taking custody of the rabbit. He knows every inch of those caves like they are his second home. I’m going to follow this little guy around, hunting for where the dirty bomb is. I haven’t been able to have total access, because only four other people could go into all the cave rooms: Belmont, Larry, Mike. And the other guy, Krucheve.”

  Zo and Claire took a cab back to the ship. As they boarded, security expecting them, they felt a sense of accomplishment. That was a nice warm feeling, only to be iced over by the thought that unless the nuke was discovered and disconnected the whole island would be vaporized. They decided to go see Cher at a luncheon show.

  The captain made a ship’s announcement. “We will be concluding our cruise, ladies and gentlemen, sailing from this port at 12:00 midnight. Our chefs have created an entire new menu for you today of which you will never experience the like again. Good sailing…”

  Claire was wearing a cream colored pant and blouse combination, large gold hoop earrings, and her dark hair was sleek and shiny. Zo wore her hair knotted at the neck with a stream of red hair down her back in a soft wave. She decided on black pants and a black pullover with a white jacket, black and white shoes, and black and white earrings, making her hair color stand out. She mascara-ed her eyelashes twice.

  “I am so worried about having to rely on a bunny to find the source of a nuclear bomb by twelve midnight, Mom. I can’t get it out of my mind.”

  “I know, me too. But there is nothing either of us can do. Butch has the best idea.”

  The Cher look-alike looked great in an extravagant Vegas-style costume. It sounded very much like her, everyone thought.

  Time had gone by. Night had fallen over The Sunburst. Claire found her cell phone still in the cabin, so when it rang she was delighted to get a call. It was Butch. “We got it!” he announced victoriously. “The bunny eventually went into every tunnel and cave. We found uranium rich ore, and even a stock of plutonium being submerged in ocean water inside the stinky cave that no one wanted to go into.”

  “Oh, thank goodness! That is wonderful. They found it, Mom.”

  “Guess what, Larry thought he was so smart, and he forgot to press the activate button. Or, he was just trying to scare us! The bomb wouldn’t have gone off anyway.”

  “I am soooo glad to hear that. Come back to the ship tonight. We will celebrate.”

  “You bet. I just want to know, you likey Detective Smith? He wants a date with you. Shall I tell him yes?”

  “Sure, he’s a really nice guy.”

  “Done! See you around eleven.”

  Claire hung up and turned to her mom. “I guess we will have a little fun tonight. Butch and Smith will meet us at eleven. Yay, Mom! And yet, I’m feeling a little depressed.”

  “I think we have had too many near death experiences. I feel a little post-distress too. Is that it?”

  “Butch said that dumb Larry didn’t have the bomb activated. He was all mouth.”

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute, Claire. Does Larry really seem like he isn’t making a real threat? He was having an awful lot of satisfaction in those words to just be fake. Think about it.”

  “Oh nooooo. Mom! Go the second nuke! There’s a second flipping nuke. Where? What time is it?” She opened her cell phone—10:20. Then she dialed. “Stay on the job, Butch. There is a second bomb. I’m sure it is activated. Talk to Detective Bennard immediately. Okay, keep me in the know.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Let’s go into The Sand-Drift Lounge, daughter. I feel like throwing back a root beer float.”

  “Yeah, let’s blow the suds off a root beer! I think we should swagger in and spit on the floor, ’cause we’re tough!”

  “Hee hee. I double dog dare you!”

  “You got it, Mom. Spit right on the floor! Never dare the kid. I just might spit in somebody’s eye.”

  “Ten-thousand to your favorite charity, if you do.”

  With that deal, they entered The Sand-Drift Lounge, where they discovered eight of The Red Hat Ladies in a large half-circle booth. “Hey, join us,” Kathryn said. “Yes. Let’s get a couple of chairs to pull up.” Matilda smiled.

  Zo and Claire found their conversation fun, yet the bomb threat was still in the forefront of their thoughts.

  Eleven o’clock arrived and that is when one drunk man began to be loud and obnoxious.

  “Somebody ought to eighty-six him from the bar,” Kathryn said.

  “Nobody is going to do that,” another replied, “because that is the illustrious captain of the ship—Captain Vladimir Krucheve.”

  Zo started coughing, and Claire patted her on the back. “Yeah, Mom. This looks like opportunity and a spot of good luck! Only four know about the secret room of the caves: Larry, Mike, Mr. Belmont and Krucheve. What are we going to do?”

  “Okay, you two. What is going on?”

  The Red Hat Ladies leaned forward for the answer.

  “There is a bomb on the ship and the captain is a conspirator,” Claire blurted out as a matter-of-fact with a big smile.

  Kathryn yelled to the waiter, “Bring a round of drinks to this table pronto, and make them stronger with extra root in their beers.” She pointed to the Kanes, then leaned forward again to hear more.

  “What can anyone do?” one of them asked.

  “I do have a plan.” Zo leaned forward to reveal it in a little more privacy. “A couple of you should cause a commotion in the bridge, so that they will call back the captain. Claire and I will follow him and hopefully he will want to check the status of the bomb to see if it is still okay.”

  “Slide out, girls, and three of you come with me. Let’s do this!” Matilda commanded.

  “You could all spit on the floor for strength and valor,” Claire suggested and giggled.

  “Nerves again, sweetie?”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  The four Red Hat volunteers pretended to spit on the floor and strode out with long strides, set jaws and fire in their eyes. If they had any fear, it wasn’t visible.

  One couple had seen this and leaned out of their booth to watch them leave. The woman said, “Well, I never!”

  Zo said to Claire, “Let it go!”

  Claire nodded and looked away from them, relaxing. She dialed… “Butch! The captain’s name is Vladimir Krucheve. We have a plan in motion. The bomb is probably on ship. Over and out.”

  Fifteen minutes later, over the entire ship’s intercoms, voices could be heard arguing. A man was saying, “Give me that! No! Ow!”

  “We’ve got another hat pin, if you don’t back away,” a woman responded, and then became considerably louder, as she spoke right into the receiver. “Captain Krucheve! We know! Your plan has run aground.”

  Then the intercom went dead.

  The captain immediately got up from the bar with a stony look on his face. He walked fast, listing to one side in drunkenness, then corrected his way.

  Zo and Claire followed quietly. The four Red Hat Ladies who remained, followed Zo and Claire quietly. Soon, Zo and Claire found themselves peeking around a corner to watch t
he captain go into his suite. The four Red Hat Ladies peeked at Zo and Claire from around a different corner. Zo and Claire tiptoed to the captain’s door to see what he was doing. The four Red Hat Ladies tiptoed to the corner Zo and Claire had left.

  The Kanes finally entered the captain’s room. He pulled out a case, opened it on his bed and checked a timer.

  There was a lamp on a nearby stand. Claire quietly unplugged it, keeping her eye on the back of the tall man. She glanced to her mom, who nodded, before hitting him across the head. He fell over and yelled out in pain.

  Zo grabbed the case and hefted it out the door. She was surprised to find The Red Hat Ladies right outside.

  “Quick, hide this in your room,” Zo hurried. “It won’t go off until midnight. We have some time. Run!”

  Two of them ran off together both holding onto a corner end.

  Back inside, Zo found Claire wrestling the captain, who was now choking her. She spit in his eye. He went to wipe at it, breaking his hold from around her neck.

  Zo grabbed her daughter, only to be punched on the cheek and given a bloody nose by Krucheve. She fell back onto the floor.

  At that moment, the two remaining Red Hat Ladies ran in and took hold of anything they could, hitting the captain from behind. The four women together started beating and kicking him down onto his bed.

  “Blow everybody up will you? Hit him again, Sally!” one said.

  “Get off of me!” yelled the captain. “It’s like being pecked to death by chickens!”

  The women moved back, while the older ladies held hat pins in both hands. “Don’t flinch or you’ll get this nasty six incher in the throat.” Sally’s eyes were wild.

  Claire called Butch. “We are up in the captain’s suite. The bomb is secured. Come at once.”

  Butch and Detective Smith soon came running down the hall and into the room with guns drawn. “I am amazed! You broads did a super job. Wonder women!”

  “Butch is a smooth talker,” explained Zo to Sally.

  Smith had the captain handcuffed and two more men from the FBI arrived. They worked in unison to get Krucheve up and walking out the door.

  “I didn’t want to do it,” the Russian wept. “They threatened my family.”

  “Extortion?” someone said.

  “Where’s the bomb? It would be so nice to know that,” Smith said.

  Sally answered, “It’s in 204 with Cindy and Angelica.”

  He notified Bennard, so the bomb could be properly taken off the ship and disarmed.

  Butch turned to assess Zo with compassion in his eyes, seeing the blood down her face onto her clothes. “Have a bit of a fight did we? Come on. Claire, let’s get your mom looked at by the doc. And, geez, you all look like you were in the battle of Armageddon. Come on. Let’s all go.”

  Sally began to cry. “Oh, I never had such fun! I don’t know why I’m crying.”

  Butch answered, “It’s your body saying, never do that again!”

  “How is your shoulder?” Zo noticed he had on a clean shirt and there was no blood.

  “The bullet nicked me. It bled quite a bit, but I’m good.” He winked.

  It was nearing midnight, and the ship left its dock early. Two exhausted vacationers, and two exhausted detectives, sat on a balcony to a swank stateroom. There was a warm breeze and the golden moonlight was peaceful as they sipped on their tropical drinks.

  “So, it was overexposure to plutonium that caused the spontaneous burning of the dog and crazy Mike?” Zo said, shaking her head. “You know a writer couldn’t make this stuff up.”

  Everyone agreed.

  “And no one would believe that a billionaire would be in debt.” Claire tossed the gossip journal Zo retrieved from Belmont’s onto the small table in front of them. “But even nations can go into debt. He shouldn’t have invested in such a devious plot.”

  The magazine landed open on a page, saying, “Is Belmont Broke?”

  Detective Smith, who re-introduced himself to Claire as just Gavin, put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Butch was about to do the same with Zo, but the sound of the cabin door opening, caused the four to jump in nervousness.

  It was the Red Hat Society with a housekeeping key. They brought with them drinks, sundaes, chips and dip, and laughter.

  “Tomorrow you snuggle. Tonight we have some fun together, for we may never see each other again.” Kathryn smiled.

  The four got up and joined their friends in the sitting room.

  “Oh no, what time is it?” Butch suddenly glanced at his watch.

  “The bomb is gone, it’s okay!” Zo said. “Must be aftershock…”

  “No, I’m going to be late for my dance routine!”

  “You mean, you really do have to perform tonight?” Claire asked.

  “Yes, of course.”

  The Starlight Room’s pink stage lights turned on, highlighting a tall, sailing ship. The crowd was exuberant, clapping in anticipation. Claire sat with Gavin in the front row, smiling. He was next to a long row of Red Hat Ladies. There was no sight of Zo anywhere.

  Butch was high up to the right of the stage, standing on an elevated stand, and hidden by what remained of the open curtain. He was wearing a pirate’s hat, gold hoop earring and white blouse, exposing his muscular chest. Stepping up with a black boot, he grabbed for a rope with one arm, and with his other, he threw a redhead over his broad shoulders.

  “You ready for this, woman with hair like soft fire?” he asked.

  THE END

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