Paradise Can Be Murder

by Susan Bernhardt

  “So many questions. I don’t want to think about this any longer. Let’s enjoy the evening.” Neelam smiled. “Now tell me, what are Phil and Mike going to do when they are away from their instruments for so long? I know Dinesh will be pacing the floors until the guys get back.” She laughed even though her eyes were still filled with tears.

  Deirdre laughed. “I’m sure Mike and Phil will think of something. They’ll probably ask the bands on the ship if they can join in.”

  Still looking at the note in my hand, I said, “You’ve been getting threatening letters for two weeks?” I turned it over in my hands to see if something was written on the back. Nothing. “I’m sorry, Neelam. Why didn’t you say something? I hope Kirk can get to the bottom of this and he is investigating.”

  “Kay, please let me see the note,” Deirdre said. “Perhaps I can get some vibe off of it.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling.

  “And check the handwriting,” Deirdre added, looking at Elizabeth.

  I handed the note to Deirdre. Her face immediately distorted.

  Neelam interrupted. “I didn’t want to ruin your excitement about the cruise. Don’t worry about it anymore. We will be all right. Now let’s celebrate, good times!”

  I could tell Neelam wanted to stop talking about the threats and the letters. She deserved a night of fun after all the worrying she and Dinesh were having.

  Neelam carried the cake downstairs and put it on the table next to the hors d’oeuvres. Deirdre moved it over a few inches. Neelam’s placement of the cake must have been messing up the energy flow of the food.

  Elizabeth must have noticed Deirdre also. She looked at me and smirked.

  I shook my head. Those two!

  Deirdre came over and said quietly in a shaky voice, “I was getting a bad vibe from the note.”

  “Well, it was threatening.”

  John, who had been sitting by himself on the sofa watching the band warm up, walked over to us before I could respond further to Deirdre.

  Instead, I turned to him. “I’m sorry you won’t be able to make the trip, John. It’s too bad about your training being during spring break.”

  “I know. All I ask is that you all take good care of Elizabeth for me.” He gave Elizabeth a playful squeeze around her waist. She kissed his cheek. It was obvious they were still honeymooners.

  “I’ll keep my eye on Elizabeth,” Deirdre said.

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes again. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

  I couldn’t hold back a laugh.

  Janey went over and whispered something in John’s ear, then looked at me. I supposed she had some big secret she’d want me to “force” out of her later. She would miss us when we were gone. It almost felt like Phil and I had become her second parents.

  The band struck up a note and then Phil, Mike, Dinesh, and the new drummer started their first number. The vocalist canceled the last minute which was fine with me. Their session would be shorter. Then Phil started to sing.

  I smiled. On second thought, too bad the vocalist hadn’t shown up. The rest of us helped ourselves to more food and visited, talking about the cruise. Neelam, naturally, was more quiet than usual, but smiled from time to time. Janey was acting, well, I don’t know how to describe it other than strange. After each song we clapped. I wasn’t sure anyone really listened much to the music. The guys had fun playing though. Dinesh seemed to be enjoying himself.

  After a few lengthy numbers, the band decided to take a break, probably wanting to make sure they got some of the outstanding hors d’oeuvres that were disappearing fast. They went over to the table and filled up their plates with food. Soon we all toasted to a successful cruise, and then cut into the scrumptious looking orange truffle cake. It was to die for, layers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and candied orange. I savored every bite. I would miss Sweet Marissa’s while we were away.

  After the second set of music and before everyone left, I quickly packed up the rest of the cake for Neelam and Janey. Most of the hors d’oeuvres were gone. I also gave Neelam our contact information. “Please keep us in the loop if anything further happens.”

  “What could you do when you are in the Caribbean?” Neelam asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I could be your sounding board. You might want to get things off your chest.”

  “As soon as we get back, Kay will help you look into these threats, if Kirk hasn’t come up with anything,” Elizabeth said.

  Phil glared at Elizabeth.

  “We’ll all look into the threats,” Elizabeth added.

  “Please, don’t give this another thought. Just enjoy yourselves, all of you. We will be fine. You’ll see.”

  We all said, “Thanks!” including Janey.

  I thought that strange.

  * * * *

  Around one o’clock in the morning, Phil and I finished packing his clothes. We had an early flight to catch and I needed to get some sleep. I felt like I was going to fall over, if I stayed up any longer.

  While he went downstairs to put the suitcases by the front door, I changed into my nightgown, checked the alarm clock, double-checked that the plane tickets were in my purse, and finally got into bed.

  After Phil came to bed he said, “Kay, do you realize what a generous and considerate woman you are?”

  Generous and considerate? “Whatever, Phil.”

  He laughed.

  I had no idea why he had just said what he did, nor did I want to know. “It’s been a long, busy day. Go to sleep. Six-thirty will be here soon enough.”

  I turned and faced the other way. “Good night. Pleasant dreams.”

  “I’m too wound up to sleep.”

  I feigned snoring.

  He kissed the back of my head. “Oh, Kay.”

  Chapter Four

  Friday, March 25

  “NOW BOARDING ALL passengers in Zone 1.”

  I put away the cruise brochures and started collecting my things. When traveling to a new area I liked to research where we were going and plan out activities to make the most of our time, experiencing as many things as we could.

  Phil smiled at me cramming tour books into my carry-on. “Don’t you ever like to go somewhere and be surprised at what you find?”

  Leaning in, I said, “Half of the enjoyment of the trip is the anticipation and the planning.” I smiled. “This is going to be one of the most pleasurable trips we’ve ever been on.”

  He picked up his carry-on, and muttered, “I prefer to just show up and take it from there.”

  Phil took it from there because I did all of the planning. “We do plenty of things on the spur of the moment.”

  He smiled. “I hope you haven’t planned too much. I want this vacation to be relaxing. Instead of twenty-two things, I hope you’ve only planned twenty.”

  I gave Phil a peck on the cheek. “Relaxation on a romantic cruise is a brilliant plan.”

  While waiting at the gate for the next zone to be called to board the plane, Phil put his arm through mine. “I’m such a lucky man. You’re so understanding. I’ve always loved that about you. I pull a lot of stuff, especially with my music, and you always seem to go with the flow. Whatever I do, I want you to know that I love you.”

  This was coming out of left field just like last night’s compliments. Was there some kind of ulterior motive here? Was he laying the ground work for yet another guitar purchase? Or did he already buy one? “Well, I love you too, Phil.” I gave him another peck on his cheek.

  “Thank you.”

  After our zone was called, we walked down the long jetway to the plane, a Boeing 757, and found our seats.

  “This is so exciting. Just think, we’re on our way to the Caribbean. Can you believe it? Ten days of pure heaven. I intend to enjoy every moment of it.”

  Phil smiled and put our carry-on bags in the overhead, then sat down.

  He pulled at his ear and smiled again, a smile that wavered. �
��Janey’s turning into a nice young lady, don’t you think?”

  “I think sometimes she acts a little immature for her age. She’ll be a teenager soon. I also think Loren needs to pay more attention to his daughter. She craves attention. That’s why she’s always over at our house.”

  I pushed up the seat divider that was between us and put my arm through his. “Phil, we’re on a plane going to a romantic destination. Why are you talking about Janey? I don’t even want to think about Janey. Let’s think about us. Just the two of us. This is going to be so romantic. So relaxing. Ten full days in the sun. No more talk about Janey. Please!”

  A man across the aisle looked in our direction. I guess I was being a little too emphatic.

  Phil lowered his voice, probably thinking I in turn would lower mine. “There will be others on the cruise with us. Deirdre and Mike, Elizabeth and...”

  The steward walked by and helped a passenger behind us get their carry-on in the overhead. Phil pushed the button to call an attendant.

  “But we’ll be alone in our stateroom all night. I can’t wait! And we can take afternoon naps.” I looked across the aisle, next to the man who had been looking at us, and saw a couple beyond him snuggling up. I snuggled closer to Phil and kissed his cheek. “I can’t wait.”

  He pushed the buzzer again. “We don’t nap.”

  “Oh, Phil! You’re incorrigible. You know what I mean. Why do you keep calling the attendant?”

  I looked up. The steward was standing next to our seats. “Yes, sir.”

  “I need a drink. When are they coming around?”

  “After we are in the air, sir.” The steward gave Phil an annoyed look, shook his head slightly, then walked away.

  I looked at my watch. “Phil, it’s only ten o’clock. What are you thinking, drinking in the morning?”

  He mumbled something about it feeling much later, then pulled out a flight magazine from the seat pocket in front of him and proceeded to look at the In Flight Guide to Food and Drink.

  I stared at him exasperated. His brow was deeply furrowed. He had an eyelid spasm. Was that some kind of an eye twitch he was developing? He definitely needed this vacation. He couldn’t be stressing over his final guitar project, could he?

  When the plane was lifting off, I said, “Wait until you see what I have in mind for you and the lingerie I bought.” I hesitated, then laughed. “Gosh, I sound so much like Elizabeth. I’ll have to watch that.”

  “Kay, I have a surprise for you also.”

  “Oh! A surprise? What is it?” It wasn’t anything that he packed, since I put everything in the suitcase. He just handed me his clothes. Perhaps he slipped something in when he took the suitcases down into the living room. So many surprises, first Andrew’s and now this. What was the surprise?

  I looked over at him. His forehead was all wet. “You’re sweating. Don’t tell me you’re getting sick and here we’re going on a vacation. They may deny our boarding the ship if they think you’re sick.”

  “I’m fine.” He looked up, then added, “Finally!”

  The steward was looking in our direction, heading towards us. Phil ordered a double martini.

  “Would madam like anything?”

  “I’ll have a sparkling water. Thank you.” After the steward finished with our orders, I said, “I want to be lucid when we arrive. I’m just going to think about the surf and the sand we were mentioning the other day.”

  “That’s right and the mojitos. The cruise doesn’t start until tomorrow. We’ll catch up with the others soon enough.”

  I looked over at Phil and frowned. What was he talking about? His thinking seemed to be muddled lately. I took out my book A Manhattan Murder Mystery and started reading.

  Phil put his hand on my arm. “I’m looking forward to a romantic and exciting day.”

  I smiled. That was more like it. I went back to reading.

  Phil started clicking through the movies on the in-flight entertainment, finally settling on the latest Bourne movie.

  Three hours and a smooth landing later, we pulled up to the gate. The sun was shining so bright through the windows, I put on my sunglasses. When we left home it was 45 degrees and dreary. What a glorious change. The pilot announced over the P.A. the temperature was 85 degrees outside. Perfect! I slipped my hand into Phil’s. He gave it a squeeze.

  I looked at Phil when he stood to get our carry-on luggage down. Again I thought, what a great idea it was flying in a day ahead of time giving us time to relax before we joined the others on the ship tomorrow.

  We waited for our suitcases at baggage claim. I saw a couple of suitcases go around the slow conveyor belt twice before I spotted ours. After collecting our bags, we entered the arrival hall and passed several restaurants and shops before going outside. When we opened the outside door, a current of warm air welcomed us. It felt great. There was a line of taxis waiting. We took the first one we came up to and gave the driver our hotel name.

  * * * *

  We had reservations at a beachfront resort, one of many that dotted the shore on the Atlantic Ocean. As soon as we checked in and got to our room, we changed into our swimsuits and were out on the sand within thirty minutes. Walking past a large infinity pool surrounded by sun worshipers, we found two lounge chairs with comfy, soft cushions under a palm tree on the gorgeous, well-groomed beach.

  After a generous application of sunscreen, we laid back looking at the water. “This is the life,” I said.

  “It sure is.”

  A waiter came around, and Phil ordered another double martini. This wasn’t like him. He wasn’t a lush. Sure we enjoyed a glass or two of wine a couple of evenings a week, but this was unusual activity for him.

  “Phil, what’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?” That must be some expensive guitar he wants to buy.

  “What could possibly be wrong?” he responded. “We’re in paradise. Just relax and enjoy it. Nothing could ever go wrong in paradise.”

  When the waiter came with the drinks, Phil immediately took a big gulp.

  I raised my eyebrows, then looked out over the water mesmerized. The sun sparkled on the ripples of the water. The deep blue sky was clear, other than a few small, white fluffy clouds. “Would you like to go for a swim?”

  “Sure, in a bit.” He quickly finished his drink, then got up.

  I took off my new wedge sandals. We walked hand in hand to the water. Even though the water was relatively warm, it still took a few minutes getting used to it. We swam and played and hugged in the water. The clear water felt magical, almost surreal. There were different shades of blue and green in the gentle waves that pushed against us.

  This was exactly what Phil needed. I hadn’t seen him look this relaxed in days. Perhaps he had been worrying about Neelam and Dinesh’s situation and took it harder than I had thought.

  “Isn’t this perfect?”

  “As long as you’re here, it’s perfect,” Phil said.

  I smiled. “Oh, Phil.”

  After about an hour in the water, followed by some time on the sand, we went back to our room and showered. There was a terrific view of the water from our balcony window. I had ordered coffee for the two of us from room service, and we sat out on the balcony sipping the rich, aromatic brew. I shifted in my chair to watch two boys playing on the beach, reminding me of our sons when they were little. Turning back to Phil, I reminisced about our December wedding ending with a blizzard that night and going on our honeymoon to Florida, to the ocean so many years ago.

  “We sure have been through a lot,” I said, “Our many moves, changes in careers, but I was always happy to be with you and the boys.”

  “Just remember that.” Then Phil laughed. “I’m kidding. Kay, you’ve always acclimated our lives to being as normal and happy as possible for the family. And after all these years of marriage, you’re still the only woman I ever notice anywhere.”

  Phil was full of compliments lately. We clicked our coffee mugs. Perhaps he was als
o starting to worry about how he would like being at home with me all of the time once he graduated and vice versa.

  Around seven o’clock, after watching the sun slowly sinking down in the horizon, meeting its reflection in the water, we decided to have dinner in and ordered room service. We ate by candlelight on our balcony, sampling a variety of delicious fresh-from-the-ocean fish and seafood dishes. When I talked about our coming week on the cruise, Phil became more quiet, almost lost in thought, most likely relishing our time together. I smiled. Right! At least I hoped that was what he was thinking about. What else could it be when he had an adoring wife, such as myself?

  Then he stopped looking at the ocean and returned his attention to our conversation.

  Chapter Five

  Embarkation Day

  Saturday, March 26

  EARLY IN THE morning, before Phil woke up, I left the room to go beach combing, looking for seashells. I could see a few other people in the distance also on the beach doing the same thing, their heads bent looking down at the sand. After combing the dry sand without much success, I went out into the water up to my calves searching for treasures. I gathered a half dozen, beautiful pieces of sea-glass and put them into my shorts pocket. I’d give them to Janey as a souvenir. I was hoping to find something big like a conch shell. There would be plenty of time on the various islands we’d visit to search for shells. If I didn’t have a lot of success, I could always buy her one.

  Returning to our room, Phil was eating breakfast in bed watching an Eric Clapton concert on television. “I took the liberty of ordering a mushroom omelette and a Danish pastry for you. I hope that’s okay. The food just arrived about five minutes ago.”

  “Sure. Thank you.”

  He glanced over to me, then back to the television. “I see you didn’t have a whole lot of luck finding shells?”

  I took the sea glass out of my pocket and put the pieces on the desk. “I was surprised. I thought the beach would have lots of shells. I’ll give this sea glass to Janey when we get back.”