Murder on a Ghost Ship (High Seas Mystery Series Book 2)
Page 23
The chief said, “Quick! We’ve got to get to my engine room!”
“We could sure use your help.” Steven helped the man to his feet while Jean-Claude worked on his subordinates. “Do you know how they rigged the place to blow?” he asked.
“Yeah!” the Chief said, rubbing blood back into his wrists. “What’d you do so far?”
“There were explosives strapped to several columns. We dismantled those, but something else blew up, sending smoke throughout the place.”
The chief eyed Kayla. “Little lady, you’d better get into a raft. It’s not safe in here!” Without waiting for a reply, he ran through the smoke, followed by the other engineers.
Steven said, “He’s right. I’ll stay and help, so you get out now.”
“I know,” she said, swallowing back tears.
“Jean-Claude, get them away from the ship.” Steven ordered, already moving away.
“I will get them to safety!” Jean-Claude waved Steven away and entered the storeroom. “Tres bien! The raft, she is still here.”
He dragged a bag from the storeroom to the zodiac platform and pulled the ripcord. Hissing, the raft quickly formed an oval pillow with a flat bottom. Sliding Paula’s limp body into the raft, he gestured for Kayla to get inside.
As salt water splashed through the grillwork on the platform, Kayla hesitated. “You get Paula away from the ship,” she said. “I’m not leaving without Steven.”
Jean-Claude frowned.
Kayla held up her hand. “No! Don’t argue with me! When I thought he might be dead, I went crazy. If you think I’m going to sit in a raft watching this ship sink without knowing if the man I love will survive…”
He blew a kiss from his fingertips. “L’amore! She is everything.”
Sliding the raft into the water, Jean-Claude jumped inside and manned the oars. A swell lifted the raft. It slid down the trough and disappeared from view. Kayla gulped. She stared at the rolling gray-blue waves until she saw the raft reappear. Jean-Claude made slow progress toward a group of white lifeboats that bobbed in the distance. She suddenly longed for solid ground and the crunch of fluffy white snow on a crisp Colorado morning.
“Sure!” she said aloud, heading into a corridor of hazy smoke. “Remind yourself how much you love slush and mud next time you’re fighting to start the car in ten degree weather! A nice warm burning ship will look pretty good.”
Her eyes watered and her lungs burned, but Kayla entered the engine room with determination. Four men wearing gas masks stared at her. How stupid! She left Jean-Claude’s gas mask on the storeroom floor.
Steven marched forward, his eyes glaring, and his fists bunching. He shoved her toward the door. “What are you doing?” he growled. “How can I work if I’ve got to keep you in line?”
She bristled. “I’m not leaving, so tell me what’s going on!”
He shook his head and said, “Okay. These guys are incredible! They spotted the dangerous bits straight away and worked out a solution. Now we've got to get the engines started. Trouble is Swenson destroyed the communications link with the bridge. We can’t override controls up there without help.”
The chief shoved a two-way radio into Kayla’s hand. “Here!” he barked. “Make yourself useful. Take this to the bridge and tell them we’re ready to fire up. Move it!” He gestured Steven back inside.
She muttered, “I should’ve spent more time on the stair-stepper in the gym.”
“Get going!” the chief growled.
Kayla blinked. “Aye, aye, sir!”
Heading for the stairwell, she felt Steven’s steady gaze on her back. Turning and walking backwards, she held up the radio and shouted, “Be careful, Steven. There might be booby traps.”
He disappeared into the engine room.
Taking a shortcut the empty ship felt spooky, like a ghost ship inhabited by phantoms. Her footsteps echoed down long corridors as she hopped over breakfast dishes and half-packed luggage left in the halls. Kayla bent to pick up a doll when the lights flickered. She held her breath, half expecting the familiar chill and the scent of lavender.
Silence.
She dropped the doll and jogged down the hallway, eager to reach her destination and join the world of the living. The lights failed and the ship rolled awkwardly. Kayla stumbled and then forced herself to move through the darkness, weaving like a drunk, bumping into furniture and walls. She fingered the smooth surface on a door until she deciphered the numbers.
Fifty-eight! This section has eighty cabins, half on each side. I’ll reach the intersection after eleven more doors. No. She fingered the number on the next door—fifty-six—and knew the descending numbers meant there were twenty-eight more. Trailing her fingers against the wall, she made good time counting doorways as she went.
Soon filtered natural light beckoned like a beacon from the end of the corridor. With a sigh of relief, Kayla banged through the glass doors and emerged on the outside deck, blinking against the bright sunlight.
Her radio crackled. “…please respond…over!” Kayla pushed her button.
“Kayla here. Please repeat, over.” She released the button and listened.
“It’s about time you answered! We tried to reach you for ten minutes.” Kayla recognized the chief’s gruff voice. “How long ’til you reach the bridge? Over.”
“I took a shortcut inside so I’m climbing the last staircase now. Give me two minutes, over.”
“Good. We’re ready to test the engines. Call when you get to the bridge, over.”
At the top of the companionway, Kayla dashed inside, sprinted through the dark hallway, and burst onto the bridge, stumbling into Emily.
“Sorry!” she gasped, holding out the radio to Heinrich. “The chief’s on the other end, ready to restart the engines.”
Conversations erupted as officers hustled around the bridge and the walkie-talkie crackled. Kayla sat panting and Emily stroked her shoulder. “We thought you evacuated,” Emily said.
Kayla shook her head. “Did everyone else get off the ship?”
“We think so.” Emily pointed at the horizon where lifeboats clustered together. “Jason contacted Interpol on his satellite phone, so help’s on the way.”
“Good. I hope they capture Swenson and his cronies.”
Emily frowned. “I feel like such a fool. That man!” She swiped at the corner of her eye. “I trusted him!”
“You’re not the first woman to get sucked in by his charming smile. Think of his dead wife.”
“You’re right. At least I’m still breathing and have a chance to get even.”
A distant rumble vibrated through the ship and the lights flickered on. Cheering erupted from the bridge and Kayla heard Steven’s happy voice over the radio. The knot in her stomach relaxed but tears suddenly streamed down her face. Natalia rushed onto the bridge with Jason. She grabbed Emily and Kayla in a congratulatory hug.
Clicking his phone shut, Jason shouted into the radio, “Steven, we’ve arrested Swenson’s gang. They tried to land on a Portuguese beach loaded with Mexican antiquities. Their boat capsized in the surf and spread evidence all over the beach. We’ve got them cold! Interpol says you’re reinstated to full-time status.”
“Tell Interpol I resign. We need to find an honest captain to perform a wedding, and I’ll look for work in the states.”
Emily squeezed Kayla’s hand. “Do you think you and Steven might be interested in working for Constellation Cruise Lines? I already approached Natalia and Jason about my plan to hire a permanent staff of investigators. We can’t afford to let criminals run wild aboard our ships.”
“What would we do?”
“Background checks, onboard security analysis, protecting VIPs, things like that,” Emily said. “The job will evolve.”
Kayla grinned. “I’m game if Steven and I can work together, but ask him yourself. I want him to be happy with the decision.”
Emily eyed Jason and Natalia, their heads leaning together as they
spoke quietly. “The salary will be good. Jason likes working with Steven and I doubt he’d let a talented investigator get away from his team. We need to make this cruise line successful, and I’ll throw you a wedding you won’t forget.”
Kayla thought about her quiet little cottage in Colorado and sighed. “Life won’t be boring but I can’t stand too much excitement.”
Emily laughed. “I’m hiring you to curtail this kind of excitement in the future.”
Kayla gazed up at the ceiling. “At least we got rid of your ghost.”
“Yes you did. I hope she’s at peace now.” Emily hugged Kayla. “Let’s get to work. We’ve got passengers to bring back onboard.”
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About the Author
Diane Rapp became an entrepreneur when she started her own dog grooming salon in Santa Barbara, California. She spent the next thirty years as a small business owner; she sold real estate, started an office supply/copy center, and performed free-lance advertising design. During all those years Diane wrote stories as a cure for insomnia. After Diane and her daughter finished writing a tour guide to the Caribbean, her daughter suggested the idea of writing a mystery set on cruise ships in the Caribbean.
"Murder Caribbean-Style" and "Murder on a Ghost Ship" are the first two novels of a High Seas Mystery series. Readers meet the main characters of the series and learn about life aboard a ship while solving murders. There is danger and romance mixed in with the action. "Murder for Glacier Blue" was released in August of 2013. It takes the reader on a cruise to Alaska with an art heist, murder, and a wedding planned for Glacier Bay. Now a new novel “Golden Legacy” follows the characters to the gold mining town of Ouray, Colorado. Kayla must follow the clues laid out in an ancestor’s journal from 1888 to find a gold mine and pass an inheritance test. There is action and adventure as well as a historical romance involved in the plot line.
Other books by Diane:
"The Alphas" is the prequel to the Heirs to the Throne Trilogy. It introduces the dogs and wolves that eventually formed the pack that travel through space to inhabit Drako. The story is also a mystery, in which the heroine solves the murder of an old friend and discovers why her beloved German Shepherd was stolen.
"Howl of the Wolf" is the first book in Diane's science-fantasy trilogy, Heirs to the Throne. It introduces the planet Drako, telepathic wolves, and the crew of the space ship that took sanctuary on a planet that banned technology. In the second book, "The Havenshire Resistance", Queen Krystal's teenage daughters learn to use inherited powers. They join an army of Samurai women, telepathic wolves, and commoners to save the kingdom from an evil usurper. The third book of the trilogy is "Dragon Defense". The planet is under threat by an Institute battleship. King Donovan must train teenagers to operate forbidden defense technology while his daughters make friends with a flock of wild dragons.
Diane's fractured fairy tale is "Dragon Knight and the Heart's Blood Curse". It is a modern fantasy that adults will enjoy reading to their kids, or just have fun reading for themselves. When a witch turns a magnificent dragon into a knight, he must complete a quest to regain his dragon form. A demon is stealing dead musicians from the mundane world and forcing them to sing songs that change people into evil beings. Now he plans to steal a living musician, Jimmy Buffett. If he succeeds, he can destroy the barriers between the worlds and the underworld will rule everyone. Dragon is the only creature who can destroy the demon.
E-mail Diane or find Links to all her books at the Quick Silver Novels website: http://www.quicksilvernovels.com