by Sharon Dunn
Maya listened to the one-sided conversation and then Noah hung up. “I’m supposed to escort you to deck four where he is scouring all the public areas for Sarge. Hans and I are also going to do a deck by deck search and remain in radio contact.”
“Let’s go. I feel like we’ve lost precious time already.”
She and Noah jogged through the commercial sections of the ship where the nightlife was just starting to pick up. Music spilled out of some of the venues, and she could hear dinnertime chatter as they sprinted past the restaurants. They found David on one of the enclosed decks, talking to the patrons who were resting in the lounge chairs, showing them Sarge’s picture on his phone. Noah left, promising to get in contact as soon as he had any news.
Maya stood close to David when he stepped out of earshot of the lounging passengers. “Anything at all?” Her voice cracked when she asked the question.
David shook his head. “Nothing yet.” His expression softened as he stepped closer to her. “How are you doing? Did you even make it to the infirmary?”
She avoided answering the question. “Sarge has to be my priority.” Time was precious. The last thing she wanted to do was spend it being checked out by a doctor.
“I was hoping maybe one of the passengers had seen something. It’s not that easy to deal with a dog who I’m sure was not compliant about being dragged away from you, but so far nothing. And no calls on the bulletin that went out over the ship’s news feed.”
Maya’s vision blurred from the tears in her eyes. “David, I don’t know what I would do without Sarge. Not only is he my work partner, he’s my best buddy.”
“I know how connected you and that dog are. We’ll pull out all the stops to find him.” David squeezed her shoulder. She knew he smiled to offer reassurance, but she saw fear behind his eyes.
Would all their efforts be for nothing? “Thank you.” She was so glad he was here to be a support right now. It was the only thing that eased her worry over what might have happened to Sarge. “What’s our next step?”
“We search every inch of the ship and keep asking questions. I already retraced where you fell into the rescue boat and searched that whole area and the path that the guy who grabbed Sarge probably took. Did you get a look at the second man?” David started walking and Maya fell in beside him. It felt strange not to be holding on to Sarge’s leash seeing his ears bob up and down.
She shook her head. “For a moment. But his face was covered. His hair was sort of blond and was slicked back but obviously bleached because it was black underneath. Kind of distinct.”
“I’ll tell Noah and Hans to be on the lookout for someone matching that description. He might have been hired help. Since the attacker knew he couldn’t keep Sarge out of the way and go after you. All the same, if we could track him down, he might roll on our attacker.”
By the time they had searched all the decks as well as the public spots in crew quarters and questioned hundreds of people, it was close to ten o’clock. Neither Hans nor Noah had found any sign of the dog. They’d stopped to get some takeout from one the cafés and headed back to the security office with heavy hearts.
Maya walked holding her take-out container. The aroma of sweet and sour chicken wafted up making her mouth water. They ate while they walked. She knew going so long without food would make it harder to think clearly and therefore conduct the search, but she didn’t like slowing down for even a minute.
“While we’re at the security office we can check the monitors to see if we can spot Sarge,” David said.
“I want to keep looking.” She tossed her empty take-out container in a trash can.
“We can cover a lot more ground via the security cameras. We need to switch up our tactics.”
He was right. Searching the ship aimlessly could be a time waster when time was precious. “Okay.”
They walked to the security office.
David unlocked it and pushed the door open.
“Is there anywhere else we can look to find Sarge, that we haven’t already covered?”
David stepped to one side so she could go in first. “We could search the private cabins, but doing something like that involves some paperwork.”
They stepped inside. “Maybe we can get the ball rolling on that.” She settled in one of the chairs by the security monitors.
“Sure,” David said.
Though she knew David would never say it, something in his tone of voice indicated that he thought Sarge was dead.
Maybe it would be a futile effort to keep looking, but she refused to lose hope. They watched the monitors for about five minutes seeing no sign of Sarge.
David swiveled his chair to face her. His voice filled with compassion. “Maya, I have some work-related things I need to take care of here in the office. But I’ll still be watching the cameras. Meanwhile, I’m going to get Noah to come back on shift and keep looking for Sarge and asking questions. We will do everything we can to find him. If you want, Noah can come and escort you back to your room as well. You should rest.”
“I think I’d rather stay here with you,” Maya said.
David’s blue eyes studied her. “Okay, there’s a cot back in the break room. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? You’ve been through a lot today, physically and emotionally. And judging from how quickly you got in touch with me, I take it you never got around to the doctor checking you out.”
“You figured out I escaped from the EMTs?”
“Yes, I kind thought that’s what happened.”
She glanced in the direction David had indicated the break room was. Shuffling into the little room which consisted of a cot and blanket and file cabinets, she closed the door and clicked off the light. Then lay down, pulling the soft cover up to her chin.
Though her body was fatigued, sleep came slowly as worry about Sarge plagued her thoughts. She did finally feel herself drifting off.
Hours later, she was roused by David’s voice as he shook her shoulder. “Maya, wake up. You’re not going to believe what I just saw.”
* * *
As he woke Maya from her slumber, David could not hide his elation. “While I was watching the monitors, guess who ran by on the screen?”
Maya sat upright. “Sarge! You saw my partner?” She’d gone from asleep to fully alert.
David stepped back and clicked on the light. He hadn’t wanted to disturb her by turning it on. “Yes, in the stern of the ship where the wave pool is. Let’s go.”
Maya swung her legs off the cot and slipped into her shoes which she’d taken off before she fell asleep. “Do you suppose he got away from that guy who grabbed him?” She stood up.
“Maybe. My guess is if he did there were bite marks involved. If anyone comes into the infirmary with that kind of an injury, we have our accomplice. I’ll call and send Noah over there to find out.”
After making the call to Noah to check the infirmary, they hurried through the security office. David locked the door. The wave pool was three decks up. Both of them broke into a trot as they headed toward the elevator. “You say he ran across the screen?”
“Dragging his leash like he’d escaped,” David said.
Maya let out a laugh and shook her head. “That’s my buddy.”
“I watched the screen to see if he ran back across it and then switched to the areas close to where he was last spotted but couldn’t see him anywhere. The only way he could move to a different deck was if he got into the elevator with someone or waited until a stairwell door was open.”
“And since there is an all-points bulletin out on him, the second he was spotted someone would phone it in.”
Maya was right. Anyone who saw the dog would know to call security. But at this early a.m. hour most people were sleeping.
Once they were on the deck where the wave pool was, David led her through a corridor th
at was used by staff and crew but not the public. He needed a card key to open some of the doors, but they would get to the pool that much faster.
They came out to the open area by the wave pool which was turned off at this hour. Surfboards for passengers to use were stored against one wall. The air smelled like chlorine. The pool area had a glass sky dome and lots of plants all around the deck. David walked the perimeter until he found a tropical plant that served as a sort of landmark. “When I saw him on screen this is the way he ran. Past this plant and off in that direction.” There were six different entrances that led to the pool that surrounded the seating area around the pool. Four of them did not have doors.
Because the screen had shown only a portion of the pool area, Sarge could have gone down any of the corridors that didn’t have doors. The most efficient thing would be to split up and do a search of each of the possible escape routes, but he couldn’t risk Maya being attacked again. He needed to stay close to her.
Each of the entries would lead to a different part of the deck. They had a lot of territory to cover. Sooner or later though the dog would have to come to a closed door and turn around.
“If he’s close and can hear me, Sarge will come when I call him.”
“Let’s be methodical and work our way down each corridor.”
Maya pointed toward the hallway closest to them. They hurried down that corridor which led to a book store and snack shop, both of which were closed. The hallway then opened up to a wider shopping corridor which gave them an open view of the area. The retail shops would all be locked up at this hour. Unless her K-9 partner was hiding behind a plant, they would see him.
She called out Sarge’s name. Her voice was filled with anguish.
“At least we know he’s alive,” he said quietly. “We’ll find him, Maya. By morning, people will be wandering the ship. He’ll be spotted.”
“As long as those two men don’t get to him first.”
“Let’s keep looking.” His thought was that if Sarge didn’t turn up soon, it might be more productive to watch the monitors from the security office. Noah was already on duty, but he could wake Hans and send him out to patrol the deck where Sarge most likely was.
They continued their search through a hallway that had little boutique shops that opened up into a courtyard which featured some kids’ playground equipment and benches for sitting. There was even a hot dog vendor cart, and an ice cream truck which was a golf cart that pulled a trailer behind it. Both carts were shut down and covered with a tarp.
David’s radio indicated he had a call. He pulled it from his belt and pressed the talk button. “Go ahead, Noah.”
“No one came into the infirmary with a dog bite, but I spotted a guy in one of the casinos that had the hair Maya described. Blond and slicked back. He fessed up right away that he’d been hired to take the dog for money. Apparently, he has gambling debt that’s through the roof. He let the dog go when he was told to kill it and said he just lied to the other guy that he did the deed. He never saw the man who hired him. The communication was via text, different number every time.”
So, his theory that the second guy was hired help had been confirmed but it was a dead end in every other way. “Thanks for the good police work, Noah.”
“No problem.”
David turned his attention back to the search.
Maya continued to call her dog and checked all the places in the open area Sarge might be. “Maybe he’s hurt and can’t come to me.”
“We’ll work the other corridors and then we’ll go farther out.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to get Hans out of bed to help us with the search.” When the other officers were on duty they could be reached by radio, but during off hours he had to call them.
His phone rang. It wasn’t a number he recognized, but it had come in on the emergency line. The ship did not have a dispatcher. David clicked on the talk button.
“Chief Officer Garrison Alaska Dream security,” he said.
It was a woman’s voice filled with anguish. “My husband and I are here with a young woman who was just attacked.”
A tight knot formed at the back of David’s neck and his mouth went dry.
“Ma’am, I’m on my way. Where are you?”
“The little enclosed lounge off the upper deck. The young woman is quite upset. She said the man had a knife. If my husband and I hadn’t heard her scream, who knows what would have happened.”
David sucked in air through his teeth. “Was he wearing a mask?”
The woman didn’t answer right away. He heard mumbling as if she was talking to someone. “She says yes, he was wearing a mask.”
“Stay where you are. On my way.” David clicked his phone off.
Maya’s voice had become flat. “There’s been another attack, hasn’t there?”
David nodded. “I need to go take her statement. You’ll have to come with me.”
She grabbed his arm. “No, I want to stay here and keep searching for Sarge. If the man just attacked that woman, he’s not on this deck.”
“He fled the scene Maya. We don’t know where he is.”
Her expression was filled with distress.
“He could be on his way here.”
“And he might have assumed both Sarge and I are dead and that’s why he felt free to attack that woman.”
She had a point. While the killer was focused on Maya, the attacks on other women had stopped. “All we know is he is roaming the ship. I just can’t take a chance with you wandering around alone—look what happened when we split up for just a few minutes. Please, Maya, we can’t delay.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine. I’ll go. But on the condition that you can get Hans or Noah to come get me and help with the search?”
“Deal. I’ll make the call as we head up to the upper deck. It shouldn’t take more than fifteen minutes for them to come up and escort you back down here to continue looking for Sarge.
It will be helpful to my investigation if I heard what this victim had to say anyway,” Maya said.
“I agree. Let’s go.”
On their way up in the elevator, David made a call to Hans who didn’t pick up. He then tried Noah via the radio. David explained the situation. Noah promised to be on the upper deck as fast as he could get there.
The elevator doors slid open and they stepped out onto a quiet part of the upper deck. The storm had passed and there was a light breeze beneath a starry sky.
Maya stayed one step behind him as he hurried to the lounge where the victim was. He could tell her mind was on finding Sarge, but knew he could count on her professionalism and focus once they began the interview. Traumatic incidents like this attack tended to become less accurate and fuzzier the longer the victim waited to do the interview. He prayed that they would come up with some new evidence that would lead them to the man with the knife.
He opened the door to the lounge where a young woman with long brown hair was being held by another woman who looked to be in her forties while a man who was probably her husband sat close by.
The woman with the long hair looked up when David and Maya walked in.
“I’m head security officer David Garrison. Can you tell me your name?”
“Hannah Stevenson.” The woman glanced at Maya as if seeking an explanation for who she was.
Maya stepped forward. “I’m helping officer Garrison with this investigation.”
The vague explanation seemed to satisfy Hannah.
David pulled out a notebook. He took a chair opposite the young woman. “If I could just ask you a few questions...” He noted the fresh scratches on Hannah’s bare shoulder. “And then we will take you down to the ship’s medical facility to have you checked out.”
Hannah was dressed in an off-the-shoulder gown that sparkled.
“Were you
just ballroom dancing?” Maya asked gently.
Hannah brightened at the question. “Yes. It was crew night to have the ballroom. I work at the information desk.”
The attacker, who they knew was a member of the crew, had probably been at the ballroom as well, scouting for his next victim. Since he may have assumed that both Maya and Sarge were dead, he felt free to continue going after women.
“I know this has probably been very frightening for you,” Maya said.
“Yes,” Hannah drew her attention to the older woman who still had her arm wrapped around her back. “If these two hadn’t come along when they did... I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Is there anything you remember about your attacker? I know you couldn’t see his face.”
“He was in a tux. Unless he was a waiter in one of the higher-end restaurants, he must have been at the ballroom as well.” Hannah rubbed her bare arms.
The man who had been sitting close took off his jacket and draped it over the younger woman’s shoulders. “This is a terrible thing to happen. Hannah is our daughter’s age.”
“Is there anything at all you remember?” David asked. “Did the man say anything to you?”
“Yes, he said, ‘All you beautiful women are alike.’” Hannah shuddered and the older woman drew her close.
That sounded like a man who had been hurt by a woman.
Noah popped his head in. “I’m here to give Maya a hand.”
“We’re just finishing up,” said David. He hoped the comment would communicate to Maya that is was okay for her to go. “Unless you have any more questions Maya?”
Maya rose to her feet. “I’ll catch up with you later Officer Garrison. We’ll talk.”
David did not fail to catch the tinge of emotion in her voice. She was torn between doing her job and finding her partner. He knew Maya was keeping things formal in front of the witness and the passengers. Still, he wished he could have offered his support for finding Sarge by giving her a hug.
As he turned his attention back to Hannah, a debate was raging in his head. She had been able to get away, but maybe the next woman wouldn’t. So far, the attacks and even the murder had been kept mostly under the radar. David knew for the safety of the female passengers that the time had come to issue a public warning about being alone on any of the decks, and maybe even close off this upper deck since the killer seemed to that location. But he also knew that when he called the cruise line owner he would meet with resistance. Once the announcement about taking precautions was made, some people might want to disembark and get their money back when they got into port.
