Murder on Board Read online

  “We’ll put her in the morgue, and then we’ll check if there’s any ID. We’ll let her family know. Maybe they’ll get to fly her home in the helicopter. Maybe they won’t.”

  “There’s a morgue on this ship?” Shae said in surprise.

  “Just a small one,” Ivan shrugged, “but it’s enough space.”

  “Why is there a morgue onboard?” Shae asked, not worrying if there was enough space or not. The mere fact that it existed was alarming.

  “Yes,” Ivan said, frowning at her, “this happens a lot. People are reckless, and they die. We can’t leave them at a foreign port, we must take them home.”

  “We should take her back,” Shae insisted.

  “Lady,” Ivan sighed, “you said it. There are hundreds of people here who paid to stay. If we turn back, they’ll want their money back. Or people waiting for the ship will be stuck at a strange port. One woman,” he gestured at her, and he bent down to pick up the stretcher, his friend following his example, “can wait.”

  “This isn’t right,” Shae insisted, following them. “There must be someone we can talk to about this. Someone needs to investigate this.”

  “We’re security,” he growled, “not police.”

  “Okay,” she sighed, still not looking at the body. “Who else?”

  “I don’t know,” Ivan shrugged. When he saw that Shae wasn’t going to give up, he gave a long-suffering sigh. “Maybe the doctor. I’ll take you to him, but then you need to leave me alone.”

  “Deal,” Shae said immediately, knowing that she wasn’t going to get a better offer.

  She followed the two burly men down to the morgue, noting that it was the furthest room at the lowest deck. Machinery hummed around them, and she felt like she was walking into the belly of a gigantic sea creature.

  “I called the doctor,” Ivan assured her as they put the body away. Shae refused to walk into the morgue and waited outside for them. “He’ll be here soon.”

  “You’re not leaving me down here,” she protested as he started walking away.

  “I said I’d get the doctor, and he’s coming,” Ivan pointed out. “I’m going now. I don’t have time for this.”

  “That woman was murdered,” Shae told him dangerously, grabbing his arm, “someone onboard is killing guests, do you want that on your conscience?”

  The man stared at her blankly and she let out a frustrated breath. This was going nowhere fast. She squared her shoulders and tried a different approach.

  “Your boss isn’t going to be happy about it,” Shae said, “and he won’t be happy that you left unauthorized personnel with the body.”

  “Then you’ll come with us,” Ivan shrugged, grabbing her arm and taking her with him. “Problem solved.”

  “No,” she protested, struggling against him, but his grip was like iron. “Let me go! What’s wrong with you?”

  “How will you stand up for the dead if you’re afraid of them?” Ivan mused.

  “No one else is standing up for her,” Shae hissed, “so I will. How would you feel if someone left you alone in that place? If they didn’t care that your murderer was walking around somewhere up there?”

  “I’d be dead,” Ivan pointed out. “I’d say I have bigger problems than someone leaving me in a cooler, wouldn’t you?”

  She glared at him, but he didn’t seem to mind much. They spotted a man with gray hair sticking above his head, hurrying down the hall, muttering to himself.

  “There,” Ivan said, “the doctor can take you back. Goodbye.”

  “No,” she pulled at him again, “you can’t leave me alone with him.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear,” the doctor said, blinking at her through thick-rimmed glasses. “I know what I’m doing. I’m a professional.”

  He scampered down the hall, and Shae stared after him with her mouth open.

  “You’re joking,” she said, not quite believing what was happening. The doctor was a short little man with hair that looked like it had been electrocuted. His lab coat was a strange gray color instead of white, which didn’t boost one’s first impression.

  “No,” Ivan said seriously, “he’s the onboard doctor. Enjoy.”

  “Ivan,” she said firmly, “you can’t leave, and you know it. Come on.”

  “I don’t want to,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her. “You don’t pay me, so you can’t tell me what to do.”

  “I swear on my life, I’m going to call the captain himself, and make him come down here.”

  “Good luck,” Ivan snorted, turning and walking away. Shae realized that she lost the battle, and quickly jogged to catch up with the doctor.

  He’d already made his way down to the morgue and was inspecting the body. Shae didn’t want to look, so she stayed outside.

  “Are you curious about the dead?” the doctor asked, poking his head out of the room and looking at her. He looked a bit like a cartoon character, and she had to remind herself to answer his question.

  “This wasn’t an accident,” Shae sighed, taking her phone out and shooting Alexa a message. She hoped that her phone would still work. “It doesn’t feel right, leaving her all alone like this.”

  “She’s dead,” the doctor pointed out.

  “Look,” Shae sighed, “what can you tell me about her?”

  “Her name is Nova Ashcroft,” the doctor said, ducking back into the room to work. His voice echoed, and she struggled to hear him clearly, so she walked into the room, carefully keeping her back toward Nova.

  “How do you know who it is?” Shae asked in surprise.

  “She came to me yesterday about her seasickness,” the doctor explained.

  “Was she stabbed?” Shae asked, hoping that she had been wrong, and this was all some massive accident.

  “It looks like it,” the doctor said grimly, “and she’s got bruising on her arms. I think someone dragged her to the pool.”

  “Why didn’t they just throw her overboard?” Shae asked thoughtfully. As far as disposing of a body went, you couldn’t do much better than throwing them off a moving ship.

  “If they stabbed then dragged, she would’ve been dead weight,” he explained, “if it was just one person, then it would’ve been a nightmare trying to get her over the railing. Besides, you said she was found on the main deck, no?”

  “Yes,” Shae said, frowning.

  “Well, then you’ll notice that the railing is over a different deck. She wouldn’t have gone into the water. They would’ve had to drag her to a different deck.”

  “Fantastic,” Shae said, bending over and trying not to throw up.

  “Take deep breaths,” the doctor told her.

  “Thanks, doctor…” she trailed off, realizing that she didn’t know his name.

  “Zooberg,” he told her, “South African.”

  “How nice?” Shae said slowly, not knowing what to do with the information. “Shae, American.”

  “We don’t have many of those onboard,” Dr. Zooberg mused. “Anyway, I think that she was attacked from the front. There are defensive wounds.”

  “By one person?” Shae asked curiously.

  “Yes, it looks like it,” he nodded. “It would explain a lot. The poor woman. She didn’t want to be here, and now look.”

  “I’d rather not,” Shae said, still keeping her back to the body.

  “Shae,” Alexa said angrily, walking into the room. She stopped short; her eyes wide when she saw what was happening. She quickly raised her hand over her mouth and ran out again.

  “Americans,” Zooberg scoffed, walking out of the morgue with his bag in his hand. Shae followed him, closing the door behind her.

  “Don’t worry,” Dr. Zooberg said, patting Alexa’s back as she retched. “It’s just shock. You’ll be fine.” He walked off without another word, and Shae was left to stare at his back in surprise. What a strange little man.

  “One day,” Alexa wheezed, and Shae stepped forward, “you’ve been here on
e day, and look at what’s happened.”

  “This isn’t my fault,” Shae protested.

  “Stay in bed next time,” Alexa suggested, “or come with me to the party. Whatever, look, the captain is looking for you. We’ve got to go.”

  Chapter 3

  Shae and Alexa were ushered into a luxurious office with massive windows that looked out onto the sea. They looked at each other nervously then sank into the plush leather chairs across from the massive desk.

  Shae pulled her jacket closer around her as she looked around. She didn’t feel suitably dressed to meet her new employer. Within a few minutes, he walked in, laughing at something that his secretary said.

  “Well,” he boomed, clapping Shae on the back and walking to his desk. Instead of sitting behind it, he perched himself on the edge and looked at the curiously. Shae felt like a small animal being hunted by a hawk. His inscrutable gaze made her fidget even though she’d done nothing wrong. “It’s not even breakfast time yet. Couldn’t this have waited?”

  “I took a walk,” Shae explained, looking over at Alexa for help. Unfortunately, her friend was uncharacteristically silent as she watched the captain fearfully.

  “I’m just messing around with you,” he laughed, waving his hand good-naturedly. “I’m Captain Stern, but call me Captain Tim. I’m not that old yet.”

  “Yes, sir,” Shae said, nodding reverently, “Captain Tim.”

  “To tell the truth,” he sighed, standing up and walking behind his desk. He took out a bottle of brandy and offered them some. Shae shook her head immediately, but Alexa hesitated. Shae gave her a warning look and she shook her head too. “I’m grateful that you found the woman before anyone else. It would be a nightmare if a guest got there first.”

  “Sir,” Shae said quickly, “this wasn’t an accident…”

  Captain Tim held up his hand to stop her as he took a swig of brandy. He sat down with a sigh and looked out the window thoughtfully. Shae studied him nervously, noticing all the little details about him. He was a big man, almost as big as Ivan and his friend. His skin was leathery from being in the sun and he had a thick white beard.

  His distinguished uniform only reinforced the typical sea-captain trope. He even wore the captain’s hat. Captain Tim immediately took it off and sighed slowly.

  “What a mess,” he shook his head. “Did Ivan tell you that almost three people die every month on one of these things?”

  “Three?” Shae echoed faintly.

  “Most of the time it’s not murder,” he assured her hastily, “but if it gets out, then no one wants to come on a cruise anymore. Those suits over at corporate will fire me if I don’t keep a lid on it. Do you understand my dilemma?”

  Sha nodded seriously.

  “I can’t let that poor woman go unavenged,” Captain Tim explained wearily, “but I can’t call the Coast Guard. For one thing, they’d shut everything down, and that’s only if they showed up. I don’t know if you know this, but the Coast Guard is criminally underfunded and undermanned. Half the time, they can’t do everything they need to do. Besides, we’re in international waters now. There’s not much we can do.”

  “I see,” Shae said slowly. The gravity of the situation was starting to dawn on her.

  “But if her family, which is one of the most powerful in the world, finds out that I did nothing to find out what happened to their daughter then I might as well resign. That leaves me in an impossible dilemma. I need someone to investigate, but my security team isn’t trained to take on something like this.”

  “I’m sorry,” Shae said with a frown. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, and she doubted that the captain would call her up to his office just to complain about his woes.

  “I’ve heard quite a lot about you,” Captain said, leaning back in his chair. Shae’s eyebrows skyrocketed, but she didn’t say anything. “I read your file after I heard you were the one that found the body. You know what I found?”

  Shae shrugged.

  “Nothing,” he said in amusement, “you don’t want people to know too much about you, do you? Of course, then I called the person who recommended you for the position, and she had quite a lot to say.”

  Shae looked over to Alexa, who shrugged guiltily. Shae quickly thought back to when Alexa had come to get her. Maybe Shae’s phone hadn’t worked after all. Alexa was told where Shae was, and to bring her back to the captain.

  Shae shook her head in annoyance and looked away. Alexa sank low into her chair, feeling guilty about sharing information about her friend. She tried to make eye contact with Shae, but her friend stared ahead with determination.

  “I’m sorry,” Shae said sincerely, “but I don’t see how I can help you.”

  “Ms. Freemont mentioned that your father was a private investigator.”

  Shae pursed her lips into a thin line and didn’t say anything. Of everything she thought would happen on her first day, she didn’t think she’d end up in the captain’s office talking about her father.

  “Did she also tell you that he was bad at his job and just took pictures of cheating spouses? I don’t see how all that’s going to help us in this situation.”

  “He also solved that famous kidnapping,” Alexa protested, “so he was good at his job.”

  “He was an alcoholic,” Shae snapped. “He was good when he was sober, but he was never sober, so he was never good at his job. Look, I don’t know how to help you with this. I’m just here to take pictures and see the world. I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Alexa said you helped with that high-profile case,” Captain Tim said, his eyes flickering to Alexa who nodded vigorously.

  “I didn’t help,” she scoffed, “I tagged along. He didn’t have money for a babysitter, there’s a difference.”

  “I’ll be honest,” Captain Tim sighed, “you wouldn’t be my first choice for this, either. I wish I could get someone else, but you’re all we’ve got. Here’s my offer, you take charge of the security team, just while you solve this thing. I’ll pay you double since you’ll be doing two jobs.”

  Shae let out a surprised breath and looked over at Alexa thoughtfully. Alexa nodded excitedly, but Shae shook her head doubtfully.

  “Think about it this way,” Captain Tim said. “If you don’t do it, then no one else will. She’ll stay in the morgue until we make it back to the States, and by then the murderer will be long gone. None of us want that on our consciences. We need your help.”

  “What if I don’t find the murderer?” Shae exclaimed suddenly, blushing when she realized how loud her voice was.

  “Failure isn’t an option,” Captain Tim said sternly, “but I understand that you’re not a professional. Do what you can and keep it quiet. If this gets out, then we’re all losing our jobs. I can offer you all my resources, but you can’t tell anyone what you’re doing. Not even staff. Someone could let slip by accident.”

  He aimed the last part of his statement at Alexa, who blushed and sank into her seat.

  “Especially not with that travel review reporter on board,” Shae said, remembering the reporter from the previous day. Alexa groaned loudly and Captain Tim winced.

  “She’s a wily one,” he said, flinching as he remembered her, “but I believe you can keep it quiet. I mean, you managed to keep the whole high-profile case thing a secret.”

  “Yeah,” Shae said dangerously, giving Alexa a dirty look, “until someone blabbed.”

  “It was bound to come out eventually,” Captain Tim shrugged. “What happened on that case, anyway?”

  “What?” Shae scoffed, “Alexa didn’t tell you what happened?”

  “I’d never do that,” Alexa said, looking scandalized.

  “No,” Captain Tim said in amusement, “she didn’t. But you can.”

  “Is it all right if I don’t?” Shae asked sheepishly, “It was a traumatic time, and I’d rather not relive it unnecessarily.”

  “I understand,” Captain Tim said sagely, nodding as h
e spoke. “Why go through a storm if you don’t have to? All right, do you have any questions?”

  “You said I’d have your resources at my disposal,” Shae reminded him. “What did you mean?”

  “Oh, yes,” Captain Tim reached into his drawer and pulled out a keycard. Shae recognized it immediately, every person onboard was supposed to have one. It was how employees were paid and how guests were charged for their expenses. They also unlocked specific rooms. If your card couldn’t open the door, it was off limits.

  He slid it over to Shae, and Alexa’s eyes widened when she saw what color it was.

  “This card opens every door on the ship,” Alexa said in amazement. “You can go anywhere and do anything.”

  “Be discreet,” Captain Tim warned her, “and if I find that you’ve misused it, or let someone else get their hands on it, then I’ll have you arrested. I don’t know if Ivan showed you the jail. It’s right there next to the morgue.”

  Shae nodded gravely. She didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Captain Tim’s wrath.

  “If you need anything else,” he told her, quickly scribbling something on a scrap of paper, “then just call me on that number.”

  “Thank you,” Shae said appreciatively.

  “Do your best,” Captain Tim told her, gesturing the door to let them know that they could leave. “That poor woman was supposed to have dinner with me tonight.”

  Shae nodded and they left quickly. Once they were out in the hall, Alexa let out a restrained cheer and held up her hand for a high-five.

  “What did you do that for?” Shae hissed, taking her friend by the arm. “Why would you tell him about my father?”

  “It’s true,” Alexa protested. “He needed help, so I told him that you could do it. And you can. Come on, Shae. I know you. You hate the thought of someone getting away with Nova’s murder. You would’ve snuck around trying to find the truth anyway.”

  “I don’t think so,” Shae huffed.

  Before Alexa could reply, Mark stalked up to them with an aggravated expression on his face.

  “What are you doing here?” he snapped. “This area is off limits.”