Dead in the Water (Kate Ryan Mysteries Book 10) (15 page)

“I love that shirt,” I said, gazing at the tropical print. “I wish I’d known. I would have—”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Maggie mumbled into her champagne glass.

“And the gentleman by the table of appetizers is William Sheldon, and the young woman he’s with is not his wife,” Monty said, raising his eyebrows. “A Miss Markham, I believe her name is.”

“Oh, dear,” Simon said. “Naughty, naughty. Who’s the woman with her back to us looking over the railing?”

“I don’t know her. She’s not on the list of prospective investors, but she did have a reservation. I don’t know how that happened. She got number three, right down the hall from you, Kate.”

I looked at the short woman by the railing. She wore a silky flowing dress and a scarf to match, which she wore loosely over her head. It looked expensive.

“What’s her name?” Simon asked.

For some reason, the woman looked vaguely familiar to me.

Monty laughed. “She has to be traveling incognito. She said her name was Esther Blodgett. She has a razor-sharp wit.”

Simon laughed along with Monty, then it struck me, and I chuckled along. Poor Maggie didn’t get it.

“It’s from
A Star Is Born
with Judy Garland. Esther Blodgett was her character name.”

“Ah,” Maggie said. “You must be old movie buffs like Kate.”

“No, dear,” Simon said. “Just two queens who adore Judy Garland.”

“What gay man doesn’t?” Monty sipped his champagne and winked at Maggie.

As I watched the woman, she turned her head slightly, and behind the huge sunglasses—I nearly choked on my champagne. I spit it all over myself.

“Good grief,” Maggie said, slapping my back. “Are you all right?”

“Heavens, Kate,” Simon said, handing me a napkin.

I wiped off my shirt. “Sorry, went down the wrong pipe.”

“You scared off Esther,” Simon said, motioning to the vacated railing.

“Well, I should check on dinner,” Monty said, draining the contents of his champagne glass. “Served sharply at six. It was a pleasure meeting you both. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with us.”

“He’s a nice fellow,” Maggie said as Monty walked away.

“Monty’s a good egg,” Simon declared. “And I think I should go mingle with the other passengers. You will sit at my table for dinner?”

“Sure,” I said, absently looking around.

“Wonderful.” He kissed Maggie on the cheek. “Six sharp.”

“Kate, what are you doing?” Maggie asked after Simon walked away. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let’s go back to our room. We’ve got an hour or so.”

“Now you’re talking,” Maggie said in that sexy voice. “I’ll race you. First one back opens the champagne.”

We playfully ran back to our stateroom. I kissed Maggie as I opened the door. “You go inside. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to check in with Costello. Just take a minute.”

Maggie cocked her head. “What is wrong with you? You’re acting strange again.”

I laughed and gently pushed her inside. “I’m fine. Open the champagne. But do not start without me.”

“Start what?”

I closed the door on whatever she was saying, then ran down the hall to stateroom three to confront Esther.

Chapter 13

I lightly knocked at the door and waited, shaking my fist in the air while sweating like some barnyard animal.

“Who is it?”

“Hannah…” I leaned my forehead against the doorjamb, wiping the perspiration off my brow. “Open the door, darling.”

“There’s no one here by that name, darling or otherwise. You must have the wrong stateroom. Please, go away.”

I heard her laughing on the other side. “Hannah, I swear on everything that’s holy…”

When the door opened as far at the metal bolt would allow, all I saw was Hannah’s laughing face and owl-like eyes. “Who dat?”

I gritted my teeth. “Open this door.”

“Oh, Kate. What a surprise.” She laughed again and unbolted the door.

“What are you doing here?” I had instant heartburn. I quickly walked in, shutting the door behind me.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be wooing my niece with a proposal of a wonderful married life?”

I couldn’t believe she sounded indignant. I stood there like a prize jackass. “Hannah…”

“And isn’t it grand that you can say that openly now? Isn’t it a marvelous time to be alive?” She walked away from me, with her silky dress flowing behind her. “Champagne?” She poured a glass, which I obediently took.

“Don’t be cross with me,” she said, holding up the glass. “Here’s to a wonderful conspiracy.”

I knew my mouth was hanging open as we touched glasses. I shook my head and nearly drank the entire fluted glass. “Why? Why are you here?”

“I thought I could help. I sensed you might get cold feet,” she said, taking a sip. “Then I had a horrible thought.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“What if Margaret got cold feet?”

“What do you mean?”

“If she was indecisive, then I could be here to, you know, give her motherly advice.”

She was serious. I blankly stared at her while drinking my champagne.

“So I talked to Simon—”

“He knows about this?”

“Of course, he does, silly. I had to tell someone. How could I get aboard the good ship lollipop? He came up with my name.” She actually laughed as if she were having a wonderful time. “And he was darling. He gave me his room. Said he’d talk to Monty and… Are you all right, dear?”

“Huh?” I knew she was talking, but there was an annoying buzzing in my ears, and my chest felt tight…

“Where’s Margaret, by the way?”

“Oh, shit…” I gulped down what was left in the glass. “I told her I was calling Costello to check up on things.”

“Oh, my. You know I’m not one to intrude—”

“Seriously?”

“But I’m not sure that’s a good idea to start off your married life with a lie, Kate.”

“Me? I…you…”

Hannah held up her hand. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me, dear. I know my niece. Oh, by the way, I spoke with Maureen just before I left. There’s nothing new. The police are still waiting on our man with the tattoo on his thumb. So you have nothing to worry about!”

“I—”

I allowed Hannah to grab my arm and lead me to the door. “You’d better get back to her before she suspects something. My niece is no fool. Now I’ll be here if you need me. Simon was very kind and will have something sent to my stateroom for dinner, so I won’t ruin the surprise. When will you ask her? I’m so excited for you.”

“Probably after dinner. If she doesn’t kill me before then.”

Hannah laughed. “That sounds like Margaret. But what do you expect? Lying to her like that.”

“I wasn’t lying.” I let out an irritated breath. “Okay, yes. I lied. But it was for a good reason.”

“I know, dear. That’s what Nixon said before he boarded the chopper. Now off you go. Shoo…”

“Hannah…”

“I know. You don’t need to say it. You’re very welcome. I’m glad to be here for both of you.” She pulled me down and kissed my forehead. “I love you both.”

I stood in the hallway staring at the closed door. “I love you, too.”

I ran back to our stateroom, perspiring once again. I came to a screeching halt by our door and took a deep breath to calm whatever nerves I had left. As I reached for the doorknob, it flew open. Maggie nearly ran me over.

“There you are!”

I smiled weakly. “Here I am. What’s that saying? No matter where you go, there you are. I think Confucius said that.” I let out a nervous laugh while I rambled on.

“What in the world are you…?”

“Where were you going?”

“To find you. I thought you might’ve fallen overboard.”

I noticed a very smug look on my beloved’s face. She turned and walked back into our room, and as with her aunt, I obediently followed her. She had uncorked the bubbly, and by the looks of it, she was working on a second glass. How long had I been gone? I watched in silence as she poured a glass for me.

“You’re sweating,” she said, handing me the fluted glass.

“It’s hot out there, or I’m having a heart attack.”

Maggie nodded. “And did you get in touch with Maureen?”

“Uh, yeah. Nothing’s changed. So we’re all good.”

“That’s good.”

She was being far too calm. I cautiously watched her as I sipped my champagne. I couldn’t recall ever drinking this much in such a short time. “Yeah. It’s-it’s all good.”

“Yes. So you said.”

“Maggie? What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Nothing. Why do you ask?”

“’Cause you’re being, I don’t know, weird.”

“I’m being weird?”

The unbelievable tone in her voice was unmistakable. Then it happened. The left eye started twitching. She whirled around to me so fast I backed up against the bed. She held up her hand and in it? Naturally…my cellphone.

Damn…

“Hard to make a phone call without it,” she said angrily, tossing it at my midsection. “What did you use—an oatmeal box and string?”

I caught it, trying not to spill the champagne. “Maggie…”

She cocked her head and waited…and waited. “Yes?”

“W-what?”

Her eye twitched. “You sounded like you might explain where you’ve been.”

It was amazing I understood what she had said, given that her teeth were clenched so tight. When she didn’t continue, I figured that was my cue. So I guess it was up to me to carry on. Things were getting complicated.

“I…uh…” I had no idea how to get out of this. “I don’t want to argue.”

“Oh, we’re gonna argue,” she said emphatically.

She put her hands on her hips—not a good sign. Things were not working out as I had hoped.

“Do we have to?”

“Where were you?”

You see, this is where I’m very perverse. I actually loved to irritate Maggie. Probably because it was so much fun to make up with her. I only hoped I hadn’t overplayed my hand with my next move.

“Do you trust me?” I asked softly, taking a step toward her.

She watched me suspiciously. “What?”

“You heard me. Do you trust me?”

“Why do I get the feeling that I’m being suckered into one of your ridiculous situations again?”

“You have marvelous instincts.”

She tried not to, but I could see the smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

“Answer my question,” I said softly.

“You know I trust you,” she said, backing up. She stopped when she bumped into the table.

I stood in front of her. “Then please just trust me now.”

“Why should I?”

I thought about that for a moment. “I got nothin’.”
 
I threw my hands up in defeat. “I can’t think of one good reason. Unless maybe because you love me.”

She raised an eyebrow, but I saw her lips twitch. “Well, it’s a reason. Not a very good one but a reason.”

She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me, which confused me—I thought she was angry. Complicated, complicated…

“I hate it when you get your way like this. I’m still angry with you. And you’d better tell me what’s going on and soon.”

I returned her kiss. “I will. I promise.”

“Hmm. Well, you just have time to take a quick shower.” She placed her hand on my chest to stop me. “Alone. Go, you goof.”

*******

I packed a nice pair of jeans, so I really didn’t look too out of place when we walked into the dining room. I was grateful to see the eclectic group—some dressed elegantly. Of course, I gravitated to the guy in the Hawaiian shirt and his wife. Luckily, they were seated at our table. I had a feeling it was Simon’s doing.

After introductions with Paul Adams and his wife, Shirley, we sat in silence while the servers placed a bottle of red and a bottle of white on the table.

“They seem to have everyone’s taste covered,” Paul said, examining the bottle of wine. “Hmm. This is good wine. Not cheap.”

Shirley absently took the bottle from him after gently patting his hand. “As if you’d know, sweetie.”

Paul blushed to his forehead. “I know…”

“No, you don’t, honey.”

I hid my grin and glanced at Maggie, who arched one eyebrow. I knew what she was thinking—I could be Paul.

“So are you thinking of investing in this?” Paul asked, playfully glaring at his wife.

“Oh, no,” I said. “We’re just here for the cruise. Our friend Simon invited us.”

“I like Simon,” Shirley said. “And there seems to be quite a bit of money flying around this room.”

“Are you investing?” Maggie asked them.

Paul nodded. “I’ve known Monty for a long time. He’s a good guy. I think this is a good idea. When I was a kid, we’d always ride the Long Island ferry and take the ferry to Fire Island and all that. That’s where I met Monty. We were looking for a summer home, and a friend introduced me to him.”

“He was a big help,” Shirley said. “He got us a tremendous deal and saved us thousands.”

“So we always said if we had the chance and Monty needed us, we’d help out.”

“What do you do for a living?” I asked.

“I’m a research developer. Technology mostly. I try to figure out what makes things tick.”

“He’s brilliant and annoying,” Shirley said with a wink. “Tell them about the clock you took apart and couldn’t get back together.”

Paul frowned and blushed horribly. “I thought it…” He let out a sigh and laughed. “I broke it.”

“Now that’s something Kate would do,” Maggie said, sipping her wine.