Deadly Reunion (3 page)

Tetter waved to get a passing waiter’s attention. His tray held stemmed glasses of the day’s Rumrunners special. Only Tetter bought a drink, signing to charge her card.

“So then you came on this cruise with us,” Jane said.

“Yes, but Gil and I have gotten together in different places where he has restaurants.”

Sue shook her head, nose in the air. “You’re wrong to do that. You must have led the man on and made him believe you loved him and wanted him, and then you turned him down like that.”

“We’ve have had lots of wonderful times together. But I told him from the beginning that after I lost my husband, I realized I’d lost myself. I felt paralyzed, like half of a broken easel. The strongest section was gone. I could barely stand on my own anymore. Gil is so sure of himself. I needed to find Cealie again. I’m still trying to rediscover myself and can’t give in when I’m getting so close.”

Tetter, with eyes forlorn, nodded.

“I wish you would have introduced us,” Jane said.

“Sorry. It didn’t seem like the time.”

“I’m going to play the slots,” Jane said and headed into the casino.

“I’m going to my cabin.” Sue walked away from us.

I took a breath. I’d had enough censure for one day. And I struggled with my feelings. I wanted to be with Gil, wanted him much more than these high school friends. But he’d betrayed me. He promised he’d let me go on and finish doing my thing and finding myself. And then we might be together for good.

But he’d lied! Instead of letting me go off with friends, he’d found out where I was heading and followed me.

I needed to get away from my problems. Now I had Tetter alone. Tetter, who’d been bubbly and open and such fun in school, seemed so troubled I couldn’t think about myself. I touched her hand. “So how are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Fine. Tetter, how are you really doing?”

Her eyes widened. “I’m going to find Jane.” She scuttled into the casino.

I sank into a cushioned lounge chair. Had she confided in Jane but didn’t want to discuss her troubling situation with me?

People walked past, people who laughed. Mostly adults, some with children. Everybody else was with someone.

I stood and trudged about, spying people going in and out of shops. Some carried purchases. Already? I stepped to the railing and peered below. The source of many of the voices, people gathered in the vast atrium. Some stood around the grand piano. A long line of people waited to sign up for tours at the Excursion Desk.

I was alone. Maybe Sue had a good idea. I made my way back to my room.

Inside it, I paced. “He came after me but said he wouldn’t,” I snapped, confirming my right to be angry. I pounced outside to my balcony. The water looked gray in the night. I dropped to a plastic chair and crossed my arms and legs. I would see beautiful sights in Alaska, no matter what Gil did. Frigid air made me shiver.

I returned inside, not caring about sights. The tall one I’d seen was enough. He couldn’t chase me. He certainly couldn’t lie to me.

And what was going on with my classmates? I had wondered how classmates might have changed since I saw them years ago. It seemed their altered lives could be much more different than I could have imagined. Of course, they might feel the same way about me.

I surely never thought they’d invite Sue. When she was Stu, none of my friends cared much for him. He was too arrogant. Too different. Maybe because he knew he was but didn’t believe any of us would accept him as a girl?

And did this girl—now my aunt—have anything to do with Jonathan Mill’s fall?

I needed to find out.

The boat shifted beneath my feet. Normally I enjoyed that feeling while in bed during a cruise. But I wasn’t ready to fall asleep. I needed answers. I had to know what happened to that man and if my relative was involved.

On my wall phone, I located
Spa
and pressed the number beside it. A pleasant young woman’s voice answered.

“Hi. Sweetie, can you tell me what time the spa opened today?” I asked.

“I don’t have a newsletter right here, but we’re open now. Would you like to come in or schedule an appointment for one of our services?”

“No, thanks. I know what time the newsletter says you were supposed to open, but someone told me she’d been in there earlier. I just wanted to check on that.”

“Is that person your child?”

“Oh no, she’s my aunt. And she says she had a massage. I just want to know.”

A silent moment pulsed. “Ma’am, I’m afraid I can only tell you what’s on the newsletter and that we’re open now. Thank you for calling.” Her voice had lost its gentleness. She hung up.

Okay, I would be more direct. I marched down the hall to Sue’s stateroom. I would insist that she tell me the truth and not move away from her room until she did.

I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again. “Hey, Sue, it’s Cealie.”

I waited. She might be asleep, but it was much too early for anyone to go to bed. Unless she was ill. If that was the case, I could get her medicine.

“Sue,” I called again, pounding harder.

Our stateroom steward stepped out of a room. “She is not in.”

“Oh, thanks.” I walked away and turned back. “Did you notice which way she went?”

Indecision crossed his face. Probably he should keep information about guests confidential.

“Please tell me. We’re related,” I said.

He glanced around, seemingly to make sure nobody heard.

“She left her cabin with her face bleeding. I believe she went for medical attention.”

Chapter 3

Sue was hurt? I rushed to the elevator. It took too long to arrive and then to travel down. I eyed the slow-moving numbers, reminding myself that trying to walk down so many decks would have made me also need medical treatment.

The same security guard as before met me as I stepped out of the elevator.

“Ma’am,” he said, stretching his arms, ready to stop me.

“My aunt is in the medical center. She’s with me, and she’s hurt.”

He stepped down. “You can go inside.”

I dashed to the door and yanked it open. Sue was entering the reception area from a rear hall, holding an ice pack beneath her eye.

“Oh, Sue, you’re really hurt,” I said, worried.

A man wearing a white uniform with short-cropped gray hair stepped up behind her. “Just keep ice on it for a while. It should be all right.”

“I will, Doc.”

The doctor spied me. “Can I help you?”

“She’s my niece,” Sue said. “She just came to check on me. Thanks a lot for everything, Dr. Thurman.”

Thurman—like Gil’s last name? I wanted to ask the doctor about that and Sue’s injury, but she bustled to me toward the door. “Go.”

We left the office. The guard studied Sue holding the ice pack to her face. I gave him a told-you-so nod in case he’d doubted what I said.

The elevator dinged, and the door slid open. Sue rushed inside.

“What happened? I wish you would’ve called me,” I said.

She yanked the ice pack off her face. A crimson thread sliced skin under her eye. “He’s dead. Jonathan died in that fall.”

Staring at the gash on her face, I needed a moment to consider what she’d said.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Maybe he tripped and hit his head?” Concern for the man who died and those who loved him made me tremble. “But Sue, you need to take care of yourself, too. Keep that ice on your face. How did that happen?”

She shook her head. “I just stupidly ran into the metal shelf that holds the TV in the corner of my room.”

“Ouch. Can I do anything?”

“No.” She grimaced each time the elevator stopped on our way up. People stepped in and made comments about her being injured. “I did something stupid, but I’m okay,” she answered. She did not look at me again.

On our deck we both stepped out. Neither of us spoke as we strode among people and headed for our hall. No one else was around in our hallway.

“Sue, what happened? I mean, really, what did you do? You only seem concerned about the man you met during our safety drill, but not about yourself. You could have lost your eye.”

“But I didn’t. I’m fine.” She headed for her stateroom.

“How did you find out about Jonathan?”

“I asked the nurse.”

“And she told you?”

Sue spun and faced me. “She put ice on my face and stopped the bleeding while the doctor was finishing with another patient. I told her I knew the other patient well and knew he was badly hurt. I convinced her to tell me.”

“What did she say?”

“That Dr. Thurman would be right with me. He was working with my friend in the morgue.”

“I am so sorry. Do you know what happened to him?”

She shook her head. “I’m going to rest in my cabin. I’ll meet you and the others for breakfast.” She pushed her sailing card into the slot of her door.

“Let me know if you need anything,” I said, but her door’s slam told me she didn’t hear all of my words or care to answer.

I walked down the hall to my room but didn’t feel like going inside. I didn’t know the time since I’d stopped wearing a watch after I decided to take care of me instead of always working. I wasn’t sleepy.

Outside my cabin door I found the ship’s daily newsletter and scanned it. A welcome from the captain and crew, and a list of many events available on the ship during our sailing day tomorrow. Tonight, of course, the casino opened. Were my classmates still in it? Winning or handing over their cash? The spa supposedly opened a half hour ago, not when Sue told us she went earlier. Other activities taking place tonight were a margarita party, music, and dancing on various decks, some in bars. Temporary tattoos would be offered on the Lido Deck, along with a combo playing Calypso music. The pools were open, some enclosed and heated.

To perk up some of our group, maybe I could suggest that we get tattoos one day. What a dreadful thought on this sad day. My aunt injured. A man we met died.

I glanced toward Sue’s door. The hall was empty. I needed to go and find my other classmates to renew friendships more and see what I could discover.

Heading back down and into the smoky casino, I wound my way around flashing slot machines that whirred and called to players and card games at tables. No sign of my friends and no idea where I’d find them.

I passed a last small alcove. It held only two slot machines. A lean white-headed man sat in front of one but reached over and slipped a bill into the machine next to his. His profile seemed familiar. But it couldn’t be. I stepped closer.

“Randy?”

“Cealie.” He smiled, stood, and hugged me.

“How nice to see you. And what a surprise.”

We looked each other over. He was about five foot ten, trim, with sparkly brown eyes and a strong chin. Our class had voted him one of the most handsome. He still looked good. I glanced at his left hand. No wedding ring, although a band of skin lighter than his tan crossed his ring finger.

“You haven’t changed at all,” he said.

“Oh, right.” I let out a laugh and shook my head but wanted to believe his words. “You look great. Only your hair color is different. It didn’t stay the same, like mine did,” I added with a wink, figuring he realized a hairdresser made my hair its current color.

“Do you want to sit here?” He indicated the stool beside his.

“No thanks. I’m not much on gambling. Oh, you’ll never guess who else is on this ship.” I didn’t wait for a guess. “Jane Easterly and Tetter and Sue Ingstrom.”

“Sue? I knew
Stu
Ingstrom in our class.”

Should I tell him Stu had become Sue?

No, I didn’t need to give away anyone’s personal information.

“I knew about the others. Jane invited me,” he said.

“She did?” Jane had told me our old gang was coming. I took it for granted that meant only females.

He glanced toward the tables. “She and Tetter were in here awhile ago. We’re going to try to meet up for the Welcome Aboard Show in the amphitheatre.” He checked his watch. “It’s starting about now. Do you want to go?”

“Sure.”

He made a couple more pulls on the machine in front of him, losing the rest of his money. We headed for the theater. The crowd had thinned. Others walked in our direction toward the bow of the ship.

“Condense your life since high school,” I said with a grin.

“I live in Dallas and have a great wife and two grown kids and three grandkids, and wish I could see them all more often.”

“I know what you mean. It’s tough to let them go.”

He nodded. “I supervise an oil field crew, and I’m taking a much-needed vacation.” Before I could ask if his wife wouldn’t also like this vacation, he added, “I heard that Freddie died. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” I sucked in a breath, not wanting to sink into missing my husband. “He and I started a copyediting agency. I still have it.” I didn’t say I kept offices throughout the country with great managers running them. A brief concern flashed. I wondered if there
were
any problems with my offices.

No, I wouldn’t call any of them to ask if they needed me. All of the managers knew how to contact this ship if they required my assistance.

“What do you do for fun?” I asked Randy.

“Work. That’s all I ever do.”

“That’s not good for you.”

“I know. How about you?”

“Travel. I’ve even learned not to mind doing it alone.”

We entered the theater with a gaggle of people stepping into the chilled, cavernous, dark room. Most seats were taken. The show had already begun. The cruise director, a husky smiling man in a suit and top hat, completed a joke. The audience roared. My knees shook.

“Do you see them?” Randy asked.

What I saw paralyzed my vocal cords. We had entered on the upper level.

I dreaded balconies ever since I was seven and my twelve-year-old cousin held me over a movie theater’s rail, pretending he would toss me down. A recent near-deadly encounter on a balcony accentuated my apprehension.

This upper level held dozens of rows forming a tremendous semicircle. Many rows were visible on the bottom floor, along with circular cushioned seating areas. I perused faces. There were too many. Staring below, I shivered. This evening I had witnessed a dead man’s body down from a fall. Had that fall caused his death? Sue seemed intensely interested in that man, whom she and I met briefly on the Lido Deck.