Dreamboat (34 page)

Crissy read it again, then folded it back up and slipped it inside the envelope. Why disembark? she wondered. Was the message just a demand that Mark return home? Was his father simply being the suffocating
parent that Mark had said he was? She didn't know, of course, but she picked up the next envelope and opened it.

Makelos,

Get off that ship now. Disembark immediately. The port does not matter. This is a matter of life or death. Please, I beg you. Get off now.

Your Father

The man was nearly hysterical, Crissy thought, or he certainly gave that appearance. It didn't make sense to her that his language would be as dramatic as it was if he was simply trying to lure his son back home. Was it really a matter of life or death, or was that just a ploy on his father's part?

Sighing with frustration, she opened the next envelope.

My Son,

I beg and plead with you to disembark. You can have anything you want after you do. I cannot emphasize enough that this is a matter of life or death. I am not playing games with you, Makelos. You must disembark at once. Your mother and I beseech you. Please.

Your Father and Mother

How odd, she thought. Makelos is suddenly “My Son,” and he'd also included Mark's mother in his plea, while she'd been left out before. Well, maybe it wasn't so odd. Was this a ploy to strengthen his argument? Maybe Mark had some affection for his mother that he didn't have for his father. His initial demand had become a plea, his tone softer. Crissy put the message back in its envelope and opened the next one.

Makelos, My Precious Son,

Please believe me and your mother. You must get off the ship in São Vicente. This is your last chance. I beg you, your mother begs you. Anything is yours if you disembark in São Vicente. Please. It is your last chance to save yourself.

Your Father and Mother

Crissy knew, of course, that São Vicente was the town where they had just docked in the Cape Verde Islands, the
Sea Nymph
's last stop. Why
was that the last chance to save himself? she wondered. From what? Or whom? If Georgios Vilos wanted Mark to get off the ship so desperately, why didn't he spell out the danger to him? She wondered if Vilos knew that his son couldn't get off the ship now. He obviously hadn't when he'd sent this message, but she was fairly certain that the captain had informed Vilos by now that Mark was locked in the brig.

Crissy tapped the note against her chin, wondering what course of action she should take.
I'll have to go to the captain. No one else will do. And unfortunately, I'll have to confess to him that I stole these notes from Mark's cabin.
He shouldn't be too upset about that, she thought. After all, Mark did try to rape her, and she was trying to find out if he was the caller and if he'd torn up her underwear. She'd thought the notes might be helpful in discovering if he was the culprit.

She placed all of the envelopes in her shoulder bag, carefully positioning them in the bottom again.

She found the captain's card and dialed his number. When a machine picked up, she left a message indicating that she had information about a possible emergency situation aboard the
Sea Nymph
and that she would be in her cabin waiting to hear from him.

That done, she sat down on her bed, waiting for the telephone to ring. After nearly an hour during which she tried to read, she began to lose patience. She tried his number again, and again got his machine.

At a knock on the cabin door, she went to answer it. Captain Papadapolis stood in the hallway, his perpetual smile in place. “Hello,” he said. “I've been trying to reach you for the longest time, but got no response. So I decided to come to your cabin and see what's going on.”

“But my telephone didn't ring,” Crissy said.

“May I come in?” he asked.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, “of course.” She opened the door wide and stepped back out of his way.

“Mind if I have a look at your telephone?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” Crissy said.

He went to the telephone, then let out a laugh. “The ringer is turned off,” he said.

“But I didn't turn it off,” Crissy replied.

“Well, someone did,” the captain said. “No matter. It's working now.” He turned to her. “Care to tell me what the emergency is, if there is one?”

“First I have to tell you how I came by the information,” Crissy said
in a serious voice. “When I suspected that Mark Vilos was making the telephone calls to me, I went to his stateroom for lunch. The day that he tried to rape me. When I got to Mark's, he wasn't quite ready. He went back into the bedroom to finish dressing, and when he did, I took some messages from his desk. I'd seen them the first time I went there for dinner, and he said they were messages from his father. He wasn't opening them, so I don't know how he knew. But anyway, I thought maybe they might have information in them that would be useful as far as finding out whether or not he was making the calls. Do you know what I mean? I didn't know whether they were really from his father or what. I thought he might be lying.” She paused and looked at the captain.

The captain nodded. “Go on.”

“Anyway, when he was out of the room, I took a few of them. There were a lot of them, and I picked a few from different parts of the stack. Then with everything that happened, I forgot all about them until this afternoon. I had them in my shoulder bag, so I got them out and read them.”

Crissy extricated the messages from the bottom of her shoulder bag and handed them to the captain. “I think it's best if you read them for yourself,” she said. “When I read these, I thought you should see them at once.”

He took the envelopes from her and looked them over carefully.

“They're all dated,” she said, “and I read them from the earliest date to the latest. I felt like I was invading someone's privacy, but I'm glad now that I did it.”

“Well, I'll do what you did, if you'll bear with me,” he said. He took the earliest message out of its envelope and read it, then went through the others with increasing speed. By the time he had read the last one, the expression on his face had turned to one of concern.

He looked up at Crissy. “I don't know what to make of all this,” he said. “The question is, of course, whether or not there is any validity in what Georgios Vilos says at all. I know him quite well, and wouldn't put anything past him. Georgios Vilos is obviously desperate to have Mark back home for whatever reason.”

He smoothed his hair back at one side, lost in thought for a moment. “On the other hand,” he continued, “this is a bit extreme even for Georgios Vilos. I can tell you this much. After Mark attacked you, we found plastic explosives in his stateroom.”

“What?” Crissy exclaimed.

The captain nodded. “Yes. In a steamer trunk that Mark had brought
aboard, there was a package of Semtex. Enough to blow a hole in the ship and sink her.”

“Oh, my God,” Crissy said. “I wouldn't have thought that he was capable of such a thing. He seems to really love the ship. He told me he'd brought the trunk aboard as a favor to his father.”

“Yes,” the captain said. “He claims not to know anything about it, and his father denies any knowledge of it, too. We're working under the assumption that the Semtex was planted by terrorists. I must say they were very clever to hide them the way they did.”

“This is unbelievable,” Crissy said.

“Unfortunately, it's not,” he responded. “In any case, you said that there were more of these messages?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Quite a few more.”

“We'll have to get those,” he said, “and see what they have to say.”

“What can be done about it?” she asked. “Don't you think some kind of immediate action is required?”

“The first thing I'm going to do is get the rest of the messages in his suite, then I'll get hold of Georgios Vilos again,” the captain said. “See what he has to say about this.”

He paused and looked her in the eye. “I trust you haven't told anyone else about this?”

Crissy shook her head. “I just read the letters a little over an hour ago, and I wouldn't tell anybody anyway.”

“Then please do me a favor and don't say a word about this or the explosives. If any passengers found out there were explosives aboard, they would get hysterical.”

“I understand,” Crissy said. “I won't breathe a word of it to anyone.”

“Good,” he said. “I know it makes it hard on you, but please keep it to yourself. I'll start trying to chase down Vilos and see what this is about.”

“Will you let me know?” she asked.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. “You deserve that much,” he said, “for coming up with this information, however valuable it may or may not be. There is something very mysterious about this business, and frankly,” he said with a scowl, “very disturbing.”

Chapter Eighteen

T
he remainder of the day at sea was uneventful as the ship progressed through calm waters toward Brazil. The weather was perfect—sunny with clear skies and warm breezes. In the evening, Crissy went to the disco to meet up with Luca. She was a little early, but Valentin appeared at her shoulder within minutes.

“Care to dance?” he asked.

“Why, yes, Valentin,” she replied.

On the dance floor, he held her closely. “I hardly see you at all, Crissy,” he said.

“I've been around,” she replied, deliberately being vague. “How have you been? Did you get seasick or anything during the storm?”

He shook his head. “Oh, no,” he said. “Iron stomach, I guess.” He smiled. “And you?”

“I was fine,” she said. “I—”

There was a tap on Valentin's shoulder, and he jerked. The captain, all gleaming teeth, said, “Hello. Could I break in, please?”

Crissy saw a momentary flash of anger in Valentin's eyes, but he smiled and nodded to the captain graciously, then looked at Crissy. “I will see you later,” he said, and walked toward the bar, his bearing stiff, his hands balled into fists at his sides.

“I hope you don't mind, Crissy,” the captain said.

“No, not at all,” she replied. “It's a pleasure.”

The captain took her into his arms, holding her at an appropriate distance, and began leading her about the floor in his graceful manner. “I have to confess that I have an ulterior motive,” he said, still wearing his public smile.

“Oh?”

“Do you mind sitting with me for a few minutes after this dance?” he asked. “I would like to talk to you privately.”

“No, of course not,” Crissy replied, wondering what Captain Papadapolis wanted to talk to her about.

The dance soon ended, and he led her to an unoccupied table at the back of the room where the tables close by were unoccupied as well.

He leaned in close. “We went into Mark Vilos' cabin,” he said, “to get the rest of the messages you said you had seen there.”

“Yes? And did they tell you something useful?” she asked.

The captain shook his head. “No. The messages weren't there.”

“What?” she exclaimed. She immediately realized that she'd spoken too loudly and quieted her voice. “But I saw them there,” she insisted. “On his desk.”

He gazed into her eyes. “Oh, I believe you,” he said. “I don't doubt your word at all. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Crissy gazed at him with curiosity. “What is it?” she asked. “Have you found something else?”

“No, but I've talked to Georgios Vilos about the messages.”

“And?”

“He says that he wrote the notes to Mark because he had received a threat that someone might place a bomb on the ship.”

“Did he mention that to you before?” Crissy asked.

The captain shook his head. “No, and I think that's odd. He told me that he didn't think the threats were important enough to cancel the cruise. He thought that they might be coming from a business competitor. He explained the messages by saying that he decided to take extra precautions and get Mark off the ship just in case.”

“I think that's outrageous,” Crissy said.

The captain nodded. “Well, I didn't appreciate not knowing about the threats myself, but if we cancelled a cruise every time someone calls in a threat, we'd seldom leave the dock.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Still, I find it very strange that Vilos has been trying to get Mark to leave the ship if he doesn't think there's any real danger.”

“Yes,” Crissy agreed, “and the notes really sounded desperate.”

The captain looked at her thoughtfully. “You're right about that.”

“If there's anything I can do,” Crissy said, “I'll be glad to.”

“You've been a great help already. I just wish I could shake this feeling that something is terribly wrong.”

Luca still hadn't shown up at the disco by midnight. She spent the evening chatting with a Canadian couple, then went back to her cabin to give Luca a call at the hospital. Even if he was busy with an emergency, she could find out from Voula if and when he was going to be able to get away. That was one of the drawbacks to dating a doctor, Luca had told her—a part of your life was sacrificed to the emergencies that arose regularly, and his frequent and unpredictable unavailability. Crissy smiled at the thought. She didn't feel as if she was sacrificing anything being with Luca.

She opened the door to her cabin and went straight to the telephone, but just before she picked up the receiver, it rang. It startled her initially, but then she smiled.
Luca.
There hadn't been a call since Mark had been in the brig, so she had nothing to fear.

She picked up the receiver. “Hi, sweetheart,” she said.

The sound of breathing assailed her as never before.

She jerked and almost dropped the receiver, but recovered herself, although the hand she held the receiver with was shaking. “Who is this?” she demanded.

The breathing continued, an intake of breath followed by an exhalation, even, rhythmic, and mortifying in its noisy silence.

“Who is this?” she demanded again. She felt her heart begin to race and cold sweat bead on her forehead.

The breathing continued, in and out, in and out, in and out.

Crissy wanted to scream, but she didn't want the caller to get the satisfaction of hearing the fear in her voice. She slammed down the receiver, then turned off the ringer in case he called back. She stood staring at herself for a moment in the mirror that ran the length of the wall above the desk, angry that she could see herself trembling. She turned around to face the opposite wall and took a few deep breaths. She had to call the captain and Luca, but she could hardly bring herself to touch the telephone again. The captain, she remembered, was in the disco, and Luca was still at work in the hospital.

Forcing herself to pick up the telephone receiver, she dialed the number for the hospital.

Voula answered immediately. “Hospital,” she said.

“Voula, it's Crissy,” she said. “Is it possible to speak to Luca for just a second?”

“Hold on, Crissy,” she replied.

Luca picked up at once. “Hi,” he said. “How are you?”

“Luca,” she said. “I've had another one of those telephone calls.”

“What?” he exclaimed. “Oh, God, no, Crissy. I can't believe this.”

“I can't, either,” she replied. “You can guess what really puzzles me now.”

“Yes,” he said. “Mark Vilos is in the brig without a telephone.”

“Exactly,” she said. “So who's doing this? I feel more confused than ever.”

“I'll be finished here in a few minutes,” Luca said. “Why don't you come down here and wait for me. You won't have to be there alone.”

“Okay,” she replied.

“Have you talked to Mikelos or anyone yet?” he asked.

“No,” Crissy replied. “I called you first thing.”

“I'm going to call Mikelos as soon as we hang up,” Luca said. “This may be a break for us. To find out who the real culprit is.”

“How's that?” Crissy asked.

“Well, we know for certain that it's not Mark,” Luca said. “And depending on where Mikelos has minicams set up, he may have the caller on tape.”

“I hope so,” Crissy said. “I thought it was all over.”

“Crissy,” Luca said, “it's going to end soon. I'm sure of it. Just get yourself down here. I'm calling Mikelos now.” He made kissing noises. “Love you.”

“I love you, too,” she said.

She hung up the telephone and fetched her purse, then went to the door. She could hardly wait to get out of the cabin and down to the hospital and Luca.

Luca was waiting for her, and the two went to his cabin. Once there, he told her what Mikelos had said.

“First, they're checking to see where the call originated,” Luca said.

“Like the last time,” Crissy said with a sigh.

“Then they'll see if they've got anything on tape,” he went on. “It's going to take awhile.”

“If they've got a videocam on the telephone where the call was made,” Crissy said. “And that's a big ‘if.' ”

Luca nodded, massaging her shoulders. “I know,” he said. “But don't
worry. Mikelos is going to catch the bastard who's doing this. I'm sure of it, Crissy.” He kissed her neck tenderly.

“I wish I felt so certain,” she murmured. She felt his lips brushing against her and shivered. “You feel so wonderful. Let's forget about this tonight.” He put his arms around her, and his mouth sought hers.

As wondrous as their lovemaking was, Crissy still couldn't shake a single question that persisted in occupying her thoughts: If Mark hadn't made the calls and torn up her underwear, then who did?