One Dead Under the Cuckoo's Nest (37 page)

I think even Goldie had dozed off.

We shook him back to reality and after Miles found a parking space, we all three got out—and stared at the ship.

The gigantic mass of white sat proudly at the dock, dwarfing the surrounding buildings. At least that's how I saw it from this angle. Hundreds of passengers were waiting in lines for what I guessed was some kind of processing before embarkation. We asked one of the staff what was going on and found out they were checking passports and getting credit card info.

I looked at my friends. “Well, this is it.” After tearful goodbyes (mine) to Miles and Goldie, I turned to walk away then looked back. “I'm going to miss you guys.” I sniffled.

Both had dry eyes.

Now that hurt. And it really wasn't like them. Nope. Inside they were both blubbering fools. “Well, I'll keep in touch although I have no idea how—”

Goldie waved a hand. “I can't stand it any longer!”

“About time. I thought you two weren't going to even shed one tear to see me go.”

They glared at me with a collective grin.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? You're acting . . . weird. Weirder than usual.” I chuckled.

Goldie grabbed my arm, spun me around and despite my shouts to stop, Miles joined in.

“What the hell? You're going to make me seasick before I even get on the ship.” I yanked free.

Miles laughed. “You have your anti-nausea bracelet on. And,” he leaned near, “where'd you get that pink locket?”

“You like it?” I fingered it and smiled.

“It's you. Not too pretentious. Not too much like real jewelry.”

“Jagger gave it to me. Inside is pepper spray. For self-defense.”

They looked at each other then back to me. “You won't need it!” they shouted together.

Once again they wrapped the three of us together like a pretzel.

“You guys are driving me crazy. What is going on? How do you know I won't need my locket?”

“Because we are coming along!” shouted Goldie.

After shouts and cheers, I left my friends to go get processed with the promise that I'd find them later.

After I was checked in within an inch of my life for security purposes, I headed up a slight incline of a gangplank. Once inside, I had to stop and take a breath. I wished I could experience this with Goldie and Miles.

The inside of the ship, like a lobby of sorts, was gold, purple, glass, chrome and decorated like a Las Vegas hotel. Glass elevators glided gracefully up the walls. Chatter filled the air, but in the background soft music from a string quartet gave the
Golden Dolphin
the class of what it must have been like climbing aboard the
Titanic.

For a second I couldn't believe I was actually still in New York City. No horns beeping. No sirens screaming. No “scents” of the city.

It smelled like a fresh ocean breeze in here.

After asking several of the crew for directions, I found my way to my quarters, which were located across from the infirmary. Very convenient. I opened the door to see twin beds along each wall, covered in white spreads, and sitting in a room no bigger than a closet. The walls, too, were white as the two stuffed chairs near each bed. I guessed ships had the market on white. Smelled freshly Lysol clean, but instead of windows, there were tiny portholes in the walls.

Oops. My elevator phobia came to mind.

I ignored it, telling myself this was a job. A job that I needed and
could
do.

I had to share the room with another nurse, Jacquelyn Arneau, who I'd learned was French. No kidding. Real French as in came from France for this job. Seems as if the entire crew was a mixture of nationalities.

Should be an interesting job.

Photo by Sal Avocato

After serving in the Air Force as a registered nurse,
LORI AVOCATO
decided to give up nursing to write fiction. She lives in New England and is a member of Mystery Writers of America, PASIC, the Author's Guild, and Sisters in Crime. She's raising two teenage sons, one husband, and two dogs. Spanky (pictured above) has made his way into the Pauline Sokol mystery series as the joint-custody pup of Pauline, Miles, and Goldie. Lori is the author of two previous novels featuring Pauline Sokol, The Stiff and the Dead and A Dose of Murder. You can visit her website at www.loriavocato.com.

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T
HE
S
TIFF AND THE
D
EAD

A D
OSE OF
M
URDER

D
EEP
S
EA
D
EAD

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

AVON BOOKS

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HarperCollins
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Excerpt from
Deep Sea Dead
copyright © 2006 by Lori Avocato

ISBN-13: 978-0-06-073167-0

ISBN-10: 0-06-073167-2

EPub Edition July 2013 ISBN 9780062310347

O
NE DEAD UNDER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
. Copyright © 2005 by Lori Avocato. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

First Avon Books paperback printing: October 2005

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