But the others...
Amelia, Daniel, Broderick, Celia and Jeff...
All gone. Naturally. They didn’t have Edward’s power ordetermination to get close to Sally and make sure that she was really all right.
If that was what they had wanted?
But how the hell can we tell who might have been in the pool, who might have gotten caught up in the suction of the faulty drain?
Does it matter who it had been?
Or was Sally jumping into the pool so quickly something they hadn’t counted on?
Had the intended victim been someone else?
One thing appeared to be true.
No matter where you were when something happened, there was always going to be paperwork.
Eleven
“That was scary as hell!” Chloe said when they returned to their cabin at last. “And, of course, more confusing than ever! Was that random? Was someone else supposed to be in the water? I mean, why in God’s name would anyone want to kill Sally? And yet, I had a few minutes to talk to the lifeguard who was on duty,” she told Wes. “And, according to him, Sally loves the water and heads into it any chance that she gets!”
“We need to know more about her,” Wes said. “Maybe there is a reason. Maybe it was all just to cause some kind of an incident?”
“She could have died.”
“But you remembered what I told you and you were looking for her, Chloe. Thank God you did,” Wes said.
“Wes! What would have happened if she had? I mean, would we head right to a port, would they helicopter the body somewhere?” Chloe asked.
“She would have been taken to the ship’s morgue and whilecruise lines don’t have actual grief counselors, they have people trained to deal with grieving relatives and to help a family with repatriation, getting the body home, to a funeral home, back to their loved ones. Depending on the ports next visited, a body may be brought inland, but many of the smaller islands don’t have facilities and won’t make arrangements for repatriation. But you’d be surprised. Especially because there are cruises that appeal specifically to retirees and older people, there are many deaths that take place every year on cruise ships,” Wes told her.
“You just happen to know all this?” Chloe said.
He laughed. “And you don’t? All those cruises your family took you on for years and years? We didn’t go on half as many, but my mom was always careful about insurance just in case something happened. Not only would such a situation be devastating in the grief department if a loved one died on a ship, but the repatriation of the body and all the legalities involved can be staggeringly expensive.” He winced. “Then, of course, there was the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the world, millions of people wound up sick, and again, across the world, millions died. Now, I’m not sure how they managed that as cruise ship morgues don’t tend to be very big.”
“Okay, we’re getting really depressing here!” Chloe said. “Thankfully, Sally is really and truly fine.” She winced. “Then again, we are on this cruise looking for a murderer, so it’s pretty...”
Wes walked over to her, set his hands on her shoulders, and told her, “And we’re both good at what we do, no matter how frustrating this case is. We’re going to find out what is going on, who is causing the deaths—and stop them and bring justice to those who were taken far too soon. Seeking the truth. Finding justice. Those things are important, it’s why we do what we do.”
She smiled at him, then quickly lowered her head, remembering her strange dreams.
If only...
“Well, everything done, incident report filed, crew working on whatever went wrong with the pool... Bar?” she asked.
He nodded, but didn’t seem to be in any hurry as he turned away.
“Wes?” Chloe asked softly.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I can’t begin to figure why drowning someone—and there could be no guarantee on who might be drowned—would further anyone’s agenda. Sally was the one caught. She had nothing to do with the programs being taught on the ship. She has no business interest in computers, the internet or cybersecurity companies... I just don’t get it. But,” he added, “that could mean we’ll have a quiet decent night!”
Chloe laughed softly. “All right, then, darling, it is time for another lovely nonalcoholic beer and then dinner.”
“I may drink a six-pack of the real stuff once we’re out of this!” he told her dryly. “Anyway, sorry, can’t help it, haunted by my mother, please go on in and take the first shower.”
Chloe laughed. “I just realized how much we don’t know about each other. Where is Mom? Whoops, I’m sorry, first—”
