Chapter Seven #3
“No, no, please!” Chloe said. “What were you about to say? Oh, and I don’t think that we’ve met formally. I’m Chloe Douglas and this is my husband, Wes!”
“Darlene Jordan and my dad, Bryan,” the young woman told them quickly.
“Darlene!” the girl’s father warned.
“Dad—”
“Wait!” Bryan said softly.
Chloe frowned. She realized that Bryan Jordan was watching Daniel McClintock.
But Daniel was already moving on, chatting with a few young women, obviously in “flirt” mode.
“Dad, I need—”
“Darlene!” he said again, firmly.
He seemed to be making sure that Daniel McClintock was far ahead of them.
Bryan Jordan didn’t let his daughter answer. He interrupted her with a loud groan, shaking his head. First, he murmured to
her, “You don’t want to be offending people you want to teach you things, young lady.” He turned to Chloe and Wes then, explaining,
“Darlene loves her computer, and she already makes a decent income—helping herself through college—as an influencer. She was
beyond excited to be on this cruise. I just told her that she had to keep me out of her influencing thing. No camera while we’re at the falls, phone camera or otherwise. She can look up just about anything and she wants to
ask all the teachers on this thing what they think, like why in the world would that other young woman become so murderous
and why did all those people just sit there and get shot. I’m sorry—I’m sure you heard about it, but I don’t want my girl
asking questions and making anyone nervous!”
Chloe glanced at Wes.
Human nature, maybe. Or the circumstances of the crime.
Maybe anyone who knew about what had happened in Broward County was suspicious!
“I believe that law enforcement is looking into the incident,” Wes said. “But here’s the thing, Darlene. None of the people
on this ship were there so none of them is going to know what happened. And your dad is right . . .”
“Just pretend that nothing happened? Is that fair to the people who died?” Darlene demanded.
“No, doing nothing isn’t fair to them. But leaving it up to law enforcement is fair because those people are trained to investigate,”
Wes said.
“He’s right,” Chloe said. “I mean, you’re loving the classes. You don’t want the people teaching them, lecturing or whatever,
to think that you suspect they might be awful people, even killers!” she said.
“They won’t want you in their classes,” Wes told her gravely.
Darlene sighed. “Well, you know, I’ve talked about it all over social media. And I’m not the only one!”
“Of course not. It was bizarre. But while I don’t know for sure, I’d bet big-time that many agencies are working on discovering
just what the truth of the situation might be,” Wes told her.
Darlene grinned. “Can I interview you for my TikTok?” she asked.
Chloe groaned. “We’re on a second honeymoon, Darlene. And, seriously, we don’t know anything!”
Darlene laughed. “Yeah, I guess you two are a bit too old for my followers, though, hm, who knows?”
“Trust me. We’re too old,” Wes said, wincing. “And trust your dad. Just go to the classes and enjoy and keep your mind off
the bad stuff.”
“Ah, come on! We’re not too old, we’re too much in love, and we just want to . . .” Chloe began.
“Oh! I know what you want to do!” Darlene said, laughing.
“Darlene!” her father moaned.
“It’s okay, Dad. I know the facts of life. And, hey, it’s cool, they’re almost young lovers. Okay, I’ll keep my curiosity to myself and hope that someone is out there seeking some kind of justice!” Darlene said.
“Good choice!” Wes said.
“Hey!”
They were all startled back to the here and now when their tour guide called to them, looking concerned.
“Um, we’re moving on. Did you want to keep climbing, or do you want to head back down to the pool—”
“Oh, no! We’re sorry!” Darlene said quickly. “We’re coming!”
“And you?” the guide asked Chloe and Wes.
“On our way,” Wes said firmly. He turned to Chloe, arching a brow. “Sweetheart, do you need a hand up to the next rock?”
She grinned at him. “Oh, hell no! I’m glad to have you at my back, sweetheart!”
And so, they continued.
If they had just been out for a day of fun, it would have been just that. Darlene, as they discovered, was a student in journalism
at Florida State. Her father, Bryan, was a contractor in the Orlando area.
Yes, of course, they loved Disney World. And Universal Studios, LEGOLAND and all the wonders to be found in the area. Bryan
had grown up there as had his parents. They hadn’t moved to the attractions; the attractions had arisen around them.
And still . . .
There was nothing like a cruise.
“Hey, and you’re on the dive tour in the Bahamas, too, I think. I remember seeing your names when we signed up for it,” Bryan told them. He made a face. “Sorry. The whole ship knows you, you know. I mean, you two did dive into the water for a rescue mission!”
Chloe grinned. “Not so heroic—we’re just both experienced divers. Once we’re in the water, you know, it’s just instinct to
dive and dive!”
“Right. Well, it will be fun to be with people so experienced!” Bryan said.
Darlene sighed. “He just never really has faith in the two of us!”
“I do! Hey, I’m pretty good, I was diving before you were born, kid,” Bryan told Darlene. “But in Belize once I went on a
tour that had a pack of navy divers. It was incredible because, with them, I really wasn’t worried about a thing!”
“Well, heck yeah, we’ll be looking forward to it!” Wes assured them.
They were nearing the top—or the top that they could reach on their walk. Their guide asked them all to pause and enjoy the
incredible vista of the landscape around them.
They did so.
And then it was time to climb back down, join the others in the lagoon pool or at the nearby bar, all arranged for their vacation
pleasure.
In the bar, they all ran back into Celia and Jeff—who had joined Daniel McClintock who was now back with his brother, telling
him everything he had missed.
Chloe interrupted him as they joined the group, her attention on Celia Henderson.
“Celia! Are you all right? Really?” she asked with concern.
Celia showed Chloe her upper arm; she had just a scratch on it.
“I’m fine. Really fine. Thanks to your husband—if not my own!” Celia said.
Jeff Henderson groaned. “Celia, I was trying to take your hand—”
“And I just happened to be behind you,” Wes said.
“But you had fun anyway, right? Did they want to get you back to the infirmary or to a doctor on the island or—” Darlene began.
“No, no, no! You can see! It’s just a scratch,” Celia said.
“But maybe you should have had some kind of cleaning, something antibacterial,” Darlene suggested.
Celia laughed. “I hate to say it. I am not the most coordinated person in the world. If I needed medical help for every scratch,
I’d be in trouble. Thank you all for caring. I’m fine. Really fine! And besides—” she said. But she broke off, shrugging.
“We stayed in the cool water, in the sun . . . It’s all good,” she finished at last.
“Well, I guess the water is all good,” Wes said, looking at Jeff.
Jeff shrugged. “She says she’s fine. Besides, we’ll get back on the ship. And once we’re on the ship, well, they don’t majorly
advertise their ship’s hospital, but it’s supposed to be one of the biggest and best in the business. The doc has a pedigree
a mile long.”
Celia was looking at him oddly, Chloe thought.
But the woman just shrugged, shaking her head.
“And not only that!” Darlene said brightly. “That man, George Garcia, the man looking after Edward Thompson! He’ll know before
we even get back on the ship if you should be worried about anything!”
Celia smiled at the girl.
Chloe thought that it was a forced smile.
“Right,” Celia said. “There’s always Nurse Practitioner George Garcia! Anyway!” She stood up from where they were seated at barstools around a little oval table. “We’ve time! One last bourbon. Can I buy anyone a drink?” she asked.
“Me!” her husband said.
She groaned dramatically and headed toward the bar.
Their bus tour guide arrived to announce that they all needed to reboard in ten minutes; it was time to head back to the ship.
“We missed lunch!” Darlene murmured.
“I guess so. Well, it’s time to start worrying. There’s never any food on that ship!” her dad said, his voice dripping with
sarcasm.
They had missed lunch, spending too much time on the rocks.
And now . . .
Now it was time to head back.
And once again, Chloe realized, they had more questions than answers.
Had Celia been trying to get hurt? Had Jeff let her hand slip a little bit too easily? Was she trying to get just hurt enough . . .
To spend time at the ship’s hospital? To get closer to George Garcia and therefore . . .
Closer to Edward Thompson?
Close enough to give him a little jab, a little mosquito bite . . . with a good shot of a paralyzing drug?