Chapter 11 #2
As they emerged from the hallway, they saw that Daniel McClintock was talking to a pretty blonde woman at the bar.
Broderick was there, deep in conversation at one of the tables with a man, probably discussing something about cybersecurity
since the man he was speaking with had the appearance of an older dignified businessman.
Then again, he could work at a grocery store! Chloe thought. You couldn’t always judge people by first sight—in fact, it was a mistake to do so. Sometimes, she had learned,
in conversation and after watching someone function when they weren’t noticing that they were being observed, you could learn
a lot and make some educated assumptions.
And still . . .
All this time. All this interaction.
And they still didn’t know who among their suspects might be a calculating killer.
“The McClintock brothers are here,” Wes noted softly, leaning to whisper in her ear. “Jeff and Celia Henderson duly noted, at the railing, looking out over the water. Darkness is falling and they appear to just be enjoying the view. Amelia . . . hm. No Amelia Swenson yet.”
“And no Edward, George or Sally, either,” Chloe commented.
“They’re probably together,” Wes said. “I’ll go and order our predinner nonalcoholic drinks,” he said dryly.
“Oh, and look! Daniel is trying to pick up a pretty girl. I’ll come with you and ruin his night for him!” Chloe suggested.
Daniel looked up and saw the two of them coming. It was impossible to tell if he feared his night being ruined or not, but
there was little choice for him other than to greet the two of them with smiles.
“Hey, good to see you. Gina!” he said, addressing the blonde, “I’d like you to meet the ship’s superheroes, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley
and Chloe Douglas,” Daniel said, creating a flourishing gesture as he spoke. “Douglas duo! Meet Gina Holden of Atlanta, Georgia.
She’s a model with dozens of fans and we’re doing everything we can to help her learn how to stay in the fields of demand
and popularity while keeping all the creepy guys who are after her all the time at bay!”
“Ah, security, security!” Wes said.
Gina Holden gave them a beautiful smile and seemed to be truly glad to meet them. “You two are something else!” she told them.
“First, bringing Edward Thompson out of the deep and then that lady last night! Hey, you’ve kept this incredible cruise and
event on track! We’re all very grateful.”
“We just managed to move first,” Wes said.
He shrugged. “Things you do when you’re really young that pay later.
And my business is running a dive boat, being a dive captain.
And Chloe did a different kind of diving, so .
. . We were just lucky. But, seriously, this ship has an amazing crew.
That young lifeguard last night would have gotten to Sally, and, again, thankfully, she’s a swimmer, so she was okay!
In fact, we usually see her out here,” he added, looking around.
Daniel laughed. “She’s wherever Edward is, I’m willing to bet!”
“Probably,” Chloe agreed, grinning. “And Edward seems to be very happy with her company, so it’s all good.”
“And he still has that nurse hanging around him,” Daniel noted. “Hey, that works out, too. A nurse watching out for Edward—and
now he can make sure that Sally doesn’t have any aftereffects from her own brush with death. And I heard that the situation
has already been fixed! Some little broken screw caused that drain to suddenly turn into a vacuum.”
“Did you go back to the pool?” Wes asked him.
“No, they’ve fixed it, but they’re not reopening it until tomorrow,” Daniel said.
“Ah. I guess they want to make sure that it’s all really solved,” Wes said. “Good idea on their part.”
“Oh, yeah. If Sally had a mean bone in her body, she could sue big-time. In fact, most people would probably do so,” Daniel
said.
“I guess she’s just not a litigious person,” Chloe offered.
“They do make just honestly nice people!” Gina chimed in.
“So, hey. We’ve gotten our drinks. We were just about to head over to the table where my brother is sitting over there,” Daniel
said. “As always, you superheroes are welcome to join us.”
“Thanks. I’ll just get our drinks,” Wes told him.
“We can wait—” Daniel began.
“No, no, you all go ahead!” Wes said. “I’ll be right there.”
Daniel shrugged and indicated that Gina and Chloe should go ahead of him. Chloe did so, but Gina turned back to talk to her as they walked.
“You guys really are amazing, you know! Almost as if you were trained to save lives!” she said.
“Right place at the right time or wrong place at the wrong time or something like that!” Chloe said with a shrug.
“I just wish sometimes . . .” Gina began softly.
“Wish?” Chloe asked.
“I wish that I was—useful. I mean, I make a great living so I’m grateful. But I’m . . . ornamental. Sometimes I wish . . .”
“You know,” Chloe told her, “I’m sure you are useful in ways you don’t even know about! I mean, it probably makes people happy
just to see pictures of you. When they’re depressed, need a smile! I’m sure you’re very useful and more—it sounds to me as
if you’re just a really nice and decent person and that’s incredibly important these days—well, and always!”
“I do try to give to important causes, too,” Gina told her.
“And that’s being incredibly useful!” Chloe said.
“Well, it’s one way!”
“An important way. Not everyone has the resources to help others and you do and that’s wonderful!”
“Thanks. And now we’re here and I’m learning more and more about how to provide for my own safety! You wouldn’t believe how
many jerks are out there in the world!” Gina told her seriously, shaking her head in wonder.
“I can only imagine,” Chloe told her.
Oh, yeah, she could imagine. She’d met enough “jerks.” Hers just tended to be criminal and homicidal.
But she imagined that someone as lovely and popular as Gina might have problems—and need all the cybersecurity she might learn
about on the voyage.
“Hey, Broderick, brought you a bourbon!” Daniel said, walking toward the table ahead of them.
“Thanks,” Broderick said, rising, as did the man with whom he’d been speaking. “Jonas Milton, you’ve met Gina, this young
lady—” he began, indicating Chloe.
“I know who this is! The incredible Chloe Douglas!” the man introduced to her as Milton said. “I think everyone aboard this
ship knows who you are—and your husband, of course!” he added, nodding toward Wes as he came to join them at the table.
“Hello, sir!” Wes said, setting the beers down and shaking the man’s hand.
“Enough business!” Broderick murmured. “You know where to find me at all times, Jonas. I think we should get on to the menu
tonight! What’s everyone in the mood for? Casual, hamburgers and hot dogs? Fish! With their incredible lobster servings. Then
again, there’s some delicious steaks to be had, as well!”
As he spoke, Chloe noted that Edward and George were heading toward the bay; they were out for the predinner social drink,
as well.
There was no sign of Sally, which seemed odd to Chloe. The woman was always wherever Edward was now.
Edward was looking around, frowning. Was he looking for Sally?
“Hm. There’s Edward, and he’s solo,” Daniel commented.
“Not exactly solo!” Broderick noted. “As ever, George is with him. He’s a good guy. He was telling me about all the uses the
hospitals have for the internet these days, how much security is needed. He worked at a hospital where the records were hacked
and there were some real problems because of it!”
Edward didn’t stop at the bar; he had seen them and was walking straight for the table where they were sitting.
“Hey, all,” he said. Chloe thought that Edward already knew Jonas Milton; they greeted one another with a smile.
He’d also met Gina. He gave her a smile and a quick wave before looking at Daniel and saying, “Beauty and the Beast, eh? Gina,
great to see you, and Milton, always. And there, by the rail, Jeff and Celia. Still, we seem to be missing a few of the crew
who seem to have become dinner buds. Amelia and Sally. Anybody seen either of them?”
“Amelia,” Chloe noted, because Amelia Swenson was just emerging out on deck, looking around, taking in a deep breath of air
before opening her eyes, seeing the group and waving to them all.
“But no Sally,” Edward murmured unhappily. “We were together until an hour ago. She wanted to get dressed for dinner. Well,
maybe—”
“Ah, sometimes, it can take a lady a while to dress for dinner!” Daniel said lightly.
“We hadn’t decided on a place to go this evening,” Edward said. “But we all know that we meet out here first!”
“Speaking of—I just remembered that there is a special Italian Night at the steakhouse this evening. That’s where we need
to go,” Broderick said. “I mean, if everyone agrees,” he added, looking around at the group.
“Italian sounds lovely,” Edward agreed, looking around. Everyone in the group either nodded or shrugged.
Italian it was to be.
“You people go on. Stake out a great table for us. I’ll wait here for Sally,” Edward told them.
“Why don’t we just give her a call and tell her where we’re going to be?” Daniel suggested. He was waving to Celia and Jeff
as he spoke, and the couple moved on over to join them.
Greetings went around again.
And Edward repeated his determination to wait for Sally.
Chloe felt that George was looking at her. There was no way that he was going to tell Edward to move on, that he’d wait for
Sally.
George wasn’t going to leave Edward. The man was his assignment.
“Let’s go with Daniel’s suggestion!” Chloe said. “Let’s call her and tell her and she can head straight to the restaurant.”
“Great idea!” Edward said, pulling out his phone. He speed-dialed Sally’s number, then frowned.
He obviously got her answering machine. “Hey, call me, please! We’re all out on our usual bar-slash-deck area, but the natives
are restless. And hungry. They want to head into the steakhouse for Italian Night. But call me when you get this, please!