Chapter 12
Twelve
None of it made any sense.
Then again, Wes thought, from the beginning, none of it had made any sense.
Except that it did, of course, if the deaths they were investigating had to do with greed. It had been amazing to him to see
through the years what people were willing to do to satisfy their greed.
Sometimes, bad things happened because of desperation. In his early days working in law enforcement, he’d let a thief slip
away. The thief had been a boy of about twelve and he had literally stolen a loaf of bread. There had been something about
the kid, something in his eyes that spoke of his absolute sorrow over doing what he was doing—it turned out that he’d been
trying to get away with the bread because his mom was sick, his dad was dead and his little brother was starving.
That episode had, amazingly, turned out well. Wes had paid for the loaf of bread himself, explaining why to the shopkeeper.
In turn, the shopkeeper had given the kid a job for a few hours a week so that he could earn the money to buy a few groceries. And Wes’s assistant director had gone to see the mom who was on a regimen of cancer treatments to get her into the right program.
Of course, he had checked on the kid through the years. And he was exceptionally happy to see that the boy was now working
his way through college—still a kid with an amazing work ethic and a determination to pay it all back.
Sometimes . . . things could turn out okay.
This wasn’t one of those times.
Okay, so greed. If someone was trying to take over a massive company, or several companies, to make a fortune in the current
world where the internet was king, then greed was most likely the motive.
But what the hell would killing Sally have to do with any of that?
“Wes?”
He looked up. Chloe was smiling at him, the others were looking at him and their young waiter was standing behind him.
“Um, hm, the pecan pie!” he said, hoping that the young man was there to take his dessert order.
He was.
“Thanks!” the young man said. “Okay, four pecan pies, four key lime pies. Thank you and they’ll be right up. Oh, and I have
two Irish coffees, two espressos and three cappuccinos—”
“Please make that four on the cappuccinos!” Wes said. He made a face at Chloe, noted by everyone around the table, he was
sure. “I think I almost dozed off! Want to stay awake a bit longer,” he told her.
“Yes, sir,” the young waiter said before disappearing.
“Maybe we should all just call it a night and head to sleep!” Broderick said.
“Tomorrow we’re at the private island and there are all kinds of excursions.
Oh, hey, I’m willing to bet that I’m on the same excursion you’re going on, Wesley.
Although maybe you’re not! If you run a dive boat and take people down into the briny depths all the time, you might have opted for the dune buggy tour! ”
Wes shrugged. “No, I opted to dive. New place, new reefs, new fish, maybe. Oh, and there’s a wreck down there. I never miss
a wreck,” he said.
Strange, maybe, that they were just starting to talk about the plans for tomorrow. At first, everyone had been talking about
poor Sally and, of course, speculating on just what the relationship might prove to be between her and Edward. They’d ordered—and
Italian Night had been terrific with Chloe and him determining that she’d go with the chicken rotini Alfredo and he’d get
the lasagna.
A pair of strolling musicians had played and sang Italian love songs, which had limited conversation, as well.
He’d wondered if anyone else would want to leave the meal, to run to see how Sally was doing.
If she had been poisoned and was supposed to be dead . . .
That person might wonder if she was awake and aware—and able to point out who might have been attempting to murder her.
And why!
“And you, Chloe? What’s your plan on the island?” Celia asked.
“Wait, wait, I can answer that! They are the perfect married couple, remember? If Wes is diving, Chloe is diving. Am I right?”
Jeff asked.
“I am going diving,” Chloe said.
“You guys are teasing her!” Gina reprimanded. “And that’s the most amazing thing in the world—a couple who just really get
along and are the perfect married couple!”
“Thanks, Gina,” Chloe murmured.
“Hey!” Jeff protested, looking at Celia. “We’re a perfect married couple, too, right?”
Daniel laughed and answered that. “Indeed! Celia says jump! And you say, how high, my love?”
Jeff groaned and Celia protested. “I’m just more savvy when it comes to our business.”
“That’s just it,” Jeff said. “I know that I’m a lucky guy. So, yeah, I ask just how high I’m supposed to jump!”
“All marriages are different,” Broderick supplied. “And different doesn’t even mean good or bad. People are just different.”
“Now isn’t that the truth!” Daniel said.
Pies and coffee went around as did compliments on the dessert, the different coffees and the food in general.
And then Daniel posed the question.
“Shouldn’t we be checking up on Sally? Making sure that she’s really all right?” he asked.
“Maybe we could call Edward and see what he’s learned,” Celia suggested.
Broderick had his phone out. He dialed. After a minute, he shook his head. “Straight to voicemail,” he said.
“Well, you know, Daniel, she is a super sweet lady. I don’t know . . . I mean, I guess the infirmary is small and we don’t
need to flood it, but . . .” Gina murmured, looking at them all with a troubled grimace.
“On this ship, it’s like a real hospital,” Chloe provided. “There’s plenty of room in the little waiting area. We can all
take a walk, check on Sally and maybe enjoy the rest of the night doing something.”
Daniel laughed. “For me? Enjoyment is going to be sleeping! I’m a decent diver, but not the best ever and I want my beauty
sleep before heading out for that kind of physical activity.”
Daniel looked at Gina, arching a brow.
“One or two dances!” she said. “I’m going to need my sleep, too.”
Jeff laughed. “Notice Gina didn’t say beauty sleep. The kid doesn’t need any more beauty!”
“Thanks, Jeff, But, yeah, I’m like Broderick. I love to dive, but I want to be rested to head out on that excursion,” Gina
told them.
“Okay, then!” Wes said, rising and looking at Chloe before addressing the group. “I think that if we’re going to visit, we
should stop chatting and actually head down!”
The group gave assent with various mumbles, and they rose and left the dining room, heading for the elevators to take them
down to the ship’s hospital.
Sally was in the room right off the waiting area where Edward had been after his fall into the ocean. The drapes over the
windows were open and they could see that George was perched in a corner of the room while Edward was seated in a chair at
Sally’s side. He held her hand and watched her sleep.
Doctor Kilbride came out from the doorway right behind the reception area that led to his office.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow her more visitors. Sally is sleeping peacefully, and she should be fine by morning. I can tell her
that you all came to see to her welfare, but I’m afraid that I can’t let anyone else in,” Kilbride told them.
“Well, unless Edward wanted to come out!” Jeff said lightly. “Ooh. That’s not going to happen. Anyway, Dr. Kilbride, would
you be good enough to tell her that we were here, that we wanted to check on her and let her know that we were all thinking
about her.”
“Of course, and thank you, I’m sure that will mean a lot,” Kilbride said.
“Well, I’m off to bed!” Broderick said. “Good night, all.”
“Dance floor, briefly,” Gina told Daniel.
He groaned but waved to the others and followed her out.
“I guess all of us are going on that dive tomorrow,” Jeff said. “Celia—”
“Bed,” she said firmly. “Good night!”
Wes and Chloe were left with Amelia, who was still looking through the windows.
“Well, I’m not going on that dive tomorrow,” she said. “But . . .” She paused and looked at Wes and Chloe. “I guess I’ll call
it a night. I hear the island is beautiful, so . . . I’m off to my beauty sleep! Good night, all!”
“Good night, Amelia!” Chloe told her.
But Amelia still hesitated. “Oh! Edward has looked up at last. He sees us, maybe he’ll come out.”
Edward waved to them, rose and came out as expected.
“How’s she doing?” Wes asked.
“Sleeping like a babe,” Edward said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet, but she may wake up at any time, so . . .
I’ll be here,” Edward said.
“May I run in while you’re out?” Amelia asked. “They say that sometimes, when people are sleeping or even in a coma, they
can hear you. I just want her to know that we all really care. And, Edward! We care about you, too!”
Edward smiled. “Thanks, Amelia. Thanks so much. Um, sure, I’ll chat with these guys for a minute,” he told her, indicating
Wes and Chloe.
Amelia headed toward the door to the room. But as she did, Wes lowered his head and smiled.
George had already taken up a new position by Sally’s bedside. Amelia couldn’t touch her or get close without George right
there to stop her if she attempted anything even remotely harmful.
“Well, I still don’t get it. I mean, I even knew about Sally’s allergies.
She’s so careful. I don’t know how she got hold of anything that had nuts in it in anyway,” Edward said.
He sighed. “I called the ship’s main chef.
He assured me that they’re very careful these days.
An allergy to nuts is apparently far more common than anyone might imagine.
And deadly for far too many people.” He looked at Wes.
“Someone had something . . . but not in our group, I don’t think.
She mentioned her allergy when several of us were together. ”
“Several as in those teaching and speaking for the tech industry?” Wes asked him.
Edward nodded. “I don’t remember exactly who was around, but . . . I don’t know. From the time I met Sally, there was just