Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
I spin on my heels with my arms up in the air, ready to chop anyone into bits, or poke their eyes out—only to find the most handsome man of them all standing there, lifting one brow my way with his lips curved just enough to melt my panic right off.
“ Ransom .” I laugh and practically fly into his arms, punching his shoulder lightly as I do. “You scared the absolute daylights out of me!”
“Sorry.” He gives a tiny wink. “I realize you’re in a crowd”—he glances around—“but I’d feel better if you were with Bess and Nettie than wandering alone.”
“Well, technically, I wasn’t alone. I was just speaking with?—”
“Visalia Jones,” he finishes with a hint of a frown tugging down his lips as he wraps his arms around me. “Trixie, you do realize there’s a killer on the ship with us? And therefore, logically speaking, they could be on this very excursion. And furthermore, they could very well be?—”
“Visalia Jones?” I bite down on a smile as I finish for him this time. “It was innocent, I promise. Poor thing was in tears, looking at the display. I wanted to comfort her. She’s had a rough year. Speaking of killers, what’s this big break you teased me with this morning? ”
Ransom winces. “I wasn’t trying to pique your curiosity, I was trying to curb it.”
“Says the ex-FBI behavioral analyst.”
“Touché,” he concedes and looks deliciously sexy while doing so.
“And?” I prod, unable to keep the curiosity from bubbling over. “What was it?”
“Just some dust we found around the body,” he says, his voice dropping to a whisper.
I tilt my head. “Dust?” I inch back. “The Emerald Queen is a lot of things, but dusty isn’t one of them.”
“I know.” He nods, glancing around once again. “It wasn’t that kind of dust. It looked like sawdust, maybe. I sent it to a local lab. Hoping we’ll get results soon enough.”
I blink, before giving him an incredulous look. “Sawdust? On a luxury liner? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Exactly why I wanted it tested,” he says, then looks around at the bustling museum. “By the way, not sure this is the excursion I’d pick. Considering we basically live on a cruise ship.”
A laugh stifles in my throat. “What can I say? I’m dedicated to expanding my oceanic education. Who knows when I’ll need to survive a shipwreck? Besides, this place is full of artifacts, and maybe a few ghosts.” I wiggle my fingers at him and he rolls his eyes. “ Ooh —speaking of ghosts, we’ve got one!”
“Who is it?” he says, pulling me that much closer as his eyes enlarge.
Just as I open my mouth, a giant commotion erupts from the far side of the museum with shouts echoing through the halls.
A wave of chaos surges through the crowd, and I see people backing away from—water?
Tons and tons of water flowing across the floor!
“What the—” Ransom mutters under his breath as we head upstream to see what in the world is happening.
We catch sight of Nettie, wide-eyed and standing in a puddle of water, and next to her is Bess with her hands covering her face.
“ It’s happening ,” someone shouts from the panicked crowd. “We’re going to drown! ”
Another woman runs past us, shrieking, “The curse of the Titanic strikes again!”
Bess grunts and shakes her head. “It’s not a curse. It’s Nettie!” She tosses her hands in the air. “It’s always Nettie! ”
Ransom and I wade our way through the chaos as the water seeps across the polished museum floors.
“Nettie, what did you do?” I call out, grabbing her elbow in fear she might actually drown right here alongside the true-blue artifact of that ill-fated ship.
“Let’s just say, I decided to sit on the wrong set of pipes, and, well, some things ruptured.”
Bess lifts her head our way. “And she’s conveniently not mentioning the aquatic display that is no more. Nettie, you ruptured maritime history!”
“It was an accident,” Nettie huffs, slipping slightly as she tries to step out of the water.
We help shuttle Bess, Nettie, and about a half dozen other elderly women out to safety.
“And the band played on,” Nettie says as we make our way to the entrance, just as a team of fire trucks pull up to the curb.
“Very funny,” Bess grunts. “You’re coming with me.” She pulls her bestie off to the walkway.
Ransom hitches his head back at the information desk. “I think I’m going to make a little donation to help with the cleanup effort.”
“You’re a keeper,” I say, landing a kiss to his lips. “Let’s hope your donation can help thwart a major lawsuit.”
Ransom hands over enough cash to rebuild the Titanic from the ground up before we meet up with Bess and Nettie out front.
“All right, you two,” Bess says, looking our way. “I think it’s high time we take our focus off of Nettie, killers, and have I mentioned Nettie ? And instead, we focus on the couple that is about to run down the aisle for the very last time.” She whispers something in Nettie’s ear and the two of them nod.
“Okay, kids.” Nettie offers up a devious smile our way. “The two of you get ready because we’re going to show you one heck of a good time tonight—the Emerald Queen of the Seas won’t know what hit her. ”
Ransom and I shrug at one another.
“We’re in,” I say.
Whatever they have planned, one thing is clear—tonight is going to be a night to remember.
And with a maniac on the loose, we might just be in for a killer good time.