Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37
“ W hoa there!” Visalia says with a laugh, steadying herself while hoisting her glowing blue cocktail out of the way, right here on the promenade deck on the night of my big pre-wedding bash.
Her blonde mane is coiffed to perfection, lots of curls that waterfall around her shoulders, and there’s a tiny rhinestone pin behind her left ear. Her dress is a short black number, beaded and sparkling, and she looks ready to dance the night away.
“You’re quick on your feet tonight, Trixie,” she practically sings.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Visalia.” I chuckle as I take a step back. “This party is busier than I expected. Having a good time? You look gorgeous.”
“You mean trashy ,” Merritt interjects, and thankfully I’m the only one who can hear her.
“Me, gorgeous? Please .” Visalia waves me off with a laugh. “Now, you look stunning! I don’t know where you got that dress, but I’m going to have to get my hands on it. And don’t tell me you have pre-wedding jitters. You look so confident, I would never believe you.”
I laugh at the thought. “Thank you.” A crowd bustles by and pushes us closer to a darkened alcove. “So what’s next for you once we get back to port? I mean, now that Merritt is gone? ”
“You wish,” Merritt growls once more.
And boy, do I ever wish.
Visalia’s expression softens a touch. “I don’t know, but I suspect I’ve got a bright future ahead of me—something different, something new.”
“New?” Merritt gives a ghostly howl of a laugh. “I guess those influencers she’s been wooing haven’t panned out for her.”
“Well, wherever you go next, I wish you much success,” I say. “And I wish the same for Josie, too. I know she misses Merritt as much as you do.”
Visalia’s brows furrow at the mention of her friend. “I’m sure Josie is relieved that Merritt is gone,” her voice drops as she says it. “Merritt was in the process of dumping her, you know.”
My eyes widen a notch. “Dumping her? For who?”
Visalia glances around, then leans in. “For Carmen Delacruz. The hottest literary agent in New York City.” She tips her cocktail at me. “I think I need to top this off. Sure beats that grit in a cup I’ve been carting around. Great party.” She makes her way toward the bar and I gasp as I turn to the pesky poltergeist beside me.
“ Merritt ,” I hiss at the glowing entity yet again. “Why didn’t you tell me that you dumped Josie?” I swat at the ghost before me and my hand sails right through her. “That woman has financial burdens! This could crack the case wide open. I need to tell Ransom.” I pull my phone out to do just that. “I can’t believe you were ditching Josie for this Carmen person. Josie really needed you. And you’re so successful with her. I can’t imagine why you’d want to leave.”
“Oh, come on, Trixie,” Merritt says, rolling her eyes. “Josie is a small fish. Carmen Delacruz has the connections I needed to get me to the next level.”
I pause from typing out a text and glance up at her. “You were at the pinnacle of success.”
“In your eyes maybe.” She waves me off. “That’s always been the problem with you, Trixie. You settle. Just like you did with Stanton. There’s always a next level, and there certainly was one for me. And you certainly found it with Ransom. Talk about taking an elevator ride all the way to the top,” she muses. “ You’re lucky I’m dead or I’d be sleeping with your next husband, too.”
I pause mid-sentence and plop my phone back in my purse. “What did you say?” I practically howl over the music.
“You heard me.” She winks as if she were proud.
“You slept with Stanton ?” I blink over at the sinister specter with disbelief. “Certainly not while I was still with him.”
“Why would I subject myself to the torture if you weren’t?”
I gasp hard.
“I’m going to kill you!” I’m already ransacking my brain in ways I can off her for a second time. Technically, it would be the first time I would cause her a mortal blow, but her second rebirth into the afterlife—and one which she would so deserve.
“Trixie?” a light female voice chirps from behind and I turn to see Josie Coffee standing there in her beige beaded gown, with long peacock feathers for earrings as the only pop of color in an otherwise bland?—
“Peacock feathers!” I practically gag.
Oh my word! How could I have forgotten about those miniature peacock feathers I found near Merritt’s body? It was Josie I had seen earlier that evening with them staked into her bun.
How could Ransom have missed them?
Wait one peacock-picking minute… Ransom Baxter doesn’t miss a thing. He’s been keeping those feathers from me because he’s afraid they might land me in front of the killer—or Josie Coffee. And knowing what I do now, they might be one and the same.
“Trixie?” Josie says as her brow arches in concern. “Are you all right? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
I take a moment to shoot the ghost in question a dirty look.
I plaster on a bright smile and straighten. “Hello, Josie. Actually, I’m absolutely fine. I’ve been hitting the cocktails a little hard, that’s all.” That’s a bald-faced lie, but I’ll never admit it.
“Well”—she shrugs—“you are the guest of honor, and technically this is your final night of freedom. I say bottoms up.” She wrinkles her nose a bit. “I could have sworn you were having a full-blown argument. You might want to grab a latte just to mitigate the liquor. I’ve been there myself. ”
“Speaking of arguments”—I cringe a little because I really do like her—“there’s actually something I wanted to speak with you about.”
Josie tilts her head. “What’s that?”
“Josie, I heard a rumor that Merritt was planning to leave you for another agent,” I say, watching her closely. “Is that true?”
“It’s no rumor.” Merritt belts out a gravely laugh. “You know what they say, in both business and in love, you need to take care of number one.”
I shoot a quick frown at the deceased. Nobody says that. Scratch that. Nobody but Merritt.
Josie’s eyes widen as she takes a sharp breath. “Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?” I give a little shrug. “I guess it’s true then?” But I already knew that.
Josie shifts uncomfortably as she gives a quick glance around. “Merritt—she was considering it, yes. But nothing was finalized.”
“That’s true,” Merritt grouses. “But only because somebody sidelined me into eternity. I was going to walk straight into Carmen’s office as soon as we landed back in New York.”
My lips press tight as I let this sink in. “Josie, you mentioned that you were basically the sole breadwinner for your family, that without Merritt you would have been in trouble. And you also mentioned that you were going to try to get the rights to Merritt’s books. That would have left you with her royalties as well, wouldn’t it?”
Josie Coffee glares at me a moment too long.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think I just caught a killer.