7. Muster Drill
B laring sirens woke Isaiah from sleep with a jump.
He reached for the gun hidden under his pillow before he was fully conscious.
Groaning, he listened to the announcement over the intercom, instructing everyone to gather at the muster point on B-Deck.
He grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
The tracker said she was in the suite, though not in which room.
“Poppy?” Isaiah banged on the adjoining door, but there was no reply. She had to be with Mina.
He grabbed his gun holster and wrapped it around his shoulders, cursing himself for falling asleep after an evening of searching through Poppy’s belongings and finding nothing.
He had tried to stay awake until they returned to the suite, but the seasickness had got the better of him, and he had drifted off.
“Don’t you hear the sirens?” he demanded, barely able to hear himself think, let alone sleep.
“I fell asleep listening to a podcast; what’s wrong?” she grumbled.
“Is Poppy with you? We’ve got to get to the muster point.”
“No, she must be in her room.”
Wasting no time, Isaiah used his smartwatch to enter Poppy’s room. Her empty room. He picked up her charm bracelet from her pillow; he was going to kill her.
“Where did you last see her?” he snapped,putting the bracelet in his pocket. The sirens only heightened his frustration, and Mina’s semi-drunk state wasn’t helping.
“Don’t snap at me! I didn’t know she left that thing here.
We were at the bar like we said we would be.
I started feeling sick, but she wanted to stay longer.
Tequila and a rocking ship aren’t a great combination, so I returned at around…
midnight? I thought she’d be right behind me.
” Mina eyed the turtle-shaped clock on the bedside table.
“Four hours ago? Damn it. I shouldn’t have given her so much space.
” Isaiah ran his hand roughly through his hair.
Any trust he’d gained with Poppy wouldn’t matter if she vanished on the first night.
He left the suite and hurried down the hall, weaving through other guests as he headed in the opposite direction of the emergency lights.
“Where are you going?” Mina followed him in her bathrobe. The way she struggled to keep up told him she was still drunk.
“To the bar where you last saw her.” He pounded the lift button, but the light flashed red in response.
Had Poppy manipulated Mina into drinking so much to have some time alone?
Given that someone had plotted to kill her less than twenty-four hours ago, the idea of her being alone and intoxicated on a ship made his stomach knot.
“Sir, you can’t use the lifts during the drill. Please follow the emergency lights; all guests must go to their muster points,” a man in a navy uniform said, blocking the lifts. He looked far too composed for so early in the morning.
“I need to find my client,” Isaiah argued, looking at the door marked ‘Stairs’.
“There’s no need to panic about your client. This is a drill, and I’m sure they’ll be waiting for you at the muster point on B-deck.” Guessing his next step, the crew member blocked the door to the stairs with a forced smile.
“I just want to go to the bar and ensure she’s alright. If it’s just a drill, then where I go shouldn’t matter.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but there are several bars on board, and I can’t let you check all of them during the drill.” The man’s false smile only added to Isaiah’s irritation.
“What bar was it?” he asked, turning to Mina. She hesitated.
“I think it was opposite the theatre. The Pearl Bar?”
He understood how easy it was to get turned around on the ship. All the corridors looked the same, and with so many different amenities, it was hard to keep track of where everything was.
“The Pearl Bar, located in the Entertainment Lounge on A Deck, has already been cleared. All guests in that area have been escorted to the muster point. Please follow me, or I’ll have to call security.” The man’s smile was tightening with every word.
“Isaiah, don’t cause a scene,” Mina urged. “They won’t let you run all over the ship, and I’m sure Poppy will be with the other guests.”
Taking a deep breath, he decided to trust Mina and followed her and the crew member to the deck. Poppy had better be there, or he would permanently weld the bracelet onto her wrist.
The exterior B-Deck was crowded with lined-up cranky guests shivering in the cold, who, in their bright orange life-jackets, looked as pleased to be there as he was. Once they reached their assigned row, his stomach sank when there was no sign of Poppy.
“I should’ve checked the bar; she isn’t here,” Isaiah said, his tone earning him a disgruntled look from the guest beside them.
“They won’t keep us long – then we can look for her,” Mina murmured quietly back.
“He said they cleared the bar, so if she wasn’t there when the alarm sounded, she must have left before. Did she say where she might go?”
“No, but I was too busy trying to get back to my room without throwing up amongst the elite.” Mina’s teeth chattered as crew members talked them through the emergency protocols.
He scanned the crowd of shivering guests, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. “Once this is over, we’ll have to split up. If you find Poppy first, bring her back to the suite. I’ll meet you there,” he instructed, wishing he had a way to contact her.
Once the drill was completed, a crew member addressed their row. “Thank you for your understanding and patience. I’m sure you all understand the importance of drills to ensure your safety and that of your companions. Feel free to explore the ship or return to your cabins.”
“Return to our cabins? Maybe she heard the alarm and went back to the suite to look for us, but we missed each other,” Isaiah mused.
“I’ll cover A and B Deck; you take C and D,” Mina suggested. “I doubt she would go to any of the residential floors, so we can rule those out.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you back at Poppy’s suite,” Isaiah agreed, regretting that he hadn’t sneaked away when he had the chance.
The lifts would be crowded with guests trying to return to their rooms now.
Thankfully, the map of the ship showed him a route through the glass stairways and gold-trimmed bridges, so he could move quickly without having to wait for lifts.
“Excuse me, but I’m looking for Ms Poppy Roe,” Isaiah said to the spa receptionist dressed in a crisp white uniform and laying out magazines on the polished reception desk. Her name tag read ‘Magda’.
He had already checked the cinema, the gyms, the theatre, and the virtual golf room. The only place left to look was the tranquillity spa. If he couldn’t find her and Mina returned alone, he would have to summon her over the intercom, which he doubted she would appreciate.
“We were wondering when you would find us. We tried calling Ms Roe’s suite, but we couldn’t reach anyone due to the drill,” Magda replied without looking up as she carried a tray full of sliced cucumber to a large water dispenser, adding it in.
“Ms Roe is in the sea-salt pool room. We don’t open for another hour, so you should take her back to her room before the other guests arrive. ”
“Why wasn’t she sent to the muster point with the other guests?” Isaiah asked, curious as to why they had broken protocol for her.
“We felt Ms Roe was too inebriated to be out on the deck, and the night manager let her stay since she was quiet and kept to herself. Given her recent loss, we thought discretion and space were best,” Magda whispered, even though no one else was around.
Isaiah noted how easily others talked about Poppy’s private life. He couldn’t imagine how it would feel for strangers to know his personal details.
“I’ll get her back to her room. Thank you for looking out for her,” he said, not wanting to waste time interrogating her further when she was trying to get set up for the day.
“Head through the relaxation room and take a left at the mud baths. You’ll be able to see the pool through the glass doors. No shoes inside,” she instructed, handing him a pair of white slippers.
“Thank you.” He exchanged his shoes for them as Magda walked behind the desk for the tray of raspberries and lemon slices and filled another dispensary.
“No need to thank us. It’s our job to make sure our clients feel safe and comfortable. I’ll have your shoes brought back to your room,” she said, scanning his smartwatch so the door to the spa opened for him.
Poppy sat in a white fluffy robe with her legs dangling in the water and a bottle of champagne beside her.
Her humming echoed around the empty, tranquil pool area.
A blackout ceiling with faux glimmering stars made it appear as though they were alone in the universe.
The soft gurgle of the water and the gentle hum of the spa’s jacuzzi created a serene atmosphere, a stark contrast to the chaos of the muster drill.
Given how people talked about her, this might be the only moment of true peace Poppy would get on board, so Isaiah allowed her to savour another moment. He listened to her soft, sad song, thinking how she didn’t look like a major celebrity or a murderer. She just looked like a lonely young woman.
“I thought you were going to stay at the bar,” he said calmly, crouching beside her.
With her blonde hair fanned around her shoulders and face make-up-free, she looked strangely vulnerable; now wasn’t the moment to lecture her about wandering off.
Also, trying to reason with a drunk person was a waste of breath.
“I was at the bar. Then I fancied a swim, but they wouldn’t let me. This was the compromise,” she explained, looking at him with a hazy smile. Lifting the half-empty bottle of champagne, she kicked her feet in the water.
He was relieved they hadn’t let her in the pool. He didn’t think letting the princess of pop drown on his watch would be good for his career.