Chapter 26
The Second Act Society Soirée is in full swing with music blaring, laughter rolling through the ballroom in waves, and champagne flowing as though Iceland’s trying to hydrate the entire ship through alcohol alone.
Celeste is floating around Marina and me, doing dance moves that haven’t been used in the last almost forty years, glowing a brilliant shade of blue while she shimmies and twirls. I’ll admit, it’s a little off-putting.
Marina shakes her head at me, and I catch the shimmer of tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Trixie. There are some things I would love to share with you, but I just can’t.”
Her eyes shine like emeralds under the chandelier light—bright, beautiful, and desperate.
“You can trust me,” I tell her. “If you’re in trouble, I want to help. Wes wants to help. I know he would.”
“Oh, this is getting juicy,” Celeste announces, doing some kind of hip swivel that would make Elvis proud. “Two women arguing over a man. Tale as old as time.”
Says her.
“I know you mentioned something about your finances,” I continue to Marina. “Is that what Gideon had on you? Is that why the two of you argued?”
Marina’s eyes widen with horror. “Wow. You really are good.”
“I’m not that good.” I shake my head. “I have no idea what landed you in that bar in Copenhagen, or why you’d jump on the nearest ship to escape whatever you were running from.”
She turns her head as though I struck her. “Trixie, stop.”
“I can’t stop. I have to know what you and Gideon argued about. I have to rule you out as a suspect.”
“That’s not how this works.” She cups her hand over her mouth.
“That’s exactly how this works,” I shoot back. “Marina, you can trust me. I’m a safe space for you. If you need legal protection, Ransom and I will help. I will personally fund whatever legal aid you might need. I promise you’ll be safe. Whoever did this to you, they can’t hurt you anymore.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” She glances toward the exit as tears brim in her eyes. “I have to go.”
She starts to bolt, and I catch her by the wrist.
“Ooh, catfight!” Celeste claps her ghostly hands together. “I once got into a brawl over a man at a cocktail party. And technically you two are arguing over Gideon, or is it the captain? Anyway, this is basically the same thing.”
She giggles long and hard, and Marina freezes.
She looks around wildly, taking in our isolated corner of the ballroom. The party rages on fifty feet away, but here? We’re pretty much alone.
Or at least it seems.
“Who said that?” Marina’s voice goes tight with panic.
I cringe.
Right. That whole supersensual thing. The touching-bare-flesh-means-you-can-hear-the-dead thing. If someone touches me, well, I sort of work as a demented game of telephone, except the operator is deceased and has questionable timing.
“Who said what?” I try for casual and land somewhere around guilty.
Marina narrows those ice-blue eyes at me. “You are a terrible liar, Trixie.”
“And so are you,” I riot back. “Now tell me what you’re running from.”
“She’s feisty!” Celeste floats closer. “I like her. Can we keep her?”
Marina gasps. “There it is again!”
“Did you kill him?” I demand, ignoring Celeste’s commentary for now.
Marina closes her eyes. When she opens them, they’re wet with tears that haven’t fallen yet.
But she doesn’t say a word.
“Marina, as much as I love justice, I swear to you I will not out you to Ransom or Wes or even to Bess and Nettie. I will do whatever it takes to get you the help you need. Believe me, I know how men can do and say things to drive a woman to do just about anything. I’ve wanted to kill my ex a time or two. ”
“No.” Her voice cracks. “I didn’t kill him.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Celeste announces with glee. “Besides, whether or not I know who the killer is, I can always tell when someone’s lying. It’s a gift.”
Marina’s head whips around. “Okay, I definitely heard that.” She wrinkles her nose at me. “Please tell me you can hear the disembodied voice, too.”
I sigh. “You really didn’t kill him?”
Marina shakes her head. “Believe me, there are other men a little higher up on my kill list that I would happily do some hard time for. But no, I didn’t do it.
And that’s the truth. Now please tell me if you heard that woman’s voice.
Because if not, I might need to take you up on that help you offered. ”
I look at Celeste, who seems to be examining the ballroom for a handsome man to snack on.
“I heard her,” I grunt. “And you’re right. She is disembodied. In fact, she’s dead. She’s…well, she’s a ghost.”
Marina blinks. “Pardon?”
The word comes out so flat, so utterly bewildered, that I almost laugh.
Instead, I word-vomit the entire explanation.
“I’m supersensual. That falls under the Transmundane umbrella, where people can have abilities like mind reading, seeing into tomorrow, and an entire host of things most of us consider curses.
My specialty? I can see and hear the dead.
But just the ones who come back to help me solve cases. ”
I hide my face for a moment because I sound insane. I know I sound insane.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I spilled that at your feet.
Bess and Nettie know. Ransom and Wes know, too, but that’s it on the ship.
My kids don’t even know.” I peek at her through my fingers.
“I sort of gained the misfortune a little over a year ago, after Nettie bonked me on the head with a vodka bottle.”
Marina blows out a breath. “Remind me to steer clear of Nettie when she’s wielding a bottle of liquor.”
We both give a nervous laugh, a slightly hysterical laugh that feels good after all the tension.
“So you believe me?” I ask.
Marina shrugs and gives my hand a squeeze. “Do you believe me when I say I didn’t kill Gideon Vale?”
“Of course she didn’t kill Gideon,” Celeste announces, floating closer. “She’s got killer instincts, sure, but she didn’t use them on my man.”
Both Marina and I turn to look in her direction.
Marina’s eyes go wide. “Wow, she really comes in clear.”
“Yeah, she does that, as long as you’re touching me,” I say as I look at Celeste. “If Marina didn’t kill him, then who did?”
Celeste gives me a look that says you might die tonight yourself if you keep pushing me.
Then she turns and looks out at the crowd. Her expression shifts, something sad crossing her translucent features. She nods toward the champagne fountain where Holland Rowen stands talking to guests, her gold silk dress catching the light.
“If you’re so good at what you do, Trixie Troublefield Baxter,” Celeste says quietly, “why don’t you speak to that woman. I have a frisky waiter to play with, and I have a feeling I’ll be departing this planet once again far too soon.”
She zips off in a shower of sparkles, leaving Marina and me staring at each other.
Marina straightens her shoulders, smooths her midnight blue dress, and looks at me with newfound determination.
“You heard the ghost,” she says. “We have a killer to catch.”
We make a beeline toward Holland, who says a few parting words to a couple before turning our way, and I nearly run right through her.
“I’m so sorry,” she says with a laugh. “You two birthday girls look like you’re having way too much fun.”
“About as much fun as you can have when you turn fifty,” I say.
And when you’re hunting down a killer.
My thoughts run wild on how to broach this. Oh, I know. I’ll butter her up first.
“Silas showed me that picture of your sweet nephew. I bet you’ve already hit the gift shop and loaded up an entire suitcase of souvenirs for him.”
She squints my way and tucks a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m afraid you’ve confused me with someone else. I don’t have a nephew.”
“Oh?” I tilt my head into the crowd for a moment.
I’m not losing my mind. I can’t. I’m only fifty.
“You don’t have a nephew named Griffin?” I ask, nodding as if to nudge her memory.
Holland shakes her head. “Not me.” She waves at someone in the distance. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to say goodbye to my friends before the cruise ends.”
She takes off, and a breath hitches in my throat.
“What is it, Trixie?” Marina asks as she steps in front of me.
“Come on.” I grab her by the hand. “We have a killer to catch before this cruise ends.”