Chapter 11
Ichatted with Kate for a bit, then excused myself and made a trip to the restroom. When I got back to the bar, Kate was gone. Jimmy had brought another round to the poker table, but I didn't see Luciano either.
It was late, and I didn't need any more to drink. I staggered back toward my stateroom, holding onto the handrail as I plunged down the companionway to the main deck. I stepped onto a side deck and leaned against the gunwale, taking in the fresh air.
I'd had more to drink than I realized.
The moonlight glowed the water, and fluffy clouds drifted in the night sky. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon ahead, and it looked like we would be heading into the thick of it.
I left the side deck, stumbled into the foyer, and found my way into the galley. The place was empty. The staff had all clocked out for the evening.
I rooted through the refrigerator. The chef had made numerous sandwiches and snacks for those seeking midnight rations. I found what resembled a sliced turkey sandwich and gobbled it down. I needed something to soak up all this alcohol, or tomorrow would be painful.
I guzzled a bottle of water, then ambled down to my stateroom. As I rounded the corner, I saw Kate and Luciano.
I huddled out of sight, peering down the hallway.
Luciano escorted the stunning redhead into his room, then pulled the hatch shut. Kate had been cagey about who her illicit romance was with, but I figured it had to be Luciano. He was quite the player.
With Sophia still deep into the poker game and enthralled by Sebastian, Luciano had a little time to himself.
But it was a bold move to take a woman back to his stateroom with his wife on board.
Surely there was some other place they could have stolen away to.
Maybe Sophia knew better than to come back to the stateroom too early.
Maybe she had plans with Sebastian. Who knows? It was none of my business.
I weaved down the corridor and held up at the hatch to Luciano’s stateroom, listening.
I didn’t hear anything, but I figured it wouldn’t be long before they were going at it. Or maybe they just went back to the room to talk.
I continued aft, found my key, and unlocked my door. I pushed inside, locked the hatch, and stepped into the en suite. I went through an abridged version of my nightly routine, then peeled out of my clothes and climbed into bed.
The room spun.
I tried to make the best of it and finally passed out.
A flash of lightning and a crack of thunder jolted me awake a few hours later. The boat pitched and rolled with the storm. Rain poured down.
This was more than a little mild weather.
The drinks had already made me unsteady. I didn’t need the rolling deck to compound matters.
My heart thudded my chest. Another nightmare had slicked my skin with sweat. Earl Vernon Maddox had a knife to my throat. I’d been having variations of that dream since the incident.
A scream filtered through the bulkhead.
At first, I thought I was still dreaming. Despite the wind and the rain, it was unmistakable.
A thud followed, along with more muffled screams.
I sprang out of bed, staggered into the en suite, and put my ear to the forward bulkhead.
"Get off of me!" a woman shouted.
It had to be Kate.
Maybe Sophia had come back to the cabin and found them. Maybe they were in the middle of a scuffle.
"Help! Somebody hel—“ She couldn't finish the sentence, choked out.
Panic rifled through me. It sounded like he was strangling her as she choked and gasped.
I didn't know what to do.
I grabbed my cocktail dress from the floor and slipped it on, then I darted into the hallway and banged on the hatch to Luciano’s stateroom. I didn't know what I was going to do when he opened the door, but maybe I could interrupt the process.
There was no reply.
I put my ear to the hatch and listened, but heard nothing.
Maybe Kate was already dead.
"Open the door right now!" I demanded as I kept banging.
Finally, footsteps shuffled toward the hatch. Luciano yanked it open and looked at me with sleepy eyes. "What do you want?”
The room was dark. The angry sky had clouded out the moon.
Flashes of lightning backlit his silhouette.
I swallowed hard and said, “I heard someone scream. I heard someone call for help."
His brow wrinkled. "What!?"
"Don't play games with me," I said, looking past him. "Kate? Are you okay?”
"Kate?” His brow knitted. “You're confused. There's no one in this room besides Sophia and me."
"Bullshit! I heard you strangle her. Where is she? Where is Kate?"
"Who is Kate?"
"You know damn good and well who she is?”
Luciano flicked on the light in the cabin, pulled open the door, and stepped aside. He gestured to the room. "See for yourself.”
I peered into the stateroom. The layout was the exact opposite of mine, with the headboard against the forward bulkhead.
Sophia sat up in bed with sleepy eyes, looking annoyed. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Luciano replied. "She seems to think someone was strangled in this room."
Sophia rolled her eyes. "I only wish Luciano was that creative in bed."
He glared at her.
I asked Sophia, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, honey.”
"But I…" It didn't make sense. I know what I heard.
"Maybe you just had a bad dream," Sophia said in an understanding voice.
I thought about it for a moment. It was possible. I guess. I’d had a lot to drink.
"Come in," Luciano said. “Look around. Once you're satisfied, then we can all go back to bed," he said in a sharp tone.
I was hesitant to step into the room.
Luciano sensed that and backed away from the door.
I put my foot into the compartment and glanced around.
There was nobody else in here.
I poked my head into the en suite and looked in the shower stall.
No one.
Then I looked on the other side of the bed.
There was nothing.
Luciano smiled. "I told you. There's no one else in this room. Sometimes Sophia has nightmares. She will talk and scream from time to time. I’ve learned to tune it out. Maybe that's what you heard."
Luciano looked at his wife for confirmation.
“I have terrible night terrors at times,” Sophia said. “Maybe I was having one.”
There was an awkward moment.
"While I do enjoy your company,” Luciano said to me, “I really would like to get back to sleep. I have to hop on a business call first thing in the morning, and that will be here before you know it."
It just didn't make sense to me. I stammered, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."
"Go back to sleep," Luciano said in a comforting voice. “I’m sorry if Sophia’s nightmare disturbed you.”
I stepped back into the corridor in a daze.
Luciano closed the hatch and latched it.
Was it Sophia I heard? Had I imagined the whole thing?
I couldn't tell whether to be angry or embarrassed. Maybe it was all a dream.
I stumbled back to my stateroom, using the bulkheads as stabilizers as the ship danced on the angry sea. I felt a little ill, and that was compounded by my embarrassment. Still, I was sure I heard someone being strangled.
I stepped back into my stateroom, closed the door, and locked the hatch.
If someone fell overboard out here, that would be all she wrote. By the time the ship stopped and turned around, it might be too late. These oversized windows opened. But was there enough space to shove a body through?
I moved to the window and unlatched it. Hinged at the top, the window opened inward a few inches, restricted by a limiter. Rain and wind blew into the cabin.
The gap was too narrow for more than a hand. But the window itself was wide enough to accommodate a body. If someone disabled the limiter, two people could theoretically hoist a body up and push it out.
Possibilities swirled.
What if Sophia came back to the room and caught them? In a fit of rage, maybe she strangled Kate. To cover it up, the two of them conspired to rid themselves of the evidence. The body would never be found. Perhaps it was the perfect murder.
My mind raced.
The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself something terrible had happened.
But I didn’t hear a splash from the body.
Then again, how could I with my windows shut and the raging sea?
That sick feeling twisted in my stomach. They were going to get away with it unless I did something. But what the hell could I do?