Chapter 12
"Let me get this straight," the captain said when I approached him on the bridge. "You think you heard someone being assaulted in the cabin next door?"
"I don't think. I know."
"And you checked the neighboring cabin and didn't find anything?"
"Yes, but they could have easily thrown her overboard.”
Captain Curran stifled an eye-roll.
He was in his mid-50s with a swarthy tan, curly dark hair and a little bit of stubble at this hour. His coffee-brown eyes narrowed with doubt. In his pressed white uniform, he looked sharp.
The ship’s head of security had joined us. The seams on his royal blue polo shirt were about to burst. At 6’3”, 220 lbs, Silas was packed with muscle. In his mid-30s, he had short dark hair, dark eyes, and a trimmed beard. He didn’t say much.
I hadn’t really paid attention to him when I first boarded.
I thought he was just a deckhand, lingering around, trying to anticipate guests’ needs.
But he never handled any of the mundane tasks.
He never hovered, but was always in the shadows.
If he wasn’t around, another big guy was.
It made sense that a guy like Declan would have a security staff.
Especially with guests like Luciano on board.
"There needs to be a full investigation," I said.
"Who exactly do you think was murdered?" Curran asked.
"Kate.”
"Kate who?”
I shrugged. “I don't know. She didn't tell me her last name.”
"And you say you saw this Kate go into Luciano’s room with him?”
I nodded.
"What time was that?"
I bit my bottom lip. "I'm not really sure. It was late. 12:30. 1:00 AM.”
Captain Curran muttered to his first officer. "Check the passenger manifest for anyone named Kate or Catherine."
The first officer nodded and scurried away.
"Could you have been mistaken?" Curran asked me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s no way you could have heard anything in the next cabin.”
“I know what I heard,” I said with a slow, deliberate tone.
"Tell me again."
I repeated my story.
By that time, the first officer returned with a tablet and looked through the passenger manifest. He shook his head. "There are no passengers aboard named Kate.”
My eyes rounded. "Well, then someone forgot to check her in."
"That's not possible,” Curran said. “We keep a record of everyone who boards the ship."
"Maybe she's not a passenger. Maybe Kate is part of the crew.” I thought to myself and muttered, “That would make sense." I figured that’s why I hadn’t seen her at any of the guest functions.
"I know every crew member aboard the ship,” Curran said. “There is no one named Kate.”
"Maybe that's her middle name.”
The captain nodded to the first officer, who checked the list of crew.
"I'm sorry, but there's no one named Kate aboard this ship."
I gritted my teeth, and my cheeks grew hot. "That's not possible! I talked to her at the bar. Gorgeous redhead, green eyes, red dress, banging body,” I said, hoping that would jog their memory.
The two exchanged a dumb look.
"I think we would remember someone like that," the captain said. He took a deep breath. "Don't feel bad. This kind of thing happens all the time. People have a little too much to drink, have a nightmare, and things get confused.”
"I'm not confused," I said, standing my ground.
"How much have you had to drink tonight?”
"Not much." It was all I could do to keep upright, but I attributed that to the rolling of the sea.
The captain gave me a flat look. "You're slurring your words now."
"I am not."
Was I?
“Talk to Jimmy,” I said. “He served us at the bar."
The captain just stared at me.
"What if Kate wasn't dead when they threw her overboard? She could be out there somewhere. We need to stop the boat and go back."
He scoffed. "We are not stopping the boat. We're not going back."
I clenched my jaw, and my face grew even redder. "A woman was murdered. You're not going to gaslight me."
"I'm not gaslighting you, ma'am. I'm just saying there has been some kind of misunderstanding.”
"Talk to Jimmy. Now! He'll tell you."
"Ma'am, it's late. I don't like to disturb crew on their off hours unless it's absolutely necessary.”
"This is absolutely necessary. We’re talking about a woman's life. Does that kind of thing not matter around here?”
The captain stifled a groan, then muttered to his first officer. "Go get Jimmy and bring him up here.”
"Aye, sir.”
I shared a few uncomfortable moments on the bridge. The storm still raged.
“What about cameras? There have to be cameras on this boat.”
“On the bridge,” he said, pointing. “One facing forward, and one of the main deck aft for security.”
“That would have a record of everyone aboard.”
“Motion-activated, and clips are only stored for seven days unless they are manually saved.“
“Search the camera feed. It would have an image of Kate at some point when she came aboard the ship.”
Curran just gave me a flat look. He didn’t have the time or the inclination.
The first officer returned a few minutes later with Jimmy. Marks from the pillow still indented his face, and his narrow, puffy eyes were barely open. With tousled hair and a grumpy face, he looked plenty annoyed at the interruption.
"Sorry to disturb you at this hour," the captain said. He gestured to me. "Do you remember serving drinks to this woman earlier this evening?"
Jimmy nodded.
"Do you remember another woman with her? Red hair, good looking."
Jimmy shook his head.
My eyes rounded with disbelief. "We were sitting at the bar for at least 45 minutes! You made her several martinis.”
Jimmy looked confused. "I don't mean to contradict you, ma'am, but the only person I served at the bar tonight was you.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Why are you lying?”