Chapter 15
With a polite smile, Pete said, “No, I don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded. “I’m positive.”
I cringed. “You heard about last night, didn’t you?”
He winced in sympathy. “Yeah, everybody did.”
My face fell into my hands, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen some pretty wild things happen on this boat.”
“I know I didn’t imagine an entire conversation with that woman, did I?”
“Like I said, I’ve seen some pretty wild things.”
“How long have you been working here?”
“Eight months. We chase the seasons, and the boat is always on the move.”
“You like it?”
“I do. It’s a lot of work. But I don’t have any rent or bills. I’m saving everything I can. We’re always somewhere beautiful, and I think it’s one of those experiences I’ll look back on fondly.”
“I’m sure.”
Pete muttered, “Little piece of advice. I used to work in PR crisis management. Go on like it never happened. If anybody says something, laugh and talk about how good the drugs were.”
I laughed.
“People are so preoccupied with their own lives, they will have moved on to something else by tomorrow.”
“That’s good advice. Thank you.”
“Anytime.” He smiled. “Well, I should get back to it. I’ll see you around,” he said before starting away.
I was slowly coming to grips with the fact that I had hallucinated the whole thing. I walked back to my cabin and paused at Luciano’s door before continuing on.
I slipped the key into the slot and stepped into my cabin, taking a moment to regroup. I still couldn’t reconcile it all. I kept replaying everything in my head, trying to separate truth from fiction.
The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got.
I needed to just let it go. But still, I couldn't help but want to look into Luciano's stateroom one more time.
In my haste last night, or this morning, or however you want to look at it, I forgot to look in the walk-in closet.
They could have easily stored a body there in a hurry.
Perhaps there was a blood drip on the tile. Something. Anything.
I stepped out of my compartment and glanced down the corridor. At the forward end, a stewardess cleaned another VIP guest room.
Tyson had taught me how to pick a lock, but I wasn't any good at it, and I didn't have the tools handy.
I waited, and eventually she made her way down to Luciano's room. She inserted her master key, opened the door, and pushed inside. She made the bed, refilled the toilet paper, exchanged the towels, and did light cleaning.
While she was in the en suite, I stepped inside the cabin.
"Don't mind me," I said. "I'm just going to look for something I left behind.”
"No problem," she called from the bathroom.
She couldn't see me from where she was. Maybe she thought I was Sophia.
I glanced around the stateroom, then rounded the bed and stepped into the walk-in closet.
I didn’t see a dead body.
Sophia had nice dresses, and the racks were full of designer suits along with casual clothing.
It was an expensive wardrobe to say the least. I decided to keep quiet and stay in the closet while the stewardess tidied up the room and fluffed the pillows.
She must have figured I left, because after a few minutes, she exited the cabin and locked the door.
I had the room all to myself.
I scoured the compartment, looking for any signs of a struggle or foul play. I was pretty sure the stewardess hadn't changed the sheets.
There were no drips of blood.
I looked for traces of red hair, but didn't find any.
The base of the bed had pullout storage. I checked the drawers, but there was no room to hide anyone in there. That's when it caught my eye.
The gold bracelet Kate had worn.
It was in between the bed and the nightstand on the floor. I scooped it up and examined it. The inscription read: For my darling, Katherine.
Vindication. I wasn't crazy after all.
My heartbeat elevated. I had proof. Solid evidence.
I moved to the portlights and checked each of them.
Sure enough, the limiter had been tampered with on the middle window.
With no restriction on the inner angle, they could have shoved a body through, and no one would have been the wiser.
That’s when I saw a thread of red fabric caught in the frame.
My heart pounded.
My pulse skyrocketed even higher when someone inserted a key into the slot, twisted the handle, and pushed open the door.