Darkest Journey (29 page)

Finally they were out of the dining room and heading down the hallway. Charlie saw the Do Not Disturb sign on her father's door and ignored it, hurrying ahead to pound on the door. There was no answer, not even when she called, “Dad? It's me, Charlie.” She turned back to look at Jude. “We have to get in there!”

“Do you have a key to his cabin?”

“No, but—”

“Never mind, not if you're that worried.”

Jude turned sideways and slammed his shoulder against the door, which splintered at the impact.

He proceeded to kick in what was left of it.

As he did, someone in the cabin screamed, high-pitched and startled.

* * *

Ethan, Thor and Randy sat head to head as they went over the video surveillance from the
Journey
. They ran through it several times in real time, then had the tech speed it up and slow it down, searching through the hundreds of people who'd come and gone that day.

“I don't see a single member of the movie crew,” Randy said. “No one who could've left that message on the mirror!”

Ethan hadn't seen anyone, either. He leaned back, puzzled. The lipstick message hadn't been a joke; it had been a serious warning. And there was no reason for anyone to go after Charlie unless they were convinced she knew or had seen something that could put them at risk. Like Selma Rodriguez—who hadn't known anything at all.

Except that Albion Corley had planned on meeting with Jonathan Moreau.

“Ethan, it's possible someone paid someone else—maybe an employee on the
Journey
—to write that message. The
Journey
is old, but she's had her doors reconfigured for key cards, and key cards are the easiest thing in the world to duplicate,” Thor pointed out.

“Yeah, it's possible,” Ethan agreed, then leaned back, perplexed. “Why do people kill?” he murmured.

“Sometimes,” Randy said, “I think they kill because they're just rotten somewhere in their souls. Sometimes from hatred. Or love. Jealousy.”

“Greed,” Ethan said. “Greed's a big one. We're meeting with Saul Gideon, CEO of Gideon Oil, in Baton Rouge tomorrow. The guy isn't from Louisiana. He's a Texan. And he wasn't against meeting with the Sane Energy people. If his company made the change the Sane Energy people were going to propose, it would have cost them a great deal of money in the short term. But the meeting was never scheduled—no one even talked to Gideon about it—and we know, because HQ checked his whereabouts, that Saul Gideon didn't come here and bayonet two old friends in reproduction military uniforms.” He turned to the tech. “Let's run the video one more time, please.”

Ethan watched again and asked the tech to slow down when they hit late afternoon, right about the time the tour buses were returning to the
Journey
.

“There!” Ethan exclaimed.

“There, where?” Randy said, puzzled.

Thor pulled his chair closer and pointed at the screen. “I see it, Ethan. Officer Johnson, run back and slow it down there...right there. Go frame by frame.”

“Start where that family of three goes through the checkpoint, and then there's a lull,” Ethan said. “And then— There! Looks like a kid, but...”

“That's not a kid, that's a small woman,” Thor said.

“And I know who it is,” Ethan said flatly. “Jennie McPherson, who was supposedly on her way to have dinner at the café with a bunch of her coworkers when we last saw her.” He stood up. “We have to get back to the ship.”

As Thor and Randy rose, there was a tap on the door. Ethan opened it to reveal an officer standing in the hall.

“We've got a match on some of the prints we found in Charlene Moreau's cabin,” he said.

* * *

Charlie couldn't have been more stunned to see the small blonde standing in her father's cabin than if Godzilla had been there.

Jennie McPherson looked both startled and horrified. She was staring at them like a deer caught in the headlights.

“What—what are you doing? Breaking into Jonathan's suite?” she demanded, her hand fluttering to her throat.

“What are
we
doing here?” Charlie demanded. “What the hell are
you
doing here? And where the hell is my father?”

Jennie looked truly surprised. “I thought he was with you.”

“No, he's not with me,” Charlie snapped and stepped forward aggressively. Jude caught her and pulled her back right before she could tackle the other woman. “I'm asking you one more time. Where's my father?”

“If he's not with you, I have no idea!” Jennie said.

“What are you doing here? And how did you get in my cabin? Why did you write on my mirror?”

“What are you talking about? I was never in your cabin, and I certainly didn't write anything on your mirror.”

“What are you doing aboard this ship?” Jude asked evenly. “We can have you arrested for breaking and entering, you know.”

“Breaking and entering?” Jennie gasped. “You're the one who broke the door down. I was just...waiting.”

“How did you get in here? And why were you waiting? Waiting for what? My father? Why? Were you going to stab him in the heart?” Charlie asked.

“What? No!”

“Then why
are you here?”
Charlie demanded. “If you've hurt my father in any way I'll—”

“Hurt him? Are you crazy?” Jennie protested.

“Then...?” Jude asked.

“Oh, good Lord. Dammit, Charlie, I'm sleeping with him,” Jennie said.

Charlie was actually stunned speechless for a minute. Finally she managed to say, “What?”

Jennie let out a sigh. “We didn't want to say anything to anyone yet, especially you. Your dad was worried what you would think. I mean, I'm only a few years older than you are. We're friends. I think we were friends, anyway, and I hope we still are. I wanted to tell you. It was ridiculous, two adults sneaking around to be together. I came aboard to...to see him for a few minutes. He...he gave me a key. He told me to come aboard as a visitor when I finished on set, then slip in and get some rest, and he'd see me when your show was over. I begged off going to the café with the crew and came here instead. Charlie, I swear, I'm crazy about your dad.”

Charlie felt sick. “He said he was going up to watch the show?”

“Yes. He said he watched you every night, and did I mind,” Jennie told her. “I told him of course I didn't. Charlie, you're everything to him. He didn't want you hurt, and he certainly didn't want you to end up blindsided like this. He just wanted to be able to tell you in his own time.”

Charlie just stared at Jennie, still stunned.

“When did you last see Jonathan?” Jude asked.

“Right before he gave his speech at the church. I saw him from the bluff and went over to say hi,” she said. “He—he said he'd join me here as soon as the show ended. I didn't know what to do when that steward showed up, so I just made my voice really deep and said I was fine. And when you showed up, I figured if I just ignored you, you'd go away, but then I started to worry. Charlie, I care about him so much.”

Jennie?

And her father?

But more important...

Where the hell
was
her father?

She turned to Jude. “We need to call Ethan and Randy and ship security and anyone else you can think of and...and I don't know what. Jude, something is wrong. I know it. We have to find my father!”

“Where would he go if he didn't come back to the ship?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Nowhere, not if he said he'd be here. I know my dad. He'd be here if he could be. Something is wrong, something is really, really wrong.”

“All right, I'll get you guys—except you, Jennie, you stay right here—back to our cabin, and then I'll make the calls. We'll get everyone on this. But, Charlie, you have to stay there where you'll be safe. In the cabin, door locked. And you can't leave, no matter what.”

* * *

Ricky Simpson had been in bed when they started pounding on his door.

He'd gotten up quickly and opened it, then looked surprised to see Ethan, Thor and Randy standing in the hall staring at him. He immediately flushed and looked uncomfortable, though he managed to ask, “Hey, what's going on? Is there a problem?”

The three men pushed their way into the cabin. “Sit down,” Ethan told him.

“Hey, you may be with the government, but I know my rights. You can't just bust in here and start pushing me around. I have my rights!” Ricky protested.

“There are a dozen charges I can haul you in on,” Randy said, adding drily, “Being the local man, you know. We know you did it.”

“Did what? What is this all about?” Simpson asked them.

He had to know, Ethan thought, though he was still doing a good job of faking ignorance.

“It's about a message. A threatening message left on Charlene Moreau's mirror. Written in lipstick.”

“Lipstick! Has to be one of the dancers or, more likely, one of the other singers. Those girls, they can get pretty jealous, and when they get jealous, they get mean.”

“Ricky, I think you have plenty of access to lipstick,” Randy said.

“We think that message has something to do with the recent murders in the parish. And guess what?” Ethan said. “Your fingerprints popped up all over that bathroom.”

“What?” Ricky demanded, looking stunned.

“Fingerprints, buddy, they gave you away,” Randy told him.

“Well, of course they did! I've used that bathroom,” Ricky said.

“You sneak into your performers' bathrooms for kicks or something?” Randy demanded.

“No!” Simpson protested. “Last cruise, Mandy Drake, the country singer, was in that room. She and I are old friends. I spent lots of time with her—and not the kind of time you're probably thinking, either. We're friends, old friends. I was one of the first people to hire her, years ago.”

Ethan addressed Randy. “Could the cleaning staff on the
Journey
be that bad?”

“They'd have to be pretty bad,” Randy said. “You can wipe down fingerprints with just about any kind of cloth. And on a mirror, with an ammonia cleaner...easy-peasey.”

“Maybe the damned mirror wasn't dirty!” Ricky snapped. “Look, I'm the entertainment director, and—”

“I think he
was
the entertainment director,” Thor said.

“
Was
, yeah, I'm going to say, that's the key word,” Ethan agreed.

“Lawyer! I want a lawyer,” Ricky said.

“I haven't charged you with anything yet,” Randy told him.

“But—”

“Actually, no one but us knows we're here, Ricky. So I don't think you should get a lawyer. I think you should just fess up, tell us the truth,” Thor said.

“Depending on your story, we might not have to go to the cruise line and tell them what you did,” Ethan said.

“It's your right to get a lawyer if you want one, and you don't have to say anything until you do,” Randy said to Ricky, then looked at Ethan and Thor, and added, “We want this all legit and by the book if we go to court with this jerk. We don't want any evidence tossed out because we haven't followed due process.”

“Petty mischief would be one thing, and not worth the taxpayers' money, as far as taking it to court,” Thor said.

“Losing your job is bad,” Ethan said. “Going to jail...”

“But I didn't do anything!” Ricky protested.

Ethan shrugged and looked over at Thor and Randy. “I say he's lying.”

“Sounds like a lie to me, too,” Randy said.

“I'm
not
lying,” Ricky protested.

“Randy, you want to write up the report?” Ethan asked. “We're going to have to look deeper, involve the captain of the ship, the VP of entertainment for Celtic American...whatever it takes to get to the truth.”

“I'm afraid I'll have to take you in, Mr. Simpson,” Randy said. “Stand up, please. I don't want to hurt you putting on the cuffs. Of course, once we're down at the station, you'll be able to make a call, and get your attorney,” Randy said.

Ricky Simpson did exactly what they'd hoped for. He caved. “Wait, wait, wait. Okay, I did it. Frankly, I...well, I needed the money.”

“The money?” Ethan asked him.

“Yeah, I was wandering around yesterday, by the church. I listen to Jonathan Moreau whenever I can. What that man knows about history could fill the ocean. I always learn something new.”

“What about the money?” Ethan interrupted impatiently.

“Oh, well, there were a bunch of people coming and going, all in uniform—some Yankee, some Reb. I asked why, because I knew there was no reenactment yesterday. Somebody said they were all working on a movie. One of the guys came up to me—he's in the movie, same movie Charlene Moreau is the star of, I guess. Anyway, he wanted to prank her. Gave me fifty bucks just to slip in and write the message on the mirror. I thought he was just teasing her, replaying a scene from the movie or something.”

“You went into someone else's cabin and wrote a threat on her mirror
as a prank
?” Randy asked, disbelieving.

“Who was the man? The one who paid you?” Ethan asked.

“I don't actually know his name, but he's in the movie, so you should be able to track him down.”

“What did he look like?” Ethan asked.

“Like a Civil War soldier,” Ricky said.

Ethan prayed for patience. “North? South? Was he young or old?”

“Um... I think it was a Confederate uniform, but I'm not sure. I'm not from around here, so I don't pay much attention to all that North-South stuff. The guy was... I don't know. Twenties, thirties, maybe even early forties. He had so much beard, who the hell could tell?”