Dead in the Water (Kate Ryan Mysteries Book 10) (17 page)

“Maggie,” I said, quickly kneeling beside her.

“He’s gone, Kate,” she said, shaking her head. “I tried.”

Simon peered over her shoulder. “Oh, goodness. Isn’t that Mr. Whitehead?”

I took a closer look and agreed. “The one with the high-tech pacemaker.”

“Apparently, not too high-tech,” Simon mumbled.

I put my arm around Maggie. “You tried, sweetie. Shit.” It was stupid, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Maggie chuckled sadly. “I know.” She looked up, and God help me, the look on her face almost had me laughing, in spite of the sad situation. “Aunt Hannah? What…?”

“Hello,” Hannah said with a weak smile.

“What?” She looked at me then; I could see the glare. “What are you doing here?”

“That seems to be a popular question…”

There was no time for Hannah or me to explain. We heard muffled yelling from the deck above us and heavy footsteps on the stairs. It sounded like a grade-school fire drill.

Simon looked up. “My word, that’s loud.”

“Simon,” I said. “What do you think happened?”

“Well, I’m sure I don’t know. I was just about ready to get into a nice hot tub when all the lights went out.” He looked down at the lifeless body. “We should do something about this.”

Maggie sighed. “If you’d get the ship’s doctor down here…” She stopped when Simon looked from me to Maggie. “What?”

“They don’t have a ship’s doctor,” I said, glaring at Simon.

“What?” Hannah and Maggie said simultaneously.

“Is that why Monty asked me if I was a doctor?” Maggie let out an angry groan and rubbed her forehead.

“I’m not exactly sure why the doctor never showed up.”

Maggie sighed. “We need Monty. Can you get him to come down here? We can’t leave this poor man lying here.”

“Certainly.” Simon turned around and ran into the fire extinguisher that hung on the wall. He then cleared his throat and walked up the stairs.

Maggie had gone into our stateroom and came back with a blanket to cover Mr. Whitehead.

“The poor soul,” Hannah said, pulling her robe around her. “What happened?”

“Well.” I scratched the back of my neck. “It all started when I proposed to your niece,” I said dryly. Man, that moment was totally ruined. And I didn’t even get to play Nat…

Hannah bit at her lip while Maggie gave her a challenging glare, which naturally Hannah ignored. “You suppose that’s why he had a heart attack?”

“Aunt Hannah,” Maggie said sternly, placing the blanket over the body. “The man has died. Please.”

“You’re right, dear. I’m sorry,” Hannah said, folding her hands.

We stood there in silence and utter darkness until we heard Simon and Monty arrive, with one flashlight between them. It wasn’t even a flashlight. It looked like a glow stick. Monty extended it toward poor Mr. Whitehead.

“He’s dead, I believe,” Simon said.

“Thank you,” Monty said.

“I tried CPR,” Maggie said. “But I’m afraid he was already gone. I don’t know, but I’d say a heart attack. But truly, I have no idea.”

Monty nodded. He pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Patrick, this is the captain.” He waited, but there was no response. No static, nothing. He clicked it once or twice. “Thing is dead.” He looked around the darkness. “What the fuck is going on? Is nothing working on this ship?”

“Are there flashlights in the room?” I asked.

“No. And this old thing is the only one I found that worked.” Monty held up the glow stick. “The flashlights aren’t working. They’re LED, and they’re all…”

“DEAD?” Simon quipped.

“Simon, really…”

We all stood in complete darkness as the ship lazily swayed back and forth. It was eerie and very spooky.

What was going on?

Chapter 15

Monty had Mr. Whitehead’s body taken away. I had no idea where, and truthfully, I really didn’t want to know. Next, he had his crew assemble everyone in the dining hall. With only candles to illuminate, it gave the room an eerie soft glow. And all of us were utterly stumped.

“Well,” Monty said as he returned with one of his crew. “We’re trying to figure out what has happened. I suggest you all return to your stateroom. In this darkness, I don’t want any accidents or anyone falling overboard.”

There was mumbling and irritated comments. Monty held up his hand. “Please, I understand your concern. But I can’t have you wandering all over the ship. Please. It’s late, and I’m sure in the morning, we’ll have this all under control.”

“How can you say that?” I think this was Mr. Sheldon. He held up his cellphone. “My phone is completely dead. How about you?” He looked at the other passengers. They all scrambled to pull out their respective phones.

I would have checked mine, but I had no idea where it was. Hannah and Maggie examined theirs.

“It’s dead, Kate,” Maggie whispered.

What in the hell…?

“You can’t even radio to shore,” Mr. Sheldon said angrily.

The natives were getting restless, and I couldn’t blame them.

“I know. Please, please. We’ll have it all figured out by morning.”

“Well, I for one am tired. It is late,” Simon quickly interjected. “Let’s all grab a bottle of champagne and enjoy the rest of a quiet evening.” He ushered the passengers out of the dining hall as they mumbled all the way. “That’s right. Good night. In the morning, we’ll all have a good laugh over this.”

“The crew will be available should you need anything during the night,” Monty called after them; he motioned to the three men. They nodded and followed Simon out the door.

Maggie, Hannah, and I stood there with Monty, who, in the candlelight, looked as though he were going to faint.

“What in the world has happened?” He slumped into a chair and sat back.

Simon returned, and the dining room door swung behind him. “At least they’re all in their staterooms.”

We sat at the table, none of us knowing what to do next. I glanced at Monty; he looked now like he wanted to cry.

“You really can’t use the radio?” I asked.

He shook his head. “The radio is dead. All our navigational equipment is dead.”

“Everything that’s electric?” I glanced around the eerie darkness.

“And computerized. Nothing works. It’s as if…”

“As if what?” Maggie asked.

“I don’t know. It’s as if someone just pulled the plug. I know that sounds ridiculous.”

We looked up when a member of the crew walked in.

“Patrick,” Monty said. “Is everyone in their staterooms?”

“Yes, sir. But we can’t find one member of the crew.”

“Who?”

“The new guy Smith. Ya know, the replacement. He’s not in his cabin.” Patrick scratched his head. “Probably wandering around. He was in the bridge just before this happened. He didn’t seem very accustomed to being aboard a ship.”

“He’ll turn up. He’s probably helping the others. I’m not worried about the crew. I just want to make sure all the passengers are safely in their rooms tonight. Have every member of the crew patrol the decks for the rest of the night. This is horrible enough. All I need is for someone to fall overboard in this darkness.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it.” Patrick hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something.

“Something wrong?” Monty asked him.

“Well…” He looked at all of us. “Did anyone hear a noise right before everything went dark?”

We looked at one another. I was proposing to Maggie at the time. All I heard was my heart thumping in my chest.

“No.” Monty looked at us. “Any of you?”

“I heard nothing,” Hannah said; we all agreed.

“I guess it was my imagination,” Patrick said.

“What did you hear?” I asked.

“I don’t know but…Ya know that sound like…” Patrick held up his hands. “Pffft.”

Simon raised an eyebrow, hiding his grin. “Pffft?”

“Yeah. Like…pffft.”

“Pffft…” Monty repeated. “Pffft.”

I looked around the table. If someone said “pffft” one more time. I gave Hannah a challenging stare.

“I know what you mean,” Maggie said, leaning forward. “Like just before a light bulb blows.”

“That’s it,” Patrick said. “Like that.”

He was about to go on when another crew member walked in. “Captain, something strange…”

“Something else?” Simon chuckled quietly when Monty glared.

“What’s wrong, Chris?” he asked, still glaring at Simon.

“I went to check on our emergency supplies. They’re missing.”

“Missing?”

“What do you mean missing?”

“Well, missing.”

It was like pffft all over again.

“What’s missing?” Patrick asked.

“The flares, the extra batteries, and flashlights. Everything we would use in case we needed…”

Simon’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Mayday? SOS? Call the mother ship?”

Monty jumped to his feet. “Let’s go. I want to see this.”

“Can we come with you?” I asked.

When Monty hesitated, Simon put his hand on Monty’s shoulder. “Kate is a private investigator, Monty. She might be able to help.”

“All right, but please stay together. Bring the candles.”

I looked at Maggie and Hannah.

“No way. We’re coming with you,” Maggie said, gently pushing me toward the door.

We followed Monty and his crew outside. It was so creepy to see nothing. Not even the moon was shining. The stars filled the sky, but with no land in sight, it felt as if we were alone in the universe. I knew that sounded melodramatic, but it was true. There was not one light to be seen in any direction.

With only Monty’s flashlight and our candles to light our way, we walked carefully across the deck and downstairs.

“This is eerie,” Maggie said from behind me. She was holding on to my shirt with one hand and had a candle in the other.

“I agree,” Hannah said. “The silence is deafening.”

We followed Monty into the room.

“See?” Chris said, offering his candle forward. “This is where we keep the backup battery pack, the flares, and well, everything. But look here in the cabinet. All the first-aid equipment is intact. Nothing has been disturbed.”

“Why?” Monty asked. “I don’t understand.”

I looked around the dimly illuminated room; my mind raced. “So everything you would use to get help is missing. If this ship were stranded, Monty…”

“Like it is?” Simon asked.

“What would you do?”

“I’d radio the Coast Guard our position.”

“And you can’t do that now. So you’d use flares.”

“Correct.”

“Kate,” Maggie said, “do you think someone deliberately did this?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Chris, you’re sure all the supplies were here when we left Sault Ste. Marie?”

“Positive. I was in this room checking the inventory as we left the dock.”

“Can we check the engine room?” I asked Monty.

“Certainly.”

Once again, we followed Monty and his crew down the narrow corridor and down one more flight of stairs.

“There should be some sound from the engine room,” Hannah said.

Monty glanced over his shoulder before opening the door. “The sound should be deafening.”

I had no idea what I was looking at, only that it was enormous and intimidating.

“Before you ask,” Patrick said. “The engine is computerized, diesel electric, with backup generators with one purpose. To keep the engines running and the lights on and the toilets working and…”

“I get the general idea,” I said. “So what could happen to completely shut all this down?”

“An electrical surge?” Maggie offered.

“That would have to be some surge,” Hannah said.

“I could see if we had a storm or lightning, but the weather is perfectly clear.” Monty sounded completely stumped.

“Well, something had to cause this. There has to be a logical explanation,” I said.

“The engineer said he checked everything before we embarked. Everything was in perfect running condition. And now he said the computer boards were fried. And with those gone and the backup generator fried, we’re…”

“What in the world could cause that?” Hannah whispered.

“I don’t know,” I said, looking around.

“We have no navigational equipment,” Monty said. “No way of contacting the Coast Guard. No flares, no communication capabilities.”

“We’re dead in the water,” I said.

Simon leaned in and whispered, “Must you use the word dead?”

The walk back up to the poop deck was quiet. I had no idea what was going on, and by the looks of everyone else, they didn’t, either.

“Well, let’s just get some sleep. If that’s possible.” Simon shined the candle on his watch.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “What time do you have, Simon?”

“One thirty.”

It was twelve on the wall clock. “Monty, are the clocks on the ship electric or battery?”

“Ninety percent of everything on this ship is electric. Why?”

“Whatever this is affected electric components but not battery. Your flashlight is working, and that runs on D batteries, right?”

“Correct. But the rest are LED.”

“And they were all fried?”

“Yes,” Monty said slowly.

“Simon, what kind of watch do you have?” I asked.

“An old-fashioned one. That you must wind…” His voice trailed off. “I feel you’re getting at something, Kate.”

I laughed while scratching the back of my neck. “I wish I knew what it was.”

“Please get some sleep,” Monty said. “I’ll be in the engine room with the crew. Maybe we can come up with something. At least we’re not in the open sea.”

“Just the largest of the Great Lakes,” Simon said dryly. “The
Edmund Fitzgerald
comes to mind.”

“Simon,” Monty said seriously. “Please do not repeat that. That’s all we need is hysterics.”

“Sorry,” Simon said. “I’m going back to the room. I’ll have my hysterics in private.”