Dead in the Water (Kate Ryan Mysteries Book 10) (18 page)

As he turned, he bumped into Paul Adams, who had just rounded the corner.

“Paul, what’s wrong?” Monty asked.

“Um, nothing. I—” He looked from me to Monty.

“It’s all right, Paul. What’s wrong?”

“Well, I was just walking around the deck, trying to figure out what was going on.”

“And?”

“Didn’t you say we were going to cruise south toward Duluth?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Well, I’m not Magellan,” Paul said, pulling at his earlobe. “But I did take a few astronomy courses, and by the constellations, I think we’ve been heading north. You see the summer constellations are visible for most of the night, starting in the middle of the sky.  The Summer Triangle is directly overhead, well almost directly. Vega now is closest to the west-northwest, Deneb is closest to the northeast, and Altair to the south. The summer Milky Way is really streaking across the sky, cutting from the northeast to the southwest. And Scorpius, well, don’t you see?” he asked.

I knew my mouth was hanging open. Paul might as well have been speaking in tongues.

“Good Lord,” Simon said, shaking his head. “I have no idea what you just said, but it was amazing. What does it mean?”

“It should all be on the other side of the ship,” Paul said, watching all of us. “So we’re going in the opposite direc—”

Monty turned and ran as if he were shot out of a cannon, so we followed him.

“You see the Big Dipper should be…”

Simon pulled at Paul’s arm. “We get the general idea, Paul. Come along, dear boy.”

Monty ran up the stairs to the helm. “These navigations are worthless.”

“I have a common compass here, Monty.” Paul pulled out a small compass and handed it to him.

Monty nearly snatched it out of his hands. “You’re right. How can we have been sailing north? Patrick?”

“Yes?”

“We set our course for south by southwest, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”
                                          

“Then why have we been sailing north all this time?”

“I-I don’t know. I put the coordinates in the computer myself. Perhaps when this happened, we went off course.”

“I think we were off course before that,” Paul said. “After dinner, Shirley and I were strolling on the deck. I noticed it then but thought nothing of it. I figured you guys knew what you were doing. That was at ten o’clock.”

“We’ve been going in the wrong direction for over three hours?” Hannah asked.

“Who had access to this?” I asked, looking at the helm.

“As captain, I do. And Patrick,” Monty said. “What in the hell is happening?”

“Well, at least we’re no longer moving,” Maggie offered.

“But we’re completely off course,” Monty whispered, looking into the darkness.

Then it struck me. “And you were in contact with the Coast Guard before we left.”

Monty nodded. “We had to file our course. And they think we’re sailing south by southwest to arrive in Duluth on Sunday.”

“So if we can’t get in touch with them…?” I asked. “We really are dead in the water.”

“But surely, there must be some way to get in contact with them?” Hannah asked.

“Well, if all the computers, engines, and all things electrical are down, we have no cellphones, we have no flares. It’s as if…” Monty’s voice faded.

He didn’t need to finish. We all knew what he was going to say. It’s as if someone planned for us to be stranded in the middle of Lake Superior.

But why?

Chapter 16

We all decided to go back to our staterooms since there wasn’t much else we could do besides wander around the poop deck in the dark. And I had just remembered what Maggie and I were doing before all hell broke loose.

“Well, this certainly isn’t the way I had our evening planned,” I said, full of disappointment.

Maggie closed our door as I lit a few candles so we weren’t completely in the dark. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“Am I dreaming,” she whispered, “or did you propose to me earlier?”

I smiled and turned around to her. “That depends on your answer, which you never gave me. Hmm. You left me on my knees, Dr. Winfield.”

“Well, you have to admit I had a good reason.”

“Yeah,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “A dead body trumps a proposal of marriage, I suppose.”

To my surprise, Maggie knelt in front of me. “I can answer the question now, if you like?”

I couldn’t speak. I merely nodded as Maggie grinned.

“Yes, Kate,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”

“You will?”

“You sound surprised. Did you doubt that I would?” She lightly ran her fingertips across the top of my thighs.

“Well, I had to figure that in the equation, just in case.” I couldn’t believe the tears that welled in her eyes; they sparkled in the candles’ light. “I-I love you, Maggie.”

“I love you, too, Kate. Um…is that a ring box on the table there?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, crap. Damn it…With all that happened. Shit, Maggie.” I reached over and gathered the box, holding it in both hands. I slowly opened it and took out the sapphire ring.

Maggie seemed stunned. “Is that…?”

“Yes. Hannah said you were always looking at it on her dresser. It was her idea.”

“I did. I loved looking at it.” She sniffed loudly as I took her shaking hand in mine.

“That’s what you walked in on the other day at the office. Hannah had just shown it to me. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

I caressed her ring finger,
sans
class ring. “You said you’d never take that off. I hope this is a good substitute. I-I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said nervously. I gently kissed the back of her hand before slipping the ring on; it fit perfectly. “God, Maggie. I do love you.”

Maggie’s lip trembled as she stared at her hand. “This is what I’ve been praying for,” she whispered. “Since the day we met. I love you, and I want nothing more in life than to marry you. And spend the rest of my life with you.”

She threw her arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. I laughed and held on tight. “I don’t ever want to let you go.”

“Then don’t,” she cried into my neck. “Don’t let me go.”

“Well, I’ll have to at some point,” I whispered against her hair.

“I could die happy right now,” she whispered, kissing my neck.

“No talk of dying. We’re just beginning to live.”

Maggie pulled back. I reached over and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “We’re nuts, insane, crackers, goofy. You know that.”

She nodded happily. “Mrs. and Mrs. Crackers. I love it.”

“I like the sound of that, as well. We’ll go through life as two crazy in love women. We’ll be the talk of Chicago.”

If we ever get off this damned boat.

Chapter 17

I woke with sunlight streaming into the stateroom. Maggie was lying almost on top of me and sound asleep. I gently pulled her closer, running my fingertips up and down her bare back, loving the feel of her soft skin. When I felt her eyelashes fluttering against my breast, I knew she was awake.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said, kissing the top of her head.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “I love your touch.”

“Hey, did you say you’d marry me last night?”

“Yep. And you agreed.”

“I did? Hmm. So there’s no turning back, eh?”

“Nope.” Maggie cuddled closer. “We’re really stuck with each other now. And I have the ring to prove it.”

I laughed along with her. “What a screwy night. I had it planned so differently.”

“Why is Aunt Hannah here?”

“Oh, that woman. She was masquerading as Esther Blodgett.”

Maggie’s head shot up. “The woman on the deck? That was Aunt Hannah?”

“Yes. I recognized her as she turned her head. I wanted to strangle her.”

“So that’s where you went when you said you called Maureen?”

“Yeah. Sorry I lied.”

“Kate, dealing with Aunt Hannah, I can see where you would. Don’t worry.” She laughed and rolled onto her back, cuddling into my side. “Why is she here?”

“She thought I might need help. Or maybe you’d get cold feet. Is it odd to feel comforted that she’s here?”

Maggie laughed again. “No. I’m glad she’s here.”

“Well, I figured by this time, we’d be sitting together having breakfast, and she’d be crying. But with all this screwy shit going on…I had it all planned out, damn it.”

Maggie shifted and loomed over me. She swiped her long hair away from her face. “Don’t say that. This is perfect. When you think about it, when do we ever do anything the normal way? There’s always something odd happening in our lives. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“That’s because you have your aunt’s DNA. You’re both nuts.”

“Nuts about you,” she whispered, kissing me lightly on the lips. “Mrs. and Mrs. Nuts.”

“That’s us, all right. Hey, I don’t hear the ship’s engines.
I—”

The knock at the door stopped me. “Guess who?” I said to her.

Maggie laughed and jumped off the bed, slipping into the big fluffy robe, then she tossed the other to me.

“You don’t have to answer it,” I said, sitting up.

“Margaret? It’s Aunt Hannah.”

I rolled my eyes as Maggie laughed. “Yes, I do. I don’t think she’ll go away.”

I grudgingly crawled out of bed and struggled into the robe.

“Good morning! Am I interrupting?” Hannah called out.

“Yes!” I called back.

Maggie laughed and stepped back as Hannah walked in with a flourish. “Beautiful robes.”

Maggie wriggled her fingers in the air.

Hannah beamed. “And beautiful ring!” She hugged Maggie. “Are you happy, my dear?”

“Ecstatic,” Maggie said. “Thank you, Aunt Hannah.”

“You’re welcome, darling.” Hannah walked up to me and grinned. “So you’re finally making an honest woman out of my niece? It’s about time.”

“Good morning, Hannah.” I kissed her forehead. “I’m glad you approve.”

“I do indeed. Now you need to get dressed. Meet me in the dining hall. Monty wants to update everyone on our dilemma.”

“That means we’re still dead in the water, doesn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so. And you won’t have time to stay in your room and play, I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? And why can’t we play?” I asked, avoiding Maggie’s raised eyebrows.

“Well…”

“Aunt Hannah, what have you done?” Maggie asked cautiously.

“There has to be a reason for all this. And I was speaking with Monty, and we got to talking about it. And well, it seems we’re on the case.”

“What case?” I asked just as cautiously.

“This case, of course. Heavens, Kate. A night of lovemaking has turned your brain to mush.”

Again, I avoided Maggie.

“Monty agrees that there’s a reason for all this. It’s not a coincidence. So I convinced him to hire us to figure it out.”

My mouth dropped. “Hannah…”

“What? The poor man is at his wit’s end. He told me this morning that if any of this gets out, he’ll be ruined. So you see?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do,” Hannah countered, wagging her finger at me.

“No, I—” I stopped before I was sucked into her banter once again. I glanced at Maggie, who bit at her bottom lip to avoid laughing, I’m sure. I had heartburn again.

“I’ll meet you in the dining hall in twenty minutes,” she said, walking to the door. “And do not get back in that bed.”

Maggie and I stood there staring at the door. I looked at Maggie. “I blame you for this.”

“Me?” she asked. “Why?”

“She’s your blood relative.” I grabbed the lapel of her robe. “C’mon. No dawdling. We have twenty minutes.”

The rest of the passengers were in the dining hall when Maggie and I walked in. They all looked exhausted. I felt bad for them because they must have had a sleepless night. I should have felt guilty; Maggie and I looked refreshed and happy as we held hands.

“There you are,” Simon said, waving his hand. “We were about to send out a search party.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said as Maggie and I sat next to him.

“That’s quite all right, we understand. Young people in love…” he whispered.

A horrible thought ran through my mind as I gazed around the room. All eyes were on Maggie and me, and all eyes were filled with that sappy romantic expression. I jerked my head in Simon’s direction.

“What did you…?”

“Me?” He put his hand to his heart. “I did no such thing.” He motioned to Hannah, who absently looked around.

Maggie hung her head and reached for my hand under the table. I gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Your DNA,” I said sweetly. I was about to go on when Monty walked in. “I’ll get to you later,” I said to Hannah.

“And I look forward to it,” she replied.

“So what’s going on, Captain?” Mr. Sheldon asked. “I see we’re still adrift.”

“In more ways than one,” Simon said, taking a drink from a bottle of water.

Boy, Mr. Sheldon looked irritated as he angrily tossed his napkin on the table. I could only imagine how irritated he would be if he knew Monty was not a captain per se, and there was no ship’s doctor on board. I decided to keep that information to myself.

“I see everyone is accounted for,” Monty said. “I apologize that we are unable to serve a hot breakfast or coffee. But we have plenty of water and fresh fruit. And I’m confident whatever this is will be rectified quickly.”

“How can you be so sure if you don’t know what it is?” Mr. Sheldon asked.

“Valid point,” Monty said dryly.

Shirley Adams leaned forward. “And we understand Mr. Whitehead…”

“Yes, it is distressing. But Mr. Whitehead had a heart attack last night when this all came about.”

“So what is this? And how are you going to get us out of here?” Mr. Sheldon asked.

The other passengers mumbled the same sentiment.

Monty glanced at me as he cleared this throat. “We have someone here who might be able to help. Um…Kate Ryan here is a private investigator.” He smiled weakly at me.

I so did not want to be part of this, but I stood up, and like an idiot, I waved. I glanced at Simon, who hid his grin in his napkin.

“What can you do about this?” Mr. Sheldon asked; he sounded doubtful, and I couldn’t blame him.

“Sir, I’m not sure what this is or why or how it happened. I’m in the dark just as much as all of you.” I sat down because I felt ridiculous standing there. “But I would like to ask a couple questions. This thing happened right at the stroke of midnight and—”

“The witching hour,” Simon chimed in.

“How do you know that?”

“The witching hour?” Simon asked.

“No, no. The clocks!” Mr. Sheldon bellowed.

“Okay, let’s calm down. I know this is stressful, and it’s confusing,” I said. “As for the time, the clocks in each room and on the decks are all electronic. They all stopped at the same time,” I said. “And…”

“So…”

“Mr. Sheldon,” I said, “I understand how you feel and how you want this resolved. But we all have questions and unfortunately very little answers. So if you wouldn’t mind holding your questions for right now, please.”

He huffed but sat back. The woman he was with held on to his arm as if to quiet him.

“Now as I was saying. This event, which is all I can call it, happened at midnight. Do any of you remember anything odd that might have happened at that time? Anything at all, no matter how strange it might be or how simple…” I said, looking around the table.

I noticed Mr. Sheldon’s friend raise her hand. “Yes?” I asked. “Miss Markham?”

“Well, I’m not sure, but I think I heard a noise right after the lights went out.” She looked at William Sheldon. “You remember, honey. We were just about to…” She stopped when Mr. Sheldon glared at her. “We were just ready to go to bed. Then the lights just went out. It was eerie, right, honey? And I thought I heard someone running, then I heard a splash. And I thought someone went overboard.” She looked around the table. “Well, that’s what I thought. But when the lights went out, I guess I forgot about it.”

“Mr. Sheldon, do you recall that?” I asked.

“Vaguely, now that Tracy mentioned it.”

Shirley sat forward. “You know, now that it’s out there, I thought I heard the same thing. But I heard it long before the occurrence. I was walking along the deck. I couldn’t sleep. It had to be around eleven, I think.”

Paul nodded. “I remember you said you couldn’t sleep. You did go for a walk. Yes, it was around eleven.”

“What did you hear?” I asked.

“A loud splash. It happened right where I was standing. I didn’t see anything, just heard it. I thought it was a dolphin or something.”

Simon nearly spit up his water. Paul chuckled, which had Shirley blushing furiously.

“The dreaded Lake Superior dolphin,” Paul said, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulder.

“Okay, okay. But you know what I mean,” Shirley said.

“I do,” I said. “Anyone else?”

“Do you think someone fell overboard?” Paul asked.

Hannah looked at Monty. “Did you ever find your missing crew member?”

“No,” he said slowly. “Good Lord.”