Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6) (14 page)

She drank from the cup, and then asked for more.

“That’s a good sign,” Dr. Whitley said as he retrieved
another cup of water. “You’ll probably feel a little out of it until the drug
leaves your system. It might not be too pretty.”

“I don’t care about me,” she said as if she really didn’t.
“All I care about is my mother. Is she going to be all right? Will she face charges?
She doesn’t deserve to be punished. He drove her over the edge. I know he did!
It was all his fault!”

My heart went out to her. Until I moved to the mountains and
found myself a new life, I had similar feelings. I never felt as if my life
meant nothing, but I did feel as if my life had no direction. It’s ironic how
life can change in an instant. Perhaps hers would, too.

“Now that we know about her medication, she can get back on
her regular regime with the correct pills,” the doctor continued. “She’ll be
back to her old self in no time. As far as the legal end of it, I don’t know
what will happen.”

“Don’t let her hear you call her old,” Teresa joked,
obviously trying to come to terms with what had transpired. “She might just
stab you with a fork.” She coughed again, and then took another sip of water.
“That wasn’t funny. Where’s Peter? Is… he… dead?”

Dr. Whitley and I looked at each other.

“What is it?” Teresa asked, her voice cracking. “Oh, no… she
killed him. Now, if this ain’t a fine mess. He spends the last eight months
driving me nuts, and now my mother’s going to jail for trying to protect me. He
should be the one in prison, not her. I know this isn’t nice, but I’m glad he’s
dead! He’s made my life a living nightmare.”

“He isn’t dead,” I said, looking over at the curtain that
separated the two of them.

“Say it isn’t so!” The fear in her voice was evident. She was
terrified of the man she had once cared about. “Are you telling me that creep
is right next to me?” She tried to climb down off the gurney, and would’ve made
it if her leg hadn’t given way. “Ouch!” she cried out in pain as she clutched
her right knee. “I have to get out of here.” She tried to stand again, but fell
instead.

The doctor and I helped her to her feet and back up on the
gurney.

She let out a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you for your
help. That feels much better. You’ve both been very nice to me, but I really
have to go find my mother. Do you have any crutches? I don’t mind hobbling…”

“Your leg muscles were in a cramped, fixed position for so
long that it will take them a little while to wake up,” the doctor said.
“That’s the best way I can explain it. You’ll need to rest for a little while.
Not sleep, mind you, but rest. One of my assistants will help you exercise your
legs.” He motioned to his helper. “I will see to it that you get what you need.
Joy Lynn will be glad to work with you, won’t you, Joy Lynn?”

“Anything you say, Dr. Whitley,” the woman replied with a
smile.

I couldn’t tell if she was sincere or being sarcastic. I
guess she could be a candidate for the ever growing list, also.

“As far as Peter Dawson is concerned, we’ll take care of
him,” Dr. Whitley went on. “He’ll be detained in our ship’s holding room until
we dock. After that, he’ll have to face the authorities.”

“Teresa,” I said, getting her attention. “I have people
waiting for me, but as soon as my meeting is over, I’ll personally check on
your mother. For now, listen to your doctor. You’re in good hands. I’ll come
back to see you as soon as I can. And don’t worry about Peter causing trouble.
He’s highly sedated and will be out of it for a while.” With that said, I
walked back over to the counter, took a tongue depressor from the jar, and used
it to slide the bottle of pills back into the plastic bag. I stuffed the bag
into my jacket pocket, looked up at Dr. Whitley, and said, “I’ll see to it that
these get put in the right hands.”

“Are those my mother’s pills?”

“Yes, they are. I’ll make sure she gets the right ones back
as soon as possible, but for now they need to be held in evidence.”

“We’ll transfer Peter shortly and bring Maggie Anderson in
here for observation,” Dr. Whitley said. “She needs medical attention. Get back
with me as soon as you can.”

“I will,” I said. I walked over to the door, opened it, and waved
as I left the
Med
Center
.

Tsk… tsk… so much chaos in one place. What else could
possibly happen? I had asked myself that same question before, and every time I
did, something else happened. Maybe I should stop asking. I pushed the thought
aside as I walked down the hall to the dreaded elevator. As the elevator door
opened, three people walked out. A look of recognition caught the attention of
one of the women. She whispered something to the other woman and man, and then
all three descended upon me.

“Mrs. Blackhawk,” the younger one said. “We need your help.
I’m Maura Rodrigus, and this is my father and mother, Fernando and Maria Cruz.”

“How do you do?” I asked, greeting them.

“Mi esposo de la cartera ha sido robado. No tenemos dinero.
Usted nos debe ayudar. Por favor, ¿puede usted encontrar su billetera? No sé
qué vamos a hacer sin dinero.”

I looked at Maria, and then back to Maura. “I’m sorry. I
don’t understand what she’s saying.”

“My father’s wallet has been stolen,” Maura said. “My husband
is out looking for it, but he hasn’t found it, yet. We’ve been looking for you
or Mr. Blackhawk. We need someone to find my father’s wallet.”

“Usted nos debe ayudar, por favor,” Fernando added.

“Have you reported this to the captain?” I asked Maura.

“Yes, we’ve been to the captain, but with no luck.”

“You might want to check with him again,” I said, trying to
reassure her. “We’ve discovered a pickpocket on board, and several wallets have
been recovered. Your father’s wallet might be one of them. I’m sorry, but that’s
the best I can do.”

Maura turned to her parents and said, “
El capitan
podria tener el monedero. Hay un
carterista a bordo.” She looked back at me. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Blackhawk.
I hope you’re right.”

“Gracias!” Fernando and Maria both said. “Gracias!” The three
of them smiled as they walked away chatting in Spanish.

Another case solved… hopefully.

The minute I stepped into the elevator, the first thing that
came to mind was: I wonder if Steven King ever wrote a book about killer
elevators. Perhaps he should take a cruise on the
Bella Constance
. What
a great place to just let your mind run off in its own direction. Then I had
visions of some of the things I had read in his books, and a shiver shook my
body… or was that from this freaky elevator. By the time the death box came to
a halt and the door opened, I was on the verge of hyperventilating. Where was
my paper bag when I needed it?

I ran to Bella’s door, and knocked loudly. My fear was
rampant, and if I didn’t see Billy—my safety net—I was going to explode.

The door opened, and I brushed passed Jacob before he could
invite me in. “Sorry, Jacob,” I said as I walked by. “I don’t mean to be so
rude, but I’m in a… Billy!” I waved and caught his attention.

Jacob closed the door and politely ignored my rudeness. He
smiled as if this was an every day occurrence in Loukas and Bella’s life. I
guess it was. I’m sure they’ve met their share of rude people.

Savannah
rushed over to me before I could get to Billy and said, “You must come and try
some of this food. It’s delicious. I know you must be hungry, taking into
account that you didn’t have a chance to finish lunch.”

I looked at Billy, smiled, and then walked over to the table
with
Savannah
. I picked up a plate and started
helping myself. I wasn’t really paying attention to the food as I shoveled it
into my mouth. My intention was to fill my empty stomach as quickly as
possible, and then find out what I had missed. While I ate, I scanned the room
to see who was present. Other than the hosts and their entourage, the captain,
Billy,
Savannah
and McCoy, the only other faces in
the crowd were two of Bella’s daughters,
Jena
and Nell, and
Jena
’s husband Steven. Not only was
Utah
not present, but missing also were Ruby and Jeff. I
asked
Savannah
about them.

“
Utah
is still in one of his moods
according to Nell, and Ruby and Jeff rarely leave their room. I guess they’re
hermits. Bella says they’re computer fanatics. They can’t break themselves
away. I guess everyone has their own thing. I think they’re socially inept, and
I don’t mean that in an ugly way. Some people just don’t like crowds. They feel
uncomfortable.”

“I can understand that,” I replied. “I’m not real big on
being in a room with a lot of people either. I feel suffocated.”

“Like me and my elevator phobia.”

“Exactly, except in my case, I feel as if everyone is
watching me.”

“They probably are. They find you fascinating.”

“I doubt that. They might think my job is fascinating.”

“That may well be. The heck with what they think!”
Savannah
smiled. “I like you, and I find you
and Billy very interesting.”

“Thank you,
Savannah
, but to be honest, you’re the one
who has the interesting life. How does it feel to have so many people adore you
everywhere you go?”

“Truthfully, it wears me out. Sometimes, I just run out of
things to say. When people ask me about my books, I feel as if I’m bragging.
That’s not me. I don’t have a big ego.”

“You have a following. People want to get to know you. No one
thinks you’re bragging. I know I don’t.”

Bella walked over and asked me how I was doing. “I know this
storm has gotten to you, and I’m so sorry that your first cruise turned out
like this. But don’t fret. We’ve almost bypassed it, and we should be docking
in the morning. Our first stop will be Port St. George. Usually, this isn’t where
we dock, but under the circumstances, we probably won’t have much choice.
You’ll like St. George. I’ve suggested to Loukas that we dine at one of their
restaurants tomorrow night instead of the ship’s dining room. Tonight, everyone
is invited to dine here with us. We’ll have cocktails at seven, and dinner at
eight. What do you think? Are you up for it?”

After today, I was game for almost anything that was going to
be fun. Unfortunately, I would soon discover that fun was not going to find its
way onto the agenda.

To be honest, all I really wanted to do was
go back to our room and lock the door.
I know I had said that I was game for anything, but I’d had enough excitement
and intrigue for one day. I wanted to relax and enjoy myself. But I ignored my
feelings of anxiety and said, “That sounds like fun. Did you ask Billy? Should
we just move in?”

“You could move in if you’d like, but I know you’re kidding.
I think I know you pretty well by now, my dear.”

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

“And yes, I did ask Billy about cocktails, dining with us
tonight, and dining in St. George. He’s all for it.” She leaned in closer to me
and whispered, “Would you like to take off your windbreaker, or do you still
have a gun in your pocket? It’s okay if you do. The captain won’t say
anything.”

I looked over at the group of men huddled together—Captain
O’Riley, Billy, Loukas, McCoy and Steven. Apparently, they were talking about
baseball because I heard one of them laugh and say something about last
season’s grand slam walk-off in the final inning of the game.

“I left my gun back in my room,” I said as I removed my
jacket.

Allison immediately walked over, took it, and said, “I’ll be
glad to hang this up for you.”

“Thank you, but I can…”

“Nonsense,” she replied. “You’re a guest. Let me do it.” She
graciously took the jacket and walked into another room.

I looked over at Billy in time to see him excuse himself and
then walk toward me. He crossed the room, came up to me, and said, “Shall we
slip into another room and have a talk?”

I set my plate down on the table and said, “Show me the way.”

Billy and I politely excused ourselves. He took me by the arm
and led me to a room, and then closed the door. I looked around, seeing that we
were in someone’s office, and wondered how many other rooms Bella and Loukas
must have. I brought that to Billy’s attention.

“They have seven rooms, some just about the same size of our
stateroom. Nice digs, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes.” I got right to the point. “Maggie Anderson’s
medication was tampered with. Dr. Whitley says he’s not surprised she acted the
way she did. He says she’s lucky the combination of pills didn’t kill her. And,
I was wrong about Teresa and Peter. I thought they were trying to drive Maggie
insane, or maybe something worse, so they could be together. But the truth is
Peter was threatening Teresa. He followed her here and has been tormenting her
ever since. No wonder Maggie wanted him out of her daughter’s life. Teresa is
going to be fine, and Peter is so doped up, he’ll be out for hours. Now, it’s
your turn. What have you found out? Any leads on who might be trying to kill
Loukas?”

“So far, I’ve discovered that Jimmy Carlson, the guy who died
yesterday, was the one who called Loukas on his cell phone in the limo to warn
him about his life being in danger. That’s been confirmed. And your dream was
right on the mark, `ge ya. I just found out from one of my contacts in the lab
in
Atlanta
that the insides of the glasses were
coated with a substance called Tetrahydrozoline—the ingredient found in common,
everyday eye drops.”

“I read an article about that stuff. It started out as a
prank—a few drops in a drink—and boom! The victim winds up with a severe case
of diarrhea, and everybody gets a good laugh. I didn’t like that part one bit.
That’s just plain cruel. Then the article said that eye drops taken internally
could be fatal. The respiratory system can shut down. Heart failure. All kinds
of bad stuff can happen. If you don’t die, you’ll be so sick you’ll wish you
would.”

“Whoever is behind this most likely was hoping the champagne
incident would cause a stir on the ship. It surely would have caused a big
commotion. Imagine how many of us could have gotten ill, maybe died. Passengers
would hear about it, and you know that gossip always runs rampant, especially
if it’s bad news. People would’ve panicked. And, in the midst of all this, the
bad guy does his deed. Given the scenario, who would have expected Loukas to
get bumped off so soon?”

“I guess the guy planned to strike fast and hard. When people
start getting sick on a boat, everyone gets scared. When they die, people
really go nuts. It creeps me out to think that danger lies everywhere you go on
this ship. Nobody knows when or where he’ll strike again.”

“If it is a him,” Billy said. “It very well could be a
woman.”

I thought for a minute, but couldn’t come up with a suspect.
“What female on board would have a reason to hate Loukas enough to kill him, or
be capable of pulling it off? I just don’t see that happening. No, I suspect
Utah
.”

“Here’s another one for you. Jimmy Carlson worked for
Constance Enterprises directly under Utah Hawks.”

“
Utah
Hawks! I knew he was the one behind
the plot the first time I met him. He’s a mean bully of a man. He’s greedy, and
I don’t think he’d let anything stand in the way of getting what he wants.
Bella and Loukas said
Utah
and our quiet boy Jeff were
adamantly opposed to selling the cruise line.” I smirked. “This is stuff of
which bad movies are made. They always get caught in the end. Don’t they know
that? Jimmy Carlson found out about
Utah
’s
plan, and
Utah
found out that Jimmy knew, or
Carlson just plain chickened out at the last minute. Then he tried to do the
right thing by warning Loukas, and the poor guy paid for his efforts with his
life. That’s a drag.”

“I’m not convinced
Utah
is our man.”

“How can you say that? All avenues point to him. Who else
could be more angry, powerful, and rotten enough to have the guts to pull off
this undertaking? Loukas is guarded all day, every day.”

An idea popped into my head the second after I asked Billy
that question. Who, indeed? A vision of Allison and Jacob materialized. Other
than Bella, who could get close enough to Loukas without raising suspicion?
Why… Allison or Jacob could!

“What about Allison or Jacob? How much closer can you get?
They’re with Loukas and Bella all the time.”

Except when Bella met up with
Savannah
and me this morning. She was alone. She had ditched them.

“I mentioned them as possible suspects, but Bella and Loukas
balked at the idea. They trust those two implicitly.”

“Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Isn’t that what you
would say?”

“Yes, I would. Keep in mind that I never rule anything out—or
anyone.”

“Okay. Back to the champagne. How did it get on board?
Someone knows something.”

“The box was left with instructions. No one knows how it got
there. It just mysteriously appeared. The captain has questioned his entire
crew, and no one knows anything. He even had someone go through the delivery
invoices and nothing. That’s a dead end for now.”

“But that’s the key to this whole investigation. Trace the
box back to the source, and it will lead you to the killer… or killer-to-be.”

“Regrettably, we will not get our answers from that source.”

“Putting that one aside, where do we go from here?”

“Unless he or she has a backup plan, Loukas is safe for now.
The panic over what could’ve happened if the champagne poisonings had been
successful didn’t occur, but I’m sure another plan will be put into action
soon. We have to keep our guard up.”

The ship bell rang.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s probably just a warning. When the weather gets so bad
that the visibility is non-existent, ships do that to alert other ships in the
area of their presence.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting off this boat for a breather.”

“Ship… my dear,” Bella said as she tapped lightly on the door
and then let herself in.

I was afraid that our voices had carried, so I asked, “Could
you hear us through the door?”

“Only if I had stuck my ear to it.” She smiled. “I listened
in for just a second. I didn’t want to walk in on something private.” She
smiled an even broader smile than before. “You two took this cruise to have
some time alone, and now we’ve gone and inserted ourselves into your time. I
thought Billy was bringing you in here to be amorous.”

“You’re silly, Bella. You know I don’t buy that. You just
want to know what we’re talking about. Come clean.”

“I must tell the truth. I had my ear glued to the door. I’m
sorry. I can’t help myself. I know you have to keep secrets, but I’m really
terrified that someone is going to get away with killing my husband. I can’t
live without Loukas.” She began to sniffle. “I love my children, but they have
their own lives. Loukas is my life.”

I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and said, “Don’t cry, Bella.
You’re going to make me cry. We have not kept any secrets from you except the
ones you don’t need to know.”

“Then you do have secrets!”

“I was just kidding you.” I looked at Billy. “We aren’t
hiding anything, are we?”

He turned and started fiddling with the container of pens on
the desk. His silence spoke for him. He had kept something back from even me. I
was hurt, and when I get hurt, I can’t hold back my feelings.

“I can’t believe you would hold something back from your
wife. Spit it out right now, or you can move your toned little butt in here
with Bella and Loukas.”

“Come on, Billy,” Bella said. “I know about the eye drops. I
know about the cell phone call from Jimmy, and that he works for
Utah
. Remember,
Utah
works for us, so you can bet that we’re going to keep a close eye on him. He’s
quite the dangerous one, but he’s not behind this. Nell would divorce him in a
minute if anything happened to me or her father. She loves the man, but she
doesn’t trust him anymore. That marriage is doomed. And the best of all, all my
girls have a prenuptial agreement. You don’t think for one minute that I’d let
anyone marry one of my rich daughters without one, do you? I must say, though,
the one about Jimmy Carlson was a bit unnerving. We treat all of the people who
work for us well. Why would…” She let her voice trail off.

Billy turned around to face us and said, “I’m not holding
anything back. I uncovered something suspicious, but I wanted to make sure my
instincts were right before I said anything.”

“What… what is it?” Bella asked.

“In the scheme of things, Bella, a pre-nup doesn’t mean a
thing if the wife dies. It only applies to divorce. How about a will? Do your
girls have a will?”

“The pre-nups and the wills were drawn up by my lawyers, and
signed by each one of the girls and their husbands. My girls are covered.”

“I don’t like what I have to tell you, but here goes.
Utah
, Jeff, and Steven each took out a five-million dollar
life insurance policy on their wives six months ago. Now, why do you think
they’d do that at the exact same time?”

Bella and I raised our eyebrows.

“We have large polices on our girls that we set up for our
grandchildren or for future grandchildren,” Bella added. “Their husbands don’t
get a cent of that money. I never questioned whether they had insurance on our
girls. Maybe I just figured they probably did, like most folks. Obviously, they
didn’t until now. That’s an awful lot of money, but my girls would be more
valuable alive than a measly five-million-dollar life insurance policy.”

“Why not have it all?” I asked with a determined look on my
face, my eyebrows raised, and my head bobbing.

Bella and Billy laughed.

“You and your faces!” Billy said, and then smiled again. He
became serious. “I’m not so sure that Loukas is the only target. When a spouse
takes out such a large policy, a red flag goes up for me. How about you?”

“Those lousy creeps!” Bella shouted. “I could see
Utah
doing something like that, but Steven and Jeff? I’m
shocked at the idea. I think the subject is worth bringing up at dinner, don’t
you?”

“Not unless you want the evening to turn out like it did last
night.”

“How can I hold something like this back? I have to speak my
peace!”

“No, Bella,” Billy commanded. “I told you this so you would
be in the know. If you bring this up, you could set off a chain reaction that
we can’t control. No, you must save this information for just the right time.
Tonight is not the night.”

Bella calmed down a little and decided to heed Billy’s
advice. “You’re the P.I. here, so I’m going along with you for now. Please feel
free to let me know when I can spring this on my sons-in-law. I’ll have to tell
Loukas.”

“He already knows. I told him as soon as I found out.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” I asked, my feelings hurt.

“You were too busy getting stuck in an elevator with Sherlock
Bella Holmes and Jessica Savannah Fletcher.” Billy let out a little chuckle.