Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6) (23 page)

“I’ll help you get ready for bed while Billy waits outside
the door,” I said as I laid her purse on the dresser. I gave Billy a nod; he
laid the keycard on the dresser, and then walked out of the room, closing the
door behind him.

I turned and watched as Lara kicked off her high heels as if
she was trying to make a basket at a basketball game. The shoes flew high into
the air, bounced off a wall, and then one landed in a chair while the other one
flopped down on the table knocking off a vase of flowers. Water poured from the
vase before I could get to it in time.

“Oops!” Lara giggled. “I’ll… get… a tawol.”

“No,” I said calmly. “I’ll get it.” I ran to the bathroom to
grab a hand towel and was shocked at what I saw. A bloody, double-edged razor
blade lay on the counter by the sink… out in the open for anyone to see.

I recognized the sign. She was a mutilator. She would cut
herself because she felt that she deserved to be in pain. The more pain she
could inflict upon herself, the better she would feel. The truth of the matter
is, she didn’t need to cut herself, her pain ran so deep that she would
probably hurt for the rest of her life. I felt a sickness in my stomach that I
knew wouldn’t go away. She needed help—the professional kind—not the kind I
could give her. But I made up my mind right then and there that I would not
forget about her. I would do my best to see if I could get help for her. I
would talk to Bella. Bella was the champion of all champions when it came to
helping people. She would know someone who could help Lara, or she’d find
someone, but for now, first things first. I grabbed the hand towel and rushed
back over to the table. I soaked up the water, and then sat the vase and
flowers back upright. They would need more water, but that was the last thing
on my mind. I walked back and tossed the wet hand towel in the bathroom sink,
and then turned back to Lara.

“Thanks,” she managed to say. She squinted at me, her eyelids
almost closed, and then added, “I don’t… feel so… gud.”

“Hang in there, Lara, until we can get you out of this lovely
gown. I’d hate to see it get ruined because of a little alcohol.”

“I had… more than… a widdle.”

“It would seem so,” I agreed nicely so as not to irritate
her. People who get plastered have a tendency to turn on you in a minute if you
disagree with them.

I helped Lara out of the evening gown she still had on from
dinner. When I unzipped it from the back, she let the dress fall off her
shoulders to the floor, and then stepped over it. She walked over to the side
of the bed and stood there as if she didn’t know what to do next.

I didn’t see any signs that she had cut herself on her upper
body, but when I scanned her silk half-slip, I saw a speckling of blood on the
hip. She had chosen a place where no one could see. That’s what they do.

I bent down, picked up the evening gown, and then walked over
to the closet to hang it up.

“So, you think one of Bella’s daughters is involved in the
plot against Loukas, huh?” I asked her in a coaxing way, hoping to get any
piece of information out of her that I could.

“I… know… she
wis
,”
Lara replied, slurring her words. The alcohol was really kicking in.
“Everybooty thinks she’s… so wice… but she ain’t. She’s a wake.”

“A what?”

Still standing there in her undergarments, she looked at me
befuddled as if she couldn’t understand why I didn’t understand what she was
saying, and then she slowly repeated her words intentionally. “She’s… a… fake!
A… liar! “

“Who is, Lara?”

Lara pulled back the covers on the bed, and then crawled in.
She grabbed the blanket, pulled it up to her neck, and a second later, was
snoring as loudly as a foghorn.

I stared down at her wondering if it would be futile to try
to wake her up to get more information, and then after watching her for a brief
minute, I decided it would be useless. She was out cold. But the little devil
sitting on my shoulders gave me a nudge. I bent down and whispered into her
ear, “Is Nell a bad girl?”

Lara only snored. She was oblivious to my presence.

I tried again. “Ruby is bad, isn’t she?”

Not a word came from her lips.

“I bet
Jena
is evil.”

Still no response.

I gave up, and turned to leave. I glanced over at the counter
in the bathroom, and had an urge to go scoop up the razor blade and any others
I could find, but quickly decided against it. I figured it would be an invasion
of her privacy, and I didn’t want her to know that I knew about her problem
just yet.

Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. I would invite her to the
beach with us tomorrow! Bella wouldn’t mind, especially after I told her about
Lara’s problem. She would be glad to help. I walked over to the nightstand and
rummaged through the top drawer until I came up with a
Bella Constance
complimentary writing tablet and pen. I scribbled an invitation for tomorrow,
asking her to please join us, and placed the note in plain sight. I closed the
door after I walked out of the room, and then gave it an extra tug.

“She’s out of it,” I said to Billy. “Once she crawled into
bed, it was over. You know how people are when they get drunk.”

“Did you whisper into her ear?”

“You sneaky person!” I giggled. “Of course, I did. She
probably won’t remember a thing tomorrow, but I did leave her a note inviting
her to join us for a day at the beach. She probably could use a few friends
right about now. She needs professional help, too. She cuts herself, Billy.”

“That’s not good. She has many demons inside her trying to
get out. The chief could help her. He is very wise.”

Billy has a good heart. I knew where he was going with this.

“Yes, he is.” I looked up at Billy as we turned and headed
down the hallway. “So, you’re saying we should take her home with us, let her
live in our house, get Chief Sam to work his magic, and then what?”

Billy stopped walking, turned to me, and said, “I didn’t
think of that, but it’s a good idea. Not about the living with us part. I could
get mom and the chief to let her stay with them.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one who’s always trying to fix everyone’s life. I
thought that’s where you were going. I was waiting for you to pull out your
sympathy card.” He put his arm around my waist and smiled. “Let’s take the
outer walkway. It’s a beautiful night.”

We talked as we walked, until we met up with Maura and her
husband. She stopped us, introduced her husband, Joe, and then thanked us
profusely for capturing the pickpocket.

“Thank you so much for finding my father’s wallet,” Maura
said

“To be honest, we stumbled onto the pickpocket by mistake,” I
said. “We were looking for something else.”

“Yes, I know. You saved Teresa Anderson’s life. You are the
real heroes in this world.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that, but thank you anyway.”

“Thank you, Jesse.” She looked at Billy. “Thank you, Billy.”

We shook hands, and then parted.

The stroll along the walkway was pleasant. The stars were
out, and the sea was calm. A warm breeze floated through the air.

“Do you think we could talk her into it?” I asked.

“Who?”

“Lara Sweeney.”

“You really want to do this?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. The idea came out of left
field, but when it comes right down to it, it’s a good idea. What’s she got
planned for her life after this cruise. Nothing, I bet.”

“All we can do is ask her.”

“I will,” I said. “At the right time.”

“I’ll leave it up to you. Just tell me when you want me to
speak up.”

I laughed and said, “Since when do I tell you what to do?”

“All the time.”

We stopped our stroll and looked out at the sea. We soaked in
the beauty of the night, and then shared a very romantic kiss. Once inside our
room, we shared another romantic kiss. Only this time, the kiss led to another,
and then another. A little while later when I was about to doze off, I sensed
Billy slipping out of bed.

“Where’re you going?” I whispered.

“I’m going to get on the computer for a while,” he replied,
trying to make as little noise as possible. “I’ll try not to be too loud.”

I rolled over and snickered. “I know you’re a warrior and a
god, Billy, but even gods need their rest.” I could hear him laughing on the
other side of the dressing screen. “Wake me if something major happens.”

I rolled back over and dozed off. I had been asleep for only
a short while when I heard a light tap at the door. I tried to sit up in bed,
but when I couldn’t, I realized that I must be dreaming. Then I heard McCoy’s
voice. It was too distinct to be a dream. I sprang up in bed, looked toward the
door, and saw him standing in the dimly lit room whispering to Billy.

“What are you two up to?” I whispered. I looked around. “And
why is everyone whispering?”

“I’m sorry if I woke you,” McCoy said.

“McCoy’s going to help me with my research. Go back to sleep,
`ge ya.”

“Where’s
Savannah
?”

“Back at the room under card-lock. I couldn’t sleep, so I
thought I’d see if Billy was awake. That’s why I tapped so lightly on the
door.”

I lay back down, pulled the covers up over my head, and said
jokingly, “I need my privacy. What if I have to burp in the middle of the
night?”

The guys just about choked on that one.

“As long as that’s all you do in your sleep,” McCoy said. He
burst out laughing again.

“So gross. I didn’t need to hear that.”

Billy snickered. “Oh, the words that come out of the mouths
of our women. Who knows what they will say next?”

“Some spies you two would make,” I said. “You laugh so loud
they can hear you all the way out in the hallway. Silence is the word.”

They stopped their laughter, and I finally dozed off again. I
was barely into the first stage of sleep when I heard what sounded like someone
having sex. The intense moaning and groaning just wouldn’t stop.

“What’s going on behind that screen?” I asked, barely
audible, half-awake. “If someone’s having sex with my husband, I just want you
to know I have a gun.”

Then I thought I heard the sound of a door close. If I wasn’t
truly awake before, I was now.

Whoa! Wait a minute! My husband would
never be unfaithful to me, so what was all that moaning and
groaning about? What was going on? I went to sit up in bed, but was stopped by
Billy.

“You’re having a dream, `ge ya,” he said as he sat down on
the bed and put his hands on my shoulders. He felt the bed around me, searched
under my pillow and then under the covers. He then stuck his hands between the
mattress and box spring.

“What are you looking for?” I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

“I heard you say you had a gun. You were dreaming, and I
didn’t want you to shoot me. I was looking for the gun.”

“I don’t have a gun in bed with me, silly.”

I looked up and saw McCoy standing at the foot of the bed. I
looked at Billy and then back to McCoy. “What were you two doing behind that
screen? It sounded as if something erotic was going on back there.”

They looked at each other, thought for a second, and then
laughed.

“Not what you’re thinking,” McCoy said. “I’m sorry if we were
too loud. We turned the volume down and blacked out the screen after the first
few minutes. We were to too stunned to do anything else.”

“Please don’t tell me you were watching porn, and I was
dreaming about it. Did you say stunned? Since when do men get stunned by porn?”

“No, we weren’t watching porn. Tell her what we discovered,
Billy.”

“Actually, I think you might be full of yourself when we tell
you what we just witnessed,” Billy replied. “You had your suspicions about the
captain, and you were right. He is a cad. He’s having an affair with Nell! We
wanted to listen to their conversation, but there wasn’t much of that.”

“Ah, ha!” I exclaimed. I crawled out of bed and ran over to
the other side of the screen. I didn’t realize that I was dressed only in a
T-shirt and a pair of bikini briefs, until Billy walked up behind me and
wrapped a robe around my shoulders. I looked down at myself, and then looked
back up at McCoy, and said, “I guess you’ve seen half-naked women before.”

His face turned red, but he bounced back with, “Ah, a beautiful
woman is to be admired.”

I grabbed the robe, wrapped it around me tightly, and then
said, “Don’t be looking at me like that. You don’t know me that well.” I
snickered. I think McCoy was so embarrassed by my running around half-naked
that he didn’t know how to respond. “I’m just messing with you, McCoy. Thanks
for the compliment, and don’t be embarrassed. One day you might see me getting
a bullet dug out of my butt. You just never know what’s going to happen when
you run with us. Right, Billy? Now tell me about this hot love scene between
Nell and Captain O’Riley. Who would’ve thought?” I sat down in the computer
chair.

“You missed it,” Billy said. “But I have a few minutes of it
on tape if you want to look at it.”

“No, I think I’ll pass. Your word is good enough for me.” I
looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s four in the morning. Aren’t you two ever
going to get some sleep?”

“I’m leaving,” McCoy said. “I do need a little sleep.”

“Don’t leave on my account.”

“I’m not,” he replied. “I think we’ve seen the highlight of
the wee hours of the morning, so I might as well get some rest before another
day rolls around.”

“Give my best to
Savannah
.”

McCoy turned, mumbled something to Billy, and then left.

“What did he say? Was he talking about my half-naked body?
I’m sorry if I embarrassed anyone.”

“No, he wasn’t talking about you, and no one got embarrassed
by your nakedness. He told me to stay close to you. We expect something to go
down tomorrow. It’s our last day, so whatever is going to happen will probably happen
between then and the next morning.”

“What about the two days it’ll take us to get back to
Norfolk
?”

“I have a feeling that tomorrow is the day. If I were
planning to bump off someone, I wouldn’t wait to the last minute.” Billy leaned
down and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m going to brush my teeth, and then try to
get forty winks. Why don’t you come back to bed, `ge ya?”

“I’m up now. I might as well check out this computer. Who
knows, I might just find out something important.”

“Okay, but I’m hitting the sack.”

“Will you give me a quick lesson on how to navigate this
thing?”

Billy quickly explained. “Just hit this key, and a prompt
will come up. You can decide what you want to look at after that.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll just surf a little.”

Billy brushed his teeth, stripped down to his underwear, and
then jumped in the bed. Seconds later, I heard the faint sound of him snoring.

“Let’s see,” I mumbled to myself as I hit the key. “Ah, ha!
Just what I was looking for.”

Split
screens appeared showing images from all the cameras in the hallways on each
deck, including the captain’s bridge—which I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t think
we’d have access to his private domain, but I was wrong. I sure hope I can also
get sound. I’d love to hear what was going on in his off-limits area. If I
could just figure out a way to hack into his computers…

I started messing around with the keyboard, and just for the
heck of it, I clicked on a small icon of a bell at the very bottom right-hand
corner of the monitor. A prompt came up and asked if I wanted to connect to the
main frame. I didn’t know what that meant, but I clicked yes anyway. The
computer made all kinds of sounds, and then a bar came up and started
downloading stuff. The next thing I knew, several split screens appeared, and I
was now watching the same thing they were watching on the bridge. And… I could
hear what they were saying in the background!

Hurrah! That wasn’t so hard, I told myself. I must’ve done
something wrong. I probably shouldn’t be here. Hey, if Billy can get away with
it, so can I… I hope. Oh, Lord. Security’s going to come bust down the door,
and haul me off to the brig. I glanced over in Billy’s direction. I couldn’t
see him through the dressing screen, but I knew that if he were awake, he’d
have a fit. What should I do? Should I wake him up, and tell him what I managed
to pull off? Maybe he’d already done it before. No, he needs his sleep.
Besides, what could it hurt? The captain is supposed to be going along with our
little operation, but there are some things he doesn’t know. Things we’re
keeping from him. But hey, he’s the one having a fling with Loukas and Bella’s
married daughter. What’s he going to say about my hacking into his system?
He’ll say nothing once he finds out that we know about him and Nell.

The captain was conveniently missing—probably recovering from
his tryst with Nell—but that didn’t matter. I most likely could find him
somewhere, but I didn’t care about that at the moment. I was hacked into the
ship’s heart. My main goal was to find out what the guys controlling the ship’s
navigation and security systems were talking about. When a bunch of guys sit
around and talk, they talk about all kinds of things most women don’t want to
know about, or even hear.

Disregarding the possibility that their language could get
raunchy at any moment, I sat and listened to their conversations. At one point,
I heard someone make mention of the embarrassing behavior of the captain.
Another chuckled and made reference to Nell Hawks.

So… they knew about the captain’s little indiscretion!
Interesting. What else did they know? It took about ten seconds before their
conversation turned ugly. One accused the captain of being involved in the
murder plot against Loukas Constance along with Nell and
Utah
. Another said there was a third person involved, but
he didn’t know who it was.

Not suspecting that I’d get caught, I sat and watched as an
alarm sounded and red lights started flashing on the bridge. The crew
immediately went into action. That’s when I realized I had been made. I backed
away from the computer, crawled under the table, and then pulled the plug.
Everything shut down. I prayed that I hadn’t crashed the computer, but if I
had, so be it. I didn’t want to get caught red-handed.

I quickly tiptoed over to the bed, crawled in next to Billy,
and waited. I lay silently next to him waiting for the dreaded raid, but no one
came. I waited and waited until I finally fell asleep. When I did wake up, I
heard the sound of running water in the bathroom, and the room was lit with the
brilliance of the sun. Another day had arrived… and I didn’t get thrown in the
brig! The alarms that went off must’ve had something to do with a different
emergency. It had nothing to do with me. I said thanks to the Lord, and then
crawled out of bed.

“Billy,” I said, calling his name as I stood outside the
bathroom door. “May I come in?”

“Come on in, `ge ya.”

I walked into the steamy bathroom and looked in the mirror.
What a sight! I looked as if I’d forgotten to take off my mascara, which I had,
and it had smeared under my eyes and across my cheeks. I turned the faucet on,
lathered my hands with soap, and then washed the ugly, unsightly mess off. I
couldn’t let Billy see me like this.

“It’s too late, `ge ya,” Billy said, chuckling. “I saw your
raccoon eyes when I was staring at you in your sleep. You’ll always be
beautiful to me even with smeared make-up. You might as well join me.”

“Works for me.”

I took off my clothes and stepped into the shower. The warm
water flowed over my body, relaxing my tired muscles, and when Billy started
massaging my shoulders, I almost melted in his arms.

“That’s just what I needed.”

“You must be refreshed and ready for the day. We must not
miss a clue. Many things are going to go down. I feel it in my bones.”

“I don’t know if I should be scared or excited.”

“Probably a little of both. Between the poisoned champagne, a
dastardly fall, a stabbing, and bullets flying, I’d think you’d be a bit on
edge.”

“I was until I found out about Nell and the captain. That
puts us one step ahead of the criminals.”

Billy washed my hair while I soaped up my body. When I stood
directly under the shower head, it seemed as if the water was washing off not
just the soap, but the fear as well. I felt truly refreshed.

Billy turned off the water and we stepped out of the shower
together. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, and then picked
up another one for me.

“Would you dry off my back?”

“You know I will.” He used the towel to gently pat the water
from my body. “You’re so sexy, `ge ya. I could do this all day.” He grabbed
another towel and wrapped it around my body.

I grabbed a fresh towel and slung it across his shoulder.
“Your hair is dripping down your back. Here, let me help.” I stepped behind
him, took the towel and used it to squeeze out the water. Then I ran the towel
down his back and across his shoulders. His toned body glistened under the
bathroom lights.

“All done,” I said.

We brushed our teeth together, applied lotion to each other’s
bodies, and by the time I slipped into a pair of panties, I was ready to slip
out of them. I smiled my seductive smile at Billy, and that’s all it took. We
were once again going to remember one of the reasons we took this cruise—to
share passion—along with whatever came our way.

“I love you,” I whispered into his ear.

“I love you, too, `ge ya. I always will.”

“I guess we should get out of bed and get dressed. What time
are we meeting Bella and the rest of the gang?”

“Nine sharp.”

“What about breakfast?”

“Coffee would be good. We have that pot over there, and we
even have bottled water. We could make our own instead of ordering room
service. I’ll fix us some while we’re getting ready.” Billy crawled out of bed,
walked over to the counter where the coffee pot sat, and started fixing coffee.

“I’m sure Bella will probably have a spread set up waiting
for us. You know she likes to have plenty of food for her guests. Let’s hustle.
I can’t wait to see what happens today. It should be very interesting.”

“You’re loving this, aren’t you? I knew you would the minute
we took the job. It’s in your blood... just like me.”

“This cruise just keeps getting more and more exciting. If we
make it back to
Norfolk
and no one else gets killed, I’ll be
very happy.”

“I can relate. However, I think there’s going to be another
death on the
Bella Constance
before this voyage ends.”

“I hate to say so, but I think you’re right.”

I slipped into my panties before realizing that I needed to
put on my bathing suit. I slipped them off, walked over to the dresser, and pulled
out my tiny, black bikini. I held the two small pieces of fabric up for Billy
to see. I had a feeling he was going to like it. Less is more.

“Perfect!” he said. “I was thinking of wearing my black
swimming trunks, too.”

“Good. We’ll be a matching pair. That way everyone will know
you’re my man.”