Laura Marlin Mysteries 2: Kidnap in the Caribbean (10 page)

Laura studied the label, which was dated a year earlier and had her uncle’s name on it. ‘Now I’m confused. On the one hand, I’m relieved because it explains why he seems drugged. It’s just that I can’t imagine him making such a silly mistake. That makes me think there really was an intruder in his cabin last night and that that person swapped the bottles.’

Tariq looked over at Calvin Redfern, who was snoring softly. ‘But why would anyone want to keep your uncle asleep? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘The only other explanation is that someone wants him out of the way. And why would they want that?
Who
would want that?’

‘Maybe we should have Skye watch over your uncle,’ Tariq suggested. ‘Calvin Redfern will be glad of the company when he wakes anyway.’

They were on their way to fetch the husky when the ship’s siren sounded and four breathless words burst from the tannoy: ‘Pirates ahoy! Pirates ahoy!’

UP ON DECK
every able-bodied passenger was hanging over the side, watching a black galleon approach. Its skull and crossbones flags billowed in the wind. Black-shirted pirates toiled on board and shinned up ropes and ladders.

‘Is this a joke?’ Tariq asked, unsure whether to laugh or be alarmed. ‘Surely we’re not about to be captured by modern-day pirates?’

‘Well, there are modern-day pirates in Somalia and places like Indonesia who kidnap people all the time,’ Laura told him. ‘But from what my uncle says, they wear ordinary clothes and go about in small boats. I think these are actors.’

The
Ocean Empress
put down anchor, causing the sea to boil. Laura and Tariq found a quiet area near the lifeboats, and watched as the men shinned up the side of the ship on specially lowered rope ladders. They began playacting the part of swashbuckling pirates, taking passengers hostage. There was lots of laughter, particularly when a boy who’d snatched a cutlass from an unsuspecting pirate was ‘captured’. He and the other captives were lowered down to the black galleon in a special basket.

At one stage, a treasure chest was manhandled on board. It turned out that it was a trick chest, like a conjurer’s box, and there were gasps of amazement when a passenger who volunteered to climb into it vanished for several minutes. The pirate magician demonstrated for all to see that the chest was empty. But when he shut the lid and then reopened it, there she was, as large as life.

‘Mind if I go and get us a couple of milkshakes?’ Tariq wanted to know.

‘Ooh, great idea. I’ll have a strawberry one, please.’

Laura had been alone for barely a minute when a voice behind her growled: ‘Ah, a lone captive!’ She turned to see a gnarled pirate with a fake moustache and a permanent sneer, who also happened to be one of the tallest men she’d ever seen in her life. Close on his heels was a small, gangly man with an eye-patch and greasy black ringlets. He was gripping the handle of a large laundry hamper on wheels.

‘Ever been curious to see a pirate’s lair?’ the tall man asked, flashing a gold tooth.

‘No,’ said Laura, ‘I haven’t. And I’m not interested in being captured. I’m only standing here while I wait for my friend.’

The pirate chuckled. ‘I’ve got news for you. Captives don’t usually have a choice, do they, Lukas?’ He took a step towards her.

There was something in his manner – a nervous aggression – that made Laura’s heart start to pound. If this part of a game, then the game had gone too far.

‘I’m curious,’ she said, playing for time. ‘Why do so many pirates wear eye-patches? Do you deliberately gouge out each other’s eyeballs or are you just really bad sword fighters?’

‘Hear that, Lukas? We got ourselves a feisty one. Well, well, well. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Last chance, young lady. Are you going to come with us willingly?’

Before Laura could move or respond, he’d lunged for her. Grabbing both her wrists in one enormous hand, he covered her mouth with the other – a hairy mitt reeking of fish. As Laura fought and kicked for all she was worth, Lukas dragged the laundry hamper closer.

Next thing she knew she’d been abruptly dropped on the deck and Lukas and the tall pirate were staggering around wiping strawberry milkshake from their eyes.

Tariq, who’d thrown it, helped Laura up and shielded her from the men.

‘What’s going on here?’ demanded Fernando, appearing out of nowhere with Skye. The husky bounded over to Laura and she threw her arms around him. Never had she been so overjoyed to see him.

‘Aww, tere’s nutting goin’ on,’ whined Lukas, still blinking away milkshake. His eyelashes and brows were thick with it. ‘We were having a bit o’ fun, tat’s all.’

‘It wasn’t nothing,’ Laura said furiously. ‘They were trying to stuff me into that basket.’

Fernando glared at them. ‘Is that true?’

‘’Course not, what do you take us for?’ The tall pirate’s lip curled and his gold tooth winked in the sun. ‘You know as well as I do that we’re not real pirates. We’re a tourist attraction sent to welcome people to the Caribbean and make them laugh. I thought the young lady might like to see a trick we do with the basket, but she suddenly got scared. I was trying to comfort her.’

‘By covering my mouth with your stinking hand? It’s hard to laugh when you’re being smothered.’

‘I think you’d better return to your galleon before I call security or the young lady accidentally lets go of her dog,’ Fernando said. ‘I’ve heard that huskies are quite partial to pirates – even if they’re only fake ones.’

‘All right, all right. We’re on our way. You’ll get no trouble from us.’

‘We was playing,’ Lukas insisted. ‘We didn’t mean nutting by it.’

They departed with scowls and their basket.

‘They weren’t playing and they did mean something by it,’ Laura said. ‘Thank you all for saving me. Tariq, if you hadn’t thrown your milkshake at them, something terrible would have happened.’

A shimmer caught her eye. It was a pale green badge with a picture of a smiling dolphin on the front above a banner on which MARINE CONCERN was written in a cheerful script. She slipped it into her pocket. Funny, the pirates hadn’t struck her as the type who’d be overly worried about the conservation of sea creatures.

Fernando was agitated. ‘Should I report this incident to security?’

As he spoke, they felt the deck vibrate. The
Ocean Empress
was on her way once more. The black galleon receded into the distance. Turquoise waters surrounded them and on the horizon was a hint of white sand and palm trees.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Laura said. ‘I’m sure they were only acting. They just took it a bit far. As Matron would say: “All’s well that ends well.”’

‘PLEASE TELL ME
I’m dreaming,’ Laura said. ‘Or if I’m awake, tell me that I’ve had a brainstorm and forgotten the number of my uncle’s cabin. It’s not 135 after all but 133 next door, or it’s not Deck C but Deck B.’

She stood at the door of the cabin where, barely an hour earlier, they’d talked to Calvin Redfern. It was empty. Not only was her sleeping uncle gone, together with his suitcase, toothbrush, books and medicine, but the place was spotless. The bed was made up with crisply ironed sheets, and the bathroom had fresh towels and a new bar of soap in it. The cabin smelled of mint and lemon.

Tariq shook his head in stunned disbelief. ‘Let’s not panic. There has to be an explanation.’

Laura clutched Skye for support. ‘Like there was an explanation for my uncle’s fall, or the hooks in the stairwell, or the Stanley knife hidden in the wall, or the mixed up sleeping tablets, or the 3am visitor back in St Ives?’

‘Maybe he felt better and decided to get up and get organised so that he’s ready when we reach Antigua at sundown,’ suggested Tariq. ‘The cleaners haven’t been able to get in here all week so they probably swooped in and scrubbed the place. I bet you anything he’s eating brunch in one of the restaurants. We could go up and join him.’

It all seemed so simple and so logical that a tide of relief washed over Laura. ‘Oh Tariq, of course that’s what’s happened. He’ll be in the Manhattan Grill, eating pancakes. You know how he loves them. Besides, we’re on a ship in the middle of the ocean. How far can he have gone?’

But Calvin Redfern was not in the Manhattan Grill. Nor was he in the Happy Clam or the Blue Flamingo or in the gym, the spa or the pool. He wasn’t ice skating, rock climbing, taking guitar lessons, or browsing for a new book in the gift shop.

‘We’re going to have to tell security,’ Laura said, when they were forced to stop for food at around two. The exertion of searching the ship, plus a mounting feeling of panic, had left her feeling lightheaded. Tariq had a bad headache. Neither of them had eaten since the previous night. They’d been planning to have breakfast as soon as they’d taken Calvin Redfern his. The pirate visit had put a stop to that. And the drinks Tariq had fetched earlier had been splattered all over the men.

Tariq took a swallow of chocolate milkshake. ‘That could be risky. What if they start asking questions about Skye or me? They might want to know why I don’t have a boarding pass.’

‘Well, technically we’ve not got permission to have Skye on the ship, but at least Rowenna emailed through his pet passport so he’s legally allowed to be in the Caribbean. Still, we can lock him in our cabin just in case. As for you, there shouldn’t be a problem. As my uncle said, they charge per cabin, not per person, and I have a ticket.’

Tariq finished his milkshake and pushed his plate away. ‘This is such a weird situation. Where could your uncle possibly have gone?’

‘I don’t know,’ Laura said. ‘But I intend to find out.’

‘We could ask Jimmy to help us hunt for him,’ Tariq suggested. ‘Even you admitted he has the makings of quite a good detective.’

‘I did say that, but –’

‘He won the dare fair and square.’

‘He did, but that was mainly because there were so many … incidents … during the day. I was afraid he was going to injure himself or someone else. Besides we’ll be arriving in Antigua in a few hours and he’ll be helping Bob and Rita pack or explaining to various passengers that he isn’t psychic or an archery prodigy but just plain old Jimmy Gannet. Look, my uncle can’t possibly be missing. We’re out on the ocean. He’ll be somewhere obvious that we haven’t thought to look. Come on, let’s comb every deck again.’