Cruel Capers on the Caribbean: A Kate on Vacation Mystery (The Kate on Vacation mysteries) (3 page)

A cell phone rang.

Kate and Liz looked at each other in confusion. They had left theirs turned off and in their cabins, assuming they wouldn’t work while the ship was this far from land.

Cora pulled a smart phone from her purse. She glanced at the screen. “Excuse me, ladies. It’s my daughter... Hey, sugar!”

The smile faded as she listened. “Well, of course, ya can go stay with him while I’m gone. He is your stepdaddy. Ya can certainly still have a relationship with him.”

Her face clouded as she listened again. “Now, sugar....” The tone was sweet but the words were said through gritted teeth.

She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a moment. “Ladies, I do hope I can resist sayin’ out loud the words that are goin’ through my mind right now. But should I let somethin’ foul escape, I do hope y’all will forgive me.”

“What’s the matter?” Kate asked.

“That son-of-a-bitch husband of mine.” Cora stopped, then cleared her throat. “I had to fight tooth and nail for custody of Carrie when I divorced her no-good daddy. An’ now Bill’s tryin’ to lure her away from me with fancy presents and too much freedom. The girl’s already half outta control ’cause he spoils her. That’s one of the reasons I took her and moved out last year. Teenagers do enough crazy stuff without havin’ a stepdaddy who’s eggin’ ’em on.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Liz said.

“But he wouldn’t have any legal right to custody, would he?” Kate said.

“My lawyer says he maybe could, if Carrie says she wants to live with him and he can portray me as an unfit mother. That’s why I can’t afford to be ’round those so-called friends of Clem’s. I mean, I abhor drugs anyway. But now especially, I just can’t risk it.”

“What about her father, and why would your husband want custody anyway?” Liz asked. “Is he that close to Carrie?”

“I haven’t heard from Johnny in years. All that fuss to try to get Carrie and then he couldn’t even bother to stay in touch with the girl.”

Kate grimaced. “Unfortunately, some people use custody battles to get back at their spouses.”

“That was his motivation apparently, and I think that’s Bill’s as well. And he’s filed for alimony.”

“Say what?” Liz said.

“His production company hasn’t been doin’ all that well lately, so he thinks I should continue to support him in the style to which he has become accustomed.”

“And if he gets custody of Carrie, that would increase his chances of getting alimony,” Kate said.

“Precisely. Well, ladies, it’s been fun, but I think I need to go take a nap. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Understandable,” Kate said. “Do you want to go on shore with us tomorrow?”

Cora hesitated, then shook her head. “I’m ruinin’ y’all’s vacation with my problems.”

Kate looked at Liz, who gave her a slight nod.

“You’re not ruining anything,” Kate said. “And it’d be good for you to be distracted from all this by some fun.”

“We’re going snorkeling in the morning.” Liz’s eyes flashed with pleasure. “Then we’re ditching the guys and doing some shopping.”

Kate gave her shop-til-ya-drop friend an indulgent smile.

“Well now, that sounds delightful. If I don’t see y’all at breakfast, come knock on my door.”

~~~~~~~~

S
kip and Kate and the Franklins were lounging on deck mid-afternoon when the ship-wide intercom crackled to life.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting your day at sea.” Kate recognized the captain’s voice. His English was almost flawless, with only a hint of an accent, but he spoke with the precise formality of someone for whom the language was not his native tongue. “Unfortunately, the Cayman Islands are experiencing some foul weather, and we will be unable to stop there tonight. We are changing course to go directly to Cozumel. You will be able to disembark there tomorrow morning, starting at nine-thirty. We hope to fit Grand Cayman into the itinerary toward the end of our voyage, so as not to disappoint those youngsters, young and old,” he inserted a little chuckle, “who were looking forward to petting the stingrays there.”

“I wonder how many times he’s made that announcement,” Skip said. “I read in the brochure that this happens a lot. Grand Cayman’s harbor is too shallow for cruise ships so they have to use tenders to take people ashore. If the water’s too choppy to do that safely, the harbormaster closes the port.”

“Well I hope the weather clears later in the trip,” Liz said. “I’ve heard good things about the shopping there.”

Rob let out a mock groan.

Kate was staring out at the expanse of sparkling water. She sighed. “I could get used to this life.”

Skip smiled and picked up her hand from the table. “I feel the need for a nap coming on.” The gold flecks danced in his eyes. He turned her palm toward him and kissed it.

She sucked in her breath.

“Will you two get a room,” Rob said with a chuckle.

Skip’s grin grew wider. “Good idea. Wait, we have a room.”

“I hate to tear myself away from this view,” Liz said. “But I could use a nap myself.”

They all stood up. “Sadly,” Rob said, “she actually plans to nap during her nap.”

Liz chuckled. “Oh, you never know, Big Guy. You might get lucky, once I’m rested.”

~~~~~~~~

I
n the corridor outside their cabin, Kate paused. She glanced down the hall. A room service tray was sitting outside Cora’s door.

Kate wasn’t real sure why but she felt the urge to check on her. “I’ll be right back.”

Skip followed her line of vision. He nodded and inserted his key card in their door.

Walking down the hallway, she felt a sense of vertigo, then realized the ship had rolled.

The food on the tray had barely been touched. Kate knocked lightly on the door. If Cora was napping, she didn’t want to wake her.

She was about to turn away when the door opened. Cora was wearing a plush velour robe in a rich shade of burgundy. The robe was the only thing about her that looked good. Her eyes were puffy, her skin pale. She swiped at her red nose with a tissue. “Don’t get too near me. I seem to be comin’ down with a cold.”

Kate wasn’t too worried. She suspected the alleged cold was a cover-up for the fact that Cora had been crying.

“Can I get you anything?”

Cora shook her head. “My cabin steward went to get me some cold medicine from the ship’s infirmary.”

“Okay. Don’t hesitate to call on us if you need anything.”

“Thanks. Y’all are so sweet to worry ’bout me. Speakin’ of my cabin steward, here he comes.”

He wasn’t the same man who tended to their needs. Their attendant was tall and thin and sounded like he was from India or Pakistan. This man was short and wiry with Hispanic features.

He handed Cora a small paper bag. “You feel better now, Miss Cora Beall.” He eyed the lunch tray. “I bring you dinner later?”

“I’m not very hungry, Jorge, but thanks for askin’.”

“You got to eat, Miss Cora Beall.”

“He’s right,” Kate said. “You need to get your strength back so you don’t miss all the fun.”

“We be in Cozumel tomorrow,” Jorge said. “Very beautiful place. Near my home. You must get strong, Miss Cora Beall, to go ashore.”

“Okay, okay, y’all are gangin’ up on me,” Cora said with a small smile. “Bring me some soup, please, in a couple hours.”

Jorge flashed a big smile. “
Si.
”

Kate made her way back toward her own cabin.

Hmm, if she sent Jorge for medicine, maybe she really is sick.

“But even if she isn’t,” Kate said out loud in the empty corridor, “it’s none of my business.” The woman had a right to grieve in private.

C
ora was better the next morning, but she claimed she wasn’t up to going ashore. Kate wondered if the woman was just trying not to spoil their fun.

“Y’all go and have a great time,” Cora said with a smile. “I’m gonna rest up some more today, so I can enjoy that fancy dinner they’ll be servin’ tonight. Maybe we can all go dancin’ for a bit afterwards.”

“You should invite Clem to join us,” Kate said, then mentally smacked herself for not minding her own business. She wasn’t the woman’s therapist.

Cora cocked her head to one side. “Hm, that’s not a bad idea. I guess it is about time we made up.” She winked at Kate. “See y’all tonight.”

Relieved that Cora was in better spirits, Kate turned her attention to the day ahead. For her, this was the highlight of the trip. They were going to the Mayan ruins near Cozumel. She went back to her cabin to retrieve her purse and sunhat. Rob and Liz were waiting there with Skip.

Everyone seemed to be trying to get off the ship at once. As they shuffled slowly toward the bottleneck of passengers at the gangway, Kate entertained herself with some people-watching. A thatch of silver hair, two couples ahead of them, caught her eye. It belonged to the doctor she’d seen arguing with the young officer the day they had boarded.

Dr. Henson? No, that wasn’t it. It was a river. Hudson! That’s it. Dr. Hudson.

Kate studied the woman with him, who looked a lot younger than the doctor. Was she a trophy second wife? When the woman turned her head to the side, Kate caught a glimpse of the crepey skin on her neck and snorted softly. Mrs. Hudson’s face and figure might look like they were thirty-something, but her neck was definitely in its fifties.

She noted that the couple wasn’t conversing. It didn’t seem to be a comfortable silence either. The doctor looked impatient, the wife a bit nervous.

Maybe they’d been married so many years, there was nothing left to say to each other. Kate prayed that she and Skip never reached that stage. She immediately snatched back the prayer and amended it.
May we be married a very long time, but never run out of things to say.

Having been widowed once, her heart pounded at the thought of losing a second husband.

~~~~~~~~

T
he Mayan ruins were further away from Cozumel than Kate had thought. Once they were finally off the boat, they boarded a ferry that took them over to Playa del Carmen on the Mexican mainland. Then they were herded onto a bus. The trip to the Tulum ruins took the better part of an hour.

The time went quickly as their guide, a local man who spoke excellent English, filled them in on the history of the Mayan people. Their culture had been quite sophisticated for its time. Kate was surprised to learn that the Mayans were not completely extinct. Their tour guide informed them he was one-quarter Mayan.

The ruins themselves were not quite what she had expected either. She’d envisioned tall pyramids, but most of the buildings were no more than three stories high. There was one pyramid-type structure perched on the highest cliff overlooking the water, with a temple at its summit. It was roped off. To protect it from wear and tear from tourists’ feet, their guide explained.

He informed them that Tulum was still inhabited by the Mayans when the Spanish showed up in the sixteenth century–another fact Kate found surprising. The stone walls around the village were a brilliant white against the lush green of the tropical foliage and the vibrant blue of the water beyond them.

They followed their guide through the ruins of a dozen small houses and the equivalent of a town hall. The walls of one particularly fascinating building were covered with frescoes and carvings that depicted Mayan life and their gods. Unfortunately these were roped off as well–due to some tourists taking chunks out of the walls as souvenirs, their guide said.

“Sheez,” Liz muttered under her breath. “Why do some people always have to ruin things for others?”

After the obligatory half hour to poke around in the gift shop beside the parking lot, they were herded aboard the bus once again and driven a few miles to a restaurant for lunch.

Kate tried to decipher the contents of the dishes on the menu. She recognized
tamales
and
platanos
and the word
pollo
for chicken. That was pretty much the extent of her Spanish.

Skip, however, spoke the language fluently. He struck up a lively conversation with their waiter. With her permission, he ordered the waiter’s recommendations for both of them. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

They were back in Cozumel by mid-afternoon, strolling along the waterfront. The sun glistened on the water to one side of them. A row of shops lined the other side of the street.

Beside the doorway of each shop stood one or two men whose sole job seemed to be to cajole people into entering the shops. The foursome obliged a couple times.

Kate and Liz wandered through the aisles while Skip and Rob stood up front talking and pretending they weren’t bored to tears.

“It’s a shame Cora had to miss all this,” Kate said. “She sure didn’t need getting sick on top of everything else that’s gone wrong for her lately.”

“You think she’s really sick, or just pining for Clem?” Liz asked.

“Maybe some of both. Depressed and not eating much, she might as well be saying ‘come on in’ to any germ looking for a home.”

Liz nodded. “Hey, look at those.” She pointed to a display of lightweight shawls.

Kate stroked her hand down a royal blue one. It had silver threads woven into its intricate pattern. She sighed. “This is lovely, but where the heck would I ever wear it?”

Liz chuckled. “Have you noticed that as we get older we don’t get dolled up very often anymore? Too much effort. But we’ve got that formal dinner tonight. This shawl would look great with your blue dress.”

Kate looked at the price tag. It was relatively inexpensive by American standards and the sign above the display stated the shawls were woven by local artisans. “It’s mine!”

Liz picked out a couple souvenirs and they carried their finds to the front of the store. There were several people ahead of them, waiting to make their purchases. Most of the tourists haggled over the prices when they reached the front of the line. Sometimes the woman behind the counter gave them a discount; sometimes she held firm.

“Have they no shame?” Liz whispered. “These prices are already ridiculously low by U.S. standards.”