Homecoming Homicides (25 page)
Read Homecoming Homicides Online
Authors: Marilyn Baron
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers, #Romance, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Action-Suspense, #Contemporary, #Suspense
The chief turned to Chuck.
“I’m grateful to you. I could use a man like you on the force. Are you available?”
Chuck beamed. “I’m about to start a new job, but I’d love to talk to you about another opportunity.”
“Luke, you bring Philippa down to the station, and we’ll get her statement, find out what went on in that house, and then you can take her home.”
He turned his attention to the director.
“Elizabeth, I’ll drive you back to the station so we can sort this out. Jack and Katherine, will I see you back at the station?”
“We’ll be there,” Jack promised, wrapping Kate in his arms and joining Luke and Philippa.
Chief Bradley and the director walked toward the squad car, head to head, parsing the details of the case.
“That Chief Bradley is not bad to look at.” Flippy giggled. “Not that I’m looking.”
“And he’s horny as a hound dog,” Luke added.
“Maybe that’s just what Juliette needs,” Jack said.
Luke turned to Flippy, touched his forehead to hers and whispered, “And you are just what I need.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
As Luke and Flippy walked hand and hand down the grassy path to Luke’s car, Jack caught his wife’s eye and nodded to Kate.
“Looks like our work is done here, babe. Let’s stop by the station, square things with Chief Bradley, get our things from the hotel, and head home to our own Romeo and Juliette.”
“I can’t wait to get back home.”
Jack coughed. “Uh, honey, about that. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Kate looked doubtful. “Does this surprise have to do with serial killers?”
“No,” Jack said, “but it does have to do with a possible murder.”
“Oh, Jack, we’re newlyweds. Barely back from our honeymoon in Bermuda. Can’t we take a break from murder?”
“I think you’re going to like this new assignment.”
Kate sighed. “Apparently your mind is already made up. Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“Juliette got a call from the Atlantis Cruise Company. They’ve been getting threatening emails. Their newest ship is scheduled for a repositioning cruise from Barcelona to Miami this weekend, and someone has threatened to do harm to the ship and its passengers. The captain and crew are very superstitious and refuse to board the ship unless they have protection or assurances that someone is handling this matter.”
“What’s a repositioning cruise?” Kate asked.
“Cruise ships need to be in warm water during the colder months of the year, so cruise lines move their European ships to the Caribbean during the fall and back to Europe in the spring,” explained Jack. “But they don’t want to sail with an empty ship so they offer passengers repositioning cruises when they move the ships in the spring and fall. Repositioning cruises are typically longer than normal cruises without as many ports of call, which means more days at sea, more onboard amenities and tremendous cost savings from high season rates.”
“I still think the local police would be better equipped to handle this case.”
“The ship’s registry is the Marshall Islands,” Jack said. “The cruise starts out in Barcelona, but then it goes out to sea and makes several island stopovers, so there’s an issue of jurisdiction. And, they specifically asked for Crystal Ball Kate.”
“How did they even hear about me?”
“You’re world famous, Kate.”
“I still think the police could do a better job,” Kate insisted.
“According to our new client, the matter involves some sensitivity, as well as some urgency, as the passengers are scheduled to embark this Sunday.”
“And talk about barking, what about Romeo? Where will she go?”
“Mama has agreed to babysit Romeo.”
“Looks like you’ve thought of everything. But a murder hasn’t even been committed yet. What if this is a hoax, a way to extort money from the cruise line?”
“The cruise line fears for the safety of its passengers, the crew, and their own reputation. They can’t afford to take any chances with lives or livelihood. Passengers are fickle. One sinking, one fire, one passenger gone overboard or murdered aboard ship, and, just like that”—he snapped his fingers—“bookings dry up.”
“What did you mean by sensitivity?”
“Apparently there are portents of a psychic nature plaguing that ship.”
“Portents?”
“Strange crew sightings. One of the crew spotted three gulls flying toward him, always a bad omen.”
“Some people think a woman aboard ship brings bad luck,” said Kate. “Next thing you’ll be telling me is that one of the crew thought he spotted a mermaid. A sure sign of disaster.”
“There’s much more to this, I assure you. First thing we have to do is interview the crew and try to figure out who the victim or victims might possibly be.”
“Jack, why can’t we just go home and rest? This has been a rough week for me, and I know it has for you.”
“Kate, just imagine—fun, sun, and sex on the high seas. You’ve been telling me you want to relax. If we take this assignment, we get a free cruise. Free airfare to Barcelona and then back home from Miami. Luxurious accommodations—a suite on the concierge floor with our own private veranda. Spas, heated pools. Gourmet food. Entertainment. It’s first class all the way. We’ll be posing as honeymooners, so we won’t even have to pretend. Think of it, Kate, a twelve-day trip on a midsize luxury ship, with stops at fascinating ports—Morocco, Portugal, and Bermuda. I’ve never been on a cruise before, babe.”
Kate shook her head. Jack was hard to refuse.
“You sound like a brochure for the cruise line,” Kate said. “You said
if
we take this assignment. You’ve already accepted it, haven’t you?”
“I’m really psyched about this. I thought you would be too.”
“It sounds lovely, two weeks aboard ship with a killer.”
“Kate.” Jack slumped, deflated.
“I’ll miss Juliette. I’m just getting to know her.”
“That’s the beauty of it, honey. We’re going to take Juliette along. I think we could use someone with her psychic skills to work with you. And I’m going to talk to Chief Bradley about coming with us to work under cover. He has a lot of experience in law enforcement. He can pose as Juliette’s husband, just an average couple celebrating their anniversary.”
“There’s nothing average about Juliette,” Kate noted. “Has she agreed to this?”
“Yes. She’s never been on a cruise before either. She has all our documents ready. And she’s packed for you, plenty of those skimpy bikinis you wore on our honeymoon in Bermuda.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “As I recall, you didn’t let me wear much of anything during our honeymoon. I never even cut the tags off.”
“Exactly. They’ll be as good as new.”
“When do we leave?”
“We fly out tomorrow night.”
“What about Chief Bradley? Is Juliette ready to share a cabin and a bed with a perfect stranger?”
“I haven’t filled her in on that part yet. But that way, they can get a taste of each other, so to speak.”
“Trapped in the same cabin for almost two weeks, I guess anything could happen.”
“Juliette is lonely, and Chief Bradley needs a woman in his life,” Jack reasoned.
“It sounds like you’re trying to pimp out my mother—uh, Juliette.”
“I just want everyone to be as happy as we are.”
“Good save, Beauregard.”
Jack breathed a long sigh of relief. “I’m glad that’s settled. Bon Voyage!”
Read an excerpt from the third book in the Psychic Crystal Mystery series:
Murder
on the
Repositioning Cruise
by
Marilyn Baron
A Psychic Crystal Mystery
Book Three
Juliette Spencer stared at the ill-mannered boor leering at her breasts like he was stalking his prey or scoping out his next meal. Like he wanted to inhale her or impale her or worse. Like she was Bambi and it was open season on single women sporting a deer-in-the-headlights demeanor.
How did the rutting buck’s horns manage to stay on his swelled head? His buff body filled the stateroom they would be sharing for the next two weeks, and the overpowering odor of the man’s aftershave was stifling in such close quarters. This suite wasn’t big enough for both of them. And there was no escape, short of jumping off the ship, which she had half a mind to do. She could go out on the balcony and breathe in the night air, but she was trapped—“married” to this bozo for the remainder of the cruise.
She knew exactly what the sheriff was thinking. And it made her blush. Being psychic had its advantages
and
disadvantages. He was thinking he could have her anytime he wanted. All he had to do was flash that becoming smile of his and flex those overdeveloped muscles, barely disguised in his body-hugging T-shirt.
Turning away, she found herself gazing into a mirror, which only made matters worse. Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, she thought. Well, he could think again. She wasn’t going to go all gooey over a green-eyed small-town lawman. This was business, even if the sheriff had plans to combine this assignment with pleasure—
his
pleasure.
He knew about her tainted history in Casa Spirito and her sordid relationship with the Reverend Carter Coulter. The whole world knew about it. It had happened practically in his own backyard. So, of course, he thought he knew her and what she’d be willing to do, for him and to him. And the fact that she could read him like a book didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Blowing out a breath, she turned to face him. She’d just have to make do, dismiss the dimples and ignore the abs. This was an opportunity to get to know her daughter better, and after they solved the mystery, spend a relaxing cruise with Kate and her new son-in-law, Jack.
Dangerous and distasteful as he was, the sheriff was part of the package. Andy of Mayberry he was not. Not a redeeming bone in his sculpted body. If she was looking to fall in love again, which she very definitely wasn’t, Sheriff Will Bradley was the last man on earth she would give her heart to.
A word about the author...
Marilyn Baron is a PRO member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) and winner of the GRW 2009 Chapter Service Award and writing awards in single title, suspense, and paranormal romance. A former GRW board member and past editor of the chapter’s online newsletter,
The Galley
, she handled Publicity for GRW’s 2013 Moonlight & Magnolias Conference. She also belongs to Marketing for Romance Writers. She writes in a variety of genres, from humorous women’s fiction to romantic suspense/thrillers, historicals and paranormal.
Born in Miami, Florida, Marilyn graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville and now lives in Roswell, Georgia, with her husband.
Marilyn says: What’s unique about my writing? I try to inject humor into everything I write. I like to laugh and my readers do too. I tend to feature older heroines, because, let’s face it, we’re not getting any younger. I love to travel. My favorite place to visit is Italy, but I also love Bermuda. I think readers will love “visiting” this romantic and exotic destination getaway in
UNDER THE MOON GATE
and its prequel
DESTINY: A BERMUDA LOVE STORY
, and find it as charming and inviting as I do.
To find out more about Marilyn’s books, please visit her Web site at:
and her blog, Petit Fours and Hot Tamales at:
http://www.petitfoursandhottamales.com/
Other Books You Might Enjoy
Sixth Sense (A Psychic Crystal Mystery)
by Marilyn Baron
The Reunion by Suzanne Rossi
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