Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6) (9 page)

The room was silent.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I checked the
closet, and finally went to the door and opened it. I looked up and down the
hallway, but it was empty. I closed the door and locked it. I hoped Billy had
his keycard with him, because there was no way I was going to open this door
for anyone. I was too scared. I ran to the bathroom, splashed water on my face,
and then brushed my teeth. By the time I had gotten dressed, I was crying. My
shorts probably didn’t match my tank top, but I didn’t care. I was afraid to
turn on the lights, so I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Where was Billy? Had something happened to him? Was this
dream a vision of things to come? Were we all going to die on this ship? My
heart pounded, and my mind raced. I could feel my anxiety building. Soon, I
would have a full-blown panic attack, if I didn’t calm down. I knew I should’ve
brought those little yellow pills with me. Now, would be the perfect time to
take one.

Since I was so determined not to turn on the lights for some
strange reason, I had to fumble around in the dark to find my flip flops. I
bumped into the corner of the computer table, hitting my hip. When my foot
touched something that felt like my sandals, I reached down to pick them up,
and then bumped my head on the same table when I went to stand up. “This is not
my day,” I said out loud. I reached up, touched my head, and felt warm blood.
“What now?”

My eyes were just beginning to adjust to the darkness when I
head a click, and the door opened. I screamed. I didn’t know who had entered
the room, until Billy flicked on the light switch. He rushed over to me.

“`Ge ya, what’s wrong? Are you all right? Is that blood in
your hair?”

Squinting my eyes to shade them from the glare of the
overhead light, I looked at my hand, saw the dab of blood, and said, “I guess
it is. I hit my head.” I walked over to the table, pulled out a tissue from the
box, and pressed it to my head. “What time is it?”

“It’s
six
o’clock
,” he replied.
“What happened?” He walked over and examined my head. “Oh, it’s only a slight
cut. It’s not gushing, so you’ll survive.” He smiled at me. “Poor baby. I leave
the room for a minute, and you run around in the dark, beating yourself up.”

“I had a bad dream,” I said, trying not to cry. “The kind
that makes you wonder if you’re ever going to wake up from.”

“That bad, huh?” He wrapped his big arms around me and pulled
me close. “I’m here now, and you’re awake. Everything is fine.” He took the
tissue from me, dabbed at my head, and then tossed it in the trash can. “The
cut has already stopped bleeding. You’ll make it, `ge ya.”

“You’re not going to believe the dream I had. It felt so
real, even though now I know it wasn’t. But I learned something from it.”

“What was that?”

“Wait a minute,” I said, pulling back. “Where have you been?
Have you slept at all?”

“Why don’t you change clothes, and we’ll talk while we walk.”

“What’s wrong…” I started to say, and then looked down to see
that I had on a pair of green plaid shorts and a red stripped tank top. I had
to laugh. “You’re right. Maybe I should put on something more appropriate.”

“I think you look lovely, but I know you wouldn’t be pleased
with your ensemble.”

“Ensemble, huh? Fancy word for such a tough guy.” I smiled.
“Give me two minutes.”

I changed into a pair of navy cargo shorts and a white, short
sleeved top, and stayed with the flip flops. Life on a cruise ship is quite
informal, unless you’re dining at night.

“Better now?” I asked.

“I liked the way you were dressed. I thought your outfit was
colorful.”

“Oh, Lord,” I said. “Let’s go get something to eat. I’m
starving.”

Billy and I walked out the door, heading to the dining room
on the top deck. As we passed Loukas and Bella’s room, we heard someone
yelling. We both stopped, and looked at each other.

Billy turned, briskly walked over to their door, and knocked
loudly. I followed him.

“Loukas! Bella! Is everything all right in there?” he yelled.

Jacob the bodyguard opened the door and said, “Loukas and
Bella are having a chat with their daughter, Nell. Her behavior is a little raw
this early in the morning.”

“It was more than a little raw when I left earlier,” Billy
said. “Is there anything we can do to help with the situation?”

“No. We have it under control, but thanks anyway.”

When Billy and I turned to leave, Jacob said, “Thanks for all
your help last night. Your news has left Bella and Loukas fully aware, yet, a
little shaken. I’m so glad they hired you.”

“I’m just glad I could help. Tell them I’ll check back
later.”

Jacob closed the door as Billy and I walked away.

“What was that about?” I asked. I knew plenty had gone on
after I went to sleep. I could read it all over Billy’s face. “It looks as if I
missed a lot by going to bed.”

We walked down the hallway and then out onto the outer
walkway before Billy said anything. His silence reassured me that there was
definitely a story to tell. He was assembling the details in his mind, readying
himself for the onslaught of my questions.

When the wind hit my face, I was taken aback. The air had
gotten cooler, and the sun was nowhere in sight. “What happened to our
beautiful weather?” I asked unhappily as I looked up at Billy.

He threw his hands in the air and said, “Don’t blame me. I
had nothing to do with it. I don’t control the weather. I sure wish that I
could.”

I smiled, but when I looked up at Billy’s puffy eyes, I could
tell that he hadn’t gone to bed last night. “Billy,” I said, sympathetically.
“You need to go to bed. You look rough. I’ve been so busy thinking about myself
that I didn’t notice until now how tired you must be. We’re going back to the
room right now.”

“No,” Billy replied. “I’m hungry. Let’s go get something to
eat, and then I’ll take a quick nap... and be as good as new.”

“Are you sure? We can go back to the room and order in.”

“I can hang in there. Let’s go eat.”

“All right.”

I turned and walked over to the railing, and looked at the
rough sea. “It’s so dreary. Look at the ocean.” I leaned over the railing and
looked down. “The waves are splashing up against the ship with such force. Are
we going to be battling a storm?”

Billy walked over to me and said, “We’re going to get some
bad weather. The captain said he might have to divert the ship, making the
journey a little longer before we dock at the first port.”

“Are we in the Triangle?” I asked, excitedly, looking around,
hoping for a strange phenomenon to happen other than the bad weather.

“Oh, I’m sorry, `ge ya. I forgot to tell you. We don’t even
go through the Bermuda Triangle. It’s to the south of us, and we by-pass it.”

“No! Don’t tell me that! What a bummer! I’ve been waiting to
see what happens, and now we’re not even going to go through it!”

“I’ll ask the captain to turn the ship around if you want me
to.”

I laughed. Even though Billy was dead-dog tired, he still had
a sense of humor. I tucked my arm in his and started walking. “Ha! I’m sure the
rest of the passengers would like that!”

While we walked down the walkway, I told Billy about my
horrible dream, and my suspicion about how the champagne could’ve been
poisoned. “The poison wasn’t in the bottle. It had been swabbed inside the
glass.”

“Interesting theory,” he responded. “I can see that.”

We walked up the stairs to the top deck, and as we rounded
the corner, we ran into Bertie Callahan and her sister, Mabel. Bertie was
carrying a plate of food covered with a piece of plastic wrap.

“Hi, ladies,” Billy said, greeting them. “You two are up
mighty early. How’s Dorothy?”

“She’s going to be fine,” Bertie said. “She didn’t sleep well
last night. Her poor ankle is bruised and sore. Nell is no small woman. She
fell on Dorothy right hard.”

“Dorothy was hungry, so Bertie and I decided to have
breakfast at the buffet, and then bring back a plate for her.”

“I’m sure you could have ordered room service,” I said.

Neither one of the sisters responded to my statement.
Clearly, they wanted to get away from Dorothy for a while. I know I would if I
had to listen to someone like her constantly complaining—and I’m sure she did
complain about her pain. People like her always do.

“We’ve been taking care of her. Not that I wanted to spend my
time babysitting my sister…”

“Hush up!” Mabel scolded her sister. “Why do you always have
to whine? They don’t want to hear it, and neither do I!”

Bertie bounced back with a snide remark. “You’re the whiner,
not me. All I do is look after you and Dorothy, and what do I get in return?
I’ll tell you what I get.” She stopped, looked up at Billy, and without missing
a beat, asked, “What did you find out about that guy in room 527? I know the
captain said his name was Perry Dickerson, but that’s not true. That’s the name
he’s using as an alias. He’s Peter Dawson, the stalker. He even uses the same
initials, P.D.—Peter Dawson/Perry Dickerson. I’m sure of it. I saw the photo,
and I saw the guy. It’s the same person. He’s in disguise.”

Billy leaned down and whispered, “I think you might be
correct. Thanks for the tip. It was really helpful.”

Bertie quickly glanced at her sister and exclaimed, “See! I
told you so!” She looked back at Billy and said, “If I find out anything else,
I’ll let you know.” The two sisters turned and walked off, their heads together
the whole time.

“Are you teasing those women, or do you know something I
don’t?”

Billy took my arm and started walking again. “Those women
might be annoying busybodies, but Bertie was right on the money about the guy
in room 527. His real name is Peter Dawson, and he’s the same guy who has been
stalking Teresa Anderson… if that’s what you want to call it. There’s a little
more to this saga than Maggie Anderson has led us to believe. Peter and Teresa
dated for a while, until Maggie put a stop to it.”

“I see. It’s a case of a mother trying to interfere with her
daughter’s life. That’s nothing new.”

“We’re way past that. Maggie put the brakes on their
relationship, but Peter wouldn’t give up. When Teresa finally told him she
couldn’t see him anymore, he didn’t take it well. Teresa really liked him,
until her mother butted in, and then she saw the ugly side of her boyfriend.
Now, things have gotten nasty, and I don’t know if Teresa is more afraid of her
mother than she is of Peter. I think Maggie has exacerbated the situation.”

We made our way to the dining room and marveled at the
impressive buffet as we stood there, plates in hand. “Look at all this food!” I
raved. “You could feed an entire third world country with this much food.”

“I try not to think like that,” a woman standing beside me
said. “If I did, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself.”

I thought I recognized the voice, and realized I was correct
when I turned and looked at the person talking to me. It was Maggie Anderson.
After what Billy had just told me, I wasn’t sure whether or not I liked her
anymore. On one hand, she interfered in her daughter’s personal relationship
with the man in her life, but on the other, she probably saved Teresa from
making a big mistake.

The jury was still out on my opinion of Maggie Anderson. I
needed to know more.

Trying not to show my suspicious side, I decided it would be
best to give her the benefit of the doubt. “How are you doing this morning?” I
asked her.

“I’d be better if the captain would take me seriously. He
thinks I’m wrong about Peter Dawson. He’s on board. I saw him.” She sidestepped
me and spoke to Billy. “I thought you were going to check him out, Mr.
Blackhawk.”

“I am, Mrs. Anderson,” Billy replied. “But right now I have
to eat. I’ve been up all night trying to get some answers.”

“I guess my case isn’t as important as the one you’re working
on. I hear someone is sabotaging this cruise.”

“There appears to be a lot happening,” I said, butting in. “I
can assure you that we are giving your problem the utmost attention.”

“I can tell you one thing, Mrs. Blackhawk,” Maggie said in a
not-so-nice manner. “If he harms my daughter, I’ll kill him!” She turned and
walked off in a huff.

“Wow!” I said, looking at Billy. “Maybe she’s the one we
should be watching. She’s distraught. She might be on the verge of doing
something she shouldn’t.”

“I think you might have something there, `ge ya,” Billy said,
agreeing with me. “We need to keep our eyes on her.”

Billy and I filled our plates, and then walked over to an
empty table in a corner to eat our food in private. Within a matter of minutes,
Maggie Anderson sought us out again. She sat down and started going on and on
about her fears of her daughter being murdered at the hands of a deranged
stalker.

“It would suit me just fine if he fell overboard,” Maggie
continued. “Life would be a lot simpler.”

Getting rid of Peter Dawson appeared to be at the top of her
list, and before long, if someone didn’t do something, she would accomplish her
goal. I could see it in her eyes. She was full of hatred.

“Maybe you shouldn’t say such things,” Billy said, looking
around at the other passengers. “People can hear you, and if something should
happen to him, you’d be the first suspect on the list.”

“Whose side are you on?” she demanded. “I can see you’re not
going to help me either. You’re just like the rest. You think I’m lying.”

“I never said that. All I said was…”

“I know what you said.” She shoved her chair back, got up and
left. She stomped out of the dining room like an angry woman on a mission.

There was no longer any doubt in my mind that Maggie Anderson
was going off the deep end. I was afraid she was going to take matters into her
own hands. I conveyed this to Billy.

“What can I do?” he asked.

“You need to tell her what you know. She thinks she’s fooling
us with her anger at Peter Dawson, but what she doesn’t know is that you found
out she’s the root of her own problem. What was so awful about the man that she
would want to keep her daughter from him?”

“My guess is she thinks he’s trying to get her money by going
through Teresa. Perhaps she fears he will convince Teresa to bump her off for
it.”

I had to chuckle. “Maybe somebody should whack her.”

“Jesse! You don’t mean that.”

“No, I guess I don’t. But I’ll be honest with you. I think
she’s going to do something bad to that guy if she gets a chance.”

“Like what?”

“Kill him. She already said she wished he’d fall overboard.
Maybe she’s thought about doing it herself. I’ll bet she’s already figured out
when she’s going to do it, and she’s just playing us to get sympathy in case
she gets caught.”

“She does look as if she could handle herself in a real
scuffle. She’s no softie. That’s for sure. Anyone with her determination could
accomplish almost anything. I have discussed her with Captain O’Riley, and he’s
also concerned about her erratic behavior.”

I looked up just in time to see
Savannah
and McCoy standing at the buffet.
They appeared to be so much in love. I was glad. Now that I’ve gotten to know
them both a little better, I realized they were meant for each other. What
happened between them a while back was now behind them. They had moved on. I
waved to her when she glanced our way. She waved back, and once they had filled
their plates, they walked over to our table.

“May we join you?” she asked.

“You most certainly may,” I said, enthusiastically. “I was
hoping you would.”

“Have a seat,” Billy added, looking over at McCoy. “We could
use some good company. We just felt the ire of Maggie Anderson.”

“What did I tell you?” McCoy asked as if he’d already had a
conversation with Billy about the panicky woman.

Savannah
looked at me as she started buttering her toast and said, “McCoy has insomnia.
He spent some time with your husband last night. Part of that time was at the
bar.”

I looked at Billy.

“It’s not what you think, `ge ya,” Billy immediately
explained. “McCoy and I went to the bar looking for
Utah
.”

“This sounds interesting.”

“Oh, it is,”
Savannah
said, becoming serious. “Wait until
you hear what Billy has to tell you. They were such busy little bees last
night. I think Billy might turn him into a private eye, yet.”

“Okay, you really have my attention now,” I said, looking at
Billy and McCoy. “What have you two bad boys been up to? I know you’ve been
into something.”

Billy looked at McCoy, and McCoy looked at him, but neither
one of them said a word.

“Somebody has to start somewhere,” I said.

“Okay,” Billy said to me. “Just don’t freak out when I tell
you what I’m going to tell you. I know you have this thing about how I collect
some of my information, but I can promise you we’re not going to jail, so you
don’t have to worry.”

“This is getting weird,” I said, butting in. “Slow down and
just tell me the story.”

“During those ten minutes I spent at the
Med
Center
with Bella, she asked me to do a few
things, as part of the job that you and I are going to be paid handsomely for.”

“Oh, no…”

“She told me to contact her once I had the details no matter
what time it was. So, last night while you were asleep, I spent a couple of
hours on the computer. I found everything I needed to help fill in some of the
gaps that will lead us to solving this case.”

“What case?” I asked, confused.

“Jesse, we’re working for Bella and Loukas. Anything that
remotely links to them is part of the case. For instance, the guy who had a
heart attack yesterday worked as a peon in Constance Enterprises. How about
that? I went to Bella and Loukas’ room and told them what I discovered.”

“If he was a peon, what was he doing on deck six? Bella said
that deck was for special people, remember?”

“He was listed as a company management employee, so she
didn’t think anything about it. She had plenty of rooms available for the
people she wanted close to her, and to her, the most important thing was to
have her daughters and their husbands as far away from her as possible. She
loves her girls, but the guys make her crazy… except for Steven.”

“You did well, my hero.” I smiled. “I’m sure there’s more to
come.”

“Much more,” Billy replied. “Like why was he on this cruise?
Who did he really work for in the company? And why was he bumped off?”

“I’m sure we can piece it together,” I said as I ate a few
bites at a time.

Billy looked at McCoy and said, “Remember I told you that
Jesse has interesting dreams sometimes, and many times there’s some reality to
those dreams?”

I was surprised that Billy had mentioned my dreams to anyone.
Some things are just kept private. People have a tendency to act weird when
they find out you have dreams that you believe come true. If Billy got friendly
enough to discuss this with McCoy, then surely he had trust and respect for the
man. I let him continue without saying anything.

“She had a dream that
Utah
swabbed poison on the inside of the champagne glasses.”

“He tied us up, made us watch as he did it, and then made us
drink from the glasses,” I said, with a bitter taste in my mouth, which wasn’t
coming from the food. “We all died. It was rather freaky. Fortunately, you and
Savannah
weren’t there.”

“No offense, but I’m glad we weren’t in your dream,”
Savannah
said. “We don’t need any more
excitement in our lives, at least, not that kind.”

McCoy appeared to be a little uncomfortable with
Savannah
’s remarks, but said nothing. I’m
sure he still carried the hurt from the fact that she had cheated on him, even
though it was only a one-night-stand. It was still cheating, no matter how you
looked at it. You can forgive, but the pain stays. Fortunately, he loved her
enough to stay married to her. I had to give him credit for that. Most men
would’ve let their egos get in the way.

“They found traces of poison in the champagne glasses,” McCoy
said, not commenting on his wife’s statement. “They haven’t isolated the poison
yet, but they will soon.”

I sucked in my breath, and then slowly let it out. They say
you should be excited when dreams come true, but that didn’t apply here. And it
really scared me.

“
Utah
has a tendency to run off at the
mouth when he’s been drinking,” McCoy added.

“Yes,” Billy agreed, looking at me. “When we told him that
Nell had taken ill, he said it was too bad that she didn’t die from the
poison.”

“If
Utah
spent the night in the bar getting
drunk, then how did he know about the poison if he’s not the one behind it?
He’s so guilty!”

“After he said what he did about Nell dying from the poison,
I asked him that. Neither one of us had said anything about poison to him. He
just laughed and said that we knew what he meant. Then we told him someone was
trying to poison the passengers with tainted champagne.”

“How did he react when you told him that?”

“Drunk… and uncaring.”

“But you see, Nell didn’t use the champagne glass,” McCoy
said. “However, we didn’t tell him that. We let him think what he wanted to.
She drank hers out of a coffee mug that she apparently carries around all the
time, normally filled with alcohol, not coffee. Perhaps he thought she drank
from the glass and not her mug, and was hoping she would die.”

“You say
Utah
was drunk,” I said. “Suppose he
meant that it was too bad she didn’t die from alcohol poisoning… not poison.
Drunk people can’t seem to get their sentences right. He probably doesn’t even
remember the conversation.”

Billy and McCoy looked at each other as they sipped their
coffee.

“Maybe you two were looking so hard for evidence that you
heard what you wanted to hear,” I suggested. “His words were just the ranting
of a drunk.”

“She might have something,” McCoy said.

“He might have meant something different, but I heard what I
heard,” Billy replied. “He said it was too bad she didn’t die from the poison.
Word for word. But I will keep an open mind, and see how he reacts to the fact
that she didn’t die. He sure didn’t seem to care that she had taken ill, as if
he had expected something like this to happen.”

“What else do we need to know?” I asked. “Other than Utah
Hawks is probably a killer, Maggie Anderson is going nuts, and we have three
sisters who think they are Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Maverick all
wrapped up in one.”

Everyone laughed.

“I just can’t believe that
Utah
was in the bar getting drunk while his wife was on the verge of dying. He has
no heart.”

“He sure didn’t rush to be by her side when he found out she
was extremely ill,” Billy said with disdain in his voice. “Besides, he has an
alibi. The bartender said he had been there for hours before we arrived.”

“Until we can actually connect him to the poison, he’s in the
clear,” McCoy added. “It’s too bad he can’t be locked up just for being the
heartless scumbag that he is.”

“He’s guilty,”
Savannah
said. “I just know it.”

The telltale signs of sleep deprivation were starting to show
on Billy’s and McCoy’s faces. They both looked exhausted.

“Look,” I suggested to
Savannah
.
“Why don’t we wrap this up here, and put our husbands to bed. Then we can go
shopping. Maybe hit the spa.” I winked at her.

She was happy to comply. “I think that’s a marvelous idea.”
She looked at her husband, and then back at me. “Do we need to take a gun with
us?”

“You have a gun?” I asked, astonished.

“Don’t you?”

“No, I don’t, but Billy does.”

“McCoy has one.”

“All the men have guns, and the women don’t,” I hissed. “Why
is that? Why don’t we get to carry one?”