Cruise to Critique (Lucky & Led Cruise Ship Mystery Series Book 5) Read online

  Walking down the busy, now dry, hot, street, the gentleman peered through the plate glass show windows into the variety of shops as every other tourist. The only difference with this shopper was that he was looking but seeing nothing. After a couple of blocks of performing this play acting of the cruise ship tourist, the gentleman stopped at yet one more large plate glass show window and noted his reflection.

  Placing his sunglasses on, he adjusted his shirt and trousers and remarked, “Pretty good looking guy. They wouldn’t recognize you back home in Goa.” With a Fred Astaire style bounce to his step, the now tourist looking Sanjay Mehta proceeded toward the upper side of the main business district with a determined spring to his step.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Samantha and Lucky reached the shore side home of Lucky’s friends, George and Elaine Cromwell. Not seeing any vehicle in front of the house, Lucky became a bit downhearted that they might not be on island. Venturing a go at the front door despite his doubt, to his delight Elaine opened up the door and beamed a welcoming smile when she recognized Lucky.

  Enjoying a long hug with Lucky in the doorway, Elaine invited her drop-in guests into the house explaining that George had only run up to the supermarket to fetch a few items for their evening dinner. Lucky did the introductions and Elaine escorted them through the large sitting room and library through a set of double glass doors leading outside onto the pool deck overlooking the beach. A vast expanse of the bay lay before them; a wide vista allowing anyone to catch a glimpse in both directions up and down the beach along with the magnificent view of the open sea.

  “Such a wonderful surprise to see you, Father Lucky. And, how nice of you to bring along such a lovely guest; George will be so thrilled to see you again. We think about you every time a cruise ship anchors in our port. As you can see, Samantha, no ship can sneak into George Town without our knowing it,” Elaine laughed. Elaine had been an over the top 10 when George married her and she still ranked a 9.9 on the beauty scale.

  “I always hope you won’t mind that I just drop in like this, Elaine. I’m never totally sure of my schedule on these cruises or whether I’ll be able to visit or not so I do appreciate your openness to my lack of formality.”

  “No problem, my dear Lucky, no problem at all. George and I feel the same way when we visit Miami. We islanders are very used to people popping in and we adore it. This is a small island and even smaller community, so we look forward to the visits, expected or not. So, what have you been up to? Doing your usual challenging cruise ship chaplain duties, I suppose?” Elaine winked at Samantha.

  “Yes, fortunately, I have a full schedule this year, again, thanks to Royal Danish cruise lines. Unfortunately, this will be my only stop in George Town, so I was really hoping you and George would be home on the island and not on one of your trips back to the UK.”

  Just then, the door opened and George struggled to make his entry loaded down with two sacks filled with groceries. Hearing the conversation on his back pool deck, he set his burden down and, when he saw who was visiting, went out onto the pool deck with a huge smile on his face and an outstretched arm for a hearty handshake. George, being a proper Englishman, wasn’t overly fond of the hugging so popular with the Americans.

  When introduced to Samantha, however, he made an exception to his rule and embraced her. Noticing a smirk on both Elaine’s and Lucky’s faces, George offered his defense as any good barrister, or male, would do. ”Well, what can one say? Greeting rules are made to be broken when it comes to a beautiful woman. A handshake just doesn’t suffice in certain situations, does it?” They all shared a hearty chuckle.

  “This is always such a fabulous view. I think of this so often when I reminisce about our visits.”

  “We never tire of it even though it’s in full view every day,” George replied. “See that group down the beach a bit? That’s one of our local dive shops, well known even to our native divers. A fantastic experience in the crystal clear waters we’re so blessed with.” George sounded like a PR commercial for Grand Cayman.

  “Oh, I wonder if that’s the place where Led is taking his entourage of ladies today for their dive and snorkeling fun in the sea? Lucky inquired.

  “Here, Lucky, take a look through my stargazer, my spyglass as I call it,” George offered the telescope affixed on a tripod.

  “Everyone thinks that he’s searching the heavenly bodies, like Galileo, but I know better. He’s searching, alright, but for bodies much closer on this planet,” Elaine quipped to everyone’s laughter, even George’s.

  “Well, I’ve been found out. What can I say other than guilty to the charge of being a man who loves women. Anyway, that’s how I discovered your beauty, my sweet. Elaine was a model when I first met her and was captivated by her beauty. Now, she captivates me every day as my wife.” George purred his sentiments as he stroked Elaine’s arm.

  “Wow, what a loving thing to say, George,” Samantha responded. “I sure hope I’m discovered by someone as loving as you someday; and may it be sooner rather than later. I’m not dedicated to being a journalist my whole life.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

  The friendly conversation carried on through a session of tea and biscuits. Clearing the dishes used for the afternoon tea, Elaine and Samantha made their way into the kitchen to continue getting acquainted.

  “When we met, George was a young, struggling barrister in London. Soon after, his firm offered him a position here and we moved to our island paradise. George was able to procure this property through a friend. I often wondered how we could afford such a magnificent place on the salary of an up and coming lawyer. But, anyway, it was a wonderful stroke of luck now as I see it.” Elaine paused and showed deep worry lines in her face which Samantha noticed, but refrained from mentioning.

  Then, Elaine, handing a saucer to Samantha for drying, just as abruptly continued, “The only real challenge was that he was required to do a lot of traveling back and forth to another branch office in Hong Kong, but that whetted our appetite for further travel.” Elaine chattered on as she and Samantha finished up the dishes.

  Out on the pool deck, George urged Lucky over to his spy glass once again to take a sweep of the ever present scantily clad party goers cavorting on the beach and playing their water sports.

  “I find this little toy of mine offers spicy delights on a boring afternoon, but sorry to sound so lascivious, Old Chap. I do need to mind my manners in the presence of the Vicar,” George guffawed.

  Lucky swung the telescope back and forth in gentle fashion scanning the surface when he suddenly froze it in one spot taking in the unmistakable scene of a commotion being made in the direction offshore in the vicinity directly out from the mentioned dive shop. Only a split second later the delayed sound of a high power rifle shot, traveling across the surface of the water, reached his ears.

  Earlier when Lucky and Samantha had been enjoying their respite on the veranda of the café, the two men who followed over on the next tender shuttle were braced up against the edge of a round table in the backroom of a nondescript office building several blocks off the beaten tourist street front. An intense, and obviously, grave conversation was in progress. The two men, bearing Randy’s package, had now been joined by two intimidating looking chaps, one an older, European looking gentleman and the other definitely fitting the classic image of a thug distinctly bearing Asian features.

  “It is absolutely essential to the mission that we have the contents of both packages. They were divided into two on purpose so that no one person ever had sole possession of the contents until it reached our hands. One is useless without the other, so now you are aware of how important it is that we retrieve the second package from this Marsha woman,” the Asian speaker stared with fierce, penetrating eyes at the two men off the Caribbean Star.

  “We have the one we borrowed from that Randy fellow’s cabin,” came the timid response. “He thought he was so crafty hiding it in his room. What a fool! The rooms are only three o
r four hundred square feet with the bed and bathroom taking up the majority of the space. How hard could it be to figure out the few possible places where one could hide something that size from view?”

  “Yes, yes, congratulations, Sherlock. Well done,” the Asian character said brimming over with sarcasm. “But, the question remains, how do we get possession of the other package? The whole operation depends on having both to turn over to our contacts in Hong Kong.” There was no joy to be heard in the delivery of the question.

  “Randy has teamed up with Marsha and they went off with a couple of others to do some snorkeling or diving or whatever they do in the water.”

  “And, how do you know this? Do you know exactly where they will be doing their diving and snorkeling or whatever? There are dozens of dive shops on the island.” The tone became more hostile as the questioning persisted.

  “We have our sources?”

  “And, can they be trusted?”

  “Explicitly. Our source has a major interest in the success of this operation as much as Benny and I do,” Jiggers replied.

  “Then, here’s the plan. We’ll snitch a speed boat from one of the boat docks, the type that pulls skiers, and...” The four huddled like a football team continuing to hatch their strategy to achieve the retrieval of the target by any means necessary. In a few minutes, with the details worked out, Benny and Jiggers handed over Randy’s package to the Asian guy who put it in one of the European guy’s grocery bags. They received their payment, and were instructed to return to the ship and stay out of sight.

  Led was fit to be tied impatiently waiting for Marsha when the taxi at last dropped off the late arrivals. Randy was an unexpected addition, but whatever, at least she was here and the dive and snorkeling adventures could begin. In his usual single-minded way, Led headed to the water wanting to prepare the equipment for the dive. He'd wait for Yolanda to come out to meet him.

  Marsha spotting Yolanda, rushed over to her, “Hey, Yolanda, sorry I’m late. Hope you don’t mind that I brought a friend along? Randy, this is Yolanda, the girl I work with. I guess you'll have to meet Led later. I see that he's already in the water. Couldn't wait, huh?” Marsha did her best to brush off the negative vibes.

  "So, are you still planning on snorkeling, Marsha?" Marsha took Yolanda’s arm and stepped out of Randy’s earshot.

  "Actually, Yolanda, this offers a perfect opportunity to play a little trick on Led. Are you up for helping me? I'll make it worth your while...like I'll make the coffee at work for a month for you. Huh, what do you say?"

  "A trick? Sounds awfully mysterious little lady. What is it?" Yolanda was always up for fun and games.

  "Well, you know how much I like Led. I mean, really like him. So, what if we switched and I went diving and you snorkeled. We could change in the Ladies' room and with me wearing the mask, Led wouldn't even notice that it was really me rather than you diving with him. Will you play along? I think it would be such a hoot to pull it over on him. Then, I could make sure that he got his arms around me when we were down under," Marsha giggled.

  Yolanda thought over the proposition and even though she hesitated for a moment to accept, she gave into her desire to pull off the joke. It would be a real awesome trick to play on Led and she liked the idea of Marsha making coffee for her at work. Yolanda turned to Randy who had been sitting on a bench.

  “How ‘bout you, Randy? You going to snorkel or dive?” Yolanda looked at Marsha’s tag along friend who was by now mesmerized with the parading of bikini clad beachcombers.

  “Neither. I’ve been assigned the task of sitting here, drinking a few beers and watching you guys have loads of fun. Right, Marsha? Anyway, somebody’s got to take care of her bag full of goodies and all that other stuff you ladies seem to bring along wherever you go,” Randy chortled as he hammered home the chauvinistic dig.

  “Yeah, I gave him his assignment,” Marsha chimed in. Of course, unknown to Led and Yolanda, the real motivation forging the scheme was Marsha and Randy’s quandary of whom, where and how the one remaining smuggled package was to be handed over. During their taxi ride they had been making a contingency plan agreeing that they would go along “as if” they still possessed both packages until they passed off this one and somehow got away. Randy was to guard Marsha’s packet while she went snorkeling and not let it out of his sight. In reality, the whole matter was up in the air and they hadn’t the foggiest idea of how to work it out.

  Finally, after a seemingly interminable amount of time, Marsha and Yolanda exited the ladies dressing room decked out in full snorkeling and diving gear, including the masks already over their faces. Led, splashing out a ways in the water, laughed at seeing the two frog faced ladies with their matching dirty blond auburn hair, but was happy that the two ladies had managed to get organized.

  Yolanda and Marsha began to make their way out first to the snorkeling area. Adjusting her mask and breathing tube, Yolanda, aka Marsha to Led and Randy, who was watching from afar, felt comfortable enough to go it alone. Marsha, aka Yolanda to Led and Randy, made her way out to the awaiting Led and they performed their final equipment tests. With their legs swinging in the air, Led and Marsha, aka Yolanda to Led and Randy, dove down into the crystal blue waters seeking their deep sea adventure.

  Fishes of all sorts paraded like a plethora of Radio City Music Hall Rockettes around and about the two divers. Rearing upright to get a better look at the ballet being executed for their entertainment, Led and his diving partner became lost in their underwater world. Back and forth, their heads twisted and turned seeking out the next treasure old Neptune would offer up.

  Time was of no concern as the two circled over the rocky formations looking into the adopted hiding places for the multitudinous variety of fishes. Though it seemed like a game of hide and seek to the two divers, for the fish, it was far from a game to protect themelves from the disasterous reality of the fish-eat-fish water world in which they were fated to exist.

  At one point between the twisting of bodies and the flapping of the fins, a dark object sank between Led and his companion and almost hit her on the leg. Led’s mask was partially fogged over so he surmised that it might have been a juvenile sand shark which had darted from behind one of the rocky juts. Led instinctively curled around to view the perceived shark’s watery rambling.

  When he looped around with his back to the sea floor, he noticed a body floating on the surface over him. He had been monitoring Marsha snorkeling all the while that he and his partner were diving. Something was amiss. A bolt of terror shot through Led’s body. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched for any kind of bodily movement; there was no movement and next...my God, whirling streams of red, as in the color crimson blood red, began to drift, ever so slowly, like a ribbon unraveling from a spool, unwinding deeper and deeper, creating an eerie appearance of curls which might be seen traipsing off a head of long, flowing dirty blond, auburn hair.

  Marsha’s eyes stared through the cloudy mask to the sea bottom, but they saw nothing.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The heavy beat of the ever popular, but dated disco music, including ‘Macho Man’ followed by ‘Love Machine’, blared over a brilliantly sunlit Lido deck furnishing the required, exhilarating ambiance for the pool side barbecue. Racks of blackened jerk chicken, ribs glazed with a tangy sauce, along with a shrimp and seafood paella complimented the long tables overloaded with the additional, traditional accompaniments to the entrees. Bathers and sun worshippers clogged the pool area surroundings balancing their overflowing plates full of food on their laps as they sat upright on the poolside loungers. Revelry and abandon shrieked full steam ahead at the moment.

  At precisely noon, the Captain traditionally delivered her midday report to the paying guests. The customary announcement, usually of a short duration, involves a mixture of friendly chit-chat stating the position of the ship, the day’s weather and a mini-commercial about an upcoming event or two, especially if said event happens to be the
once each cruise scheduled Captain’s reception; a grand photo opportunity which engorges the company’s coffers when the guests make their purchase of the formal print from the photo gallery before the end of the cruise.

  Even though the time of the final tender boat for the return of the passengers had been slated for five p.m., the lengthy tender boat shuttle had encouraged most of the port visitors to return earlier than usual rather than risk missing the boat. Cruise ship Captains would tease, using an old joke, that if you’re late for the return and you’re left standing on shore, it will be a wonderful photo opportunity of the ship as it sails off into the sunset.

  By now it was long past the time for the noon spiel by the Captain, the unique two tone chime sounding a forthcoming announcement emanating from the bridge caused an exceptional degree of attention by the guests. Forks were set on the plates and sips of ice tea and other drinks were put on hold.

  “GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE. THIS IS CAPTAIN HURLEY. I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF GRAVE IMPORTANCE. DUE TO AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT INVOLVING ONE OF OUR GUESTS WHILE ON SHORE, I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT WE WILL NOT LEAVE GRAND CAYMAN TONIGHT. THIS, OF COURSE, MEANS THAT, UNFORTUNATELY, WE WILL MISS OUR PORT CALL IN NASSAU IN THE BAHAMAS AND SAIL DIRECTLY BACK TO FORT LAUDERDALE SOMETIME LATER TOMORROW AT A TIME TO BE ANNOUNCED. MY APOLOGIES FOR THIS INCONVENIENCE. I DO HOPE THAT YOU WILL BE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION WHICH INVOLVES THE LOSS OF LIFE OF ONE OF OUR GUESTS. I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE CRUISE DIRECTOR TO MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO KEEP EVERY FACILITY OPEN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED ENJOYMENT OF YOUR CRUISE WITH US. ALSO, THE TENDER BOATS WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN OPERATION THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. THE LAST TENDER BOAT WILL LEAVE THE GEORGETOWN PIER AT NOON TOMORROW. THIS WAY YOU MAY ENJOY ANOTHER FULL DAY HERE IN GRAND CAYMAN. AGAIN, MY APOLOGIES AND THANK YOU FOR SAILING WITH US ON THE BEAUTIFUL CARIBBEAN STAR.