Sweet Tea and Sass Page 3

  "Hey, Noelle, ladies," she said, then took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry about this morning. Gerard wasn't exactly on his best behavior."

  Bobbie Sue snorted. "Honey, I seriously doubt Gerard has a best behavior setting. He don't strike me as a man who cares about what us little people think."

  April sighed and sank onto the empty lounge beside me. "You're right. But I can still apologize for him, because I do have a best behavior setting, and he embarrassed the daylights out of me this morning. You ladies were being nice to me, and he was so rude. He's always so rude."

  "Then why are you with him?" Rae asked. There was no accusation in her voice, just curiosity.

  "Because I'm a wimp, that's why," she replied, lining up the edges of the folded towel in her lap. I recognized the nervous habit for what it was because my Aunt Beth lined things up when she was fretting about something. I pushed to a sitting position on my chair.

  Anna Mae noticed too, and was quick to respond, probably because she'd walked in the same shoes for almost two decades. "Sweetie, you're not weak, but you may not be givin' yourself as much credit as you should." She glanced around at us. "My husband was as bad as they come. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but it isn't. He was a murderer. He took food from little kids and terrorized good people. And I sat by and watched him do it."

  "Wait just a minute," Bobbie Sue said. "You didn't know the full extent of what he was doin'. And you couldn't have done anything about it even if you did."

  Anna Mae held up a hand. "I knew enough. Not about the worst of it, no, but it's a burden I'll always carry, knowin' maybe I could have done somethin' but didn't."

  I sighed and glanced at Addy, who moved to sit beside her. "Honey, you can't do that to yourself."

  Of course, Anna Mae couldn't reply because April couldn't see Addy, but she lifted a shoulder and met April's gaze. "I'd be a hypocrite if I told you to find the strength to leave. But you do need to ask yourself if stayin' is really the best for you. You're the only one who can answer that."

  April's fingers went to her throat, and I'd have bet money she was reaching for those pearls, but she wasn't wearing them. "Believe me, I've been asking myself that same question for a while now but—"

  Whatever she was going to say was interrupted when a young woman dressed in ship attire rushed up to her.

  "Mrs. King?" the girl said, out of breath.

  "Yes?" April replied, her brow furrowed. Personally, I hoped the woman was there to tell her Mr. King had suffered a major coronary, but then took it back because I didn't want that kind of juju comin' back at me.

  "There's been a robbery in your cabin, ma'am," the girl said after glancing around to make sure she wouldn't be overheard. "I'm sorry, but the captain sent out a ship-wide notice via our system along with your picture and asked that we find you and notify you. They're in your cabin now."

  April looked between us and the girl, a strange expression on her face. I wondered if she'd hoped for the same news I had.

  "Of course," she said. "Has my husband been notified?"

  The woman nodded. "He was the one who discovered the theft," she said, "but that's all I know."

  Panic streaked across April's face as her fingers went to her throat again. "Oh no," she said. "Grandma's pearls! They're all I have left of her." She turned to follow the girl, but then on impulse turned back toward me. "Will you come with me? I've never had anything like this happen to me, and you said at breakfast your boyfriend was a cop."

  I started to say no, but Addy floated over and shooed me up. "Go on, now. She needs somebody, if for no other reason than moral support."

  I sighed and cast a longing glance at the pool, then at my half-finished drink sitting on the little table, condensation running in rivulets down the sides of the plastic cup. "Of course I will," I said. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. After all, we're locked onto a ship. It's not like whatever was stolen can go far."

  Unless of course it was stolen by some sea monster, I supposed. Then all bets were off.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  IF THE SHIP STAFF WAS trying to keep things quiet, they were fighting a lost cause. Gerard's angry voice boomed through the passageway and I cringed when a couple of haggard men rushed from the room, nearly bumping into us in their haste. The cabin was sheer chaos. Gerard was barking demands at somebody who had to have been the captain, based upon the hat, and a couple of servants were cleaning up broken glass.

  April rushed forward, but I hung back to stay out of the way. Instead, I just watched. The poor captain was doing his best to soothe him, but was failing miserably. April tried three times to find out about her Grandma's pearls, but each time, he drowned her out with threats of lawsuits and other non-productive, arm-twisting crap.

  After watching it go on for a couple minutes, I'd had enough. I put my fingers to my lips and let loose an ear-piercing whistle that I usually reserved for calling my horses. All eyes shot to me as silence settled.

  "There, that's better," I said. Gerard opened his mouth and sucked in a breath to continue his tirade, but I muttered a couple words that zipped his lips and rendered him silent. Usually one or the other was sufficient, but I wasn't taking any chances. For heaven's sake, the man was about to beat his own gums to death and I, for one, was tired of hearing him. From the confused yet relieved look on the captain's face, I wasn't the only one.

  "Now," I said, turning to April. "I believe you have some questions for the captain?"

  She drew her brows down and tilted her head at her husband.

  "Never mind him," I said waving her in the direction of the captain. Holy cow, this was like herding cats. "Just ask your questions."

  "Thank you," she said. "Now, Captain, please explain to me what's going on here."

  Relieved to finally be dealing with a rational person, the captain nodded. "Your husband called us to report a break-in. When we got here, we found the door damaged, a vase knocked over, and your husband ... in distress."

  Distress, huh? That was a much more polite term than I would have been able to come up with. I supposed that's why he was the captain.

  "Go on," I said, when his gaze slid back to Gerard, whose eyes had gone wide and just a tad crazy.

  "Right," he said, turning back toward April. "He said he came back to the room to find the cabin wide open, along with the door to the safe."

  The color drained from her face. "Was everything taken from it?"

  "I'm afraid so, ma'am. And he says he forgot his wallet on the bed. That's why he came back to the room, and he says he's missing the card that unlocks the safe."

  She sank into a chair, a faraway look on her face. I was afraid she was gonna pass out.

  "My Grandma's pearls were in there," she said, tears filling her eyes. “A triple strand with a beautiful teardrop pearl pendant.”

  Ah, the ones she’d had on the night before.

  "Your husband said there were other jewels in there worth close to a million dollars."

  She waved a hand, her eyes still a little out of focus. "Yeah, I suppose so. But he's got all that insured. My Grandma's pearls, though—they're irreplaceable."

  The captain stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry. We're doing everything we can to find them, but I need to get back so I can institute protocol. We'll review footage and see if we caught anybody on film that didn't have a reason to be down here. That would be the best-case scenario."

  "Of course, Captain. Please keep me informed."

  The man took one final look at Gerard and hustled from the room like he was escaping from the loony bin.

  Once he was gone, I went ahead and unzipped Gerard's lips and loosened up his voice box. It took me all of three seconds to wish I'd left him silent.

  He cast me a withering look and turned to April. "While you were out gallivanting, somebody was robbing us blind."

  She started to curl in on herself, but I was surprised to see her turn it around and square her shoulders,
then put her finger in his face. "You mean, robbed [me blind. What did you lose—a couple watches you only wear to impress other rich people? Some cuff links you probably couldn't identify if you were asked to pick 'em out of a dozen others? I lost my grandma's pearls. So for once in your life, just suck it up. This isn't about you."

  Wow. She'd done a much better job of silencing him without using a drop of magic than I ever could have.

  "You ready, Noelle?" she asked, turning toward the door. "I've got some pearls to find."

  I gave him a satisfied smirk and followed her into the passageway. As Addy'd pointed out, it wasn't like they could go far, so it was just a matter of finding them. Even though I was the least girly-girl woman I knew, even I understood what happened when you got between a girl and her pearls, especially if they were heirlooms. And I wasn't gonna miss that for the world now that my new friend had finally found her sea legs.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  YOU'D HAVE NEVER GUESSED we'd left when we made it back to the pool. The girls were exactly where we'd left them. The only difference was that the ice had melted in my drink and they all had fresh ones.

  "Hey, sugar," Coralee said, taking the towel from her eyes and pushing up onto her elbows. "Did you two get everything all straightened out?"

  "Not even close," I replied, then explained what had happened.

  "Now we're waiting for the captain to review footage from the security cameras," April said. There's not really much to be done besides that."

  Raeann pushed her sunglasses up on her head and squinted up at us. "So basically, you got nothin'."

  I nodded. "Seems that way." I wished I could have used some magical mojo, but unfortunately, I didn't have that sort of juice and neither did Raeann. There were some problems not even magic would solve.

  "So then, what?" Bobbie Sue asked. "We just have to hope somebody finds them? There has to be something we can do."

  April heaved a sigh and dropped onto an empty lounge chair. "I've had those pearls since my sweet sixteen. My great-great-grandfather had them commissioned for my great-great-grandmother for their wedding day. My mama passed them on to me because she had her grandma's pearls. She said it was only fair that we both had a pair. Now it looks like the plan worked out because at least hers will still be passed down."

  "Don't go givin' up yet," Rae said. “There's still a chance they'll turn up."

  The same server who'd waited on us at breakfast swung by and asked if we wanted anything to drink. When she realized who we were, she paused.

  "I recognize you ladies," she said, smiling. "Thanks for taking up for me this morning." When her gaze landed on April, a brief scowl crossed her face before she plastered on the generic smile that was part of her uniform.

  I stifled a smile because I'd done the same thing more times than I could count, but figured I'd make the situation a little better for her. After all, the day went much smoother when you liked the people you waited on.

  "Katie," I said after a quick glance at her nametag, "Rest assured that April is nothing like her husband. She thinks he's a tool, too. I'm a server, too, so I felt your pain this morning."

  She crinkled her brow and turned to April. "Then why on earth are you married to him?"

  April barked out a dry laugh. "Believe me, honey, I ask myself the same question every time he opens his mouth. He wasn't like that when I married him." She paused and tilted her head, considering. "Or maybe he was, and I mistook arrogance for confidence. At any rate, I'm sorry for how he treated you."

  "Thank you," Katie replied. "I was serving in the dining room last night. I brought your food out to you, and couldn't help but admire the pearls you were wearing. I was going to say something when I cleared the table, but then things went kinda sideways."

  April frowned. "Thanks. They were my grandmother's." She looked up at Katie. "I assume you've heard of the robbery."

  It only took the girl a couple seconds to connect the dots. "Oh no! That was you?"

  I knew firsthand that nothing ever stayed a secret in a restaurant, or any other workplace for that matter, so I figured we had a gift horse standing right in front of us. "It was. And it kills me, because we know they're on this ship somewhere. Have you heard any theories, or is there anybody you think may have done it?"

  "No, but I know who didn't do it. The guy they're accusing."

  "They're accusing somebody already?" Coralee asked. "That was quick."

  "Yeah, well it only takes ten minutes to go through an hour's worth of security tapes," Katie answered, "and bad news travels fast. The guy they're accusing didn't do it, though."

  "Then who did?" I asked. "I know how it works. This is a big ship, but there are only what, a couple hundred employees? That's not that many, and I'm willing to bet y'all are tight. You have to have your suspicions."

  Her face flushed, and she reached down to pick up our empties. For a minute, I didn't think she was gonna say anything, but she did. "Like you said, we're like a family here. And even though we take loads of crap, we also make a boatload of money, pardon the pun. There's nobody on this crew who hasn't worked here for at least a few months. And besides, the first thing they do when something like this happens is search our quarters. It's in our contract."

  I considered that. "Yeah, but there are a ton of places on this ship to hide a few pieces of jewelry. It would be stupid to hide it in your quarters."

  She nodded. "There is, but trust me—none of the staff did it."

  "Then why are they accusing this guy?" Bobbie Sue asked.

  "Because," Katie said, scowling. "The guy's going through a rough patch. His girlfriend kicked him out because he's never there, and he just spent most of his cash bailing his brother out of some trouble. He needs cash, plus, he was the only one of us in that passageway during the time they say your cabin was robbed."

  Raeann reached for her bag and pulled out a bag of chips. "So why do they think it was a member of the crew?” she asked, pulling the bag open. “There has to be at least a thousand people on this ship right now."

  Her lips turned upwards in a sardonic smile. "Yeah, that's what we said, too. But apparently guests are above reproach, no offense."

  "No," I said, "Actually I am offended, but on your behalf. Are they even going to look at anybody else?"

  She shook her head. "I doubt it. His prints were in there, he was in the passageway, and he had motive."

  "Yeah," I said, "but how did he get into the safe?"

  "That's the kicker," Katie said. "Kevin—the guy they're accusing—was the King's room steward."

  "Oh," April exclaimed. "The nice young man who showed us to our room and explained the ins and outs?"

  Katie nodded. "Yes, ma'am. That was Kevin. He was filling in that day. Normally, he works in guest services, but his roommate was sick, so he covered for him."

  "But just because he was the steward doesn't give him access to the safe, right?" Bobbie Sue asked. "How does that work, anyway? What happens if a guest loses the key? Is there a spare?"

  Katie shook her head. "Some ships still use keys or pass codes, but ours is newer, and the safes in the staterooms are accessed using a card. Mr. King stopped Kevin in the hall yesterday and asked if he could get another key card because his wasn't working. They were right near the office, so Kevin told him he'd bring another right down." Her face clouded with anger. "The problem is, Mr. King says that conversation never took place, and the security cameras only show Kevin making a new card."

  That was the final piece that snapped the picture into focus for me. "So the working theory is that Kevin made a new card, opened the safe and robbed it, then hid the jewelry somewhere?"

  She nodded. "That about sums it up."

  "I want to talk to him," I said. I couldn't magic a suspect out of thin air, but I did have a magical bullshit meter that was almost infallible.

  CHAPTER NINE

  IT ONLY TOOK ME ABOUT two minutes to realize Kevin was telling the truth—he didn't do it. I didn't c
are if they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence against him—they were wrong. Which meant, if we wanted to find April's pearls and clear an innocent kid's name before he lost his job and went to jail, we were gonna have to do it ourselves. The problem was that we had no clue where to start.

  The first thing I wanted to do was talk to the captain. I'd seen him when we were boarding and again at dinner the night before, but hadn't spoken with him. He seemed to be a congenial man, at least from a distance, and I was hoping he was reasonable, too.

  "What do you know about the captain?" I asked Katie and Kevin.

  Kevin was maybe twenty and had that farm-fresh feel, though he was well spoken and carried himself with dignity despite being accused of something he didn't do.

  "He's a jerk," both of them answered together.

  "But he seems so nice," Anna Mae said. "I talked to him for a bit last night when I was at the buffet. He asked if we were enjoying ourselves so far, and said if we needed anything at all, to let him know."

  "Yeah," Katie said. "Translation: If any of my staff aren't kissing your butt, let me know and I'll make their lives a living hell."

  That was ... angry. "He's that bad?" I asked.

  "Worse," Katie replied. "Though I do have to say he's not big on micromanaging, and he leaves you alone as long as you're doing your job. But if you get a complaint, there are no excuses."

  I knew better than anybody that customers weren't always right. As a matter of fact, people had become so entitled that it was hard to take legitimate complaints seriously because they were rare as hen's teeth. Nine times out of ten, people just wanted something for free.

  "There's nowhere else to go right now," April said. "You ladies may as well go back to enjoying your vacation. The captain's searching rooms and said he'd let us know if he found anything."

  "And I'm off this morning, and Kevin’s suspended," Katie said. "we'll start checking some of the common hidey-holes we have around here to see if somebody stashed them away. We know most of them."