Cruise to Murder (Z & C Mysteries, #2) (13 page)

“What? By a bomb?” Zo asked, her brown eyes filled with fear.

“Yup.” He threw his bag over his shoulder, carrying it, and still clutched his briefcase. “It’s been a pleasure, ladies. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

He exited the room.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Where would the bomb be?” Claire asked.

“I don’t know. Hurry, let’s try to get out.” She moved around, wiggling and pulling, trying to release the rope’s tie. Claire followed in like manner.

The clock’s digital face suddenly switched to 9:34.

FLUSH. They heard the swishing from the restroom’s toilet bowl.

With sweat on her forehead, Claire exhaled. “Well, that’s not what I expected.”

“We’re not dead?”

“No, we’re not.”

Whistling, Butch exited the bathroom, wiping his hands on his pants. “Where’s Larry? What did I miss?”

BOOM! They heard from a place close, yet far away.

“What was that?” Zo demanded. “The bomb?”

“Is that what that was?” Butch said, raising his eyebrows.

A gush of water came flooding out from under the bathroom door.

“Butch, I can’t believe we kissed. You conniving, lying murderer.”

“Where’s Larry?”

“He left a minute ago. Go follow him, you lemming!”

He turned and rushed out the door.

“Bunny, would you mind nibbling at our cords?” Claire asked.

He twitched his nose and stayed laying there.

A gunshot fired, echoing throughout the hotel.

The women looked at each other, affright.

“Just kill me now,” Zo said. “I am tired of the suspense.”

Another gunshot fired. They stayed quiet, listening. There was a clatter in the hall, and soon Butch returned. He was dragging something across the now soaked carpeting.

“What now?” Zo asked, trying to see what he was pulling. “Along with me, you have come back to dump your pride?”

“Ooh, ow!” Butch winced in pain, but not from what Zo said. He let go and pressed against his shoulder.

“Are you bleeding?” Claire could see better from her angle.

“I’ve been shot,” he said.

“The police are here?”

“I’m here, if that counts.” He finished pulling in what he dragged against the carpeting.

It was Larry Potter, limp. Butch finished dragging him to the side of the bed. He pulled handcuffs out of his back pocket and linked Larry’s wrists around a foot of the bed. He then put Larry’s gun onto the night stand.

“Butch? Who are you really?” Zo’s voice turned sweetly embarrassed.

Butch cut through their cords with a pocketknife as he explained. “I’m with the FBI My ID is in my wallet.”

He continued, “It’s a good thing I’ve been trailing this guy and went undercover to get closer to learn more about his intentions. I’m sorry I disappointed you two. But I couldn’t blow my cover. It worked out for you, ’cause I spiked his drink during the Koona ceremony. I loosed you from the ropes he had you tied up with in the Koona cavern.

“
I knew that those hypnotized, fake zombies wouldn’t do anything that Larry here didn’t tell them to do. With him asleep, they weren’t going to harm anyone. Eventually, he came to enough to escape the police, who were on his trail, thanks to you two.”

The ropes were released from around the two women. They rubbed their wrists, feeling a slight burn from fighting against them.

Butch, while keeping an eye on Larry the Great, made a call for a police unit to come and pick him up. They sent three cars with lights and sirens up the driveway to the hotel. Six of them went in. As Larry was being handcuffed and taken by force, he awoke. Realizing what a predicament he was in, he called to Butch, Zo and Claire over his shoulder, “It’s too late! It’s timed to go off at twelve o’clock tonight.”

“You two go back to the ship now,
” Butch told the Kanes. “I’ll call Security ahead of time and vouch for you, since you don’t have your IDs. I am taking custody of the rabbit. He knows every inch of those caves like they are his second home. I’m going to follow this little guy around, hunting for where the dirty bomb is. I haven’t been able to have total access, because only four other people could go into all the cave rooms: Belmont, Larry, Mike. And the other guy, Krucheve.”

Zo and Claire took a cab back to the ship. A
s they boarded, security expecting them, they felt a sense of accomplishment. That was a nice warm feeling, only to be iced over by the thought that unless the nuke was discovered and disconnected the whole island would be vaporized. They decided to go see Cher at a luncheon show.

The c
aptain made a ship’s announcement. “We will be concluding our cruise, ladies and gentlemen, sailing from this port at 12:00 midnight. Our chefs have created an entire new menu for you today of which you will never experience the like again. Good sailing…”

Claire
was wearing a cream colored pant and blouse combination, large gold hoop earrings, and her dark hair was sleek and shiny. Zo wore her hair knotted at the neck with a stream of red hair down her back in a soft wave. She decided on black pants and a black pullover with a white jacket, black and white shoes, and black and white earrings, making her hair color stand out. She mascara-ed her eyelashes twice.

“I am so worried about having to rely on a bunny to find the source of a nuclear bomb by twelve midnight, Mom. I can’t get it out of my mind.”

“I know, me too. But there is nothing either of us can do. Butch has the best idea.”

The Cher
look-alike looked great in an extravagant Vegas-style costume. It sounded very much like her, everyone thought.

Time had gone by. Night had fallen over The Sunburst. Claire found her cell phone still in the cabin, so when it rang she was delighted to get a call. It was Butch. “We got it!” he announced victoriously. “The bunny eventually went into every tunnel and cave. We found uranium rich ore, and even a stock of plutonium being submerged in ocean water inside the stinky cave that no one wanted to go into.”

“Oh, thank goodness! That is wonderful. They found it
, Mom.”

“Guess what, Larry thought he was so smart, and he forgot to press the activate button. Or, he was just trying to
scare us! The bomb wouldn’t have gone off anyway.”

“I am soooo glad to hear that. Come back to the ship tonight
. We will celebrate.”

“You bet. I just want to know, you likey Detective Smith? He wants a date with you. Shall I tell him yes?”

“Sure, he’s a really nice guy.”

“Done!
See you around eleven.”

Claire hung up and turned to her mom.
“I guess we will have a little fun tonight. Butch and Smith will meet us at eleven. Yay, Mom! And yet, I’m feeling a little depressed.”

“I think we have had too many near death experiences. I feel a little post
-distress too. Is that it?”

“Butch said that dumb Larry didn’t have the bomb activated. He was all mouth.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, Claire. Does Larry really seem like he isn’t making a real threat? He was having an awful lot of satisfaction in those words to just be fake. Think about it.”

“
Oh nooooo. Mom! Go the second nuke! There’s a second flipping nuke. Where? What time is it?” She opened her cell phone—10:20. Then she dialed. “Stay on the job, Butch. There is a second bomb. I’m sure it is activated. Talk to Detective Bennard immediately. Okay, keep me in the know.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“
Let’s go into The Sand-Drift Lounge, daughter. I feel like throwing back a root beer float.”

“Yeah, let
’s blow the suds off a root beer! I think we should swagger in and spit on the floor, ’cause we’re tough!”

“Hee hee. I double dog dare you!”

“You got it, Mom. Spit right on the floor! Never dare the kid. I just might spit in somebody’s eye.”

“Ten
-thousand to your favorite charity, if you do.”

With that deal
, they entered The Sand-Drift Lounge, where they discovered eight of The Red Hat Ladies in a large half-circle booth. “Hey, join us,” Kathryn said. “Yes. Let’s get a couple of chairs to pull up.” Matilda smiled.

Zo and Claire found their conversation fun, yet the bomb threat
was still in the forefront of their thoughts.

Eleven o’clock arrived and that is when one drunk man began to be loud and obnoxious.

“Somebody ought to eighty-six him from the bar
,” Kathryn said.

“Nobody is going to do that,
” another replied, “because that is the illustrious captain of the ship—Captain Vladimir Krucheve.”

Zo started coughing, and Claire patted her on the back. “Yeah
, Mom. This looks like opportunity and a spot of good luck! Only four know about the secret room of the caves: Larry, Mike, Mr. Belmont and
Krucheve
. What are we going to do?”

“Okay, you two. What is going on?”

The Red Hat Ladies leaned forward for the answer.

“
There is a bomb on the ship and the captain is a conspirator,” Claire blurted out as a matter-of-fact with a big smile.

Kathryn
yelled to the waiter, “Bring a round of drinks to this table pronto, and make them stronger with extra root in their beers.” She pointed to the Kanes, then leaned forward again to hear more.

“What can anyone do?” one of them asked.

“I do have a plan.” Zo leaned forward to reveal it in a little more privacy. “A couple of you should cause a commotion in the bridge, so that they will call back the captain. Claire and I will follow him and hopefully he will want to check the status of the bomb to see if it is still okay.”

“
Slide out, girls, and three of you come with me. Let’s do this!” Matilda commanded.

“
You could all spit on the floor for strength and valor,” Claire suggested and giggled.

“Nerves again
, sweetie?”

“Yes, Mom.”

The four Red Hat volunteers pretended to spit on the floor and strode out with long strides, set jaws and fire in their eyes. If they had any fear, it wasn’t visible.

One couple
had seen this and leaned out of their booth to watch them leave. The woman said, “Well, I never!”

Zo said to Claire, “Let it go!”

Claire nodded and looked away from them, relaxing. She dialed… “Butch! The captain’s name is Vladimir Krucheve. We have a plan in motion. The bomb is probably on ship. Over and out.”

Fifteen
minutes later, over the entire ship’s intercoms, voices could be heard arguing. A man was saying, “Give me that! No! Ow!”

“We’ve got another hat pin, if you don’
t back away,” a woman responded, and then became considerably louder, as she spoke right into the receiver. “Captain Krucheve! We know! Your plan has run aground.”

Then the intercom went dead.

The captain immediately got up from the bar with a stony look on his face. He walked fast, listing to one side in drunkenness, then corrected his way.

Zo and Claire followed quietly.
The four Red Hat Ladies who remained, followed Zo and Claire quietly. Soon, Zo and Claire found themselves peeking around a corner to watch the captain go into his suite. The four Red Hat Ladies peeked at Zo and Claire from around a different corner. Zo and Claire tiptoed to the captain’s door to see what he was doing. The four Red Hat Ladies tiptoed to the corner Zo and Claire had left.

The Kanes
finally entered the captain’s room. He pulled out a case, opened it on his bed and checked a timer.

There was a lamp on a nearby stand. Claire quietly unplugged it, keeping her eye on the back of the tall man. She glanced to her mom, who nodded, before hitting him across the head. He fell over and yelled out in pain.

Zo grabbed the case and hefted it out the door. She was surprised to find The Red Hat Ladies right outside.

“
Quick, hide this in your room,” Zo hurried. “It won’t go off until midnight. We have some time. Run!”

Two of them ran off together both holding onto a corner end.

Back inside, Zo found Claire wrestling the captain, who was now choking her. She spit in his eye. He went to wipe at it, breaking his hold from around her neck.

Zo
grabbed her daughter, only to be punched on the cheek and given a bloody nose by Krucheve. She fell back onto the floor.

At that moment
, the two remaining Red Hat Ladies ran in and took hold of anything they could, hitting the captain from behind. The four women together started beating and kicking him down onto his bed.

“Blow everybody up will you? Hit him again
, Sally!” one said.

“
Get off of me!” yelled the captain. “It’s like being pecked to death by chickens!”