Dreamboat (31 page)

Crissy nodded, licking the blood that still trickled from her lips into her mouth and down her chin.

“Don't worry about that,” the woman said. “I'm getting the doctor now.” She'd flipped a phone open and was dialing, but before she could finish, Luca rushed through the open door with Christopolous on his heels.

Luca took Crissy in his arms solicitously, looking over at Mark with rage in his eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

She nodded. “My lip is cut. That's all.”

Luca began examining it, and whispering to her at the same time, his eyes filled with tears.

“Good job, Anasthasia,” Christopolous said to the woman. He looked over at Mark, who sat upright on the chair, his hands cuffed behind him, a smug smile on his face. “Looks like the little lady did a job on him, too.” He strode over to Mark. “Clipped you on the side of the head, didn't she?”

Mark was silent.

“Less than you deserve, you son of a bitch,” Christopolous said, roughly pulling Mark's hair back to look at the wound, then letting go.

Mark flinched but still remained silent.

“Get the captain down here,” Christopolous said to Anasthasia.

She flipped her phone open again.

“Would you take a look at him, Luca? See if you can take care of them both down in Security,” Christopolous said. “If we can avoid taking them to the hospital, let's do it. No need to upset passengers in the waiting room.”

Luca examined Mark's wound. “This is going to take some sutures,” he said, “but I can do it in Security.”

“What about her?”

“I just need to wash her wound,” Luca said. “I'll go down and get what I need, then meet you in Security.” He went to Crissy and hugged her to him. “Will you be okay here?”

“Sure,” she said, although she didn't want to stay in this room another minute.

“We're going to have to take a statement from her,” Anasthasia said. “I'll take her down to the office myself.” She looked at Crissy. “Okay? We'll make it quick, sweetheart.”

Crissy nodded, and Anasthasia put a strong arm around her. “Hurry, Luca,” she said. “Let's get this over with for her.”

The captain marched into the cabin, closing the door behind him. His perpetual smile was missing, a look of concern in its place. Crissy could imagine the dilemma he found himself in. The shipowner's son caught trying to rape a passenger. It wouldn't look good for him or anyone else involved.

The captain asked her if she was okay. “Yes,” she said.

“Can you briefly tell me what happened?” he asked. “We'll get a complete statement later.”

“He tried to rape me,” Crissy said, “and I hit him with a champagne bottle.”

The captain walked over to Mark, examined his wound, then looked him in the eye. “Is this true?” he asked. “Did you try to rape her?”

“It's all lies,” Mark said. “She was after me. Has been ever since the trip started.”

“How do you explain her lip?” the captain asked.

“She likes it rough,” Mark said. “She's a real sicko. Kept begging me to bite her.”

Crissy's shoulders slumped, and Anasthasia held onto her firmly, giving her a few pats.

“I want them both brought down to Security for complete statements,” the captain said. “Anasthasia, you take Ms. Fitzgerald down now.”

Anasthasia nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said.

“And Mikelos, get Garefi in here to take Mark down, but get him out of those handcuffs first.” He gazed at Mark. “You'll behave, won't you?”

“Of course,” Mark snarled. “I've done nothing wrong.”

The captain nodded and glanced around the suite. “Mikelos, you stay here with me.

Anasthasia left with Crissy, and Garefi soon appeared and took instructions from Mikelos Christopolous. He left the suite at once, with Mark walking along beside him.

The captain turned to Christopolous. “You'd better get Sitara up here with his camera to document the scene,” he said.

Mikelos Christopolous nodded idly. “I've already called down for him,” he said. His gaze was focused on the quilts that spilled out over the floor in the living room and entrance hall. Bending down on a knee, he took a pair of thin latex gloves from a pocket and put them on.

“What is it?” Captain Papadapolis asked.

“Look at this,” Christopolous said, indicating the Hondos Center shopping bag. The package that it held was partially exposed, and even though he was wearing the gloves, Mikelos gingerly slipped the parcel out into full view, then carefully pulled back the common butcher paper that hid its contents.

“What is it?” Captain Papadapolis asked, kneeling beside him.

Mikelos held the butcher paper aside with a pen. “Semtex,” he said, directing his gaze at the captain. “Plastic explosives.”

“Explosives?” the captain said, eyeing the package suspiciously.

“Enough to blow a gigantic hole in the ship and sink her,” Mikelos said.

“Jesus,” Captain Papadapolis said, his voice almost a whisper.

“What the hell would Makelos Vilos be doing with Semtex?” Christopolous asked.

“I don't know,” the captain said, rising to his feet, “but we're going to find out.”

Christopolous stood up, snapping off the latex gloves at the same time. He couldn't take his eyes off the small package that lay among the quilts. “I sure don't have a good feeling about this,” he said. “Makelos Vilos has a lot of explaining to do.”

In a small room in Security, Mark, the captain, and Mikelos Christopolous sat around a metal table. Christopolous had placed a tiny but very powerful tape recorder on the table, and it was picking up every word they said.

“What were these explosives doing in the trunk, Mark?” Christopolous asked.

“I don't have any idea,” Mark replied with an astonished expression.

The captain had noted what he thought was genuine surprise when they'd told Mark that they had found the Semtex, but he couldn't be certain. Mark might be a very good actor.

“Come on,” Christopolous said. “You had the trunk brought aboard, but you didn't know what was in it? You expect us to believe that?”

“I did
not
know what was in that trunk,” Mark said, emphatically shaking his head. “Do you think I'm crazy? I would never have knowingly brought anything like that aboard the
Sea Nymph.
”

“Then how do you explain it?” Christopolous asked, shifting in his chair.

“The trunk belongs to my father,” Mark said. “I brought it aboard for him.”

Christopolous stared at him intently. “For your father? That makes no sense.”

“He said it was family stuff he wanted taken to the apartment in Miami,” Mark replied. “That's all I knew.”

“And you didn't even look inside it?” Christopolous asked incredulously. “You didn't have any idea what was in it?”

“No,” Mark persisted. “I didn't even open it until today. Crissy had
asked about it, and I took a look for myself. Only I didn't see any explosives.” He glared at Christopolous, and his voice rose angrily. “All I saw was a bunch of old quilts. Probably something that my father's old
yaya
made a hundred years ago.”

The captain sighed in exasperation. He didn't know if Mark was telling the truth or not, but he knew that something very fishy was going on. Clearing his voice, he looked at Christopolous. “I'm going to make a phone call,” he said, scooting back from the table. “You can continue questioning him, and I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Christopolous nodded.

In one of Security's offices, Captain Papadapolis sat down at a desk and removed his cell phone from its holder on his belt. He flipped it open and dialed Georgios Vilos' telephone number, hoping that he would be able to reach him.

The telephone was picked up on the fourth ring. “
Nea?
”

“Mr. Vilos, this is Captain Demetrios Papadapolis.”

“Hello, Captain,” Georgios Vilos replied in a friendly manner that belied the suspicions he felt the moment he realized who was calling. It was highly unusual for Demetrios Papadapolis to be phoning him during a trip. “How are you?”

“We have a problem, Mr. Vilos,” the captain said, “or I wouldn't be calling you.”

Vilos chortled amicably. “What seems to be the matter, Captain?”

“We've found a package of Semtex, a plastic explosive, on the ship, Mr. Vilos,” he said.

“You what?” Vilos cried. Sweat began to bead his forehead.

“Yes, sir,” the captain said. “It was in your son's stateroom.”

“No!” Vilos practically shouted. “That's impossible.”

“I'm sorry, sir,” the captain said, “but that's a fact. It was in a trunk he says that you gave him for safekeeping. He said he was taking the trunk to Miami for you.”

Georgios Vilos' hand shook on the cell phone. He was trying to think of what to say, but his mind was racing in a dozen different directions at once. Finally, he cleared his voice and said, “Captain Papadapolis, what my son says is true. I asked him to take the trunk to Miami, but I can assure you that there were no explosives in it when I gave it to him. Someone must have tampered with it.”

“Of course, sir. Sitara, our forensics man is still in the stateroom,” the captain said. “If it's been tampered with, he ought to be able to tell us.”

“I'm sure that's the case,” Georgios Vilos said. He paused, then continued.

“How did you discover this, Captain?”

“That's the other problem, sir.”

“What? Explosives on my ship is not enough of a problem?”

“A young lady, a passenger,” the captain said, “claims that Mark tried to rape her.”

“What are you saying, Captain?” Georgios Vilos roared.

The man was nearly apoplectic as Demetrios Papadapolis suspected he would be. “Yes, sir. I'm sorry, but it looks like she's telling the truth. Mark invited her to his stateroom for lunch, then attacked her. The trunk was knocked over during the attack. Mark claims that he's innocent, but—”

“This is . . . this is . . . outrageous!” Georgios Vilos said angrily. “Lock him up in the brig overnight! Maybe he'll come to his senses.”

“We're still taking statements, sir,” the captain went on, trying to ease the shock for Georgios Vilos, “and I'll keep you posted.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Georgios Vilos said. “And the explosives?”

“Mikelos Christopolous is taking care of the Semtex. He's an expert on such matters, so you don't have to worry about that.”

Georgios Vilos heaved a sigh. “Thank God you found them, Captain,” he said.

“I only regret that it happened the way it did,” Captain Papadapolis said.

“Yes, well . . .” Georgios Vilos momentarily seemed to be lost in thought. “Do whatever you have to do, Captain.”

“Yes, sir.” The cell phone went dead in his hand. Georgios Vilos had hung up.

When all the statements had been taken, Mark was put in the ship's brig. Anasthasia, stating what she had heard before she entered the cabin and seen after, was the deciding factor as far as the captain was concerned. Crissy's statement was convincing, but he couldn't rely on her word alone. He knew that he had to give Makelos Vilos every benefit of doubt, but there was no debate in the matter after Anasthasia made her statement. He felt that he had no choice but to put Mark in the brig. Besides which, Georgios Vilos had told him to do so.

Whether he was guilty of anything else was an unanswered question. Christopolous repeatedly asked Mark if had been placing calls to Crissy, but Mark flatly denied it. When asked if he'd slashed her underwear, Mark denied that, too. Watching the questioning, it was hard for the captain or anyone else to decide whether or not he was lying. He still appeared to be completely convinced that he hadn't tried to rape Crissy, and repeatedly stated that she had begged him for sex, haunting him the entire trip.

Luca wanted Crissy to come to the hospital after he had washed her wound with antiseptic and she had given her statement, but she refused. “Luca, I'm okay,” she insisted. “The tranquilizer you gave me is already working, and besides, you've got your hands full. I would just be in the way.”

“You would never be in the way,” he said. “You can spread out on one of the beds where I can keep watch over you.”

“Luca,” she said, “I can spread out in my cabin. Anasthasia said she would take me up and stay awhile.”

“Then why don't you come down later and have dinner with me and Voula?” he said. “We'll eat off trays there, and you can join us. I know it's not much fun, but—”

“I'd love to do that,” she replied.

He hugged her to him as if he never wanted to let her go. “I'll miss you,” he whispered.

“I'll miss you, too,” she said.

He reluctantly released her. “See you tonight.” He turned and left the Security office.

Anasthasia, who had been waiting discreetly in an adjoining room, came into the office. “You ready to go upstairs, sweetheart?”

Crissy nodded. “I'm ready, but you really don't have to do this, Anasthasia,” she said.

“Oh, yes, I do,” the tall, big-boned woman replied. “I'm going to see that you get back to your cabin safely at least. Come on.”

She led Crissy upstairs to her cabin. “Got this all to yourself?” Anasthasia asked.

“I do now,” Crissy replied, “but it didn't start out that way. A friend came with me, but we had a spat. She moved in with someone else.”

“Jeez,” Anasthasia said. “This hasn't exactly been a dream trip for
you, has it, honey?” She crossed to the desk area and turned the ringer on the telephone off.
No need for anybody to bother her now,
she thought.

“Yes and no,” Crissy said, taking things out of her shoulder bag and putting them away.