Six

Jagger handed me a steaming cup of hot tea where we sat in the coffee shop near the main lobby. They didn’t have my usual hazelnut decaf, so Jagger made the correct decision to get me tea without even asking. I noticed the little paper label on the end of the string. Decaffeinated. Perfect. What a guy.

I didn’t have to go on duty today, which was a blessing. Since we each got a day off every schedule, now I could concentrate on my case. But every time I saw some guy in a suit, my heart skipped a beat. I hoped they found out who killed Jackie soon, since it didn’t feel too comfortable being a nurse on this ship. Hopefully, her murder had had nothing to do with being a nurse on The Golden Dolphin though. But it stuck in my mind.

One dead.

One missing.

I also didn’t want my friends’ and family’s vacations to be ruined. Hopefully, they wouldn’t find out about Jackie, but I doubted that the FBI wouldn’t question everyone onboard.

Jagger sat down with his black coffee and handed me half a bagel with cream cheese and lox on it. I thanked him, slid the lox out and into my napkin when he turned around, then took a bite. Tasted a bit fishy but good, since I was starving. “Thanks.”

He nodded. “So, what’s your plan for today?”

I held the bagel near my lips. Jagger was asking me my plan. He was actually acting as if it were my case. I was in charge, and he was just here to help. I could tell him what to do now.

God willing.

“Well.” I swallowed, took a sip of tea, winced since it was too hot and watched Jagger add more milk to it from the metal container on the table. I set down my bagel, because if I kept eating while he kept doing these things, these so-unlike-Jagger-type things, my jaw would drop in shock and any bagel bites would cascade out. I took a sip of tea and smiled. “Perfect.”

“You have a perfect plan?”

“Er…yeah, but I meant the tea was perfect. Thanks.”

He looked at me over his cup. “The plan?”

I set my cup down. “No, I don’t have a detailed plan to relate to you. I just got here yesterday, got a short tour of the infirmary, met a few nurses and then my roommate was killed. Not a lot of free time in that scenario.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have gone out dancing last night.”

As soon as he said it, my eyes widened, and I could tell he wished he could suck back the words. Ha! Imagine Jagger wanting to take back what he said. I smiled inside so as not to make fun of him. “I’m always working, Jagger. Even when on the dance floor, I can scan the room, get information from the crew and bartender. Always on the job.”

Even I didn’t buy that.

Jagger merely gave me a look that said, “Yeah, right,” but he kept his mouth shut and ate and drank in silence.

Several passengers walked by carrying their coffee and sweets. They sat at the glass tables next to us.

“As soon as I finish, I’m off to the infirmary.”

He looked at me.

I moved my hand away from my hot tea so as not to knock over the cup when I said, “We. We are off to the infirmary.”

“Atta girl, Sherlock.”

“Hey, good looking, you come to snoop around?”

My eyes widened as I looked at Rico, who was working the nursing station today. How in the world did he know? My mouth went dry, and I couldn’t think of a lie.

Jagger pushed me forward. “‘Good looking’ is here to orient herself to the place before she has to start duty.”

Rico glared at Jagger for a moment. “Ah, the male host.”

I swallowed back a laugh. Apparently there was a very active crew’s grapevine around here-and the enigmatic Jagger was the juiciest grape this cruise.

I eased past Jagger. “Yeah, Rico, I’m here to snoop around, as you say. I want to be very familiar with the place before Monday.”

He smiled at me. I felt Jagger stiffen.

Yes! Obviously he’d noticed and didn’t like what he’d seen.

“No problem,” Rico said. “The place is empty. Just passed out a shitload of seasick pills. Other than that and a kitchen worker cutting his finger, the day is slow.” He waved toward the examining/treatment room. Have at it.”

When Jagger started to step forward, Rico stood. “Can I help you?”

Yikes! “Oh…him. Well, funny thing…” I looked toward Jagger for a life vest. Nothing. He left me drowning. “Seems as if we have a common friend back in the States-”

Rico laughed. “Pauline, we’re near the coast of the U.S., not off in some foreign land.”

I forced a laugh. Jagger remained silent, probably thinking Rico was a jerk. “True. But we just met…that is, Jag…um…Jay and I met at the dance, and I wanted to talk about our friend before he has to go back to work.”

I wished I could get sucked out the porthole.

Thank goodness a woman came through the doorway holding a napkin to her bleeding nose. Not that I was glad she had a nosebleed, but it gave us the opportunity to hightail it away from Rico while he tended to the patient.

Jagger and I went into an exam room, where I started to open drawers and look in shelves, all the while making ridiculous conversation with “Jay” about our fictitious friend. I was actually learning the layout of the place. If I had to treat a patient, I wanted to know what to do and where things were.

While Rico cleaned up the area, Jagger and I eyed a small desk area that held a computer and notepads. A file cabinet, marked STAFF, sat on the side.

“Look at that,” I whispered.

Jagger glanced toward Rico then over at the file cabinet. “Observant.”

I smiled.

Several passengers came to the reception desk and suddenly, voices started to escalate. Apparently they were complaining about the ridiculous cost to treat their mother’s nosebleed. Rico didn’t sound all too pleasant-more as if he’d been through this routine way too many times.

Interesting.

“Can I help you?”

I swung around to see a woman standing inches from me and staring at both Jagger and me. She had on a uniform, so I knew she was staff. I should have worn mine too, except that whoever had packed up my stuff to move me had made a mess of everything. I was going with the tall, blond FBI guy, who looked as if he could care less about a woman’s rumpled clothing. Thank goodness I found the wrinkle-free white shorts and navy tee shirt I now wore.

“Oh, hi. I’m Pauline Sokol, the new nurse.” I held out my hand, but she didn’t take it. The woman was nearly a foot taller than myself and had deep brunette hair that was piled on top of her head with a few sexy strands dripping down the sides of her perfect face.

Already I didn’t like her.

“I’m Topaz Rivera. I work the front desk here.” She stared at Jagger. “What the hell are you doing in here, Jay?” Her tone changed considerably, and she flashed what had to be fake eyelashes at him. How the hell did she know him?

I decided Topaz Rivera looked more like an exotic dancer than a receptionist. A receptionist? I needed to get to know her.

She slithered over to Jagger and whispered something in his ear.

“Topaz!” Rico shouted. “Get your butt over here!”

She winked at Jagger, curled her lips at me and cursed at Rico, but she did leave.

“Phew. Thought she’d never leave,” Jagger said.

Jagger’s eyes still looked in Topaz’s direction, so I slapped his arm. “The case?”

“Hmm? Oh, I told her the story about our mutual friend back in the States. She’s cool with it.”

“Shut up.” I turned toward the wall and rolled my eyes then looked back toward the reception desk. Soon fists might be flying. Rico got up and shut the door between us. Great. No one could or should hear us or see us snooping around, although I did want to hear what was going on out there if it involved billing.

“Perfect.” Jagger lifted the key to the file cabinet from his hand and unlocked it.