Killer

I was sitting at the crew's deck bar when I got the notification that the Captain had called for an emergency staff meeting. I quickly finish the remainder of my beer before heading to our regular staff meeting room. I join the others milling around, waiting for the Captain to arrive.

We all look confused as hell as to what could be the reason for this late evening gathering. Usually, there's some idea as to why the Captain would call a meeting so late. News travels fast on this ship, but no one knows why we're here.

Several minutes later, the Captain appears with his officers in tow. Well, shit. It can't be good. He takes his place at the front of the room. We all quiet down while waiting to be addressed by the Captain.

The Captain stands and clears his throat before he begins. "It has come to my attention that on the first day of this cruise, one of our female passengers went missing. We have no information on how or why this happened. If she went overboard, the installed sensors didn't notify us of such a thing and didn't give off an alarm. The passenger was with a staff member at the pool bar.

He takes time to look at everyone in the room. "That leads me to the second missing female. She's the friend and cabin mate of the first missing female. The day after, that friend told her traveling companions about her concern about not seeing her cabin mate that day. She's the one who mentioned to them that the last time that she saw her friend was at the bar speaking to a staff member. She told them she would find that staff member to ask him if he knew what could have happened. No one has seen her since. Again, no overboard alarms sounded. If you were that staff member, please stay behind to speak to me."

He sighs before continuing, "Also, on the way out, we need your initials to authorize giving your name to some detectives who happen to be on board as passengers and want to assist the FBI in the investigation. I spoke to the FBI, and they're appreciative of the help. I notified the Coast Guard. Let's get on top of this and ensure the rest of the passengers are safe. Please keep your eyes open to anything that could be suspicious. I appreciate your cooperation concerning this matter. Thank you."

The Captain walks over to stand beside his first officer by the door. He's watching to make sure everyone initials their permission to give their names to the detectives. I don't care. I'll initial. They'll never charge me with anything; my record is clean.

Walking by the Captain, I hear him say, "Mr. Grant, a word, please."

Well damn!

***

Cindy

The buzz of our stateroom phone wakes me. "Hello?"

The voice on the other side of the line lets me know that the Captain wants to meet Sam and me for breakfast at the same table we had dinner at last night in thirty minutes. I tell them that I'll be there.

I hang up. Millie mumbles and turns over when I quickly tell her about my breakfast plans. I know that Sam got the same call. I rush to brush my teeth and dress in a tank top and jean shorts. I throw my hair into a high ponytail and slip on my flip-flops. Sam is exiting his room at the same time as me.

He smiles and wraps his arms around my waist. "Good morning."

He gently kisses my lips, and I can taste his minty freshness.

"Good morning to you, too." I smile at him as he takes my hand and escorts me to breakfast with the Captain.

We enter the dining area and see the Captain and another uniformed gentleman sitting at the table waiting on us. I'm very appreciative of the pot of coffee already on the table. Both men stand when we approach.

We all shake hands as the Captain introduces us to the gentleman. "This is David Blake, my Head of Security."

We all speak our 'nice to meet you' before sitting. The Captain himself pours our coffee. The waiter stops by a few minutes later, and we all order breakfast.

The Captain gives us the list of staff members. Every single one of them permitted us to have their names. I'm not surprised at all. A red flag would be waving high if someone didn't allow us.

We decide that when we finish our breakfast, we'll go with David immediately to look over the security footage of the pool bar. Sam and I are happy to have the list of all staff members to work through.

We enjoyed breakfast, shook the Captain's hand, and followed David to his office. He started the video footage from the first night. We can see no staff members at the bar, but we notice a tiny part of the bar that's not viewable from the camera. We see a young lady matching the description of Lucy talking to someone just off the camera's view. It tells me that he knew right where that weakness in video coverage was. Sam and I look at each other, knowing we think the same thing.

Dave then brings up the following evening. Again, we see a woman matching Kelly's description approach someone in the same area of the bar out of the camera's view. We watched as both women were very comfortable and left with who we assumed was the person responsible for the woman missing.

Sam and I leave the security office and go to Sam's stateroom. He brought his laptop on the cruise to keep up on cases that he left behind.

"Well, that video footage wasn't much help," I complain.

"We know that the culprit knows the ins and outs of this ship's security cameras." He slides his keycard, opens his door, and we enter into his stateroom. Neither of us has been inside each other's rooms. We've met and talked between balconies, but that's as far as we had been.

I take a quick look around. The men's stateroom is a mirror image of ours. I'm pretty impressed. These two guys are neater than Millie, I chuckle, and Sam looks at me.

"What? Did I leave my boxers on the floor?" He looks down at the floor, and I laugh.

He starts laughing with me, which makes me lose it because he has no fucking clue why I'm laughing so hysterically. I have to hold my sides to relieve the pain in my muscles.

It takes several minutes for me to calm down. "Boxers? Really? It was funny how you two guys are neater than Millie."

"That's it?" He pulls me into his chest. "I haven't laughed that hard since, damn, I have no clue. It must have been a hell of a long time ago. Thank you." He runs his fingers through my hair.

I place my head on his chest and listen to his pounding heartbeat. I wonder if he can feel mine. "Thank you for what, exactly?"

He pulls back, places his warm hands on my face, and looks deep into my eyes. "For the laughter you bring into my life."

Before I can respond, his lips gently brush mine. He tenderly sucks my lower lip between his. I moan and melt into his body as he takes full possession of my mouth. His velvety tongue caresses mine as he takes his time exploring every crevasse of my wet, needy mouth.

After several intensely seductive moments, he pulls away and places his forehead against mine. My eyes are still closed, reveling at the moment when he whispers. "Let's get to work."

My eyes fly open to see him smirking at me. "Wow, Dude, you sure know how to kill a mood."

He grins sheepishly and shrugs. He releases me and grabs two beers from his mini-fridge while I get his laptop and open the balcony door.

*****