Interlude (2)

"You ready?" Asked the guard, Davies. His right hand hovered just over the door handle, a master key card in his left. It shook slightly from nervousness. He wasn't sure what to expect on the other side of the door.

His partner, Gil, gave him a slight nod. He held onto a housekeeping cart, which was half full of comforters.

Sliding the key card in, Davies gave the door a shove.

Drawing out his gun, he stepped into the room. Everything seemed normal, mostly. The covers were removed from the bed, and a couple pillows were tossed on the floor. Other than that, there weren't any noticeable problems.

Moving toward the bed, Davies knelt down. He pulled up the hanging cover and glanced down. It was too dark.

"Flashlight," he called to Gil, holding out an empty hand. A moment later, the flashlight was in his hand and he was shining it underneath the bed.

Davies almost lost his breakfast. It was a lump of sheets, stained a dark brown. "Definitely a corpse," he mumbled uneasily.

With the help of Gil, they hauled it out from underneath the bed. Then they unraveled the sheet, exposing the dead body.

Gil checked the identification picture on his phone. "It's him."

"Liam Adkins," Davies said. "How did you get yourself like this, you poor chump?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Gil said, holding his stomach. "How did we get stuck with this job?"

Davies shook his head. "No idea. Let's get him outta here."

Gil nodded and retrieved the cart he had left outside the room. Together, they tossed the corpse in, covered it with sheets, and left the room.

Moving quickly, the two security guards tried to seem inconspicuous to any watchful eyes. Word had already gotten out about the death, though no one was sure if it was real or just the ramblings of a drunk.

"Keep it a secret. If you tell anyone, it's your jobs," the Captain had warned them.

Almost there, Davies thought. Almost there.

*****

Milly heard about Cristiana just an hour after the show. "That can't be true," she said for the fifth time.

Gerard only nodded. "It is."

They had just finished up serving the rest of their guests. The third day of the job was finished, but Milly was exhausted. She had never expected for one of her customers to turn out to be a murderer.

Milly also felt guilty.

It made sense. She had a responsibility to take care of her customers, and she had failed.

Still, the guilt remained. She needed to get rid of it.

*****

The Captain stood at the bridge of the ship, looking out the window at the dark sky. He was getting tired, but emergencies called for him to work extra hours.

"Navigation," he called out. "How're we looking?"

"All clear, sir," said the navigator.

"Good." He didn't need anything else on his plate tonight. A murder had been committed on his ship. The criminal had been taken into custody. It was to be expected. All of this was a test. A test of his will.

"It's actually proving stronger than I thought," said a voice from behind the Captain. He turned to the man sitting in the back corner. Dark shadows were cast over his face, but the Captain recognized him immediately.

The fancy suit, the way he sat as if he owned the place. "Mr. Denouement. I haven't seen you since departure. How has your suite been treating you?"

The man sighed. "It's okay. The waves have been much too bumpy though. It's disturbing my sleep. Why did I ever invest in a cruise ship? Ah ah…don't answer that. Rhetorical. Anyways, I'm here because I've heard mumblings about what's been going on. Are you in control?"

The Captain nodded. "Yes sir. Everything is secure. The passengers, at least 99.9% of them, will be walking off this ship having had the best experience of their lives."

"And the drinks? Have they been enjoying them?"

"Of course, sir. We sold thousands of gallons already. Unfortunately, a few have had too much. Cristiana Bertelli consumed close to sixty drinks since departure. She and a few others haven't been able to control themselves. The rest are riding waves of euphoria." Said the Captain. He had yet to drink anything himself, and still wasn't sure if he would indulge. The substance was so new after all. It could still be dangerous.

"Good to hear. How have the passengers dealt with the news about a murderer being on the ship?" Asked Denouement.

"They just think it was part of the show. Thankfully, Maximillian Astor was able to play it off and continue the show. Drunk passengers happen all the time." In the past few years, the Captain had seen it time and time again where passengers would end up in the brig from their drunken behavior.

"Perfect. This Bertelli, I want her interrogated. She was the one present when Jack Brooks went overboard, correct?"

The Captain nodded. "Yes sir. And I will interrogate her as soon as possible. Speaking of Brooks…I just received word an hour ago that his body's been found. Will the…substance…not show up in his blood record?"

Mr. Denouement laughed. "Oh Captain, my Captain. That's the beauty of it. It'll be nonexistent. Not even a trace."

The door swung open and two guards stumbled in, pulling a housekeeping cart behind them. They were out of breath and looked tired.

"Captain. We brought the body. What would you like done with it?" Said Davies.

"Did you just haul it up a mountain? Why are you so out of breath?" Asked the Captain. He noticed Mr. Denouement quietly slipping out the door behind them.

"We decided to skip the elevators. There were so many people, and we didn't want the corpse stinking up the small area. So we had to haul it up the stairs," said Gil.

"Smart lads. We'll have authorities pick it up once we make landfall. No way they can get a helicopter or another boat all the way out here. We still have about two thousand miles until we arrive in Hawaii."

"Understood," said Davies.

"You two remember what I said. Not a word about the murder. I'd rather it remains a rumor. After all, it's for the good of the passengers."