Darkest Journey (Krewe of Hunters #20)(61)

“We know,” Alexi said. “Once we’re out of port, this dining room needs to be clear by eleven for the lunch setup. We report here each evening by five for the first dinner shift, and we finish up at approximately ten each night.”

“Exactly,” Simpson said. “Alexi and Clara, delighted to work with you again. Charlie, I look forward to getting to know you better. I saw one of your commercials recently, but you’re even more talented than I knew.”

“Thank you,” Charlie said, wondering which one he’d seen. She’d made enough money to live for a year on the condom commercial she’d shot, but it certainly did come back to haunt her. She hadn’t had to do anything remotely sexual and had been fully clothed for the entire thirty seconds. Still, the mere mention of condoms seemed to make people smirk.

Simpson looked over at Jude. “I truly pray you’re not expecting trouble. I understand you were involved in some difficulties that plagued one of our sister ships?”

Charlie saw the slight tension in Jude’s polite smile. “I believe that my colleagues and I were part of ending those difficulties. We don’t expect any trouble during the cruise. We’re simply here to learn anything we can that might help us solve two—possibly three—murders.”

“My crew all know you’re FBI. Too many people were aware of your presence in St. Francisville for that to be a secret.”

“Not a problem,” Jude said.

“Well, then...” Simpson paused and smiled. “Truth is, I’m here to kick you out. They need to prepare the room, since the passengers are beginning to board. The Sun Deck buffet is open, though, and we encourage the entertainment staff to mingle with the guests. In fact, I’ll be up there myself in a little while.”

He gave them a wave and left just as a number of men and women in tailored uniforms with the word Journey embroidered on their pockets walked in.

“Guess it’s time for us to move,” Clara said. “Sun Deck?”

“Thor is already up there, and I’m betting Ethan has joined him by now,” Jude said. “The captain was showing Ethan around earlier, while Thor was talking to the ship’s doctor. We can trade notes at the buffet.”

As they left, Charlie looked back as the waitstaff moved around the room, efficiently getting it ready for guests.

Jude lingered with her.

She shook her head, looking at him. “I hope there really is something to be discovered on board. I can’t imagine any of the dining staff would have seen or heard anything. I mean, the programming took place on deck, right? They would all have been busy down here or wherever.”

He nodded.

“But Ricky Simpson...he and the entertainment staff—including the other tour guides—could have been on deck.”

“And,” he said, “they could be on the Sun Deck right now. Shall we go up?”

She nodded and started walking, then hesitated and turned back again. For a moment it seemed as if the day went away, as if a gray miasma fell over the room. She heard coughing and moaning, and where only a moment ago there had been a busy crowd of employees, only a few men and women, doctors and nurses, were moving about the room. The floor, though, was covered in men, some lying on pallets, others seated, all of them wrapped in bandages and the tatters of their uniforms, both the blue and the gray. Rickety tables held bowls of water, and most of that water was red. She blinked, but the vision remained, and she wondered if what she was seeing replayed daily, like long-gone soldiers living out their last minutes on the battlefield. They were clearly unaware of her or anyone else.

She reached out to grab Jude’s arm, but he had already moved into the hall, and she could vaguely hear him talking to Alexi and Clara.

Suddenly one of the men—a doctor, she thought—turned to look at her, aware of her even as the scene went on around him. He saluted her and then went back to his duties.

“Charlie?” Clara said.

“Coming,” she said, and quickly joined her friends in the hall.

A dish dropped and shattered, followed by laughter. Drawn by the sound, Charlie looked back through the doorway.

The window to the past had disappeared.

But memories of the long-dead man who had paused to look at her remained. He’d realized she was there.

Did he know something? Anything? Could he help her?

If he could, she knew he would find her.

She shivered slightly. These days the Journey might be a beautifully restored riverboat.

But her past, Charlie knew, had been bathed in blood.





11

The Journey was leaving port.

Ethan saw Charlie standing at the rail, watching the river. A quick glance assured him she wasn’t alone. Clara, Alexi and Jude were only a few feet away. Thor had been planning to meet with the ship’s doctor earlier, but the man hadn’t shown, so Thor had chatted with the nurses instead. The doctor still hadn’t arrived by the time Thor had to leave to join the others.

The wind caught Charlie’s hair and swept it back. Her profile was so perfect, caught in the golden light of the setting sun. The Algiers district was across the river, and as they left port, they could see the riverfront by the French Quarter, the steeple of St. Louis Cathedral rising high. Ethan strode over to her, aware the ship was now filled with passengers crowding the rail here on the top deck as they set out.