“Hurry!” she said. “I have to get to the airport.”
Helen stripped the guest stateroom beds, dusted away Scotty’s ash for the last time and vacuumed the carpets.
As she rushed through the secret passage, arms piled with damp towels and soiled sheets, she saw Carl leaning in the doorway of the cabin he shared with Andrei. Helen slowed slightly to hear their conversation.
“That’s all you got?” the first mate drawled. “Those three bags?”
“Yes. And I do not think it is fair—” Andrei said, his voice a surly whine.
“Not my decision,” Carl said, cutting him off. “Where are your uniforms?”
“In the closet,” Andrei said. “The captain, he does this because I am foreigner.” Helen noticed Andrei’s accent thickened not only when he was drunk, but also when he was upset. She could feel his rage. The cramped cabin was too small to contain it.
“You’ve got a green card,” Carl said. “You’re taking a job away from a real American. Bet you bought yourself a green card marriage on the Internet.”
“My green card is legal,” Andrei said. “That is why I have job on American-registered boat.”
Carl’s drawl stretched like taffy. “Don’t see your dress uniform there, Andrei. Where is it?”
“Don’t know,” Andrei said, his voice higher.
“I think you do,” Carl said, slowly. “You still have to go through U.S. Customs. What would happen if they got an anonymous tip about your marriage? You got any wedding pictures? Still living with your wife? I bet you don’t even know where she is anymore. You can get shipped back to Bulgaria if your marriage is a fraud.”
Silence. Then Andrei said, “I might have accidentally packed it.” He sounded like a surly child.
“Well, accidentally unpack it,” Carl said.
Helen heard a zipping sound. Then Carl said, “Thank you. Soon as the captain gets back from escorting the owners and guests to their plane, he’ll hightail it to immigration at Port Everglades with you and the new stew.”
Customs! Helen had forgotten about that. She hurried past Carl to the crew mess, where Mira was loading both washers.
“Once we finish this laundry and clean the heads, we’re done,” she said. “You and Andrei have to ride with the captain to immigration. Andrei has a green card and you don’t have a boat card.”
“What’s a boat card?” Helen asked.
“You get it from the feds if you travel by private boat a lot. They’re called NEXUS cards. All the crew have them. We don’t need to go through customs. The captain just calls in our card numbers when we get into port.
“We always party at the end of a cruise, but I’m skipping this one. Kevin is taking me straight to the airport. Get ready to rock, Helen. You need to party after that crossing. You like wine or margaritas?”
“Both,” Helen said, “but I’m skipping out, too. I’m meeting Phil. I have to tell him to pick me up at Port Everglades.”
The head stew checked her watch. “The Homeland Security office is at the other end of the port by Griffin Road. There’s no gate security there. He can wait for you in the parking lot. We should be free about twelve thirty. I’ll miss you, but I won’t miss Andrei. I can’t believe he tried to hurt poor little Mitzi.”
“It wasn’t the first time,” Helen said. “I heard her yelp when he was alone with her in the crew mess one night. He may have kicked her.”
“Well, he’s gone now,” Mira said. “Finish the main salon head, will you?”
Helen cleaned the head and folded the toilet paper into a neat point.
“Done,” she told herself. Next she folded towels, still warm from the dryer, while Mira ironed the sheets.
Then she hurried to her cabin to call Phil. Just hearing his voice made her feel warm. No, not warm. Hot. Honeymoon hot. She wanted to be alone with her man.
“Helen!” he said. “I miss you. I need you. Our local case is breaking.”
“Did you catch her?” Helen asked, careful not to use Blossom’s name. “Do you know what she used?”
“Can’t say on a cell phone,” he said. “When do I pick you up?”
“I should be finished about twelve thirty,” she said, “but don’t come to the marina. I have to go through customs at Port Everglades.” She told him where.
“I’ll be waiting in my Jeep,” he said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Helen said. “I have good news about our other case.”
“You found the … uh, person?” Phil asked.
“Can’t wait to tell you about it,” she said, and hit the END button. Two could play the “I can’t say anything on a cell phone” game.
Helen stashed her cleaning caddy for the last time, tidied her cabin and packed her small bag. When she opened her cabin door, the yacht was perfumed with a delicious aroma. It didn’t take much detective skill to track it to the galley, where the tall, thin chef was washing down the countertops.
“What smells so good?” Helen asked.
“I’m making pizza for the crew,” Suzanne said. “What’s your favorite topping?”
“I have to miss this party,” Helen said. “I’m meeting Phil right after I go through customs. I enjoyed working with you.”
“My pleasure,” Suzanne said. “I’m guessing this is your first and last cruise as a stewardess.”
Helen said nothing. Suzanne opened the oven door and took out two pizzas, oozing cheese. Red rounds of pepperoni and brown sausage were embedded in the top like greasy jewels.
“I thought so,” she said. “Will you do one last chore and carry these to the crew mess?”
Matt, Sam and Dick, the second engineer, attacked the pizzas as soon as Helen set them on the table. She heard the spoit! of beer tops popping. Carl didn’t join the hungry crew. He stayed with Andrei in their cabin. Was the captain worried his fired engineer would damage the yacht?
Helen ran down the passage and asked Carl, “Would you like some pizza?”
“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m staying on board after the captain dismisses the crew and takes you and Andrei to Port Everglades. I can eat then.”
Andrei was slumped on his bunk, sulking. His black polo shirt seemed to accent the dark pits in his skin. Helen didn’t offer him pizza. The poodle abuser could starve.
No one mentioned Andrei during the party, but Helen thought the crew was relieved he stayed in his cabin. She wondered if Dick, the quiet second engineer, would be promoted to Andrei’s job.
While the boys ate, drank beer and cracked jokes, Mira rolled a pink suitcase out to the crew mess. The fat duffel sat on top of it. She was dressed for a colder climate in jeans, a long-sleeved white shirt and a pink hoodie. “New York, here I come,” she said.
“It’s chilly there in April,” Helen said. “Do you have the right clothes for your trip?”
“Nope, but I can buy them in Manhattan,” Mira said. “I can’t wait to leave.”
Helen couldn’t, either. By the time she and Mira had said their good-byes to the crew, the captain had returned.
A sullen Andrei dragged his dark backpack with the square bulge down the gangplank. Helen thought the fired engineer would have a harder time attracting gullible young women without his dashing dress uniform.
The three women rolled their suitcases down the gangplank. Mira ran to a dramatically handsome man of about thirty. His black clothes, thick dark hair and carefully calculated beard stubble screamed “actor.”
“Kevin!” Mira cried, her pink suitcase bumping over the marina’s blacktop, the duffel nearly falling off.
Suzanne drove off alone in a dented red Honda.
Helen and Andrei climbed into the captain’s black Chevy for a short, silent ride to Port Everglades. Helen cleared customs quickly, then shook the captain’s hand, but not Andrei’s. She wanted nothing to do with him.