She knew that round, open face. She recognized those squint lines. It was Carl. But it couldn’t be. The first mate was on board with the captain and the Bulgarian engineer, wasn’t he?
No, that was definitely Carl, talking to a dark-skinned woman with cropped hair and clean-cut features. Her navy Ralph Lauren shirt and shorts were no crew uniform. She was somewhere in her twenties, but she wasn’t flirting. She handed Carl a black Prada backpack so heavy she nearly stumbled under its weight.
“Do what you can to get rid of them and don’t forget my share,” she said. “Be careful. This thing weighs a ton.”
“Not to me,” Carl said, buckling it onto his broad back. But he couldn’t manage his usual easygoing amble. Carl struggled to walk under this burden, and stopped in surprise when he saw Helen.
His greeting sounded like an accusation. “Escaped your yacht chores, I see,” he said.
“Nope. Got more work,” Helen said, holding up the leash. “I’m in charge of Mitzi this evening. We’re heading back now. Handsome backpack. Looks heavy. Do you need help with it?”
“Do I look so weak I can’t carry a little backpack?” Carl asked.
But it’s not a little backpack, Helen thought. It’s huge. And I want to know what makes it so heavy.
Carl wasn’t going to tell her. She changed the subject. “Are you surprised Louise jumped ship?”
“That’s what Mira claims,” he said. “The captain believes her, but I have my doubts. That fishing charter was too far away to have just left our boat. Besides, I know Louise. She’s not a quitter. Even if she was sick of being a stew, she’d want a good reference.”
“So where is she?” Helen said.
“I hope to God I’m wrong and she took that fishing charter,” Carl said. “Otherwise, she fell overboard.”
“Would she go out on deck during the storm?”
“Unlikely,” Carl said. “The wind was so bad I could hardly open the bridge hatch.”
“What are the chances of Louise surviving if she fell into the water?” Helen asked.
“None,” Carl said. “Zero. Nada.”
CHAPTER 24
Helen was the most popular crew member on the
One crew member always had to be on board the
The crew cheered Helen and made extravagant promises.
“Can I bring you back a rum punch?” Sam asked.
“One lousy drink?” Matt the bosun asked. “That’s all for a night of freedom? I’ll bring you a whole six-pack of cold Kalik and a conch salad.”
Helen laughed and shook her head.
“You can have three bars of Bvlgari soap,” Mira said. “Only used once.”
“Now, that bribe I’ll take,” Helen said.
“I’ll make your favorite dessert for the crew dinner,” Suzanne said. “Just name it.”
“I like all your food,” Helen said. “I don’t have favorites. Well, maybe chocolate.”
“Piece of cake,” the chef said. “A double chocolate mocha cake.”
“Sold!” Helen said, laughing.
“Seriously, Helen, I have to start working at midnight,” the chef said. “I can come back at eleven if you need to get away.”
“No, thanks,” Helen said. “As soon as the guests leave, I’ll finish the stateroom turndowns and the laundry. Then I want to rest.”
Helen did want to rest. She also wanted to talk to Phil with no eavesdroppers. And search the cabin for clues to Louise’s disappearance. The captain might believe she’d left the ship, but Helen had her doubts. She’d heard her gripe like everyone. But why would a hard worker like Louise abandon a good job—and a good paycheck—without notice? Why go home on a strange charter? Just because the unknown captain and crew were American didn’t mean it was safe to travel with them.
She was shaken by her conversation with Carl. It had never dawned on her that Louise might have been lost overboard.
While the crew waited for the owners and guests to return from Atlantis, Helen and Mira prepared the party area on the upper aft deck for predinner cocktails.
“This is my favorite place on the yacht,” Mira said, leaning against the rail. “It’s perfect for a party: open to the island breeze with a canopy of stars.”
“I’d love to stretch out in this chaise,” Helen said, plumping the azure cushions. “And have someone bring me champagne.”
She knew there was no chance of that. After they finished, Helen ran downstairs and threw in another load of laundry, then started the stateroom turndowns. Like all the crew, she watched the clock. It was now eight thirty- six. The owners and guests were late.
Earl, Beth, Rosette and Ralph straggled back at eight fifty-two, then settled into the teak lounges and rattan settees, laughing and lingering over drinks. Mitzi curled up at her mistress’s sandaled feet. Scotty and Pepper arrived at two minutes after nine. “I can’t wait to show off Scotty’s presents!” she said.
Soft music, flower-scented breezes and the slap-slap of waves on the hull lulled the yachters into a pleasant daze.
The chef, Mira and Helen pasted on smiles and prayed they’d leave for dinner soon. The clock hands were racing now, killing the crew’s precious free time.
In between serving cocktails, Helen slipped on disposable gloves and cleaned the guest heads six times and answered yet another carefully coded call to “walk the dog.” How big were the kidneys on a six-pound poodle? she wondered as she scrubbed the carpet.
At nine seventeen, Earl finally said the words the crew waited for: “What time are our dinner reservations?”
“Ten o’clock,” Beth said.
Scotty checked his watch. “Then we’d better get in gear,” he said.
“I can’t wait to try the food,” Pepper said.
“At Nobu’s prices, she’ll bankrupt him by dessert,” Rosette whispered to Ralph. Her stringy spouse snorted.
Earl gently shooed his guests to their staterooms.
Helen and Mira hurried to clean up again. Helen came downstairs in time to see the guests leaving. Well- tailored black dinner jackets slimmed the tubbier men. Pepper looked like a Hollywood queen in a long white sheath and a glittering diamond-and-emerald choker and bracelet. She’d gotten her wish—her emeralds were bigger than Beth’s. Helen thought the choker was an oddly symbolic choice.
Beth could still command a catwalk in her sleek black strapless column set off by vivid floral bands. Helen recognized the gown from Armani Prive’s “homage to Japan” collection. Beth had arranged her blond hair geisha- style.
Rosette wore an aquamarine necklace and a prosaically pricey evening gown striped in Caribbean colors that bared her scrawny arms.
Helen could feel the group’s almost theatrical excitement. They were looking forward to dinner—and to their own grand entrance.
Once they were gone, Mira rushed off to clean the master stateroom. Helen ran downstairs to take more
