“The fact Brittney never saw her again is a concern. Roxy strikes me as the type of person who would stick to her job – do or die.”
“You’re probably right. I hope it’s not the ‘die’ part.”
The couple was the first to finish their search and head back upstairs. Ricco joined them moments later, reporting there was no sign of his co-worker. Brittney and Vinnie arrived a short time later. “I spoke to one of your crewmembers, who is a runner. He remembers Roxy. He said she was rude to him. She complained about something, but that’s it.”
“What about a cell phone? I’m sure Roxy has a phone,” Carlita said.
Ricco patted his pocket. “I already tried calling her. The call went to voice mail.”
“I did too,” Vinnie said. “She’s not answering.”
“Now what?” Carlita clasped her hands. “If we contact the authorities, we’ll have to tell them she’s missing, and we don’t know how because we had her locked up against her will.”
“And then there’s the blood,” Brittney pointed out. “Daddy is not going to like this. It’s messy. If you plan to have someone go missing, you don’t leave blood behind.”
“Brittney is right. This is messy,” Ricco agreed.
“Whoever let her out may have had an ax to grind,” Pete said.
“Which could have been any number of people,” Carlita said. “She argued with Luigi, Dernice, Elvira, Mercedes.”
“And treated Cool Bones and his guys like hired help,” Ricco said.
“Who knows how many other people she ticked off during the course of the evening,” Pete rubbed the back of his neck as he studied the blood on the deck. “There’s one place we haven’t checked. The lifeboat.”
The group followed him to the side of the ship. A brown and red lifeboat was hanging from thick cables.
“She’s still secured. It doesn’t appear the lifeboat has been tampered with.”
“Let’s not panic yet,” Vinnie said. “We gotta think this through.”
Ricco held up a finger. “Let me go check the car. I wouldn’t put it past Roxy to find a way out of this, set it up to make it look like a crime scene and then sneak off to stir up even more trouble.”
“I don’t think we should involve anyone else in this yet,” Carlita said after Ricco left. “I’m going to tell the rest of the family to head home, and we’ll be along shortly.”
Baby Vinnie began to fuss, and Brittney bounced him in her arms. “The baby is tired.”
“I’ll see if Paulie or Tony will give Brit and the baby a ride back to the apartment.” Vinnie led his wife and son from the deck, leaving Pete and Carlita alone.
“I’m sorry, Pete,” Carlita apologized. “I had no idea Roxy would cause so much trouble.”
“I should’ve made her walk the plank,” Pete joked, and then quickly sobered. “I hope Ricco is right, and she staged her own disappearance, but my gut tells me that’s not the case.”
Ricco and Vinnie returned at the same time. “There’s no sign of Roxy,” Ricco reported. “The parking area is clearing out, and there was no sign of her anywhere.”
“Tony and Shelby are giving Brit a ride. I told them I was staying behind to help you finish cleaning up, but I don’t think Tony or Mercedes bought it. They know something is up.”
“We can’t stay here. I’ll need to take the ship back to my slip downriver,” Pete explained as they descended the steps. “My crew will stay onboard with me.” He stopped when he reached Gunner’s cage, which was still hanging in the corner, not far from Santa’s empty chair.
Pete carefully removed it from the hook, waking Gunner, who was quietly resting on his perch. “Gunner is a pirate. What a party.”
“Yes, it was quite a party.”
“Back off, buddy,” Gunner squawked.
“I’m taking you downstairs,” Pete said. “We’re setting sail for home.”
“You’ll keep your trap shut if you know what’s good for you,” Gunner replied.
“Whose trap shut?” Carlita stepped closer.
“Back off, buddy,” Gunner repeated.
“Gunner has never said either of those phrases before,” Pete eyed the bird.
“You don’t think…” Carlita’s voice trailed off.
“That Gunner overheard something,” Vinnie finished his mother’s sentence.
“It’s possible. It’s also possible he’ll be repeating stuff he heard for days,” Pete tightened his grip on the cage as he led the others down the stairs to the main deck. “Since you’ll need to retrieve your vehicles from the parking lot, I can meet you back at my berth.”
Carlita, Vinnie and Ricco promised to meet Pete at his home port. Since Mercedes had caught a ride with Sam, Carlita was alone during the drive back.
As she drove, she couldn’t help but think about how wonderful the evening had been…the Christmas parade, the night cruise, family, friends and good food onboard The Flying Gunner.
And now, mob boss, Vito Castellini’s, employee was missing and very likely injured or worse…dead. Had someone snuck to the back of the ship and let Roxy out of the bathroom and an argument ensued?
Luigi had taken Roxy’s gun during her altercation with Mercedes. It was no secret he didn’t care for Roxy. He knew she was being detained, and she was not only defenseless but weaponless.
Or maybe it was Dernice or Elvira. They were firsthand witnesses to the fight, as well. What if one of them had gone back there to confront her?
With all of the noise and distractions, it would have been easy for someone to slip back there unseen.
The mood was somber as the group assembled in front of The Flying Gunner.
“Any sign of Roxy?” Pete asked.
“None,” Ricco shook his head. “I tried her cell phone again. Same deal. No answer.”
Vinnie folded his arms, eyeing the dark waters of the Savannah River. “What if she got into
