742

Ben knew damn well that Kaan wouldn’t be speaking to any authorities when he was fleeing from them.
“You’re not going to tell anyone about this,” Ben said as he held Kaan’s eyes.
The man looked back at him sharply. “And why would I not, Ben?” He was daring Ben to tell the others of his criminal ties, sealing their doom. Ben kept his mouth shut, but there was one thing he could do.
With a mighty grunt, Ben heaved Ulrich’s body into his arms and carried the dead and awkward weight through the dining room, solarium, and outside onto the pool deck. Sun had set, but the deck was lit up with pretty lights though it was very chilly under the open sky. He heard shouting behind him, but he ignored that as he walked to the rail and heaved the body into the darkness beyond.
Ulrich tumbled over the side and hit the water with a huge splash which the ship quickly left behind.
Ben stepped back from the rail as Kaan rushed up and looked over the edge, but all was black beyond the vessel. “What have you done?” he shouted as he appeared to be running his hands over the ship’s side. Seemingly satisfied with his inspection, he turned to glare at Ben.
The others in the group caught up and realized what Ben had just done. He noted the presence of the two young women and the man who’d been absent during dinner. So, they were just late. They still appeared to be a little baked.
“I gave the bastard a burial at sea,” Ben growled. “Better than he deserved from the sounds of it.”
“Fuck! Did he just kill the fat man by throwing him off the yacht?” the young man gasped, unaware of Ulrich’s earlier demise.
“That’s so hot!” the blonde gushed and looked at Ben hungrily. The brunette just watched Ben fearfully.
Kaan turned to them. “No, Yvonne killed him. Ben just disposed of the body.”
Ben gave Kaan an innocent look. “Is that what you think happened? That’s not what I saw or what I’d testify to. Ulrich stood up too fast, tripped on his chair, and fell, breaking his neck on the foot of a neighboring table. Just a tragic accident. Isn’t that right, Yvonne.”
She looked at Ben as if he’d just thrown her a lifeline. “Y-yes! That’s what I saw, too!”
Ben looked to Noah, who’d been sulking since being outed by Ulrich. “Right. H-he was a clumsy oaf,” he concurred.
Kaan looked at Ben like he wanted to say something, but the muscles in his jaw just jumped and twitched. Ben held his eyes and waited patiently. If the criminal decided it wasn’t worth keeping up this charade, there wasn’t much Ben could do about it. But he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Ben also wasn’t going to stand by and watch Kaan torment and blackmail Yvonne. Should she have pitched the coffee decanter at Ulrich? No, but Ben didn’t know the history between the three guests who seemed to know each other’s most guilty secrets. How that came to be, he didn’t have a clue and wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Kaan turned to smile stiffly at Yvonne. “Isn’t this your lucky day. No body, so no need to bring in the authorities.”
With that announcement, Kaan spun on his heel and stormed off.
Yvonne collapsed to the deck, and Ben knelt to check on her.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m… not feeling so good right now, though. I think I’ll just go back to my room,” she said.
He helped her back to her feet, and she looked into his eyes. “Thank you.”
Ben just nodded and watched her leave.
“You’ve got some balls on you for that move, Ben,” Noah said.
“It worked,” was all he said in return as he looked at the three younger guests still staring at him. “Who are you?”
He got three pouts in return.
Noah answered for them. “The sheilas are Lola De Ville,” he said, pointing to the blonde, then to the brunette. “And Mara La Bouche.” He shrugged. “That’s their porn names. They never told us their real names.” He pointed to the young man. “The bloke’s Lars Mikkelsson. Next in line to run his father’s family business, which he’s running from. I have no idea what the Mikkelssons do.”
Ben knew he would regret this, but maybe it was best to ask now. “How did you guys dig up all this dirt on each other?”
Noah grimaced. “Weeks back, we all got smashed and spilled our guts. Confessed our sins. Obviously, that was a mistake. Everyone was so understanding that night, but the bitterness has been leaking out since then.” He eyed the three twenty-somethings staring at Ben. “But not from these three. They haven’t straightened out since that night.”
“You’re not here to take me back?” Mara asked timidly.
Ben shook his head. “No. My being here has nothing to do with you.”
“Why are you here?” Lola asked as she eyed his chest.
Ben shook his head. “I’m still working on that.” He glanced at the depressed look on Noah’s face. He had nothing to offer the man. “I’m calling it a night. See you tomorrow.”
He turned and walked away.
“You guys got any of those happy pills left?” he heard Noah ask the remaining three before he went inside.
Ben climbed up to level B and walked down the hall to his room. When he stepped inside, he stopped as Zama was sitting at the end of his bed. She quickly stood and put her finger across her lips for silence. She gestured for him to enter and close the door. After he did, she handed him a piece of paper.
He read the note. “I’ve covered the camera, but the microphone is still active.”
Ben closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Of course, the rooms were bugged! Fuck!
He heard her scratching out another note on the small notebook, so he opened his eyes, and she handed it to him.
“I searched Ulrich’s room. Found his journal with banking details. Hid it inside Aesop’s Fables in the Library. No one reads here.”
Ben snorted in surprise and smiled at Zama, who grinned happily. He took the pen and wrote his own note. “How many cameras and listening devices?”
She wrote back. “One of each in each room. Including bathrooms.”
Ben scowled at the idea of them watching him shower or take a piss as he had earlier.
Zama was writing. “Why are you here on this ship?”
Ben looked at her and saw she seemed aware of the danger involved in being here. But he couldn’t risk telling her what he knew about Kaan. He shook his head and gave her a regretful look.
She pouted, so he wrote her another message.
“Need to know how many people crew the ship.”
She brightened up and started a new page. She wrote quickly, but it was a long note. “I’ve seen ten different security people. There are twelve companions. They work as the cleaning crew as well. Same eleven since I’ve been here for six months, but one is new this month. Eight kitchen workers. I saw three people working on the bridge at night. No idea how many work below deck level.”
Ben nodded. This was really useful information. Ben wrote her a response. “Really helpful! Thanks!”
“Will you help me escape?” she wrote.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Not here voluntarily?” he added.
It was her turn to look regretful. “At first, yes. I ran to escape an arranged marriage to an old man. Friend of my father, the king. Now, Kaan wants ransom from my father for my return.”
Ben nodded as he expected something like this from Sadik. He scribbled a quick reply. “What do you want to do? Go home?”
She grinned and quickly wrote her reply. “I will marry you!”
Ben snorted in surprise again. He was getting tired of writing, but he had to answer this. He looked at her incredulously, then pointed to her previous message about running to escape marrying an old man. He pointed to himself and back to the words old man.
Zama put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. She shook her head as her eyes shone with joyful laughter. She pointed to Ben and the words old man as she vigorously shook her head, her wild mane swishing in response.
Ben quickly wrote to change the subject. “Let’s concentrate on finding a way to leave the ship. Don’t take any chances. Just keep eyes and ears open for information.”
She read this and nodded to him. Then her expression turned shy. “You are a good man. I will enjoy being one of your wives,” she wrote.
He gave her an exasperated shake of his head. “You can do so much better than me and with someone your age,” he wrote.
She flashed a brilliant smile, then quickly leaned against him and kissed his lips. It was sweet and innocent, as Ben suspected she had no experience.
Zama pushed back and danced over to the door with her notebook in her hand. With a final smile, she slipped out into the hall.
Ben sighed and walked into the bathroom. With a thorough search, he managed to find the hidden camera and mic. It was almost invisible within the complex pattern and textures of the small tiles around the bathroom mirror. With its position, it would have a clear view of the shower and anyone using the toilet. Ben looked for something he could use to break the tile to get at the camera. He picked up the toilet brush mounted to the wall behind the toilet. It had a solid aluminum shaft with a brush attached to its end. He slammed the end of the rod against the tile and heard it shatter nicely. Simple enough. He got his fingers around the camera and yanked it out, ripping its wires free. That disabled the camera and mic in the bathroom. They might replace it, but he’d find a way to rip the next one out too. He carried the brush out into the bedroom and saw the piece of paper stuck over some tiles next to the dresser mirror, facing the bed. Ben smashed that tile and ripped that camera from the wall as well. He knew he was pushing his luck with Kaan, but he wouldn’t live in the man’s peepshow.
Feeling better about the limited amount of control he had over his environment if only for a short time, he got ready for bed. He put the toilet brush back with a smile, thankful Kaan hadn’t gone cheap with a plastic-handled one. Then he took a quick shower and brushed his teeth with the new toothbrush he found in the drawer. He didn’t want to put on the outfit he’d been wearing as it reminded him he’d held Ulrich’s body against it.