The Love Boat Part 3

She made kind of a frown. "I don't know, he seemed like kind of a nice guy."

"Don't get cold feet on me now, baby." He stood up and hugged her. "I been working on an idea for when we get home. Something that'll fix all our problems. No more sneaking around."

She looked up at him, a hopeful look on her face. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

Standing in front of the tiny dresser, Dan slipped his wallet and cash, the bills folded and held together by a gold-colored money clip, into his pockets. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a pistol. It was blue steel, Beretta .25 semi-auto, just a little bigger than the palm of his hand.

"What's that thing?" Lucy said.

Dan tucked the gun into the front of his waistband and pulled his s.h.i.+rt-tail down over it. "Nothing."

"Don't tell me nothing," she said, voice rising. "I can see it's a gun."

He turned to face her. "Then why'd you ask?"

"What are you gonna do with that?"

"It's like an insurance policy."

She folded her arms across her chest. "What are you talking about?"

He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. "You hope you don't have to use it, but it's there just in case."

Turning away from him, Lucy said, "You know I don't like guns."

Dan got there ten minutes early. He'd stopped in at the bar and ordered three beers. Two for him and one for William.

Standing on the mid-level deck at the back of s.h.i.+p, he polished off the first beer. With one hand he kept hitching up his shorts; the Beretta felt like it weighed a ton, like his pants were going to fall down to his knees. Sure someone was going to notice he was carrying a gun, he kept looking around to see if anyone was staring at him, but there was no one there, he was alone.

The empty beer bottle he tossed over the side, watching it as it tumbled down and disappeared into the darkness. Not seeing it splash into the foamy water of the s.h.i.+p's wake and definitely not hearing it over the hum of the engines.

There weren't many people out this time of night, and those who were either hung out on the top deck, the one directly above him, or on the main deck below him. For some reason the middle deck wasn't popular. It gave him an idea.

Dan was halfway through his second bottle when William showed up. He handed his old neighbor the unopened beer. William took a sip then asked Dan why all the mystery.

Dan was leaning against the railing, beer in his left hand, left elbow propped on the top rail. William about four feet away, leaning back against the rail, both of his elbows resting on it. Glancing down he saw that William's feet were about a foot and half away from the railing.

Dan reached into the back pocket of his shorts and pulled out the small envelope he'd gotten from the purser's office. He'd put a five dollar casino chip in it to give it some weight and had Lucy write William's name on the front.

"I think she likes you," Dan said. "She asked me to give you this."

William's face brightened. "Really?"

"I swear," Dan said, holding the envelope out to William.

As William reached for it, Dan let the envelope slip from his fingers. "I got it," Dan said, as he stooped over and set his beer bottle on the deck.

Suddenly, he lunged forward and wrapped both arms around William's legs.

William shouted, "What the h.e.l.l--"

He lifted, driving his old neighbor backward, then up and over the rail.

As he went over, William managed to grab the top of the rail with one hand. For a second, Dan saw only his fingers, the knuckles bone white against the dark teak, William trying desperately to hold on, all of his weight hanging by that one hand.

Dan looked over and saw William's face, stark white, s.h.i.+ning against the dark ocean. He slammed his fist down on the fingers, felt the bones crunch, then saw the hand let go. Leaning out over the rail, it wasn't like the beer bottle, he saw William fall, heard him screaming--hoped no else did--saw him splash as he hit the water. Making a plume of white foam that rose above the surface.

Dan stood on his toes, hands on the top rail, leaning out, his belly hanging over, looking down at the water to see if William surfaced behind the fast moving s.h.i.+p.

That's when he felt his feet come out from under him. Feeling them slip backward, he tightened his grip to keep his balance but he couldn't do it. Head first over the rail, he felt himself plunging down. Seeing his feet in the air, one topsider missing, the s.h.i.+p going past him in slow motion. Seeing Lucy's face looking over the rail at him.

Lucy had everything packed several hours before the s.h.i.+p docked. She got off first, the captain granting her that privilege, understanding how upset she was.

The night before he'd told her that the Coast Guard search had turned up nothing. After two days neither of the two missing men had been found.

The morning she'd reported Dan missing, the captain had asked if he'd been drinking. "Yes, he'd had a lot to drink, but he wasn't the sort to fall off of a s.h.i.+p."

How about the other man that was missing, had she known him? Yes, she'd told the captain. Her boyfriend had introduced them. "His name was Will, William something, I can't remember," she said.

Ratman, the captain told her. Yes, she said, Ratman was the last name. Dan had told her they'd once been neighbors. The captain asked if the two men were mad at each other? Could they have gotten into a fight? "Not that I know of," Lucy had told him. "They had a drink together in the casino." She paused, then tilted her head to the side, trying for the thoughtful look. "But later on Dan told me you couldn't trust the guy. Something must've happened between them back when they were neighbors."

She got off the s.h.i.+p, then found her bags. She traveled light, just one suitcase, one garment bag, plus a makeup case. She'd already made arrangements to have Dan's bags s.h.i.+pped to his house so she didn't have to lug them around.

She was standing at the curb, her bags stacked beside her, when Karen walked up. "Are you okay," Dan's widow asked.

Lucy nodded. "I'm fine."

Karen said her car was parked a few s.p.a.ces down, then led Lucy to it. It was a brand new, candy apple red Mustang convertible, with the top down. Karen helped Lucy put her bags in the trunk. They got in the car; Karen started it but didn't pull out into traffic.

Feeling an awkward silence, Lucy said, "Nice car."

"Thanks, I just bought it. Kind of an impulse buy."

Lucy smiled, saying, "I love the color."

"Was it terrible?" Karen asked, concern in her voice.

Lucy looked at her and smiled. "It was a whole lot worse for Dan than it was for me."

Karen looked like she was about to cry. "I feel awful about what you had to go through."

Lucy looked at her. "No divorce, no settlement. It's all yours, just like it should be."

"Ours," Karen said, then leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Charles Hustmyre is an ATF agent in New Orleans, LA, specializing in violent crime and gang investigations. He can be reached at