Dead in the Water by Emma Ainsley

Author:Emma Ainsley [Ainsley, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

Lorelei couldn’t be more thankful. After nearly two days aboard The Aurora, her seasickness had begun to abate. Perhaps she was getting used to the feeling of the boat rocking back and forth under her feet constantly, or maybe there were just other things on her mind.

She settled into a deep sleep for the first hour and a half after her conversation with Natalie. For the last thirty minutes, she tossed and turned before finally giving up and taking a shower. She had over an hour to burn before she was needed in the kitchen.

Lorelei resumed her rhythm of pacing around her cabin before the already small space seemed to close in on her. She readied herself for the dinner shift and decided to head to the upper deck. As she worked her way up the stairwell to the top of the river cruiser, the conversation with Natalie played over in her head.

Why hadn’t the man overboard alarm sounded when Regina either fell or was pushed over the railing? She didn’t understand it. Even without the benefit of orientation, it made perfect sense to her that there would be various alarms to alert the passengers and crew of emergencies aboard the ship. How else would anyone know if there was a fire in the kitchen, for example?

She needed to know and decided it couldn’t wait another moment. After all, she was the kitchen manager. It seemed like the perfect time to pose the question to the very person who could answer it for her. Instead of heading to the rear deck as she had initially planned, she turned and walked toward the more popular deck at the front of the ship.

If she was going to run into any senior crew members, it would be there. Her plan was to run into one in particular. Based on the few times she had been on the large, expansive deck, she knew that many members of the senior crew spent their off time milling around and visiting with passengers.

She recalled the brief interaction with Regina from when Captain Stone had introduced herself. Regina’s temper had flared from the attention Lorelei received, and the captain seemed to have noticed. She wondered what sort of a wasps nest she had entered when she took the job aboard the ship.

Lorelei moved to the edge of the deck and placed her hands casually on the railing. She peered out into the thick fog that still surrounded the ship. Even at four o’clock in the afternoon, it was difficult to tell night from day. She wondered how long The Aurora would be forced to remain anchored in the same spot in the middle of the river.

She turned around and gazed at the various groups of people gathered in different spots on the deck. The mood was a little lighter than it had been at lunchtime, but the deck was mostly empty of passengers. She spotted several crew members, including the tall, dark-haired man who had been introduced to her as Alvin Lamb, the cruise director.

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