CSCI pt 13 - mystery crime thriller set at sea - CRUISE SHIP HEIST - Cruise Storytime

A cruise book at bedtime. Hello, I'm David Willington from HowToCruise.co.uk. Welcome to another episode of Cruise Ship Heist, a book at bedtime. Written and read by Stuart Semple. If you haven't already started at the beginning and heard the others, you can do by clicking the link just there. Chapter 29. Crow's Nest Meat The Crow's Nest Bar is just above the Captain's Bridge, with similar views. It is dark now, and beacons and lights shape the edge of the huge lake. Guests are relaxing with a drink and chatting, having had dinner. I have a gin and tonic, sitting alone by the window between two groups. A jazz ensemble plays in the centre of the slightly raised level, and it's a relaxing end to a crazy day. I don't know how relaxed Ronnie will be feeling right now about her picture being with the local police. My picture was on Most Wanted a few hours earlier. Tomorrow it could be Georgie. She won't be as calm about it. What I'd like to do is take the money from under my bed and hide it somewhere else. Maybe in a lifeboat. Not that it matters, because if they kill me to get to the stash under my bed, I won't be alive to miss it. The band finishes, and the host enthusiastically announces that it will shortly be quiz time. My chair's close enough to the group at the next table for them to instantly adopt me as an extra team member. Maybe they think I look like a quizzer, or someone with knowledge. I can certainly answer questions about the canal, though that might be considered unfair. I see Ali approaching, and I feel I might escape. But she plants me firmly back down with the group, sitting on the arm of my chair. Oh good, you're in a team. I love quizzes, she says. There's far more enthusiasm for a beautiful young girl joining them than there was for me. I need to engage before Auli'i can give her wind-up version of being my young wife. She has a wicked sense of humour when it comes out to play. Auli'i is my daughter. She's in the company theatre show. My name's Kieran. Names are fired back from around the table, but impossible to remember. Jill, the lady opposite me, recrosses her legs. Her focus implies she has questions for me. Tonight, I must relax, and not treat everyone I meet as a potential enemy. Auli'i certainly is inclusive with her over-large cruise smile. Your father is here to see you perform. How nice. Jill smiles at E. As my mouth gapes, wanting instructions, my brain bites to know how to react. Auli'i jumps in. No, he's here to find a wife. My orders. Three women around the table, and one man, put their hand up as volunteers. But not Jill, sitting opposite. She is being very cool. Auditions later, the captain is licensed, so he can perform the ceremony. Please deal directly with me. Auli'i is an entertainer, and she has made them all laugh. I have no response. Well, he's joined the correct group. We're all cruisers travelling solo, the man on my left says. And I wish I'd paid more attention to their names. Kieran, I say, to obtain his name. My name's Tony. Welcome. The elegant lady opposite, whose name I do remember, Jill, continues her interest in Auli'i. Do you get to have time off, to see the ports, to go on excursions? Yes, and no, and yes, Auli'i says. It appears to be a rehearsed answer to a standard question that she must have to fend off. Like my pet hate, have you ever killed someone? Not since this morning, I would have to answer. Not sure that would go down so well. I'm working tomorrow, she beams. But as a group leader on excursions, you know, hold up the paddle, follow me, then count the lost guests. They laugh, and the quiz starts. I've escaped. Someone in the group writes the answer before I've digested that there was an actual question. The host is repeating it again, as Auli'i is asked a follow-up question. What tour are you on? Jill asks. The Panama Railroad, but don't ask me questions, the local guide is there for that, she answers. What are you doing tomorrow, Kieran? Jill asks. Is that question worth two points? Because I do know the answer, I say, though I'm oblivious to the quiz at the moment. I booked a local tour to visit the Embera, or Choco, Indian tribe in the National Park area of the Chagres River. Auli'i laughs at me. Predictable, she hugs me with one arm. I never saw that offered, Jill says. It's run by the tribe. The tours were founded by a woman called Anne, who married a tribesman, I explain. So, I'm hoping they're genuine and informative. I love learning about nations and people. Too much info, Dad. You're boring them now. No, I would have liked to have done that. I haven't booked anything yet, Jill says. And Auli'i picks up on her interest in a shot. She stands and encourages Jill to stand, then turns for me to stand. I used to have to do this, she says, being matched up for a possible marriage when I was a young girl. Auli'i is eyeing us up and down, while Jill plays the part by linking my arm. So, can you get me on this tour? Jill asks. The villages are pretty deep in the rainforest. You have to cross rocks and streams, I explain. I can do that, she says. These hills do come off. Jill turns her ankle, and that is the second time I've seen expensive shoes being underused. Well, you can only get there in their traditional canoes, and you must be a good swimmer. I continue to try and dissuade her. I can swim, she smiles. I now pronounce you, Auli'i stops. Georgie comes between us and breaks us up. Hey, he's my superhero. How have I become the centre of attention? Jill takes being trumped well, but she has me fixed in her gaze. Are you enjoying yourselves? Georgie asks the team. They all nod, and Georgie turns to me for a quiet moment. Where did you get to this morning? She asks me. I walked around the town, then came back, a little stroll around the hall, then did my commentary, I lie. I miss the commentary, sorry, Georgie plays. But I might get lucky, it gets repeated on the ship's TV. As I lay, alone, on my money-built bed, I reflect on the day while watching the sail-away party on the ship's TV. Tomorrow, I'm taking Jill with me on a tour, and hoping there won't be an assassin tagging along to spoil our honeymoon. Chapter 30 Chagris River, Panama Jill and I meet for breakfast. We exchange shallow pleasantries, and overcome the awkwardness of an arrangement made the previous evening after several drinks. I'll feel bad if we get ashore, and they can't take you, I admit, but that's a minor concern. If she had come back to my cabin, I would have lain awake all night worrying about her sleeping on the ship's most expensive bed. Now, I'm worried about her being arrested or shot at the moment I step ashore. Nonsense. If that happens, you'll do the tour. I'll look after myself. I'm a fully paid-up member of the Solo Cruisers Club. I've done the induction on travelling alone. Stepping into the lifeboat tender, bobbing at the side of the ship, my eyes are everywhere. I'm hoping the rainforest will offer a quieter day than yesterday's excursion. I have no backup. Tour buses line the shore. No police, no gunmen. It is polite to suggest our bus is the smallest and looks the most local. The green and white artwork says Classic Bus, which is not incorrect. The driver radios ahead and adds Jill onto the day's list. She duly pays, which feels wrong, but me paying for her would be equally awkward. The short coach journey upriver takes us back further than the era of the green bus. The group are fitted with life jackets, then sat in long, carved dugout canoes. Ronnie would approve of their modern electric outboard motors. The boatmen are almost naked, causing similar comments to those I'd expect on the way to a hen party. Not that I've ever been to one. I'm sure these migrated Choco Indians are used to it and deliberately dressed to impress. They probably wear denim on the days the cruise ships don't visit. Today, I've no doubt that the lack of dress will be enforced throughout the village. The last boat is loaded with supplies by a local man, not in costume. We cut through the mist hanging on the water, with our Tarzan-like boatmen paddling to assist the small silent motor. The Chagres is the only river in the world that, with the aid of the man-made canal, flows into two oceans. The journey itself is a treat. We see many birds, such as herons, egrets and ospreys, as well as fish and turtles in the water. By the time we slow down, the banks are dense with the rainforest jungle. It feels a little apocalypse now. I would never see a professional sniper. I would only hear the bullet after it has hit. Our life jackets are left in the canoes. The beach, which is dark sand with a few scattered pebbles, only has our footprints. I'm still looking over my shoulder, and I know I should relax and enjoy this. I am now on holiday. However, I would still feel far more at home with an automatic weapon than my beach towel. This is so nice of you to take me out, Jill says to me.