Ruth heads to the back of the main deck. There is a small buffet with sandwiches and salads at this location available day and night. She has eaten all her meals at this location. She selects a tuna salad and a bag of potato crisps and sits at a small café table. Her work shifts with Mr. Wong leave her without the formal dining options. The other girls are loving their formal meals and describe them in length to Ruth. She finishes her lunch and walks toward the front of the boat.
Ruth enters the media room. There are eight computer terminals and three are open. She sits down at the one furthest from the front entry. She clicks on the internet and goes to a website to check the news. The top story is about a footballer caught driving drunk in Liverpool and smashing up his car. Must be a slow news day. She reads of a scandal in the security services and that Oliver Mace has resigned. This story is halfway down the page, not the top story. She resists the urge to Google her own name.
She looks across the room. There are four booths against the wall that contain telephones. She gets up from the computer terminal and starts for the telephone area. Quickly, she drops back down into her seat.
"Well I told Brittany that there was no way she should let her daughter go down to Plymouth for the weekend with the boy she just met!" says a woman's voice.
Ruth pails. She knows this voice. It's Debra Langham! Christ! Debra Langham is in one of the phone booths! Ruth ducks down behind the computer screen. What now? Debra must know about Ruth's scandal and death. Ruth almost forgets that part, she is supposed to be dead! She decides it is best to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Ruth nonchalantly stands and exits the room. She turns the corner and picks up her pace. She doesn't have time to wait for an elevator, she heads quickly to an internal stairwell.
Ruth pauses halfway down the first landing. There are people on the next landing. They are speaking Chinese, a Cantonese dialect. Is it her fellow health aides? No, it is not. She listens. They are talking about 'being discreet' when they get into port. The more normal you look the less suspicion. Don't get nervous. Have a last drink before heading to the exit if you're that nervous. The man is trying to calm someone. Ruth decides to head down the stairs. She passes them and says "Hi" in English. They respond "Hi" and smile. A young man and woman, about 25 years old. She continues down the stairs and heads to her stateroom.
She enters her room and leans her back against the door. She lets out a big sigh. What now? It's obvious that Debra Langham is on holiday. This is a big ship. Ruth thinks that she'll just have to keep a lower profile. She can't call Harry now. She'll have to try later. Her next shift with Mr. Wong is not for another 2 hours. She decides to put her medical scrubs back on and head to her shift early. She'll convince Jesse to switch up a couple of hours with her. This will allow some time later to call Harry, possibly during the formal dinner service with Debra out of the way.
Ruth enters Mr. Wong's room. Jesse is happy about the shift change. She thinks shorter shifts will work better too if Ruth would like to keep shorter shifts that way. They both agree. Jesse leaves. Ruth checks Mr. Wong's oxygen tank. She hears the door open, she thinks it's Jesse. She turns and sees the young Chinese couple that she had seen in the stairwell not 20 minutes ago.
"Hello," the young man says. "Are you a part of the medical staff?"
"Yes, I just came on shift. I'm checking the tank," she says. They must be the family members since they have a key to the room.
"Thank you so much for what you are doing, what you all are doing for my grandfather. He was just fine last week before he went to London on a business trip. It is sad to see him like this," he says. "My sister and I," he nods to the girl, "are bringing him back to New York for treatment. He has a doctor there. My father is on this ship too. We were all so worried," he says.
"My grandfather is 81 years old" the girl says.
"Well, we'll do our best" Ruth says.
The cabin door opens again and in walks a Chinese male, about 50 years old, very distinguished looking with graying hair. He is wearing a dark business suit, not your typical cruise attire thought Ruth. This must be the son. Three generations in this room thinks Ruth.
(Chinese language in italics)
The older man addresses them in Chinese "Everything alright in here? Who is this woman? I thought we had all Chinese health aides?" he asks.
"She is the only one that is not Chinese, this is her shift. She was just checking the oxygen tank," the younger man responds.
Ruth feigns ignorance of the language and takes her seat in the chair.
"Well, once we get him to New York he will be fine. My contact in Hong Kong has assured me that the antidote to the poison will work. We just need to keep him from dehydrating and plenty of oxygen. Has that pesty ship doctor come by asking more questions again?" he asks.
"No, we haven't seen him," says the young woman.
"Good. And the money? Have you found a good place to hide it?" he asks.
"Yes, we decided to keep four suitcases right here in this room, in the closet. Sort of hiding in plain sight." He smiles. "Weili has four cases in her room and I have eight in mine. We decided to keep your room out of it, just in case anyone recognizes you," he says.
What the hell is going on here! Ruth feels the hair on her neck standing up. Act calm now she says to herself. She yawns and picks up the crossword puzzle that Jesse had left and flips a few pages.
"I was able to get a call to New York this morning. The team of three left yesterday. They should be in London right now taking care of the problem. Poisoning the head of the family was a mistake. We won't tolerate it. They will be dealt with straight away," says the man. He is staring at the old man in the bed. "He should make it. The doctor says he'll make it."
"Yes father," says the girl. She takes her father's hand.
"Thank you, miss…miss?" asks the older man addressing Ruth in English.
Ruth appears startled at the English being spoken now. "Oh. You're welcome. My name is Kathy."
"Thank you Kathy. I am Frederick. This is my father," he says pointing to the bed. "He is a great man. The head of a great family."
"Well, we'll be here to keep watch on him." Ruth says reassuringly.
"Thank you Kathy," he says. "Let's head to the dinner." He says in Chinese to his children.
They exit the room.
Ruth slowly puts down the crossword puzzle. She checks Mr. Wong's oxygen tank. She looks at the cabin door. They are heading to dinner. She recounts their conversation. Poison? Suitcases full of money? A team of three to deal with people in London?
Ruth looks around the room taking it all in. She has spent 16 hours in it and now she is seeing it all in a different light. She heads to the main cabin door and looks into the hallway. It is empty. She slides the chain to lock the door. "You're a born spook," she says aloud to herself in a whisper. She smiles. She feels that Harry is right next to her.
She opens the first closet located near the cabin door. There are spent oxygen tanks located in it. She closes it and heads to the bedroom closet. She opens it and sure enough there are four large sized suitcases stacked on top of each other. There is also a duffle bag on the side. She pulls the top suitcase out of the closet and lays it flat. There is a cheap lock on the zippers of the case. She searches through the suitcase side pocket and locates the key. She unlocks and unzips the case. She has a look of both horror and delight on her face. The suitcase is packed tight with stacks of British pound notes. All different denominations. The money looks used. Not new money. It is definitely money that has been around in circulation. She reaches under some of the stacks. She finds a stack that is all mostly 100 pound notes. She places this stack in her waistband. She zips and locks the case. She should check the others.
She methodically unlocks, unzips and searches through the suitcases. They are all packed with stacks of money. She can't guess at the amount of money since it appears in all different denominations. She places them back in the closet in the correct order she searched them. Lastly she pulls out the duffle bag. She unzips it and counts eight unopened boxes of brand new satellite phones. Ruth knows that these phones retail for about € 500. Not cheap! These phones are favored by spies, terrorists, and the mafia. Which category did this group fall into?
What has she stumbled into? She knows she has to do one thing. She has to call Harry. Her replacement will be back in about an hour.
