Needless to say I was up before Ranger. This wasn't exactly how I expected our time on the ship to go. First, I thought we'd have separate cabins. To be truthful though, I wasn't really complaining about that. I thought we'd run into each other now and then, I mean there are only 250 passengers on the ship so the odds we could or would avoid each other completely for eleven days would be unlikely. But I thought I'd spend most of my time with Lula and I haven't spent any time with her. She's been with her Mom and with Tank's parents and with Tank of course. That makes sense though. I mean, they're her family.
But rooming with Ranger is fine. It has its advantages and disadvantages. I mean he smells good. I have someone to do stuff with. I'm not trapped in the wedding spiral. So, it's okay. Even though he snores when he's been drinking, he is still a very warm cuddler. It all evens out. It becomes difficult only because he comes back drunk off his ass and climbs into bed naked mumbling words I can't understand. Thank God we have all this sugar on the ship or I'd be done for.
So since he was still passed out and I'm certain hung over (he smells like a bar) when he eventually opens his eyes I'm on my own again. That too is okay. It's not like I haven't been alone most of my life. Granted I don't have Rex to keep me company, but Rex would have probably gotten seasick anyway.
I got up, showered, dressed in a bikini, drank two cups of coffee, ate a slice of pie (God knows I needed it. All I had to do was turn my head and I could see his naked ass), and then went out on our balcony and finished reading the Janet Evanovich book. It was hard to keep my giggles down to a dull roar. She's hysterical. I was just contemplating my next move when he stuck his head out on our balcony where I was basking and boy oh boy did he look rough.
He sank down to the lounge chair beside mine wearing a pair of shorts and a scowl.
"Rough night," I said cheerfully.
"Shhh," he groaned, "can you hold it down."
"I was considering lunch. What are you thinking about lunch?"
"I'm thinking I'll never eat or drink again," he said grimly.
"Oh…poor Ranger," I sighed. I went to my makeup case and dug out some Advil Gels. I got a bottle of water and took both to Ranger on the balcony. "Take these and then take a nice long shower. If you feel better after that, we'll talk about lunch. It's almost noon."
He swallowed the pills and the whole bottle of water before looking up at me. "I'm telling you, I'll never eat or drink again." He started back inside, "you know, your father is a sadist, don't you?"
I grinned, "It's the Italian genes. He can hold a lot of liquor. I didn't get those."
"Yea…thank God," he sighed and disappeared inside.
I grinned and picked up a second book of Evanovich's and prepared to sink into it.
It was thirty minutes later before Ranger reappeared. He seemed a bit better.
"How about lunch," I smiled.
"Maybe a salad," he said grimly. Well, at least he was thinking about food.
"I'll put some shorts on," I grinned and hurried inside leaving him on the deck.
We travelled up by the pool on our way to the grill. We endured a lot of good natured pats on the back. Ranger apparently lost a lot of money to my father the night before. I hope he could still afford to pay me my salary. We found that the pool had a buffet set out of salads and fruits and all sorts of finger things.
"Do you want to just eat here," I raised a brow.
"That sounds good. It would be better if we could eat in a dark room."
I grinned, "Sorry."
Molly Perkins put her hand on my arm cheerfully, "did you say you needed a dark room? Why don't you come down to the Opal Lounge and watch a movie this afternoon. We're having a Hercule Poirot marathon. It should be lots of fun."
"Can we," I grinned at Ranger. "It will be in the dark," I sing-songed.
"Sure," he nodded and winced.
We ate, well I mostly ate and he sort of nibbled. Then we headed down to the Opal deck to find seats just in time for the movie to start. The room was already dark.
"Oh cool, it's Evil Under the Sun."
"Is there buttered popcorn," he grumbled.
I shook my head and went to the small concession area and returned with a tub of buttered popcorn and two drinks.
"Why two," he frowned.
"Yours is an iced cappuccino," I said and turned back to the movie.
"What flavor," he muttered.
"Shhh," I hissed.
"What if I don't like it," he whined.
"It's caramel," I hissed. "Movie…Shhh."
"God you're bossy," he sighed.
"Ranger…I swear to God," I growled low.
"I'm quiet. I'm quiet. Sheesh," he said and slouched in his seat.
Evil Under the Sun lasted about two hours and then they put on Murder on The Orient Express. The program said they'd have And Then There Were None after that. I couldn't wait. But…I had to go to the bathroom during the opening credits of the second. Ranger had slept through most of the first movie. He woke up when I came back from the bathroom and went to the concession area and came back with three roast beef wraps, a huge bowl of fruit and some bottles of water. I think he was feeling better. He even asked me questions during it.
"So she's the aunt of the girl who was murdered?"
"She's the Godmother of the mother of the girl who was murdered…Daisy Armstrong."
"Who murdered her," he frowned.
"The dead guy planned it. The actual murderers died years before."
He frowned, "why is he dead?"
I sighed, "Do you want me to tell you what happens or do you want to wait and find out?"
"Don't tell him," someone hissed from in front of us.
"Sorry," I sighed.
"Sorry," Ranger mumbled. And he was quiet almost to the end. "They can't have all killed the guy," he grumbled. "I mean one of the blows had to be the mortal blow."
"The doctor said it was one of four," I reminded him.
"Oh yea," he bit into a strawberry, "but they'd all be charged with complicity."
"That's kind of the point Ranger," Marilyn Dinks said hitting him on the back of the head with her program from behind us. "Be quiet."
"Sheesh…sorry," he rolled his eyes and slouched again.
I have to tell you, I was glad he slept through the last one. Well, I would have been.
The credits ran for And Then There Were None and the lights went up in the theater.
"Thank you for spending your afternoon with us," Molly said cheerfully from the front of the room. She shook hands and pushed lightly on a man in the front row's shoulder. "I can see we've kept you entertained," she giggled. The giggle became a scream.
"I know that scream," I sighed.
"What," Ranger frowned and started up the aisle to her and the man.
"Somebody's dead," I said with a sigh just as the man slumped over. "I swear to God, murder just follows us around."
He shook his head and reached down to take the pulse of the man at his throat. "Shit…he's dead." He turned the man's head. "Oh man this sucks."
"What's up," Hal asked with a frown joining us in the front of the small theater.
"It's Hunter," he shook his head.
"He finally drank himself to death," Hall suggested.
"I don't know," he sighed.
Molly reached for the glass still clutched in Hunter Solomon's hand.
"Don't touch that," Ranger said catching her hand.
"Why," she blinked.
"Prints,' he said seriously. "You're going to want to call Security and the Ship's Doctor."
She nodded and hurried away.
"How many murders do you think they've dealt with over the years," I said crossing my arms.
"I'd say zero," Ranger sighed.
"Are we going to be stuck solving this one too," I raised a brow at him.
He grinned, "You need to keep your little grey cells exercised or they'll become atrophied."
"Men," I shook my head and went back to sit with Marilyn.
"Is he dead," she asked popping a couple of Milk Duds into her mouth.
"Yep," I agreed.
"Is he always so dense at the movies?"
"He likes a lot of clear hints," I grinned.
"He wants them to solve it for him before he can solve it himself," she said in astonishment.
"Yep," I agreed taking a couple of Milk Duds from her offered box.
"Did the killer leave a note on the dead guy," she smirked.
"I didn't see one," I grinned.
"Oh well…what's he gonna do now," she said sarcastically. "Is he going to wait till you solve it for him?"
"Pretty much," I agreed.
"Men," she grunted.
"Yep…Men," I nodded.
By seven o'clock Hunter Solomon was in the sick bay on ice, as it were. Ranger and I helped the Security people collect evidence. They interviewed everyone in the theater including us. We even gave them a list of questions they should ask everyone including the concession person. None of us saw anything. The doctor said he had to have been dead since about 1:15PM. That meant he'd died 15 minutes into the movie and nobody had noticed anything. That also meant that if he was murdered by poison, he could have been poisoned prior to entering the theater and died in the theater. That sort of left the rest of us off the hook.
The ship's captain came down to our cabin as we were reading later to let us know what was going on.
"Mr. Manoso," he said shaking Ranger's hand. "I can't tell you how much we appreciate your help this afternoon. You've also managed to keep this relatively quiet. We don't even know yet if Mr. Solomon was murdered or died of natural causes. We'd rather keep it hush-hush, you know?"
"Of course Captain. Please, have a seat," Ranger waved him to the couch.
"Thank you. We'll be docking in Costa Maya tomorrow. Someone from the American Embassy will meet the ship and take his body back to Quantico for autopsy. They said it would take a couple of days and they'd let us know from there."
"Are they concerned with the passengers on the ship staying put?"
"Not at this time," he said tiredly. "The consensus of the Feds that I spoke to said that Mr. Solomon was a ticking time bomb. He probably drank himself to death."
"That thought had crossed my mind," Ranger said grimly.
"In any case, we'll know something when we know something."
"Yea…in the meantime, I think I'll avoid the scotch," Ranger said with a small laugh.
"Good idea," he nodded. "We may need your help on this one Mr. Manoso."
"Of course," he nodded. "Stephanie and I will do whatever we can to assist you. She's actually our murder solver."
The Captain grinned, "then we are fortunate you're on the vessel, aren't we Ms. Plum?"
I smiled. Secretly I was imagining killing Ranger in his sleep.
"Well, I need to get back to the bridge. If you need anything, please let me know. Will I see you at dinner tonight?"
"No," Ranger smiled walking him to the door. "We're dining in tonight. We need some peace and quiet."
"I don't blame you," he smiled and left us alone.
The moment the door closed I was on my knees on the sofa glaring at him, "Why did you tell him I was the murder solver?"
"Because you are," he grinned and kissed me on the nose as he walked by.
"I don't want to be the murder solver," I hissed.
"But that's what you are Babe. You're the murder solver. I'm the muscle and the money and you're the brains."
"Bull shit," I growled. "You're as smart as I am."
"Yea, but my instincts aren't as good about solving murders. You could have given ole Hercule Poirot a run for his money."
"Whatever! You didn't even watch the first one or the last one."
"I watched part of them," he defended. "I watched enough to know that his little grey cells solve the crimes. Like your little grey cells solve the crimes."
"You're an ass," I flopped back on the couch and pulled my book up to my face.
"And you're a genius," he said lifting my legs and sitting down before putting them back over his lap. "Now that we've established that, let's just enjoy the rest of the evening."
"Ass," I mumbled.
I saw him smirk out of the corner of my eye and couldn't resist smiling.