Read Online Anchors Aweigh - 6 by Kathleen Bacus - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kathleen Bacus
Tags: Mystery
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I nodded. “You’ll have a chance to mix with other honeymooning sweetheart couples,” I explained. “Arrgh! ‘This a fine time ye’ll be havin’,” I added, about to include a warning about the stingy caloric count of the cuisine, then deciding to let the unsuspecting couple make that priceless discovery on their own. Joe was as much of a junk-food addict as I was, if not more so. And with the rapid-fire metabolism he was always touting, when he discovered a “plate worse than death” at dinner, I could only imagine his reaction. It was almost worth the suffering I would go through to see the mischievous mutineer in the same balanced-food-group boat.
“Too bad it doesn’t include engaged couples,” Joe said, giving me a pointed look. The perverted little puppet master.
“You think what I’m wearing will work okay?” Gram asked.
I smiled. “Aye,” I said. “Ye’ll be the purtiest wench at the mixer.”
Gram frowned. “How come you’re talkin’ like that?” she asked.
“Ask Gilligan there,” I replied.
“Gilligan?”
“Your new hubby. It’s my nautical nickname for him,” I explained. “Cute, huh?”
“So, what do you have on your itinerary for this evening?” my gammy’s Little Buddy of a groom asked me. “Hide and seek? A date in a dark casino corner with a one-armed bandit? Solitaire in your cabin?”
“How about a game of battleship with an ancient mariner?” I suggested, giving Joe my best hoistin’-the-Jolly-Roger look.
“Funny,” Joe said. “Let’s leave your granddaughter to an exciting evening of in-over-her-head, Hannah,” he said.
“Is that some kind of gambling?” Gram asked.
Joe gave me a sharp look. “Sure is,” he said. “A big gamble. With a lot riding on the next play, I’m thinkin’.”
I shook my head. “Give my regards to the other honey-mooners, Captain Kidd,” I said—and then realized what I’d just said. Honeymooners? As in, honeymoons long overdue? As in, an opportunity to possibly meet and greet a villain who was plotting a lost-at-sea scenario as a belated wedding gift, maybe?
I rubbed my chin. A mixer, huh? I knew how to mix. Circulate. I could chat up all the other grooms and see if I might recognize something about the individual I’d overheard in the hallway outside my cabin. If not, I could always drop a rather broad hint to the hims in each happy his-and-hers couple that I was on to them. Perhaps I could startle him into an admission of sorts, or at the very least make him rethink his plan—buy some time to narrow the field and, in the process, buy his wife a reprieve.
Okay. As a plan, it wasn’t much, but I’d started with less in other investigative endeavors. And no way could I bring myself to sail away unconcerned while there was a possibility a fellow passenger was about to be liquidated by her lover.
“Uh, where be this celebratin’?” I asked, and Gram handed me the ship’s daily program of events.
“In the Stardust Lounge,” she said.
I made a face. It sounded like a cheesy Vegas casino.
I checked out the ship’s diagram. The Stardust was right next to Pirate’s Cove, where I was supposed to meet Town-send. Still, if I went to the honeymooner mixer, I would require a husband. If I explained to Townsend first what I’d overheard, perhaps I could get him to help me out in my quest to save a damsel in distress. After all, hadn’t Townsend badgered me to open up to him, to trust him? To include him in my life? How, then, could he refuse my request?
I smiled.
A handsome ranger. A star to sail by. A mystery to unravel. What more could an intrepid reporter want?
My stomach gurgled and then growled. Joe looked at me.
What more could a girl want? A meat-lover’s pizza, a side of cheese bread, onion rings and a big bottle of grog. Hold the water.
CHAPTER SIX
I trailed my grandma and Joe to the Stardust. Joe kept turning around to give me puzzled looks, which I ignored. I imagine he didn’t
I nodded. “You’ll have a chance to mix with other honeymooning sweetheart couples,” I explained. “Arrgh! ‘This a fine time ye’ll be havin’,” I added, about to include a warning about the stingy caloric count of the cuisine, then deciding to let the unsuspecting couple make that priceless discovery on their own. Joe was as much of a junk-food addict as I was, if not more so. And with the rapid-fire metabolism he was always touting, when he discovered a “plate worse than death” at dinner, I could only imagine his reaction. It was almost worth the suffering I would go through to see the mischievous mutineer in the same balanced-food-group boat.
“Too bad it doesn’t include engaged couples,” Joe said, giving me a pointed look. The perverted little puppet master.
“You think what I’m wearing will work okay?” Gram asked.
I smiled. “Aye,” I said. “Ye’ll be the purtiest wench at the mixer.”
Gram frowned. “How come you’re talkin’ like that?” she asked.
“Ask Gilligan there,” I replied.
“Gilligan?”
“Your new hubby. It’s my nautical nickname for him,” I explained. “Cute, huh?”
“So, what do you have on your itinerary for this evening?” my gammy’s Little Buddy of a groom asked me. “Hide and seek? A date in a dark casino corner with a one-armed bandit? Solitaire in your cabin?”
“How about a game of battleship with an ancient mariner?” I suggested, giving Joe my best hoistin’-the-Jolly-Roger look.
“Funny,” Joe said. “Let’s leave your granddaughter to an exciting evening of in-over-her-head, Hannah,” he said.
“Is that some kind of gambling?” Gram asked.
Joe gave me a sharp look. “Sure is,” he said. “A big gamble. With a lot riding on the next play, I’m thinkin’.”
I shook my head. “Give my regards to the other honey-mooners, Captain Kidd,” I said—and then realized what I’d just said. Honeymooners? As in, honeymoons long overdue? As in, an opportunity to possibly meet and greet a villain who was plotting a lost-at-sea scenario as a belated wedding gift, maybe?
I rubbed my chin. A mixer, huh? I knew how to mix. Circulate. I could chat up all the other grooms and see if I might recognize something about the individual I’d overheard in the hallway outside my cabin. If not, I could always drop a rather broad hint to the hims in each happy his-and-hers couple that I was on to them. Perhaps I could startle him into an admission of sorts, or at the very least make him rethink his plan—buy some time to narrow the field and, in the process, buy his wife a reprieve.
Okay. As a plan, it wasn’t much, but I’d started with less in other investigative endeavors. And no way could I bring myself to sail away unconcerned while there was a possibility a fellow passenger was about to be liquidated by her lover.
“Uh, where be this celebratin’?” I asked, and Gram handed me the ship’s daily program of events.
“In the Stardust Lounge,” she said.
I made a face. It sounded like a cheesy Vegas casino.
I checked out the ship’s diagram. The Stardust was right next to Pirate’s Cove, where I was supposed to meet Town-send. Still, if I went to the honeymooner mixer, I would require a husband. If I explained to Townsend first what I’d overheard, perhaps I could get him to help me out in my quest to save a damsel in distress. After all, hadn’t Townsend badgered me to open up to him, to trust him? To include him in my life? How, then, could he refuse my request?
I smiled.
A handsome ranger. A star to sail by. A mystery to unravel. What more could an intrepid reporter want?
My stomach gurgled and then growled. Joe looked at me.
What more could a girl want? A meat-lover’s pizza, a side of cheese bread, onion rings and a big bottle of grog. Hold the water.
CHAPTER SIX
I trailed my grandma and Joe to the Stardust. Joe kept turning around to give me puzzled looks, which I ignored. I imagine he didn’t
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