Read Online Santa Cruise by Mary Higgins Clark - Free Book Online Page A

Commodore made a visible effort to control the outrage that was making his eyes send out sparks.
    â€œMy feelings are hurt, Dudley. Someone is trying to ruin our Santa Cruise. My blood is beginning to boil. This should have been reported to Eric if you couldn’t find me.”
    â€œSir, by the time I knew the suits were missing you were dressing for dinner, and I haven’t seen Eric since the lifeboat drill ended.”
    â€œHe was in my suite. I don’t know what’s keeping him now. He should be here. Not a word of this to anyone! I don’t want the guests to get wind of the fact that we have a thief in our midst. They’ve already witnessed one of our waiters trying to escape arrest. Where did you hire these people from? A penal colony?”
    â€œYes, sir, I won’t discuss this and no, sir, I didn’t hire our employees from a penal colony. . . .”
    Across the room, the four Reillys were sitting at a cocktail table. Regan was observing the byplay between the Commodore and Dudley. “I think Commodore Weed is giving the cruise director a hard time,” she commented.
    â€œHe’s the guy who fell off the rock-climbing wall, isn’t he?” Luke asked.
    â€œYes, and I gather he was in charge of hiring that waiter who jumped ship.”
    â€œHow did you find that out already?” Jack asked.
    â€œWhen we were sitting around waiting for the boat drill instructions to start, you and Dad were debating who would be the nominees in the next presidential election. I overheard a couple of thejunior officers talking about the guy who took the dive off the ship—”
    â€œAnd I thought you were hanging on my every word,” Jack said.
    Regan ignored the interruption. “Those junior officers said the hiring was a joke. Dudley never did the hiring on the other cruise lines where he worked. It’s not the job of the cruise director. They said he had to do it because the Commodore’s nephew, Eric, the guy whose room Alvirah ended up in, was supposed to handle it and didn’t. Dudley got stuck with finishing the job at the last minute on top of having to handle the guest list.”
    Jack pulled the newsy Christmas letter from the centerpiece. “The guest who wrote this must be really interesting. ‘In the last twelve months it’s been so exciting to watch Fredericka and Gwendolyn blossom into lovely young ladies. Violin lessons, gymnastics, singing, dancing, bird watching, etiquette classes, baking organic fat-free pies, etc., etc. . . . But all their activities have not prevented them from being conscious of their fellow man. We have a number of elderly neighbors whose doorbells they ring every morning to make sure they survived the night. . . .’
    â€œThank God they don’t live in our neighborhood,”Luke drawled. “These kids aren’t on the ship, are they?”
    â€œDon’t look now,” Regan muttered as two young girls ran past their table, a matronly woman in pursuit, calling out, “Fredericka! Gwendolyn! Give Mommy and Daddy back their champagne glasses!”
    Jack tucked the newsletter back into the centerpiece. “Regan, promise me we’ll never send out one of these.”
    â€œDuly noted,” Regan agreed.
    Nora had been studying the poster-sized picture of Left Hook Louie that was hanging on the wall nearest their table. “He was the nicest guy.”
    â€œWho?” Luke asked.
    â€œLeft Hook Louie,” she explained, as she pointed to the poster. “He was a prizefighter who became a best-selling mystery writer. I did a signing with him when I was new and he was well established. He had a long line and I only had a few stragglers. He stood up and said to the crowd that he had read my book and loved it and anyone who didn’t buy it should step aside and go a round with him right then.” Nora laughed. “I sold a hundred