Dark Passage Read Free Page B

I’ve never heard of, though.’ I picked up my iPhone and powered it on. ‘They’re called Phoenix Cruise Lines. According to the Phoenix website, they’re owned by some fellow named Gregorius Simonides. Wikipedia says that young Greg is the second son of a Greek national. Rather than helping to lead his native country out of its current debt crisis, he’s living and spending his father’s fortune in the UK. He buys up still serviceable, but slightly shopworn ships and rehabs them.’
    â€˜Hence the name,’ Paul commented.
    â€˜Gregorius?’ I asked, puzzled. Then, ‘Oh, Phoenix, you mean. Right. New life rising from the ashes.’ I turned the iPhone screen in Paul’s direction. ‘Judge for yourself. From the pictures, his ships are fairly posh. Not as posh as the
Queen Mary Two
, of course, but posh enough.’
    As Paul scrolled through a slide show of ships of the line, I said, ‘The vessels are all named Phoenix something –
Phoenix Sun, Phoenix Wanderer, Phoenix Adventurer
– you get the picture. The
Explorer
goes through the Panama Canal to the Galapagos, and the
Odyssey
cruises exclusively in the Mediterranean – no surprise. If I can get the dates to work, we’ll be on the
Islander
. Eight days to Bermuda and back.’
    Paul was examining a schematic deck layout of the
Islander
when the instrument began
whoop-whoop-whooping
in his hand, the claxon-like ring tone I’d assigned to my sister, Georgina. He passed the phone to me as if it were radioactive.
    â€˜Hey, Georgina. I was just about to call you. What’s the good word?’
    â€˜I have good news and bad news,’ my sister replied. ‘Which do you want first?’
    If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the good news/bad news game. I braced myself, figuring that the worst that would happen would be I’d be setting sail on the
Islander
with only one of my sisters: Ruth. ‘I’ve had a long day, Georgina. Don’t torture me. Give me the good news first.’
    Georgina’s voice was upbeat, bubbly. ‘The good news is that Scott is in favor of the cruise.’
    â€˜So what’s the bad?’
    â€˜He says if I want to go, I’ll have to take Julie.’
    My niece, Julie Lynn Cardinale, is fourteen years old going on twenty-three. With her red hair and green eyes, she is the image of her mother at that age. I was very fond of my niece and at times, particularly during the Voorhis murder investigation around ten years ago, Julie and I had grown very close. ‘I think that’s a great idea,’ I told my sister, truthfully. ‘The ship has a teen club and all kinds of supervised activities for kids. She’ll have a ball. And it nicely settles the question of how many cabins to book, and who gets to room with whom.’
    Georgina let out a long breath. ‘I’m
so
relieved! I thought you’d be pissed off.’
    â€˜Don’t be silly. I adore your daughter.’
    â€˜Yes, but you don’t have to
live
with her,’ Georgina said. ‘The hormones are raging.’
    â€˜Emily was a handful at that age, too,’ I reminded her. ‘Now she’s a respectable mother of three and president of the Hillsmere Elementary P.T.A.’ I dragged a chair out from under the kitchen table and sat down on it. ‘I’m sure we can handle Julie, but does Scott understand that will double the price?’ My brother-in-law was a successful C.P.A, as cautious with his own money as he was with his clients’. Except for occasional stints as a substitute church organist, my sister had never needed to work outside the home.
    â€˜When Scott told me not to worry about the money,’ Georgina babbled on, ‘I thought that aliens had come and taken over his body! I explained about the prices, about the staterooms with windows – I
have
to have a window, Hannah! – but he’d already visited