Deadly Reunion Read Free

doctor through,” a crewmember below urged. A man wearing all white rushed near and bent over the stretcher.
    “Please return to the dining room,” crewmembers told all of us.
    “I don’t feel like eating anymore,” I said. People around repeated the same sentiment. Many crowded around the bank of elevators. I had the same idea, but the area was too crowded. I returned to our table.
    No-longer-appealing chocolate mountains sat untouched at our four places.
    “Did you see Tetter and Jane?” Sue asked, sitting with me.
    “Not since we ran from the table,” I realized. “I wonder if they’re coming back.”
    “It seems like they’d say something before leaving us.”
    I craned my neck, searching for them. Possibly they had forgotten the location of our table, although we were near the entrance and any waiter could direct our friends here. “Maybe they went to the restroom.”
    While waiting, I scanned our dining room, a lavish treat to the eye. Chandeliers glittered. Mauve candles in sconces flickered on walls. People of many nationalities wore tuxes and waited on tables with elegant settings. Fresh flowers centered each linen-topped table. All looked prepared to treat royalty, not the ailing victim of an accident.
    “Let’s get out of here.” Sue sounded apprehensive, exactly as I felt. We strode to the polished open exit doors. “Let’s go to the medical center to find out how Jonathan is.”
    “His name’s Jonathan?”
    Her cheeks flushed. She kept her eyes lowered. “Jonathan Mill.”
    “I’d certainly like to find out if he’s okay,” I said.
    From her purse Sue pulled out a small folded sheet with ship’s deck plan. “The medical center is on deck three.”
    We took the first elevator that arrived. I was ready to ask Sue if she’d spent the hour or so with Jonathan before his fall, but a family of five stared at us. “Are y’all having fun?” the young wife asked with a southern twang. “We sure are. We’ve never done this before, and we all love it.”
    “We do, too,” I said. Except for meeting a man and seeing him unconscious.
    Two floors after the family got off, our elevator door opened. Contrasting the exquisite setting of the rest of the ship, this deck could have belonged to a battleship. Gray metal. With the gangway on one end, it looked functional and smelled of oil and wet rope. Thick opaque plastic sheets cut into two-inch-wide strips shut off an opening marked Crewmembers Only. Wooden counters stood on either side of an entrance, the stations where security members checked I.D.’s before letting people in.
    A door to the left was labeled medical center.
    A stern-faced security guard met us right inside. “I’m sorry, unless you have an emergency, you’ll need to come back later.”
    I peered beyond him toward the rear hall, but saw no one. The doctor and nurses must be back there, trying to help the man who’d fallen.
    Sue stood chest to chest with the guard. “A man fell and seemed badly hurt. His name is Jonathan Mill. I need to know how he’s doing.”
    The guard’s stern eyes softened, expressing concern. “What’s your relationship to Mr. Mill?”
    Sue’s Adam’s apple that had not been altered in surgery shifted as she swallowed. She glanced at me and then met the guard’s gaze. “We’re friends.”
    He shook his head.
    “Intimate friends,” I blurted. I’d barely met the downed man but cared about him. I cared about everyone, particularly a person who was hurt.
    “I’m sorry. Only immediate family members or a traveling partner can get that information at this time.”
    “Have you seen him?” Sue asked.
    “Yes, ma’am.” The guard hesitated a moment. “I’m sorry but I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
    We stomped to the elevator.
    “What floor?” Sue asked, stepping inside.
    “Let’s go to a bar.”
    She checked her deck plan. “They have plenty on different floors. We’ll go to the Promenade Deck, okay?”
    I nodded. “I sure hope