Page 26 of Terminal Voyage

I asked Sophia, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, honey.”

"But I…" It didn't make sense. I know what I heard.

"Maybe you just had a bad dream," Sophia said in an understanding voice.

I thought about it for a moment. It was possible. I guess. I’d had a lot to drink.

"Come in," Luciano said. “Look around. Once you're satisfied, then we can all go back to bed," he said in a sharp tone.

I was hesitant to step into the room.

Luciano sensed that and backed away from the door.

I put my foot into the compartment and glanced around.

There was nobody else in here.

I poked my head into the en suite and looked in the shower stall.

No one.

Then I looked on the other side of the bed.

There was nothing.

Luciano smiled. "I told you. There's no one else in this room. Sometimes Sophia has nightmares. She will talk and scream from time to time. I’ve learned to tune it out. Maybe that's what you heard."

Luciano looked at his wife for confirmation.

“I have terrible night terrors at times,” Sophia said. “Maybe I was having one.”

There was an awkward moment.

"While I do enjoy your company,” Luciano said to me, “I really would like to get back to sleep. I have to hop on a business call first thing in the morning, and that will be here before you know it."

It just didn't make sense to me. I stammered, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"Go back to sleep," Luciano said in a comforting voice. “I’m sorry if Sophia’s nightmare disturbed you.”

I stepped back into the corridor in a daze.

Luciano closed the hatch and latched it.

Was it Sophia I heard? Had I imagined the whole thing?

I couldn't tell whether to be angry or embarrassed. Maybe itwasall a dream.

I stumbled back to my stateroom, using the bulkheads as stabilizers as the ship danced on the angry sea. I felt a little ill, and that was compounded by my embarrassment. Still, I was sure I heard someone being strangled.

I stepped back into my stateroom, closed the door, and locked the hatch.

If someone fell overboard out here, that would be all she wrote. By the time the ship stopped and turned around, it might be too late. These oversized windows opened. But was there enough space to shove a body through?

I moved to the window and unlatched it. Hinged at the top, the window opened inward a few inches, restricted by a limiter. Rain and wind blew into the cabin.

The gap was too narrow for more than a hand. But the window itself was wide enough to accommodate a body. If someone disabled the limiter, two people could theoretically hoist a body up and push it out.