Page 29 of Terminal Voyage

"Aye, sir.”

I shared a few uncomfortable moments on the bridge. The storm still raged.

“What about cameras? There have to be cameras on this boat.”

“On the bridge,” he said, pointing. “One facing forward, and one of the main deck aft for security.”

“That would have a record of everyone aboard.”

“Motion-activated, and clips are only stored for seven days unless they are manually saved.“

“Search the camera feed. It would have an image of Kate at some point when she came aboard the ship.”

Curran just gave me a flat look. He didn’t have the time or the inclination.

The first officer returned a few minutes later with Jimmy. Marks from the pillow still indented his face, and his narrow, puffy eyes were barely open. With tousled hair and a grumpy face, he looked plenty annoyed at the interruption.

"Sorry to disturb you at this hour," the captain said. Hegestured to me. "Do you remember serving drinks to this woman earlier this evening?"

Jimmy nodded.

"Do you remember another woman with her? Red hair, good looking."

Jimmy shook his head.

My eyes rounded with disbelief. "We were sitting at the bar for at least 45 minutes! You made her several martinis.”

Jimmy looked confused. "I don't mean to contradict you, ma'am, but the only person I served at the bar tonight was you.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Why are you lying?”

13

"I'm not lying," Jimmy said. "If there was somebody else with you, I didn't see them.”

“How long were you behind the bar?” Curran asked.

“I was there the entire time after dinner. I shut down after the poker game.”

"That's just not true," I said, flabbergasted. “You served Kate martinis."

"No, ma'am. I didn't. I don’t know anyone named Kate."

"But…" I was at a loss for words.

"How much have you had to drink tonight, ma'am?" the captain asked me again.

"Stop calling me ma'am. My name is Teagan. And I haven't had that much to drink.”

The captain shared a look with Jimmy.

He looked reluctant to say it. "I had to cut her off. I was worried she might get alcohol poisoning.”

My eyes rounded in disbelief. "What!? You were pushing drinks on me nonstop. I told you when I sat down at the bar that I didn't want anything to drink." I mocked with dramatic hands, “I won’t have a job if there’s no one to serve.”

It probably wasn’t a good idea to let go of the console. I could barely stand with the undulations.

Jimmy raised his hands innocently. "I don't want to argue. I don’t get into disagreements with guests. If she says I served her friend, I served her friend."