Mystral Murder (Julie O'Hara Mystery Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bigger smile. Julie suspected that he probably had a big heart, too.
    “Hi, can I help you?”
    “I’m Joe. I’m a friend of Bill.”
    “Just you?”
    “Yes. Just me.”
    “Welcome, Joe. I’m Tom,” he said, shaking his hand, his other hand resting reassuringly on Joe’s shoulder. “There’s coffee and a continental breakfast over there.”
    As Joe walked off, he shook hands with Julie. “Hi.”
    “Hi, I’m Julie. Should I come back later?”
    “He’s new here and we’ve got a large group. It might be better if I send him back up to you, okay?”
    “Sure, I’ll be in our cabin, waiting.”
    Tom smiled and closed the door.
    Julie walked back down the hall and took the elevator to Horizons on Deck 11. A middle-aged couple got on at Deck 6. The wife said that they were going to the restaurant, too. “Guess we’re the only ones who decided not to go ashore. We’ve been here several times and I always spend too much.” They both laughed. Julie just smiled, lost in her thoughts about Joe. A tone sounded and the intercom came on:
     
    “PAGING ADRIENNE PARADIS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE PURSER’S OFFICE, DECK FOUR.  ADRIENNE PARADIS TO THE PURSER’S OFFICE ON DECK FOUR.”
     
    The elevator door slid open at Deck 11. Julie stepped out first and hurried to the restaurant, wanting to get back to the cabin soon for Joe.  The wife was next, her husband on her heels.  He grumbled, “I wish that woman would go to the purser’s office,” but his wife didn’t hear him.
    The long Horizons buffet-brunch was quite literally mouth-watering. The breakfast portion offered blueberry pancakes, Belgian waffles, lox and bagels, pastries, eggs any style, home fries, sausage, ham and bacon. Under live palms at the fresh fruit bar, giant watermelons were carved into tropical scenes.  For those ready for lunch, there was roast beef and turkey, or fresh caught grouper, mashed garlic potatoes and a choice of several vegetables. And then there was the salad bar. And the pasta bar. And the dessert bar. And the ice cream bar.
    Julie was oblivious to the bountiful display. She grabbed a tray and went through the line, picking a bit of this and a bit of that. At the end, a young waiter snapped her out of her reverie.  “Let me take that for you.” Julie followed him to a table just beyond a foursome who were seated next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a lovely harbor view of Port Charlotte Amalie, with its emerald green hills dropping into the azure sea. “Will this be all right?”
    “Yes, this is fine,” said Julie absently, automatically taking her seat with her back to the couples at the next table. Because of their loud chatter, it wasn’t long before she wished she’d selected a more secluded table. She picked up her egg and croissant sandwich and tried not to listen…which was impossible.
    “They haven’t found her yet?”
    “No, not yet. They’re searching every nook and cranny on this ship.”
    “Couldn’t she have gone ashore?”
    “No, of course not, they’d know that. Remember that first day when we stopped at that beach on Parrot Cay? They didn’t just swipe the identification card. We had to look into the scanner so they could compare the picture and make sure it was us.”
    “Do you know the woman?”
    “I don’t know her, but I know who she is. She has that big travel agency; you’ve seen her ads in Boston, I’m sure. Paradis Travel?”
    Adrienne Paradis? Julie thought.
    “I don’t think I know it.”
    “Well, I saw them putting up her picture on the Purser’s desk, asking if anyone has seen her and to call if they have. They must think she jumped.”
    Jumped? Adrienne?
    * * * * *
     
     
    CHAPTER 12
    B y eleven-twenty that morning, most of the Mystral’s passengers had gone ashore to tour the island of St. Thomas, so the unusual number of plain-clothes security officers visibly patrolling corridors and knocking on cabin doors was as obvious as a hundred referees in an empty