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“Hey, Claudia. Got a minute?”
Claudia nearly jumped out of her skin when Kyle approached her.
She had just stepped out of her cabin. She was supposed to meet Scott at the Chocolate Extravaganza on the third deck. It was a buffet-style dessert bar loaded with delectable chocolate desserts of all sorts. It sounded absolutely delicious.
She hadn’t expected to run into Kyle - especially not when she was alone.
She looked around and saw they were the only people in the hallway.
Kyle looked at her curiously when she failed to immediately respond. He seemed to think her silence was due to anger rather than fear. “It will only take a second,” he insisted. “Can you please just hear me out?”
Reluctantly, Claudia nodded. “I’m on my way to the Chocolate Extravaganza,” she told him. “Want to join me?” She wasn’t inviting him to be polite. She was asking him to move to a more public space so that she would feel safer.
To her dismay, Kyle shook his head. “I was actually hoping we could go somewhere quiet to talk,” he told her. “Those buffet-style events are never quiet. But I promise I won’t take long. I know you’re probably eager to go grab some desserts before they’re picked over. I know of an out of the way spot over here,” he said, leading Claudia down the hallway.
She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to go with him, but she also didn’t want him to know she suspected he had killed his cousin. Letting on that she was suspicious seemed like a terrible idea. So Claudia decided to play along and pretend that nothing was wrong.
She hoped her acting skills would be convincing. Otherwise, she was all out of ideas.
Kyle led Claudia to a small nook she hadn’t even known existed. It was a cozy sitting area that was tucked away, nearly out of sight unless a person knew where to look for it. It contained a large beige armchair, a matching loveseat and a wooden coffee table. All the furniture was bolted to the floor to ensure it wouldn’t shift around while at sea.
“Please, have a seat,” Kyle said, looking nervous.
Claudia, too, was nervous. She perched on the edge of the armchair, her spine stiff as a board. She crossed her arms and looked at Kyle, hoping he couldn’t tell how anxious she was. She kept hoping someone - anyone - would walk by so she wouldn’t feel like she was all alone with a killer.
No one did. Everyone was probably down on Deck 3 gorging on chocolate.
Kyle sat on the loveseat and cleared his throat.
“I know we don’t know each other very well. This is a weird conversation to be having with someone who’s pretty much a stranger, but here goes.” He laughed uncomfortably. “I hope I don’t make things worse.”
Claudia forced a tight-lipped smile. Her fight or flight instinct was kicking in.
“Emily and I haven’t known each other very long, but I know how important you are to her,” Kyle said. “She talks about you all the time. She has some hilarious stories about the two of you taking her dog to the off leash park, actually. I feel like I already know you from those stories.”
“I wish I could say the same,” Claudia told him. “But Emily was very secretive about your relationship. I barely had time to process the fact that she had a boyfriend when she announced you two were getting married.”
“Yeah, it’s been a whirlwind,” Kyle agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think neither of us could believe we had found the other. We were scared to jinx it or something. Anyway, it goes without saying that our wedding and honeymoon haven’t gone according to plan.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Emily told me about what happened at lunch the other day. I understand you two had quite the argument,” Kyle said. “She’s been upset ever since. She has trouble sleeping at night and I can’t even remember the last time I saw her smile.”
“If you’re here to lecture me,” Claudia began, feeling herself bristle.
“I’m not,” Kyle said quickly. “I want you to know how much your falling out is affecting Emily. She’s really sad, Claudia. I know things were said and feelings were hurt. I don’t know who owes who an apology and frankly, that’s not what’s important.”
“It’s not?”
He shook his head. “Look, would you at least consider sitting down and talking with Emily?”
“Did she put you up to this?”
“No. Actually, she made me promise not to talk to you.”
“And you’re breaking your promise?”
Claudia couldn’t help but think that meant Kyle was someone who shouldn’t be trusted. What kind of man lied to his wife? And worse yet, what else might Kyle be lying about?
“I decided I need to intervene,” Kyle said. “I have no idea if I’m making the right call. All I know is I can’t stand to see Emily so upset. She said you wouldn’t even look at her the other day by the pool. You acted like she didn’t exist.”
“To be fair, she didn’t come over to say hello either.”
“I get it. It goes both ways,” Kyle agreed. “I’m not here to assign blame. All I ask is you think long and hard about whether this disagreement is worth your friendship. It’s a pretty high cost, if you ask me.”
“What did Emily tell you about our argument, exactly?”
Kyle’s face reddened. “You think we got married too fast. You’re not sure I can be trusted. To be fair, I’d have the exact same concerns if my best friend got married so quickly. You’re right to have questions and I don’t fault you for that one bit. It shows how much you care about Emily.”
“Is that all she said?”
Kyle’s face turned an even darker shade of crimson. “She said something about you calling me a murderer. She didn’t want to get into the details. I’m assuming it had to do with my cousin Chad’s death?”
Claudia froze.
She hadn’t expected Kyle to come out and ask her such a blunt question. She looked around, still well aware of how alone she was. If the conversation got ugly, there was no one there to intervene. If, heaven forbid, Kyle became violent...well, there was no way she could defend herself.
“I’m not mad,” Kyle told her, seeming to pick up on her discomfort. “But -”
“I need you to move,” Fatima interrupted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. She had a vacuum cleaner with her, and she looked like she meant business. “Up, up!” she ordered as she shooed Claudia and Kyle out of their seats. “There are plenty of other places to sit. Go find someplace else so I can clean.”
Claudia and Kyle stood there looking at each other uncertainly as Fatima pulled the chair out from the wall. “I, uh...Scott is waiting for me at the Chocolate Extravaganza,” Claudia told Kyle, inching away from him as she spoke.
“Yeah, okay. Go. Enjoy. I hope you’ll think about what I said.”
Claudia nodded. Then she hurried away. She couldn’t get away from Kyle fast enough.
Was he a threat to her, or had she been reading too much into an emotionally charged situation? She couldn’t be sure he had been trying to intimidate her. But the way he had turned bright red when the possibility of him being a murderer came up was interesting, to say the least.
Claudia didn’t trust Kyle. She worried he had a violent temper. What did that mean for Emily?
There was one thing Kyle had been right about.
She did care deeply about Emily, even after their big blowup. No matter how hurt and angry, a person couldn’t shut that off like a lightswitch. Now that she knew he had lied about when he had last seen Chad, she was more worried than ever.
Had Emily married a murderer? Was she in danger?
Claudia had to warn her.
