Buch lesen: «Undercurrent»

ONE

Someone had been in her stateroom.

Blue sapphire organza spilled out of the opened garment bag in Kathryn Brooks’s closet. She hadn’t touched it since the day they’d set sail, when she’d carefully hung the gown alongside her other performance attire. Kat was meticulous about her work clothes, had to be, considering their hefty price tag. She never would have left one of her bags open. Especially not the one holding her Jovani gown, the one her dad had bought for her.

So, who had opened it?

The question gripped her and wouldn’t let go.

She checked the zipper along the edge of the white casing, found it intact. She glanced around the room.

Everything else looked just the way she’d left it when she’d gone to the gym. The bed had been made, though, and a towel folded into the shape of a monkey hung from the ceiling. Johann’s doing.

She still felt funny about the special treatment, but her agent had insisted on requesting a room with a balcony, a steward and all the perks that vacationing travelers enjoyed.

It was how a world-renowned concert pianist traveled, Becky Landry had told her. “In style.”

Kat unhooked the gown from its hanger and carried it to the bed, laid it out atop the white down comforter. Traced the seams, checked the hem. No harm done.

Perhaps her cabin steward had just been curious. If it happened again, she’d have a word with him. She chided herself for her paranoia.

She needed to get a handle on that. Ever since the fire, she’d been battling anxiety.

Rooming with her best friend had been the perfect antidote. During the day, Morgan was the best kind of company—funny and adventurous, always dragging Kat out of their room to explore new ports and socialize with passengers. And during the quiet hours of the night, Kat was never alone. But Morgan had disembarked for a family emergency four days ago, leaving Kat right back in the very place she’d sought to escape—alone with her thoughts.

The room was stuffy. She left the gown and opened the glass balcony door, stepped out to the railing. Hot wind assaulted her, mid-July sun beating down without mercy. She welcomed the heat, its warmth on her face, the pungent saltiness of the sea—all reminders that she was alive. Just three months ago, she’d wondered if she’d ever feel the sun again, see the crisp blue sky, inhale the scents of summer.

Absently, she traced a hand down her left side, the ridges of the bandage smoothing down under her fingertips. The fire had licked a three-inch-wide path from midthigh to the bottom of her rib cage. In time, the burn would fade, but the scar would remain forever. None of it mattered, though, compared to what she had lost.

Kat blinked hard and shut out the regrets.

She wouldn’t look back. Not with all the beauty stretched out before her. The Jade Princess lulled gently, no land in sight. Four days since leaving port in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, the ship floated leisurely toward its next destination, the Canary Islands. Kat breathed in the ocean breeze, trying to drum up the thrill of the adventure ahead. But all she felt was the ache of all that had been.

Her dad would have loved cruising. She could picture him walking the promenade and talking up his only child’s accomplishments to anyone who would listen. It hurt to know he’d spent his entire life working, until one day he couldn’t.

A massive stroke in November had pushed him out of the state’s attorney’s office and into disability retirement. Kat had canceled her tour and moved back into the house she’d grown up in. Cared for her dad and willed him to get better while she took a faculty piano instructor position at the University of Miami.

Her father had started to improve, gaining back motion on the right side of his body, carrying on brief conversations. They’d begun to connect in a way Kat had craved since her mother had died. They’d eaten dinner together most nights, classical music in the background, reminiscing and dreaming. He wanted to travel, he told her, once he was back on his feet. She said she’d go with him as soon as his doctor okayed the trip.

But in January, he had another stroke. Kat was at work when it happened. Found him on the floor by his bed when she came home. Too late.

Setting her gaze on the horizon, still and unreachable, Kat clenched the railing, determined. Before her mother passed away fourteen years ago, Kat had made a promise that she would keep putting one foot in front of the other, even when it hurt.

Especially when it hurt.

She’d done just that, and now here she was, on her third job of a six-cruise contract as a concert pianist. She had to hand it to Morgan. The timing had been ripe for this kind of adventure.

The home she’d grown up in had burned to the ground in March, nearly taking her with it. When she was released from the burn center, bandages still covering ugly scars, footsteps slow with pain and heavy from loss, Kat knew it was up to her to make a new beginning.

The rebuild of Kat’s childhood home would be complete by the time her contract ended, and she’d be able to stop living out of suitcases. In the meantime, she’d have a chance to gain some perspective and evaluate what she would do with her career.

Halfway through her contract, Kat didn’t feel refreshed and she hadn’t gained a new perspective or figured out her next course, but at least she was keeping her promise to keep moving forward.

Her watch beeped.

Time to get to work.

She left the balcony door open as she reentered the cabin, hoping to gather the scent of the sea.

Her gaze flitted over Morgan’s bed, concern tugging at the pit of her stomach. Kat picked up her phone and checked it. No updates yet. She hoped everything was okay. Morgan’s brother, Jake, was in the hospital again, and this time it was serious. For Jake, a twenty-nine-year-old cystic fibrosis patient, any hospital visit could mean the end. Kat sent up a silent prayer for Morgan’s brother and then picked her dress up from the bed.

A flutter of familiar anticipation coursed through her. She always felt it right before a performance. Her cruise contract promised an adventure of a lifetime, and Kat was determined to embrace it.

* * *

Samuel West took a sip of black coffee and wondered, not for the first time, how his siblings had managed to pin him down for this one. Whatever their methods, they had succeeded, and now he sat watching rippling dark water against clear blue skies while keeping the corner of his eye trained on the woman who brought trouble wherever she set foot.

Grandma.

Ever since Grandpa Frank had died last year, Grandma had been on what could only be described as a travel binge. After her first trip left her stranded in Italy with no passport and her second trip ended before it had even begun, with a nasty fall on the airport escalator that fractured her wrist, Sam and his five siblings had gathered with Mom to devise a plan.

Grandma relished her independence, and her mind was still as sharp as ever, but she couldn’t be trusted to embark on adventures alone. Together the family made a pact to take turns joining Grandma Alice on her vacations.

Sam could think of a host of other things he’d rather do than hang out on a cruise ship. Too confined and predictable. But it was his turn, Grandma had told him with her no-nonsense voice, and she knew he had the vacation time available. Knew he hadn’t taken a day off in two years.

A flash of blue drew his gaze away from his grandmother and up to the wide spiral staircase at the center of the atrium. A woman stood still and graceful on the steps, near-black hair cascading down past her shoulders. Like a figure in a painting, she posed with serenity, one hand resting on the polished brass railing, the other relaxed at her side, gown shimmering under the chandeliers that lit the lobby.

“It’s six o’clock, and we on the Jade Princess trust that you’re enjoying your voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the Canary Islands and then on to Malaga, Spain.” The loud voice on the sound system filtered throughout the atrium as patrons wandered through the area and into the coffee shop and art gallery across the way. “In case you missed last night’s classical performance by concert pianist Kathryn Brooks, she will perform again in just a moment in the atrium. Ms. Brooks is a Florida native who made her debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of fifteen and has traveled the world delighting audiences ever since. She’s performed at Steinway Hall and the Sydney Opera House, and now we have the privilege of listening to her performances along our journey. Make sure to pass through the atrium on deck eight to hear her breathtaking music.”

Sam’s attention fastened on the woman in blue as she took the last few steps to the lobby and made her way to the shiny black grand piano set to the left of a wide center stage. Her black heels tapped against the white marble floor, and the din in the room hushed.

Passersby seemed drawn to the woman as she took her seat on a leather-cushioned bench, the flowing fabric of her gown caressing the floor at her feet. She turned slightly toward the audience, speaking into the microphone at her side.

“Good evening,” she said. “I hope you’re all enjoying your sea voyage as much as I am.” Her voice carried clearly through the lobby, mellow and sweet. A few people clapped in agreement and she smiled.

She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. A narrow streak of white appeared and disappeared so quickly Sam wasn’t sure he’d actually seen it.

“I’m often asked if music runs in the family. If my parents were here tonight, they’d laugh at the question. In church, my mother worked hard to master lip-synching to hymns, while the rest of the congregation wished my father would, too.”

Sam found himself smiling along with the rest of her captive audience. Magnetic was how he would describe her. And gorgeous.

“But my parents’ failure to carry a tune didn’t stand in their way of bringing music into our home,” she continued. “I recall many dinners with the CD player as background music. One night we might listen to Elvis, the next the latest Christian artist and another night an orchestral production. We would scour the thrift shops and clearance boxes at a little music store in town, always searching for something we hadn’t heard before.” She played a few sweet, slow notes and soft laughter rippled through the audience as they recognized “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

“I suppose that’s where my love of music began, and I credit my mother for inspiring me. While I can lose myself in a Chopin nocturne or a Brahms lullaby, I’ve always craved the challenge of creating, taking something beautiful and...changing it up a little.”

She turned away from the microphone, made a swift key change and began an arrangement of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” unlike any Sam had ever heard before. Her hands flew over the keys, turning the lullaby into a jazzy rendition that brought cheers from her growing audience. It was a short piece, and it came to an abrupt stop, met with enthusiastic applause. The woman turned back to the microphone.

“Tonight I’ll be performing some pieces you’ll probably all be familiar with. I hope you’ll enjoy my interpretation. If not, I understand that there’s plenty to do on ship. Which is a good thing, considering we have three more days before we hit our next destination.”

Even the young children in the room sat quietly watching, captivated by her

“In honor of our grand adventure, I wonder if you’ll recognize this first tune.”

Sam did right away—“What a Wonderful World”—and he observed the faces of bystanders as they murmured to each other.

The pianist’s graceful movements drew Sam in, her eyes closing briefly at the most tender sounds in the piece. Simple notes strung together into tangible emotion beneath the movement of her hands. Her energy and passion for her music flowed through the room, which had suddenly grown more crowded.

The song was one of Grandma’s favorites, and Sam glanced to his right, expecting to spot her big red hat swaying to the rhythm.

She wasn’t there.

He bit back a sigh and stood up, gaze roaming the room. Even in a hall thick with passengers, locating his grandmother should be a cinch with that enormous hat of hers. He moved from his seat, and a young couple scooped up his small round table as he entered the throng of people.

There. The red hat. He caught a glimpse as his grandmother entered the art gallery.

He took a step toward her, but something in his periphery caught his attention. Not the crowds shuffling through, not the toddler getting restless in his stroller, but a sudden shift in the air. Something wasn’t right.

His eyes caught on a figure moving swiftly out of the atrium and into the coffee shop. Dark jeans, a black ball cap and a black jacket. He stood out in the atmosphere of leisure, where the only others rushing about were uniformed crew.

The man was probably just in a rush to meet up with someone. Still, a chill of foreboding kicked Sam’s pulse up a notch, and his gaze sharpened as it traveled over the sea of crew and passengers. He’d had this feeling many times before. Not a premonition. Just gut instinct. Grandma would say it was a nudge from God, and Sam wouldn’t argue with that. But this was more like being clubbed in the head. A very strong warning.

A few feet away, the pianist’s hands pulsed over the keys with precision and speed, the giant chandelier glimmering above the piano.

Adrenaline coursed through Sam, years of training kicking in as he mentally logged the technical details of his surroundings. The room easily held five hundred people with several dozen onlookers from above. Six points of entry, ten including the elevators.

He looked up, slowly scanned the faces of the people looking over the railings upstairs. The volume was intense, voices chattering, piano clamoring, china clinking from a nearby restaurant.

Pop!

That one sound carried over all the others. Sparks flew from the chandelier above the piano and smoke poured from the ceiling.

The music stopped.

Hundreds of people pushing, running. Screaming.

He saw her, the woman in the sapphire gown, right as her eyes drew upward, horror written on her face. Instinct and training carried him to the stage as the pianist fumbled to escape, tripped up by her gown. A loud crack. A burst of flame. The chandelier broke away from its mount two stories above the center stage just as Sam’s feet hit the marble.

* * *

Kat’s heel caught the hem of her gown. She fell to her knees, scrambling to get away. From the rocking chandelier, the raining sparks, the thick smoke.

Strong arms wrapped around her, everything a blur as she rolled from the stage. A deafening crash, and screams and chaos erupted all around. She was pinned, facedown, by a complete stranger, smoke stinging her nose and filling her lungs.

She needed to get out. Now. She jerked upward, the back of her head making contact with a hard jaw. Pain seared through her, and the man stood, dragging Kat to her feet.

His hand held firmly onto her arm, urgency etched in the taut lines of his face. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she managed, willing her body to steady itself. A firm arm wrapped around her back.

“Come on!” The man tugged her away from the crowd of fleeing people and back toward the piano, the smoke, the shards of chandelier.

Fear paralyzed her, memories of another fire reeling her back, and Kat tried to yank away from his grip, but he wouldn’t let go. Smoke billowed through the cavernous room; flames licked the ceiling. And she was back in her bedroom months ago, trapped by fire scorching the walls, clawing for her, bright, hot, ravenous.

“The other way is too crowded!” the stranger shouted over the chaos in the atrium, and Kat forced herself to focus on him. “This is the safer route.”

He was right. Most people had run from the crash toward the stairwell and elevators. Hundreds clogged the exits behind them, shoving and pushing and panicking. They could more easily exit through the art gallery or one of the restaurants on the opposite side.

The stranger guided her carefully and quickly along the edge of the atrium, just yards away from the chandelier, broken into millions of shards of crystal and metal. It had obliterated the Steinway grand. The bench Kat had been sitting on moments before had simply disappeared into the rubble.

An alarm sounded. Loud, repetitive, painful. An announcement, urgent, echoed throughout the ship. She couldn’t hear the words over the alarm and the panicked voices ringing around her.

Harsh smoke enveloped them, mingling with a sharp chemical scent and the foggy mist from the sprinkler system. Kat coughed against the acrid smoke, eyes burning.

“Use this, and stay low.” The man at her side thrust a cloth napkin into her hands and pulled her into a crouch as they maneuvered toward an exit.

Kat held the napkin to her face and followed, pushing back images of that fiery night in March, flames clinging to her pajama pants, the walls of her parents’ house buckling around her.

She’d lost her heels, and her bare feet slid along the now-slick floor. Their path brought them past toppled chairs and purses left behind, coffee spilled and cameras abandoned on tables.

“Almost there,” the man said, his tone calm and even.

If he was scared, he wasn’t showing it. As a matter of fact, she had the sense that he knew what he was doing. That he’d done it before or had trained for it. He made no missteps, didn’t hesitate, just led her efficiently out of the area and into the art gallery. The smoke wasn’t as thick there, the air clearer.

Kat chanced a look back. Security officers descended on the scene as fire crew swarmed in from all directions, aiming a hose and extinguishers at what remained of the flames. The fire was contained.

They were safe.

Kat had escaped death. A second time. She should feel relieved, but a shudder coursed through her, dread in its wake.