《Trust No One》


 ONE

    Have you ever felt like you were being watched? Well, I did. On that cruise. I¡¯m pretty sure everybody on that ship felt the same way. Eyes following you wherever you go. Nobody wanted to admit they were being watched, of course, until the third night. When Henry Clark got killed.


    Octavio Jordan Jr.


    As Octavio walked by, he swore that he thought he saw the eyes on the grumpy fat dude in the painting follow him. He paused and turned at the piece of art. No, it was just his imagination. A painting wasn¡¯t capable of looking at him. Unless there was a camera there, documenting Octavio¡¯s every move. Great. So much for trying to stay calm.


    It had been four hours, seventeen minutes and fifteen seconds since Henry Clark was murdered. Everybody on floor 11 were on edge. Octavio was fine letting the guards on the cruise settle everything themselves, but his friend Liberty Gray wasn¡¯t about to let that happen. She said that they were incompetent and stupid and weren¡¯t able to catch a murderer. As if she could.


    Octavio wouldn¡¯t have known Henry Clark if they hadn¡¯t set up a memorial for him. That was where he was headed.


    The halls of floor 11 were wide, with a burgundy rug running down the middle. There were long panels of light on the ceiling, and Octavio looked at them as he passed. Sunlight reflected off of the ocean below, and he glanced at it through the window.


    As Octavio passed a door to a room, he heard voices, the sound of two males talking. He paused.


    Most of the conversation was muffled, but Octavio caught slivers of what they were saying:


    ¡°We didn¡¯t come for a¡­¡± One voice said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter¡­¡± Another voice said. ¡°¡­we should figure it out, whether you like it or not.¡±


    Octavio felt bad about eavesdropping, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder. What did the two mystery people come for? What do they want to figure out? Octavio had an idea about that last question. The second voice wanted to find out who murdered Henry Clark.


    The door opened, and a man walked out. He had short messy black hair, a black sweatshirt, and baggy blue jeans. He had big rectangular glasses with what looked like cheetah print on the frame. He looked at Octavio quizzically, as if trying to see if he had heard the conversation.


    As Octavio walked away, he silently took note of the number on the room door. 1107.


    Aspen Hunt


    Private investigator Aspen Hunt examined the lifeless body of Henry Clark.


    ¡°We have estimated the time of death to be about four and a half hours ago.¡± Said Dr. Oliver Winters.


    ¡°So, five-thirty.¡± Hunt bent down and examined the body. Her thoughts were still foggy. Why was she looking at a dead body on her vacation? ¡°How many people are on this cruise?¡±


    ¡°2,998 people including staff.¡± Dr. Winters said. ¡°Well, now it¡¯s 2,997.¡±


    Hunt lightly pinched the bridge of her nose. She had a serious migraine. ¡°What resources do we have?¡±


    ¡°Not many.¡± Winters said. ¡°You are the only investigator here. Unless you believe the rumors.¡±


    Hunt paused. ¡°What rumors?¡±


    Dr. Winters straightened his tie. ¡°Well, some people have been saying that there are some undercover spies on this ship.¡±


    Hunt snorted. ¡°Yeah, right.¡±


    Winters looked embarrassed to have brought the topic up, and now tried to change it. ¡°So, floor 11 has set up a memorial for Henry Clark. Are you going to go?¡±


    Hunt really didn¡¯t want to go. She wanted to let somebody else take care of this problem. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can make it.¡± She said.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Milo Chang


    Milo Chang was annoyed. Corey Byrd wanted nothing to do with the murder. Milo could understand why Corey wouldn¡¯t want to catch the unsub (meaning unknown subject). He¡¯s caught so many in his life that he wanted to let somebody else take the glory. Milo understood that. He¡¯s felt that way before. But this was different! The unsub had to be on this ship, possibly even this floor, number 11.


    Milo watched as the kid who was standing outside Corey¡¯s door hurry past. He had clearly heard something. It was too late now.


    Milo looked out of the window. All he saw was a vast expanse of ocean. This cruise lasted ten days in total. Today was day three. Seven more days until Henry Clark¡¯s murderer was set free unless they stopped him.


    Milo had heard from certain sources that Henry Clark was killed with a knife. There were multiple stab wounds. One to the chest was the strike that killed him. Milo knew that all of these meant that this murder was personal. But as far as he knew about Henry Clark (which was a lot), many people had a bone to pick with the guy.


    Milo walked down the hall and went to his room. He quickly scanned his living space and made sure that nothing had been changed. He took out his phone and dialed his boss¡¯ number.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Milo said. ¡°Things have complicated here.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± His boss, DeVito, asked through the phone.


    ¡°The suspect was murdered.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± There was a pause. ¡°Why don¡¯t you and Byrd try and find his unsub.¡±


    ¡°Do we get paid?¡± Milo asked.


    Liberty Gray


    I drummed my fingers against the table excitedly. ¡°Wait, so, you actually met the guy who died?¡±


    Octavio Jordan Jr. sighed. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Oh my gosh, that¡¯s so cool!¡±


    Me and my friend Octavio were in the dining hall of the cruise ship eating lunch. It had been one day since Henry Clark was murdered. Me and Octavio were on this ship from vacation, and now we were stranded on a boat stuck with a murderer. So exciting, right?


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we should totally figure out who did this!¡±


    Otto (that¡¯s Octavio¡¯s nickname) gave me the death stare. He¡¯s really good at those. ¡°No.¡± He said. ¡°We totally shouldn¡¯t figure out who did this.¡±


    ¡°But nobody else is taking the initiative!¡±


    Otto glowered at me. He¡¯s also really good at glowering. ¡°Did you see the person who just walked in?¡±


    I turned toward the door. There was a woman talking with somebody. She wore black pants with a long black coat and a white polo shirt underneath. She had long brown hair and eyes the color of obsidian.


    ¡°What about her?¡± I asked, turning back towards Otto.


    Otto sighed and took out his sketchbook from his bag by his feet. ¡°It looks like she¡¯s taking initiative.¡±


    I turned and looked again. The woman seemed to be interviewing some people at a table. I gasped.


    ¡°What if she¡¯s the killer?!¡±


    Otto rolled his eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t just make assumptions like that.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I?¡±


    Otto ignored me and brushed his long dirty blonde hair out of his face. His sea green eyes darted around the room. He had two curved lines at the end of one side of his lip, and they darkened when he was thinking about something. That¡¯s what happened then.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Otto said that in a way that meant it was definitely something.


    I couldn¡¯t tell what he was looking at, but I tried to look anyway. There were around twenty other people in the room. I saw my dad talking with Otto¡¯s parents on the other side of the room, and the rest of the people I didn¡¯t know.


    There were a lot of people on that cruise. Over 1,000 people. There were at least 200 people on floor 11 alone. So, in order to figure out who the killer is, I needed to narrow down my suspect list.


    ¡°All right.¡± I said. ¡°Do you have paper?¡± I eyed his sketchbook.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Otto gave me another one of his death stares.


    I quickly snatched up the book and his pencil.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    I ignored him and opened to a new page and wrote: Suspect List


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°Who do you think murdered Clark?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not how you do it.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to suspect everyone and then use the process of elimination.¡± Said a new voice. I looked up.


    There were two guys who had apparently snuck up on me and Otto. The guy who had spoken was tall and thin, with short black hair with a black sweatshirt and cheetah print glasses. The second guy looked a lot sturdier, with hair so short he was almost bald, a sharp nose and chocolate colored skin. The second guy crossed his arms.


    ¡°Um, hi?¡± I squeaked.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Said the second guy. He seemed a lot friendlier than I thought he would be. ¡°Can we ask you some questions?¡± He looked around to make sure nobody was looking, and then took something out of his pocket. An FBI badge.

 TWO

    Octavio Jordan Jr


    Everything fell into place for Octavio. The guy who had come out of that room was an FBI agent. But the big question was, why were they on the cruise in the first place?


    Dr. Juniper Rice


    Dr. Juniper Rice looked around the dining hall. There were two teenagers talking in one corner of the room, a boy, and a girl. They had been confronted by Corey Byrd and another man who tried to make sure that nobody saw their FBI badges, but she did. Nothing could get past Juniper.


    Everybody had been nervous ever since the news of Henry Clarks¡¯ death was announced. Juniper saw the couple by the window by the far wall talking in hushed tones, and she saw the husband look around the room nervously. That told Juniper that they had (or thought they had) a big secret.


    Everybody has a secret, whether they like it or not. Juniper¡¯s secret, you ask? Well, that¡¯s a good question.


    -


    Henry Clark¡¯s Room


    10:00 pm


    The Night Before Clark Was Murdered


    -


    Until now you have experienced the cruise ship through somebody else¡¯s eyes. Now you are going to enter Henry Clark¡¯s room as yourself.


    You see Henry emerge from the bathroom, in childish striped pajamas. He is a middle-aged man with thinning hair, a protruding belly, and big pudgy fingers.


    You see this man get straight down to business. He drinks some water from a tall glass and climbs into bed.


    After a couple hours, the clock now reads 5:22 am. You hear the door creak open. Your nose catches the scent of something strange, was that gunpowder?


    You see the shadow of a man through the open doorway. The lights are off, so you do not see his face. You catch a glint of silver right below his hand, and you think that it is a knife.


    The person takes a step forward. Henry Clark turns in his sleep.


    The man turns the dagger in his hand and moves toward Henry. You turn away as you hear the sickening sound of blade meeting flesh.


    Corey Byrd


    Corey Byrd and Juniper Rice were walking along the upper level of the cruise ship. There was a salty breeze and the umbrellas nearby swayed.


    Juniper suddenly stopped walking, and Corey almost walked into her. ¡°Why did you come on this cruise?¡± She asked.


    ¡°What?¡± Corey asked, trying to delay the inevitable.


    ¡°I mean, you¡¯re good,¡± Juniper said. ¡°But not good enough to know that there was going to be a murder on this ship.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°And,¡± Juniper continued. ¡°You and that other guy went up to those two kids with your badges. Why? Why are there two of you? What¡¯s the real reason you¡¯re on this ship?¡±


    ¡°Which question do you want me to answer?¡± Corey asked.


    ¡°My first one.¡±


    ¡°Uh, well,¡± Corey started. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you. It¡¯s against protocol.¡±


    Juniper glared at him. ¡°Since when does protocol matter to you?¡±


    ¡°Uh, since I got promoted?¡±


    Juniper sighed. She had long light brown hair piled at the top of her head in a massive messy bun. She had stretchy black pants with running shoes and a light pink muscle shirt. She was a doctor, but she didn¡¯t look like one. She also was extremely skilled in the martial arts, but she didn¡¯t look that way either.


    Corey remembered one time there was someone who had stolen a pair of sunglasses from a store and Juniper had tripped the guy so inconspicuously that he didn¡¯t know what hit him.


    ¡°Agent Byrd,¡± Juniper said all formally. ¡°Do you remember who helped you get promoted?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°And who was it?¡± She asked.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Wow!¡± Juniper mimed clapping. ¡°Bravo! And, you know who can put you back at your old job?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Corey said reluctantly.


    ¡°And who can do that?¡±


    ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Juniper¡¯s eyes turned serious. ¡°Now, are you going to tell me, or not?¡±


    Corey opened his mouth to start talking, but his phone rang.


    He smirked at Juniper. ¡°Saved by the phone.¡±


    Juniper sighed. ¡°Again.¡±


    Corey picked up the phone and started heading down the stairs back to floor 11.


    ¡°Agent Byrd.¡± He said.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Said Milo¡¯s voice. ¡°You got to come down here.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Someone was found hanged in their bathroom.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Corey said. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°One of Clark¡¯s clients.¡±


    ¡°Do you think- ¡°


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to think right now.¡± Milo interrupted. ¡°Just get down here. And fast. I got to go. The kids came back.¡± Milo hung up the phone and Corey put his back in his pocket. He went down the stairs at a quick pace, regretting leaving the elevator behind.


    When Corey got to floor 11, there was caution tape blocking off the entrance to one of the rooms nearby. Cameras flashed. Why were there reporters on a cruise ship?


    A reporter apparently saw Corey in the back of the hallway and muscled her way towards him. She was very short with light blonde hair and a large clipboard with a notebook in her hands. There was a pen behind her ear.


    ¡°Hi.¡± She said to him. She stuck out her hand and Corey shook it. ¡°My name is Ocean Wise. Do you have any idea about what happened here?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I know what¡¯s going on?¡± Corey asked. ¡°I just got here.¡±


    Ocean winced. ¡°Oh, well, you kind of have the traits of law enforcement, plus the gun on your belt.¡±


    Corey glanced down. He just noticed that his gun was showing. Oops.


    Corey moved his gun so that it was obscured. ¡°Nobody¡¯s supposed to know that I¡¯m here.¡± He said. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry, but I really don¡¯t know what happened.¡±


    ¡°But- ¡°


    Corey walked past her and tried to find a way into the room.


    Liberty Gray


    I couldn¡¯t believe it. I was standing inside an actual for real life crime scene! This was a big moment for me. I could totally add this to my resum¨¦ later on. Not that this hadn¡¯t been my first crime scene. But the first one didn¡¯t count. It was my own house, after all.


    Me and Otto (I had to pull him along) were standing in this dead guy¡¯s room with Agent Milo Chang. I was standing by the window with Otto, mostly because I didn¡¯t really want to look at the body hanging by the bathroom entrance.


    There was a knock on the door, and the nicer FBI agent, Corey Byrd, walked in.


    ¡°How did all of the reporters get on the ship?¡± He asked to no one in particular.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to deal with that right now.¡± Agent Chang said. ¡°I had to bribe the CSI manager for ten minutes in here. I don¡¯t think I can get any longer.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± I said, smiling innocently. ¡°How can we help?¡±


    ¡°By leaving.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°Ha ha, very funny.¡± I said. Milo scowled at me. I ignored his look and moved my eyes to other parts of the room.


    ¡°So how did he get in?¡± Corey asked, ignoring me and Otto. How rude.


    ¡°There was no sign of forced entry,¡± Milo said. ¡°But the door was locked anyway.¡±


    ¡°Did the unsub sneak in through the air vent?¡± Corey said in a way that meant he thought it was very unlikely.


    Milo didn¡¯t seem to understand what sarcasm was. ¡°Maybe.¡± He said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± I interrupted. ¡°What¡¯s an unsub?¡±


    ¡°It stands for unknown subject.¡± Corey told me.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Otto said. He had stopped staring out the window in a daze. ¡°Don¡¯t people commit suicide by hanging themselves?¡± He asked. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what happened.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Milo said again. That man needs to work on his vocabulary. He has a very short dictionary it seems. ¡°But two murders ¨C I mean deaths ¨C in two days, that seems like it¡¯s one killer.¡±


    ¡°Unless this guy is the killer, and he killed himself before we ¨C you, whatever, - caught him.¡± I said.


    ¡°Right now, we have to take everything into account and weigh all the options.¡± Milo said. ¡°Since we haven¡¯t been able to go to the first crime scene, we don¡¯t really know if the two are really connected.¡±


    ¡°Except for one part.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°Byrd,¡± Milo said accusingly.


    ¡°What?¡± Corey said. ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡±


    ¡°Not here.¡± Milo said, and I understood what he meant. Not in front of the kids.


    That right there, is what I hate about adults. They think they¡¯re so superior just because they¡¯re a couple decades older than us. Like, seriously?


    ¡°What?¡± I said.


    Milo glared at Corey. ¡°Nothing.¡± He said.


    I crossed my arms at Milo. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡± Milo started to look around the room. ¡°The victim had his computer and luggage out.¡± He noted. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really look like he was saying goodbye in any way.¡±


    ¡°Is there a suicide note?¡± Corey asked.


    Milo shook his head. ¡°If there is, the forensic examiners took it.¡±


    There was a sharp knock on the door, and I jumped.


    Milo sighed. ¡°That¡¯s our cue to leave.¡± He looked at me and Otto. ¡°How did you guys get past the reporters?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re kids. They don¡¯t pay attention to us.¡±


    Milo looked like he had an idea. ¡°So, you could sneak into a room without being noticed?¡±


    I shrugged again. ¡°It kind of depends. You have to look like you know where you¡¯re going.¡±


    Milo got a glint in his eyes that made me feel uneasy.


    ¡°Okay, I need you two to do something¡­¡±


    So, a couple hours later, me and Otto were walking towards Henry Clark¡¯s room in the middle of the night. I was pretty excited. We just couldn¡¯t get caught. This was going to be so easy.

 THREE

    Me and Otto got to Henry Clark¡¯s door. I pointed down the hall. ¡°My room¡¯s just over there!¡± I whispered.


    Otto did one of his famous death stares. ¡°Shut up and let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    ¡°How do we open it?¡± I asked, ignoring his comment.


    Otto shrugged. He took his card out of his pant pocket and swiped it against the sensor. The door opened with a click. He turned and smirked at me.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± I muttered.


    We walked in.


    The room smelled musty, like someone hadn¡¯t cleaned the room in a long time. That didn¡¯t make sense since the cleaning crew should have cleaned the room yesterday.


    The room was dark, lighted only by the safety lights in the hallway. I took my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight.


    I saw the bed and gagged. There was a gigantic bloodstain there.


    I heard Otto close the door.


    ¡°So, he was killed right there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I guess.¡± Otto said.


    ¡°Chang told us to take pictures of things that are important.¡± I said. ¡°What would that be?¡±


    ¡°Maybe just take pictures of everything?¡± Otto suggested.


    ¡°That won¡¯t work.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m almost out of storage.¡±


    ¡°How many pictures do you take?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I said. I took a couple of steps forward. I felt the squishy texture of the carpet under my feet. I snapped a picture of the bed. ¡°What else looks important to you?¡± I asked, getting anxious to leave.


    The light from my phone moved around the room.


    ¡°Anything that looks out of place, I guess.¡± Otto said.


    ¡°Well, what looks out of place to you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s a card on the floor.¡± Otto said.


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°It looks pretty out of place.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I said. I backed away from the bed and almost tripped on something.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Otto asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. I put the light on the thing that I had tripped on. It was just his suitcase. ¡°Where¡¯s the card?¡± I asked.


    I took I picture of the card, and me and Otto pondered whether or not to bring it with us as well.


    ¡°I think we should bring it,¡± Otto said finally, and used his jacket sleeve to pick it up. ¡°Just in case there are fingerprints,¡± He explained.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I said, and the two of us hurried off.


    Octavio Jordan Jr


    Octavio and Liberty were with Corey Byrd and Milo Chang in the dining hall. The morning light filtered through the window, and Octavio nibbled on a bran muffin.


    Milo had Liberty¡¯s phone in his hands and was flipping from the picture of the bed to the card. The card was a joker and didn¡¯t seem to be unusual of any kind.


    Milo looked at the joker on the table. He picked it up with a pair of tweezers. He examined it carefully.


    ¡°The unsub didn¡¯t have a need to add this card to the scene.¡± Milo said. ¡°So why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like the D.C. Sniper.¡± Corey said. ¡°They put a death card at their murders.¡±


    ¡°So this unsub wants to play games.¡± Milo said. ¡°This card connects to him in some way.¡±


    ¡°And we just need to find out how.¡± Liberty said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Milo laughed. ¡°We?¡±


    Octavio winced. Uh-oh.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Liberty said. ¡°We. Me and Otto helped you find this card, and now you¡¯re acting like you found it yourself. We helped you. You need to let us stay.¡±


    Corey looked at Milo. ¡°She has a point, you know.¡±


    Milo sighed. ¡°All right. We need to talk privately.¡±


    ¡°That I can give you.¡± Liberty said. She flashed Octavio a grin.


    Octavio didn¡¯t know what to do. He had been secretly hoping that Liberty would just give up and let law enforcement do their thing. He should have known better. Liberty never gives up.


    Octavio and Liberty walked away, and Milo and Corey started to have a heated conversation. Despite himself, Octavio strained his ears to listen. They seemed to be talking about the murder, not whether or not to let him and Liberty help with solving the murder.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Milo said something that caught Octavio¡¯s attention. Maybe it¡¯s a good thing that Clark is dead. Those words rang over and over in Octavio¡¯s mind. How could Milo think that? How could anybody¡¯s murder be a good thing?


    Octavio remembered something that had happened on the first day on this ship. It was when he had met the victim.


    -


    Floor 11


    11:00 am


    The first day of the cruise


    -


    Octavio walked past the painting of a big fat guy and turned the corner. He had earbuds on and was listening to his playlist. He had his folder, his sketchbook, and multiple pieces of paper in his hands.


    Octavio bumped into someone as he walked. He dropped his papers and they scattered all over the floor.


    The man muttered something under his breath and kept walking. Octavio bent down and started to pick up his papers. A family walked past him. A pudgy man came from the other way. Suddenly he was right beside Octavio, helping him pick up the papers.


    ¡°I hate it when I drop my papers.¡± He explained.


    Octavio Jordan Jr


    Octavio walked up to Milo and Corey.


    ¡°How could you say that?¡± He said.


    Milo didn¡¯t seem to be nervous about the fact that Octavio had heard their conversation. ¡°You don¡¯t know what he¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± Octavio asked. ¡°He¡¯s dead!¡±


    Milo pursed his lips, as if trying to conjure up a response. ¡°Some people aren¡¯t who they seem.¡±


    ¡°So now you¡¯re saying that he¡¯s a criminal?¡± Octavio asked. ¡°Wow.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe he is!¡± Milo said.


    Apsen Hunt


    Aspen Hunt looked at that teenage boy confront the two men. That kid, along with the girl, must have been tricking Hunt in some way. She had seen them leave the crime scene late last night, and she went in herself. The suitcase was in the wrong place. Hunt needed to teach those kids a lesson.


    When Hunt looked over in the kid¡¯s direction again, the two men had left. How had she not noticed that? Eh, that didn¡¯t matter. But she did know that this was her chance.


    She stood up, bringing her coffee cup with her. She walked over to the two children.


    ¡°Hello,¡± She said. ¡°My name is Aspen Hunt. I¡¯m investigating the murder that happened two days ago.¡±


    The two kids were standing by the buffet bar, right next to the cereal. The boy looked like he wanted to hide behind the big container.


    ¡°I just wanted to talk to you about tampering with evidence.¡± Hunt continued. ¡°You see, I saw you two leaving the crime scene last night.¡±


    ¡°What crime scene?¡± The girl asked innocently.


    Hunt looked at the girl. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Hunt said. ¡°I cannot have you two looking inside of the room. That will contaminate the things there.¡±


    The boy nodded. ¡°Have you seen the second crime scene?¡±


    Hunt paused. ¡°There was another?¡±


    The boy shrugged. ¡°They said it could¡¯ve been suicide.¡±


    Hunt slowly nodded. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll check that out. Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°And don¡¯t forget what I told you.¡±


    Milo Chang


    ¡°Somebody saw you?¡± Milo asked.


    Liberty Gray nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± She said. ¡°She told us that she was investigating the murder.¡±


    ¡°Did you tell her anything?¡± Milo said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She said. ¡°Otto told her about the second murder.¡±


    Milo winced. ¡°That may not have been a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Octavio asked. He still seemed on edge since he blew up about Henry Clark in the dining hall. But the kid really had no idea who Clark was.


    ¡°Because we don¡¯t know how this unsub is going to react if his murders get on the media.¡± Milo said.


    Milo and the two kids were on the top level of the cruise, getting some fresh air. Milo couldn¡¯t help but feel stressed. They had five more days to find this unsub and they were getting nowhere.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you two head back down?¡± Milo said. ¡°You guys came on this cruise for time with your families, right? Why don¡¯t you spend some time with them?¡±


    Liberty looked like she wanted to say something but changed her mind. Octavio nodded and the two of them headed back down the stairs. Milo looked and saw Corey passing by the two kids. He smiled at them and asked a question, though Milo was too far away to hear it. He saw Liberty respond. Corey kept walking towards Milo, and now he could see that there was somebody behind him.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Corey said. ¡°Chang, this is Dr. Juniper Rice. She majored in criminology and sociology, and I¡¯ve known her ever since high school.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Milo said.


    Dr. Rice was of average height, with blue jeans and a white T-shirt that said: SHHHHH! She had light brown hair that went down to well below her shoulders. She had a pair of black sunglasses on her head.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Byrd continued. ¡°Juniper has had a lot of experience with this type of stuff, so I was thinking that she could help.¡±


    Milo couldn¡¯t help but feel offended. He and Corey also had experience, that was why they were in the field. ¡°That would be great.¡± He lied. ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to use the restroom.¡± He started to walk to the door that led to the stairs, and he was aware of Corey following him. Milo and Corey got to the stairs and the door shut behind them.


    ¡°She has a lot of experience?¡± Milo demanded. ¡°We have experience. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re here because of Clark.¡± Corey said flatly. ¡°And because of the things he¡¯s done. We¡¯ve barely had to deal with murders.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Milo said. ¡°We can learn. We know that Clark was a narcissist. What would make him become a target for murder?¡±


    ¡°His career.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°Definitely.¡± Milo said. The two of them stopped talking momentarily as a grandma with two kids walked by. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Maybe the unsub was a colleague, or a client.¡± Corey said. ¡°He was doing something that made Clark nervous, so he killed him.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about the hanged James Doe?¡± Milo asked, using the name James Doe as an unidentified victim.


    ¡°I think that it wasn''t our unsub.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Milo asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just have a hunch. That he¡¯s not done with his killing spree just yet.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t just base things off of hunches.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°I know, but if we talked to Juniper about it- ¡°


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Milo said. ¡°This group has gotten too big, especially with the kids.¡±


    Corey sighed. ¡°Yeah. You think they¡¯re going to be okay?¡±


    Milo was still a little heated. ¡°Well, if anything does happen to them, it¡¯ll be your fault.¡± Milo regretted what he said immediately after those words came out of his mouth. ¡°That¡¯s not what I- ¡°


    ¡°I know.¡± Corey said. His expression turned hard. ¡°I get it.¡±

 FOUR

    Corey Byrd


    As Corey walked away from Milo, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that Milo was right. It was his idea that they should ask the kid that Milo saw outside his door if they knew anything.


    Corey was worried about the kids. He thought that he had gotten them mixed up in this dirty business. And while a plain murder was bad enough, a place where the person in the room next to them could be a killer? They must feel terrified.


    Corey got down the stairs and emerged into floor 11. The hallway was quiet. Corey didn¡¯t see anyone. He turned left and headed towards his room. As he was walking, he saw one of those orange triangular signs that people put near water spills.


    Corey wondered whether or not they could catch this unsub by the time the cruise ended. Most cases take months to solve. If they raced against time to do this, what if they caught the wrong person?


    Corey¡¯s phone buzzed. It was Juniper. Everything ok? Her text said.


    Corey started to reply, but somebody rammed into him. Pain flared up Corey¡¯s shoulder. He was pretty sure that his arm had dislocated.


    In the corner of Corey¡¯s mind, his training instincts kicked in. He looked up. There were no security cameras looking in this area. Corey had walked into a trap.


    Corey¡¯s shoulder burned. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.


    Corey saw the person who hit him walk by, and he knew that it wasn¡¯t an accident. Why? Because he was holding a knife.


    Corey didn¡¯t know what to do. Should he run after the person? Normally he would, but his dominant arm was useless, so he wouldn¡¯t be able to defend himself. And he was undercover. He wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to defend himself.


    Corey¡¯s phone on the floor buzzed again. He started to feel dizzy. His attacker walked further away, apparently not caring whether or not Corey saw him, but that didn¡¯t matter; Corey saw everything in doubles and triples so all he could see was a human shaped blob.


    Corey tried to walk. His arm was swinging uselessly. He needed a good place to relocate his arm.


    He put his arm against a nearby wall and began to push. Suddenly, he heard a scream coming from the direction Corey¡¯s attacker had gone. Great, He thought.


    Milo came from the opposite direction. He looked at Corey. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked.


    ¡°The unsub. Went that way.¡± Corey said through gritted teeth.


    Milo nodded. ¡°Be right back.¡±


    Corey regained his stance and pushed again. A bead of sweat trickled down his neck. There was a sickening, POP! And Corey could move his arm again.


    ¡°Oh, man.¡± He said. That was an experience he never wanted to happen again.


    Milo came back, and Corey could tell that he had bad news.


    ¡°Another one?¡± Corey asked.


    Milo didn¡¯t have to say anything. ¡°The unsub was gone when I got there. I watched the guy die.¡±


    Corey¡¯s phone buzzed multiple times. He bent down to pick it up. It was Juniper again. I think that Chang doesn¡¯t like me. She texted. Then, after a while, she said, There was another murder. Dr. Oliver Winters. The private investigator told me.


    ¡°Our victim was I.D.¡¯d.¡± He said. ¡°A Dr. Oliver Winters. There was a private investigator? He was helping her.¡±


    Milo looked at Corey. ¡°He¡¯s taking out possible enemies.¡± He said. ¡°We need to find that investigator.¡±


    Milo Chang


    It was dinnertime. The dining hall was full of people. Milo and Corey sat with Dr. Rice. The two kids were sitting somewhere else, which was good. Milo didn¡¯t want to worry them.


    ¡°So,¡± Milo fingered his napkin. ¡°Our unsub struck in the middle of the day. This means that he¡¯s devolving, becoming messier with every kill. Either that or he¡¯s become more confident with killing.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s also been targeting people of either law enforcement or those helping them.¡± Corey said. He still seemed a bit shaken from his arm popping out of its socket.


    ¡°So we should be careful.¡± Milo said.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Yeah, definitely.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Milo asked.


    ¡°Uh, the unsub got into my room.¡± Corey spun his fork in his pasta. ¡°He painted the word stop. In blood.¡±


    ¡°Ew.¡± Said a voice. Milo looked behind him and saw Liberty and Octavio walking by. ¡°That¡¯s disgusting.¡± Liberty said.


    ¡°But that¡¯s a good thing, because that means that the unsub feels trapped.¡± Dr. Rice said.


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that make him kill more people?¡± Octavio asked. Milo didn¡¯t respond, and the two kids left. The scary part? Milo agreed with him. The unsub would probably continue to kill. And if he was right, one of them was next.


    Liberty Gray


    Sometimes I hate Octavio. He¡¯s too smart and makes all of these ¡®educated guesses¡¯ that are really dark and scary and are probably correct. Like last night when he asked if what that lady said meant that the unsub person was going to kill more people. And deep down, I thought the same thing. That was scary! I was starting to feel something, like an impending storm. It did not feel good, that¡¯s for sure.


    It was the morning when the reporter came to see me in the cruise lounge. I was sitting in one of those really plushy chairs, scrolling through social media on my phone. Occasionally there was an interesting post, but most of the time it was bland. Then a short person with blonde hair and a pencil behind her ear and really nerdy glasses came up to me.


    ¡°Hi there.¡± She said. ¡°My name is Ocean Wise. I¡¯m a reporter for the wall street journal.¡±


    ¡°Um, okay?¡± I turned off my phone.


    ¡°So, I saw you with that private investigator, and I figured that asking you would be easier than asking her ¨C no offense.¡±


    ¡°None taken.¡± I felt relieved. At least the reporter didn¡¯t know about the undercover FBI agents.


    ¡°So, I did some digging, cause that¡¯s what I do, and I found some weird stuff.¡±


    I suddenly became interested. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to be okay with what I¡¯m about to tell you?¡± She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said. I really needed to know this. Whatever information she had, I could totally use it to get agent Chang to let me and Octavio help.


    ¡°Okay¡­.¡±


    Corey Byrd


    ¡°Is your arm okay?¡± Juniper asked.


    Corey stretched his arm. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°It better.¡± Juniper said. Her eyes gleamed. ¡°Or else you¡¯re not going to be able to catch this unsub.¡±


    Corey and Juniper were near the swimming pool on the ship. Kids were laughing and splashing water in their friend¡¯s faces.


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about the kids.¡± Juniper said.


    Corey nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°What happens if they get hurt?¡± Corey asked. ¡°The unsub knows where my room is. He might go after the kids. What am I going to do then? I can¡¯t not worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Woah, calm down.¡± Juniper said. ¡°I meant you don¡¯t need to worry about it because their parents are going to.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Corey imagined being a parent on that ship. He would be really worried about his kid. ¡°You think?¡±


    Juniper shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s what I would do.¡± She said.


    Milo Chang


    Milo took his card out of his pocket and unlocked his room door. He walked in.


    Milo¡¯s room was pretty small, with a bed in the corner and a counter with a chair near the door. Milo looked at his credentials on the counter, remembering the deadline for catching the unsub. Four more days.


    Something next to his credentials caught Milo¡¯s eye. It was a small slip of paper. Milo suddenly became alert. Had he left his door unlocked? He remembered getting a call from his boss DeVito while he was leaving his room. He had forgotten to lock his door.


    Milo took two steps forward. He made sure that the entire room was clear. He made his way to the counter and opened the note. Milo almost dropped the piece of paper.


    It had said: I AM WATCHING.


    And below it was a picture of Corey going into his room.


    This unsub was dangerous, and Milo knew what was going to happen. And it wasn¡¯t good.


    Octavio Jordan Jr


    ¡°Otto, we need to have a talk.¡± Octavio was with his parents in their room. He had been talking with Liberty (she told him some really surprising news about Henry Clark) when his parents came to get him for a ¡®talk¡¯. Octavio didn¡¯t like talks. The last one he had was when his parents had a talk about Octavio cheating on his math quiz.


    Octavio tapped his leg nervously. His parents were sitting down on their bed and Octavio had opted to stay standing.


    ¡°Stop fidgeting.¡± His dad said. He was tall and skinny, and his hairline had just started to recede.


    Octavio stopped tapping.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Octavio¡¯s mom smiled. ¡°We wanted to talk to you about what happened on the cruise.¡± She said. ¡°We thought that it would be good if you stayed here for a while. We just don¡¯t like the idea of you roaming around.¡±


    Octavio¡¯s heart started to race. Stayed here? No roaming around?


    He started to negotiate. ¡°What if I¡¯m with Liberty?¡±


    His parents looked at each other. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s all right,¡± Octavio¡¯s mom said. ¡°As long as you ask permission to where you¡¯re going.¡±


    What? Octavio thought. Really? He figured that he was the safest on the ship when he was by the FBI agents. Nevertheless, he nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± He said. ¡°Me and Liberty were going to meet at the lounge. Can I go?¡±


    Octavio¡¯s mom nodded. ¡°Of course, Otto.¡±


    Octavio left his room.


    What if he wasn¡¯t safe around the agents? They had kept that shocking information from him and Liberty. What else could they be hiding? Or worse, were they really FBI agents anyway? How did Octavio know that he could trust them?

 FIVE

    Liberty Gray


    I couldn¡¯t believe it. Agents Milo and Corey had been keeping some important information from me and Otto. Like, really? Why did they have to do that? It wasn¡¯t like we were going to tell the whole world or something.


    Oh, you don¡¯t know what the surprising news is yet. Right. Sorry. So, apparently Henry Clark was an arms dealer (may he rest in peace), and he smuggled guns and weapons and all of that other stuff to other countries, like Russian spies. Can you believe it?


    Anyway, me and Octavio were waiting for the FBI agents to show up so we could confront them about lying to us in the lounge. Otto told me that his parents were starting to worry. At least I didn¡¯t have to worry about that. My dad is fine if I go places as long as I respond to his texts. He¡¯d been like that ever since my mom died.


    ¡°I have a feeling that they are going to take a while to show up.¡± Otto said, jolting me back to reality. He sighed and took out his sketchbook.


    ¡°You know what¡¯s surprising?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What?¡± Otto started to draw.


    ¡°That nobody from school has texted us to see that we¡¯re okay.¡± I said. ¡°I mean, wouldn¡¯t this be on the news?¡±


    Otto shrugged. He didn¡¯t seem to be listening. ¡°Maybe Chang kept it off the news to help catch the unsub.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± The way Otto said unsub made him sound like he was an agent too. Kind of funny, the things I think of. I leaned forward on the table. ¡°What are you drawing?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Otto said. ¡°Just doodling.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± I said again.


    I saw agents Milo and Corey and that other lady I saw last night enter the lounge. Agent Byrd saw me and Otto and winked at us.


    ¡°Otto,¡± I said in a quiet sing-song voice. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±


    Otto kept drawing. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I really want to do this.¡± He said. ¡°Maybe we could just pretend it never happened?¡±


    ¡°You know that¡¯s not going to happen.¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s go and tell them. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± I stood up and walked over to the three adults.


    Milo Chang


    ¡°Hey.¡± Milo said to Liberty.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hey me.¡± She said, crossing her arms.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Milo started to become nervous. What happened?


    ¡°Um, excuse me?¡± Corey asked.


    ¡°You guys never told us what Henry Clark did.¡± Liberty said.


    Oh, Milo thought. ¡°You never needed to know.¡±


    ¡°We helped you take crime scene photos.¡± She said. ¡°We snuck into a room. We got yelled at by a private investigator. You could have at least told us something.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Milo said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. But we need to talk about something else right now.¡±


    Octavio walked over. ¡°Talk about what?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Our technical analyst sent me the list of passengers on the cruise.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of people.¡± Liberty said.


    Milo brought out his laptop. ¡°Yeah, and that¡¯s why we¡¯re going to narrow it down.¡± He opened his computer and typed in the passcode. The laptop had the fingerprint option, but Milo was too paranoid to use it. What if the computer documented his print and sent it to some person?


    Milo opened the list of names that the technical analyst, Sami Lopez, had sent to them.


    ¡°Lopez and the rest of the team is busy on another case right now.¡± Milo said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to bother them, so we¡¯re going to do this manually.¡± He turned to Corey. ¡°Did you get a list of Clark¡¯s clients?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Corey said. ¡°It¡¯s surprisingly long.¡±


    Corey had the list on his iPad (for some reason he refused to use a laptop), and Milo looked at the names that were on the ship as well.


    ¡°So, that¡¯s five people.¡± Milo said. ¡°Taking out the person who was hung, Anders Price.¡± He crossed out his name with the stylus that came with the iPad. ¡°Also taking you off.¡± He said to Corey.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Liberty asked.


    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s part of my alias.¡± Corey said. ¡°I¡¯m one of them. That¡¯s how I collect evidence.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Milo said. ¡°That leaves three people.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a second.¡± Liberty put her hands on the table. From how she was standing, it looked like this was a lot for her to process. ¡°First, agent Byrd is an arms dealer?! And second, why didn¡¯t you have this list earlier?¡±


    ¡°Woah.¡± Corey said. ¡°I said that an arms dealer was my alias.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have this list yet because the technical analyst needed some time to get it.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Liberty seemed to be satisfied with Milo and Corey¡¯s explanations. ¡°So, which of the three is it?¡±


    Milo pressed send for the email he had written to Sami Lopez. ¡°I just asked our analyst to run some background checks on all three people.¡± He said. ¡°It might take a while, though.¡±


    Liberty looked at the iPad on the table. ¡°So, Peter Knox, Amanda Hu, and Calvin Cox.¡± She said. ¡°Those all seem like pretty bland names.¡±


    ¡°They could have been made up.¡± Milo said. ¡°If so, our analyst is going to have trouble finding information on them.¡±


    ¡°How do we know that the unsub is even a client of Clark¡¯s?¡± Dr. Rice asked. She hadn¡¯t talked at all, and Milo just remembered that she was still there.


    ¡°We think that this unsub killed not because he wanted to but because he needed to.¡± Corey said. ¡°He killed Clark because he had information about the unsub that could get him in trouble. The only option that makes sense is a client or colleague.¡± Milo¡¯s computer got an email in his inbox. It was from Lopez.


    Hello there,


    I couldn¡¯t find anything on Hu or Cox, but it says that Knox had a history of animal abuse, and peeking into neighbor¡¯s windows.


    Gross, Milo thought. ¡°We got something on Peter Knox.¡± He said. ¡°I think this might be our guy.¡±

 SIX

    Liberty Gray


    I didn¡¯t know why I was scared. I shouldn¡¯t have been. We were so close to catching this unsub! But I was scared, and for many reasons. What if this was the wrong person? What if the person kills Chang and Byrd before they can catch him? What if that scary private investigator stops the agents and he gets away?


    As you can see, I was panicking. I have a right to be panicked! I was on this boat with a murderer! Of multiple people! That makes him a serial killer, doesn¡¯t it? Anyway, I was nervous, anxious, scared, terrified, and all of those other synonyms.


    Agent Chang had told me not to see any of them (meaning him and Byrd), because they might be following the unsub or something like that. So, maybe I could talk to Dr. Rice.


    I found Dr. Rice on the top of the ship, enjoying the fresh air. There was a chessboard on the table in front of her. She noticed me.


    ¡°Everything okay?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said.


    She seemed to be able to read minds. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    I sat down on the beach chair next to her. I heard waves gently crashing below the ship.


    ¡°It¡¯s just,¡± I began. ¡°My mom died.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Dr. Rice said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°And now that I¡¯m on a ship with a murderer, it just hits a little close for me.¡± I said.


    Dr. Rice leaned towards me. ¡°Close in what way?¡± She asked. Then, she seemed to understand. ¡°Oh, was she ¨C ¡°


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said.


    Dr. Rice¡¯s face was full of interest, curiosity, concern. ¡°Did they ever find who killed her?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Nope.¡±


    Dr. Rice set her jaw. ¡°If the case is cold, you might have to find out for yourself.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m planning to do.¡±


    Dr. Rice made a sly smile and took a card out of her bag. ¡°Here¡¯s my number. Call me if you find any leads.¡± I took the card. ¡°And remember.¡± She said. ¡°You are not alone.¡±


    I didn¡¯t understand what that meant, but I smiled. ¡°Thanks, Dr. Rice.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± She said. ¡°Call me Juniper.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Okay, Juniper.¡± I pointed at the chessboard. ¡°Who are you playing against?¡±


    ¡°Myself.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably pretty hard.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea.¡± Juniper stared at the chessboard as if she were trying to control it with her mind. ¡°I¡¯ve put the white side at a zugzwang.¡±


    ¡°A, what now?¡± I asked. For some reason, chess had always appealed to me, though I never really got around to learning.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°It¡¯s when you¡¯re at a disadvantage.¡± Juniper explained. ¡°And any move you make would put you in deeper trouble.¡±


    ¡°So, white is bound to lose, then?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± Juniper said. ¡°Now white has a choice. I can forfeit


    and let black win, or I can continue playing anyway.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn all of this stuff?¡±


    ¡°I played chess with a friend.¡± Juniper said. ¡°We were kind of like, the nerdiest nerds in history.¡± Juniper picked up a pawn and started to examine it. ¡°My friend, she had an eidetic memory, though I don¡¯t know if it always worked. And I could pretty much solve any puzzle or problem given to me.¡±


    ¡°What happened to your friend?¡± I asked. ¡°You¡¯re talking in past tense, so...¡±


    Juniper set down the pawn. ¡°Her brother was murdered.¡± Juniper said. ¡°And she was the prime suspect. I encouraged her to run, and she¡¯s been hiding ever since.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I turned and saw agent Byrd walking towards us. I put Juniper¡¯s card in my pocket.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Byrd said. ¡°It¡¯s not Knox.¡±


    ¡°How do you know for sure?¡± Juniper asked. Then her eyes widened. ¡°Wait, is he still alive?¡±


    Byrd shook his head, his eyes downcast.


    ¡°Another person?¡± I asked.


    Byrd nodded. ¡°I talked to the private investigator, Aspen Hunt, saying that I¡¯m a former agent. I had her put people at all of the crime scenes, just in case our unsub wants to revisit them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably not going to happen.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°Yeah, I know, I guess it was also to keep Hunt busy. I don¡¯t want her getting in the way.¡± Byrd talked with a lazy, relaxed vibe. He barely opened his mouth when he talked, making his words sound different. Wants to becomes want¡¯sta. Getting becomes gettin¡¯. Juniper¡¯s words come out sharp and clear. She has a got to get things done kind of attitude.


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°How are we going to do this?¡±


    Milo Chang


    Milo was on a call with Sami Lopez, the technical analyst, and his boss, Nathan DeVito.


    ¡°Did you guys finish the case?¡± Milo asked.


    ¡°The case went cold.¡± DeVito said. ¡°We couldn¡¯t get any closer because all of the evidence was contaminated.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going over there?¡± Sami asked. ¡°You must feel like it¡¯s the boat version of Murder on the Orient Express.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not good.¡± Milo said. ¡°We don¡¯t have any leads.¡± Milo was standing outside of Calvin Cox¡¯s room, making sure that, one, he was safe, and two, he wasn¡¯t the unsub. ¡°And the unsub knows where both of our rooms are.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever thought about anagrams?¡± Sami asked. ¡°That could be something to think about.¡±


    ¡°That could work.¡± DeVito said. ¡°The unsub might feel confident and make his name have some type of meaning.¡±


    Milo shrugged, then realized that they wouldn¡¯t be able to see that. ¡°I guess I can see something about that.¡± He said. ¡°But an anagram of what? One of Clark¡¯s clients?¡±


    ¡°If they were Clark¡¯s clients, the unsub could have known them as well.¡± Sami said.


    ¡°But I suck at anagrams.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°What about Corey¡¯s girlfriend?¡± Sami asked.


    Milo stood straight. ¡°He has a girlfriend?¡± He asked. ¡°And he told you and not me?¡±


    ¡°Well, not girlfriend,¡± Sami said. ¡°But they¡¯re awfully close.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Milo said. ¡°You mean the Dr? Juniper Rice, right?¡±


    ¡°Bingo.¡± Sami said. ¡°She¡¯s his type, right? Smart, sassy, not afraid to kick any butt.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± Milo said. ¡°I guess. Is she good at anagrams?¡±


    ¡°Chang, you¡¯re the one that¡¯s on the boat with her, not me.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Milo said. ¡°Good point. I¡¯ll catch you guys later.¡±


    ¡°Sami is out.¡±


    Dr. Juniper Rice


    Dr. Juniper Rice was still sitting on the roof of the ship, thinking about her conversation with Liberty Gray. Had she told her the right thing, telling her to find out for herself? That could get her in some serious trouble. She could be prevented from doing it by law enforcement. Or, even worse, she could be targeted by her mom¡¯s murderer.


    Juniper tried her best to seem cool, suave, relaxed, not fazed by anything. But there were times when she couldn¡¯t hide behind that veil, times where she had to do something, and she had to care about it.


    Juniper remembered when she and Corey had first met. They were talking about the Zodiac Killer. How ironic it was that both of them were now stranded on a boat with a murderer.


    Juniper didn¡¯t know what to do, and she hated it. She needed to have a plan. Plans were the key to finding anything.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Milo was next to Juniper, and she silently chided herself for letting him sneak up on her so easily. ¡°You good at puzzles?¡±


    Juniper smiled. ¡°Thought you¡¯d never ask.¡±

 SEVEN

    Ocean Wise


    ¡°Excuse me. Coming through.¡± Ocean Wise had her eyes on her target. That guy with the black hair and the cheetah glasses. ¡°Excuse me!¡± She called. ¡°I don¡¯t know your name! Person, black hair, glasses, please hear my call!¡±


    The person turned. Finally!


    ¡°Hi, there.¡± She said. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. ¡°My name is Ocean Wise.¡±


    The man¡¯s bright eyes flashed. ¡°And?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a reporter for the wall street journal.¡± Ocean said. ¡°And I specialize in crime.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± The man said again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t and me.¡± Ocean said. ¡°I¡¯m Nathan DeVito¡¯s cousin.¡± She said.


    ¡°Really?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯re either Corey Byrd or Milo Chang, right?¡± She asked. ¡°You¡¯re probably Milo.¡± She said. ¡°Which means that the guy with the gun I saw the other day was Corey Byrd!¡±


    ¡°Wow.¡± Milo said. ¡°You¡¯re a genius.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if you looked up a genius on google you would totally see Ocean Wise there, along with me, of course.¡± Ocean turned to see a girl and that person who she thinks is Corey Byrd. The girl who had talked had long light brown hair, bright red high tops with black stretchy pants, a white shirt, and a rumpled jean jacket.


    ¡°Hi.¡± The woman stuck out her hand. Ocean shook it. ¡°I¡¯m Dr. Juniper Rice.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Ocean said. ¡°I¡¯m, well, I guess you already know my name.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Corey Byrd said. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Corey Byrd had chocolate colored skin, a chiseled jaw, and a sharp nose. His arms were taut with muscles. He was also very tall. Or was Ocean just short?


    ¡°I¡¯m your boss¡¯ cousin.¡± Ocean said.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Corey Byrd said again. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I know, it sounds crazy, but you can ask him.¡± She said. ¡°Anyway, I was looking for you because my boss needs a story, and ¨C ¡°


    ¡°No.¡± All three of them said at once.


    ¡°Why not?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m asking you to fall off a cliff or anything.¡±


    Corey Byrd seemed confused by that. ¡°Why would you want us to fall off a cliff?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Ocean said. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to do that.¡±


    ¡°How did your boss find out about this anyway?¡± Dr. Rice asked.


    ¡°Umm, I might have told him?¡± She said.


    Milo Chang sighed and looked away, as if he didn¡¯t want to deal with Ocean anymore.


    There was silence. Ocean counted to twenty.


    ¡°All right.¡± Milo Chang said, turning back to look at Ocean. ¡°You can write something small. Don¡¯t give this guy a name.¡±


    ¡°And emphasize the fact that he will be found by law enforcement.¡± Dr. Rice said. ¡°Not us. The private investigator.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s all you can say.¡± Corey said. ¡°Do not make him feel like he¡¯s doing a good job with these murders. Make him feel insignificant.¡±


    Ocean nodded. She knew these people would change their minds. ¡°Thank you for not getting me fired.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Milo Chang


    ¡°So,¡± Juniper said. ¡°Have you made up your mind yet?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± It was the next day, and Milo was walking down to the lounge when Dr. Rice came along. Milo was really starting to feel the deadline. Three more days.


    ¡°I mean, you keep changing your mind, right?¡± She said. ¡°First you were like, no kids! And then you said, oh, sneak into this crime scene for me! And after that you still weren¡¯t letting them really help with the case.¡±


    ¡°I never let you help with the case either, and look where that got me.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°I know.¡± Juniper said. ¡°It¡¯s amazing. You got a doctor on your side, and you didn¡¯t even ask for it.¡± Milo decided not to mention what Sami had said yesterday about her and Corey.


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± He said. The two of them got to the lounge. Milo checked his watch. 0900 hours. ¡°We¡¯re going to meet with Corey in a couple minutes.¡± He said. ¡°Try and see if there¡¯s anything that can help us.¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question.¡± Juniper said. ¡°So, kids, or no kids?¡±


    Milo put his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± He said.


    ¡°Oh, wow!¡± She said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you like, supervisory whatever-it¡¯s-called agent Milo Chang? Aren¡¯t you supposed to know everything?¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± He said.


    Juniper smiled. Milo did not understand why Corey liked this woman.


    ¡°I think that you should keep them on.¡± Juniper said. ¡°They already know stuff. It¡¯s better to keep them close than to have something bad happen to them.¡±


    Milo nodded. ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡±


    ¡°But, of course, you¡¯re the supervisory agent, not me.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s your call.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Milo said. ¡°They can stay on.¡±


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d make the right choice.¡± She said. Milo saw that Liberty and Octavio had just walked into the lounge. Juniper waved them over to where they were standing.


    ¡°What made you want to get a PhD anyway?¡± Milo asked.


    ¡°Oh, it was just for fun.¡± She said.


    ¡°Just for fun.¡± Milo repeated. ¡°Right.¡±


    Octavio Jordan Jr.


    After Corey Byrd came into the lounge, Milo Chang made an announcement. Octavio didn¡¯t know what to expect. He had long lost the hope of Milo kicking him and Liberty out and her giving up.


    ¡°So,¡± Milo said. ¡°Liberty, Octavio, you guys can stay. There will be no more arguments about whether or not you guys are staying. But this means that you will have to contribute to the team. All right?¡±


    Liberty nodded, smiling. ¡°You actually said team. Team! That includes me and Otto, right?¡±


    Milo Chang nodded.


    Liberty¡¯s mouth hung open. ¡°Oh my gosh!¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Corey Byrd said. ¡°We need to think of ideas about how this unsub might reveal himself. Our first and only idea for now, anagrams.¡±


    Octavio was a little bit confused. ¡°Why would the unsub make his name an anagram?¡±


    ¡°This happens sometimes.¡± Dr. Rice said. ¡°The unsub could be a narcissist, and he wants to put his name everywhere. Or it could be the unsub¡¯s idea of playing games, like how he added the joker card at the first crime scene.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what do we think about the joker?¡± Milo said.


    Dr. Rice muttered to herself. ¡°There¡¯s a Chinese game that involves the joker. I¡¯m not even going to try to say it because I would butcher the pronunciation, but in that game the joker is the card of the highest value, and if you have both jokers you¡¯re basically bound to win the game.¡±


    ¡°So, the unsub put the joker there to show that he¡¯s the most powerful?¡± Liberty asked.


    Milo nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard of that game. But the joker was black and white. The most powerful one is in color.¡±


    ¡°So that means that the unsub hasn¡¯t played his most powerful card yet.¡± Octavio said.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to kill again.¡± Corey said. ¡°And soon.¡±


    Dr. Juniper Rice


    Juniper¡¯s brain was working overtime. He¡¯s going to kill again. His most powerful card yet.


    ¡°Do any of you have a piece of paper?¡± She asked. Octavio took out his sketchbook and ripped out a piece of paper. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    She looked around, and Corey read her mind. He handed her a pen. She uncapped it and wrote: Calvin Cox, on one side and wrote: Amanda Hu, on the other.


    ¡°Amanda Hu sounds Chinese.¡± Corey remarked. ¡°That could give her knowledge about the card game.¡±


    ¡°Or you could look it up on google.¡± Liberty said. She showed her phone screen to everybody. ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy.¡±


    Juniper started with Calvin Cox. She crossed out letters and rearranged them. She came up with: Xina C V Col


    ¡°What does the C V mean?¡± Corey asked.


    Juniper shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s like, H P Lovecraft.¡± She said. ¡°Just two letters.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡±


    Juniper moved to Amanda Hu. She came up with, Human Aad, Manda Hua. None of them seemed right.


    ¡°Well, Dr. Rice,¡± Milo said, a smirk on his face. ¡°Are you actually stumped?¡±


    ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn to say shut up.¡± Juniper said. ¡°Is anyone on your passenger list named Xina?¡±

 EIGHT

    Dr. Juniper Rice


    Juniper was anxious. Could the unsub really be Xina? And was the name just a coincidence, or was it the Xina she knew?


    Juniper didn¡¯t like it. This was way too close to her personal life. And if it really was the Xina, well, Juniper didn¡¯t know if she was going to be able to stop her.


    ¡°Well, we do have a Xina.¡± Milo said. It was midday, and Juniper, Milo, and Corey were eating lunch. Juniper didn¡¯t know where the kids were. ¡°Xina Pike.¡±


    Juniper recognized that name. Xina Pike. She remembered at school when teachers would say, Ms. Pike, would you like to answer this question? And Xina would stop snoring immediately and answer without even looking at the board. Her teachers hated her because of that.


    ¡°Where¡¯s her room?¡± Juniper asked.


    Corey looked up from his tomato soup. He seemed to see right through Juniper.


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s room 809.¡± Milo said. ¡°She¡¯s on a different floor.¡±


    ¡°Duh.¡± Juniper said, smiling.


    Milo scowled.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go and pay Xina Pike a visit.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Corey said. He started to stand up.


    ¡°Uh, no.¡± Juniper said. ¡°I can take care of myself, thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°But what if Pike is the unsub?¡± Corey asked. ¡°What if you get hurt?¡±


    ¡°Oh, excuse me?¡± Juniper said. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear that correctly. Are you saying that I can¡¯t defend myself?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no, that¡¯s not what I, no - ¡°


    Juniper put her hand on Corey¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She said. ¡°If I don¡¯t come back in an hour, then you can be concerned.¡±


    Juniper took a deep breath and knocked on Xina Pike¡¯s door. She rocked her feet back and forth, waiting for the door to open. She was about to knock again when the door cracked open.


    ¡°Xina?¡± Juniper asked. ¡°Hi. It-it¡¯s Juniper.¡±


    Xina opened the door all the way, and Juniper saw her long lost friend. She looked the same from when she had left Detroit all those years ago. She had her jet-black hair in a bob haircut, with bright pink highlights. She wore black T-shirt and grey sweatpants.


    Juniper felt herself smile. ¡°Hi.¡± She said again. ¡°Where have you been all of these years?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Xina said.


    Juniper noticed that Xina didn¡¯t reply to her question. ¡°Well, can I come in?¡±


    Corey Byrd


    ¡°Oh, look.¡± Juniper said. ¡°I survived.¡±


    Corey sighed. He should have expected this to come up. ¡°Look, I¡¯m sorry, all right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Juniper said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was just joking.¡±


    ¡°And you came back after multiple hours.¡± Milo added. ¡°It¡¯s 6:00 PM.¡±


    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s just overlook that part.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so can you guys fill us in?¡± Liberty asked. She and Octavio had just shown up.


    ¡°So, we have a Xina on the ship.¡± Milo said. ¡°Xina Pike.¡±


    ¡°I went to her room and talked to her.¡± Juniper said. ¡°She didn¡¯t even know about the murders.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that possible?¡± Liberty asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been pretty strict on not telling a whole lot of people.¡± Corey said. ¡°She was on floor eight, and floor 11 is pretty much the only floor who knows about it.¡±


    Octavio nodded. ¡°So, she¡¯s not the, uh, you know?¡± He didn¡¯t say the word unsub or killer because there were a couple of little kids nearby.


    ¡°Even if she said she didn¡¯t know, that could be a trick.¡± Milo said.


    Corey looked at Juniper. ¡°Did she seem interested in the case in any way?¡± He asked. ¡°Did she come back to one topic?¡±


    Juniper shook her head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What were you guys talking about, then?¡± Octavio asked.


    ¡°Uh, we were talking about other stuff.¡± Juniper said. Corey could tell that something was bothering her. Juniper seemed to notice Corey looking at her. She sent him a silent message. Cut it out.


    ¡°Do you know Xina?¡± Milo asked. Oh, there it is, Corey thought.


    Juniper slowly nodded. ¡°Yeah, I do.¡±


    ¡°Then that makes you biased.¡±


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t.¡± Juniper said. Corey coughed into his fist. Juniper glared at him. ¡°Okay, I guess it does, just a tiny bit.¡±


    ¡°And that means that you will not be able to do this at your full, I don¡¯t know, brain strength.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°What?¡± Juniper asked. ¡°Just saying, my brain strength is much better than yours.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Milo said. ¡°You want to bet on that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s on.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°Uh, I think that we¡¯re getting a bit off topic.¡± Octavio said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Corey agreed.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Juniper rolled her eyes.


    ¡°I think that we should keep our eyes on Xina.¡± Milo said. ¡°She screams potential suspect.¡±


    Corey agreed, but he didn¡¯t say so in front of Juniper.


    ¡°But, you can¡¯t just say that out of nowhere.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not out of nowhere.¡± Octavio said. ¡°Her name was the anagram.¡±


    ¡°Which wasn¡¯t even her real last name.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°No matter what, she¡¯s still our prime suspect.¡± Milo said.


    ¡°Our prime suspect from an educated guess.¡± Juniper said. ¡°Which I made!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still going to have our technical analyst run a background check on her.¡± Milo said. ¡°End of discussion.¡±


    Juniper didn¡¯t say anything, though Corey could tell that she was biting back a retort.


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± Liberty asked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if the unsub is Xina yet, and we need the background check to help us with that.¡± Corey said. ¡°So, we could wait, or we could look at more possibilities ¨C ¡°


    ¡°Which could get us confused.¡± Milo interrupted. ¡°Or biased.¡± He looked at Juniper. She glared at Milo.

 NINE

    Octavio Jordan Jr.


    ¡°So,¡± Octavio said. ¡°What do you think is going to happen?¡±


    ¡°You mean, do you think that Byrd and Chang are going to catch the unsub?¡± Liberty asked. ¡°Hopefully.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so interested in this anyway?¡± Octavio asked. ¡°I mean, they¡¯re undercover. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to end up getting praised or anything.¡±


    Liberty sighed. ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± She said. She never answered Octavio¡¯s question.


    The next morning, Octavio woke up with a smile on his face. Today was June 23. Octavio¡¯s seventeenth birthday. He hadn¡¯t told anyone, but his parents and Liberty already knew.


    Octavio looked out the window. Despite their deadline to catch the killer, he wasn¡¯t going to let that ruin this day. He checked his phone. It was 8:00 AM.


    Octavio quietly got out of bed and got dressed. He put on his favorite sweatshirt, black fabric with an anime picture sewn into it.


    He was sitting on his bed, cross legged when his phone buzzed, waking up his parents.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± He said, and put the phone on silent. His parents got up anyway.


    Liberty had texted him. You gotta get over here. She said. Something happened. Come to the lounge.


    Octavio was worried for three reasons; One, it was Liberty, which meant that whatever happened was really bad, or no big deal at all. Two, that did not sound like Liberty texting him, which meant it was either the unsub or maybe one of the agents. Three, there was a murderer on the ship, so he was scared for his friend¡¯s safety.


    Once Octavio had convinced his parents to let him go to the lounge, he saw Liberty, Agent Corey Byrd, and Dr. Juniper Rice.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Agent Chang?¡± Octavio asked.


    Corey Byrd looked down. Dr. Rice started to pick at her nails. Liberty looked at Octavio, and he knew what happened.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked. ¡°No, that can¡¯t ¨C no, we saw him last night, and he was okay, he has to be okay, right?¡±


    Agent Byrd shook his head. ¡°His body was found in his room earlier this morning.¡± He said. ¡°He¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°But ¨C ¡°


    ¡°We can still make his death worth it.¡± Dr. Rice said. ¡°We still have time to catch the unsub.¡±


    Agent Byrd nodded. ¡°And this means that we don¡¯t have time to grieve, at least, not yet.¡±


    Octavio didn¡¯t know what to think. Milo Chang had died? He couldn¡¯t believe it. He was a trained FBI agent. Yet he had died!


    ¡°We¡¯ll start with victimology.¡± Corey Byrd said. ¡°Where was Milo, what could have made the unsub kill him, and so forth. We need to think like Milo, and then the unsub.¡±


    ¡°So, Milo was with us at 6:00.¡± Dr. Rice said.


    ¡°And he left around 7:30.¡± Octavio added.


    ¡°He probably went straight to his room.¡± Corey said. ¡°He might look over the case for a couple of hours, and then go to bed.¡±


    ¡°So the unsub went in while he was sleeping.¡± Liberty said.


    Corey Byrd nodded.


    ¡°Milo was saying that he was going to have the technical analyst run a background check    on Xina Pike, right?¡± Octavio said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Liberty agreed. ¡°Maybe she really is the unsub, and when he said that she uh, killed him.¡±


    Corey nodded. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense.¡± He cast a nervous look at Dr. Rice. ¡°I think that Xina is starting to seem a lot more suspicious.¡±


    ¡°So, what are we going to do about it?¡± Liberty asked.


    ¡°I can try and get a warrant.¡± Corey suggested. ¡°Then Xina would have to let us come into her room.¡±


    Dr. Rice shrugged. ¡°That just seems like a whole lot more work to me.¡± She said. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just go in?¡±


    Octavio nodded. ¡°You¡¯re undercover anyway. If you say you have a warrant, she could easily know who you are.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled.¡± Corey Byrd said. ¡°We¡¯ll meet up again at 1:00 PM.¡± He looked at Octavio and Liberty. ¡°And just FYI, you guys probably aren¡¯t going to be able to help with this. You know, just for your safety.¡±


    Dr. Juniper Rice


    After the two kids left, Juniper Rice looked at Corey. ¡°This is all my fault, isn¡¯t it?¡± She said.


    ¡°Woah.¡± Corey said. ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Juniper said. ¡°Because it certainly seems that way.¡± Juniper really felt guilty. They had found a new suspect, Juniper had interviewed her, and Milo decided to run a background check on her. The next day, he was found in his room, stabbed to death, just like Henry Clark.


    ¡°I mean, maybe it could be a little bit of your fault.¡± Corey said. Juniper glared at him. ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°You said it yourself!¡± Juniper loved it when Corey got nervous. It told her that everybody has another side of themselves. Corey Byrd always tried to seem brave in some way, but Juniper saw right through that. Corey looked into Juniper¡¯s eyes. ¡°You know that none of us could have known that what happened to Milo would happen to him.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve known.¡± Juniper said. ¡°I should have known, and I should have been there to help him.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t get hung up on what has already happened.¡± Corey said. ¡°Focus on what¡¯s happening now. What can you do to help him at this moment?¡±


    Juniper shrugged. She felt like a little kid again, getting lectured by an adult.


    ¡°Well, sitting here moping isn¡¯t going to help him, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Corey started to stand up.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Juniper looked around the lounge. She looked at the few people there. It was wrong. This was a cruise! A place of happiness. And here, people were afraid to come out of their rooms. She looked at Corey. ¡°We¡¯re going to catch this unsub, whether or not it¡¯s Xina, or somebody else.¡±


    Corey smiled. ¡°That¡¯s the attitude.¡±


    ¡°Wait, excuse me, did I hear that right?¡± Juniper turned and saw Ocean Wise, the reporter. Great.


    ¡°Hear what?¡± Juniper asked.


    ¡°Somebody named Xina?¡± Wise asked. ¡°And, is an unsub what you call a killer?¡±


    Corey did something close to a facepalm. ¡°I can¡¯t answer that right now.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second.¡± Wise said. ¡°Where¡¯s the other guy?¡±


    Juniper looked down. Corey looked everywhere except Ocean Wise.


    ¡°He¡¯s ¨C not going to be here anymore.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°Okay, I guess.¡± Ocean didn¡¯t question Juniper, which she found odd. Reporters were always nosy. ¡°Is there anything I can write about?¡±


    Corey looked at her. ¡°Didn¡¯t we give you some pointers yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Um, maybe?¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a question.¡± Corey sighed.


    ¡°So,¡± Ocean Wise said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a no.¡± Juniper said.


    Liberty Gray


    It was 1:00 PM. Me and Otto were in the lounge, waiting for Agent Byrd and Juniper. I knew that Byrd had said that me and Octavio wouldn¡¯t be able to help, but I still had high hopes. I wanted to be a part of taking this person down. I didn¡¯t say this to anybody, but I think that it would make me feel better about my mother.


    ¡°Hello, guys.¡± I turned and saw Juniper and Agent Byrd. Juniper had a smile on her face.


    Corey Byrd seemed a bit more serious. I think that he felt that he needed to fill in for Agent Milo in some way. I understood that. My dad was that way for a while.


    ¡°Hi.¡± I said.


    ¡°So,¡± Juniper suddenly had a very mischievous look on her face. ¡°Are you guys ready to do this?¡±


    I nodded. Otto shrugged.


    ¡°All right.¡± Corey said. ¡°Here¡¯s the plan.¡±


    -


    The next chain of events are going to be extremely complicated and hard to follow. In order to understand what is going to happen, you must listen very carefully. First, we are going to see what is going on in Dr. Rice¡¯s mind.


    Juniper didn¡¯t think much of the plan. It was a bit odd, but Corey had made it, so she didn¡¯t think any more of him. Juniper was sure that this would catch the unsub. If it didn¡¯t, well, it was best not to think of that. The first part of the plan was up to Juniper. She had to get into Xina¡¯s room. Corey was going to put a listening device on her. Juniper was going to have to talk to Xina about the case, and Corey would be listening to their conversation for a confession.


    After Agent Byrd had given everybody the plan, the two kids had asked for something to do.


    ¡°Please?¡± Liberty Gray asked. ¡°Anything?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re good at what we do, which is whatever you tell us to do.¡± Octavio Jordan, Jr. added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you just said, but fine.¡± Corey Byrd said.


    Agent Byrd had the kids contact the security on the cruise. Corey did not know how they would get them to come and make an arrest, but as they had said, they were good at what they did.


    All right, now is the time to listen carefully. Are you listening? Is your undivided attention on the text that is in front of your eyes? Yes? Good.


    While the kids were getting the law enforcement on the ship, Corey Byrd was putting the device on Juniper. The device was a wire that went into her ear, so she could communicate with Corey. The wire went down into her shirt, and Juniper¡¯s long hair would obscure it from Xina¡¯s view.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Corey asked.


    Juniper nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°All right.¡± Corey looked at Juniper. ¡°You got this.¡± He said. ¡°Let¡¯s go catch a killer.¡±


    Meanwhile, the two kids were having trouble getting the law enforcement. They had tried many different strategies, ranging from a dangerous banana peel to somebody drowning in a pool. Nothing seemed to faze those people.


    ¡°Look,¡± Octavio said. ¡°You might not believe us, but there is a murderer on this ship. We just want this person behind bars, so if you can please come with us, that would be great.¡±


    The man that Octavio and Liberty were talking to looked a bit taken aback.


    ¡°Yeah, uh, what he said.¡± Liberty said.

 TEN

    Corey Byrd


    Corey looked as Juniper walked into Xina Pike¡¯s room. What would happen? Would Juniper be able to get a confession? Would she be able to understand Xina¡¯s motive? She wasn¡¯t on Corey¡¯s list of people that were associated with Henry Clark professionally. Could Corey have overlooked her?


    Corey had his feelings bottled up in a figurative bottle. It was packed so tight, he felt that it could shatter any moment.


    What was he supposed to do? Express everything? No, that wouldn¡¯t work. He had to show strength. That was what Milo did, everyday. Was Corey supposed to step up? Would that make it seem like Milo was never there? How was Corey supposed to tell their boss, too? And Milo¡¯s family? His parents, and his younger sister?


    Corey heard the gentle slam of a door, jolting him back to reality. Everything that happened inside Xina Pike¡¯s room would be a mystery.


    Corey knew that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to stick with the plan if anybody got hurt. Milo had always said that it was a weakness, but Corey felt that it couldn¡¯t be helped.


    Corey¡¯s phone buzzed. He looked at his screen, an unknown caller. He looked around the hallway, footsteps coming close. He would have to worry about the unknown person later.


    Octavio and Liberty had come.


    ¡°Hi.¡± Liberty said.


    ¡°So, we got them to say they were coming.¡± Octavio said. ¡°And they should be here pretty soon.¡±


    Corey nodded. ¡°Good.¡± He looked at the two of them. ¡°I just - I just want to say thank you. You guys both helped us a lot, and you stayed courageous and brave, and I don¡¯t know anyone else your age that would do better than you two. You guys have potential.¡±


    Liberty winced. ¡°So, this is goodbye then?¡±


    Corey nodded. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± He couldn¡¯t let them get hurt. ¡°But, who knows? We might see each other later.¡±


    ¡°Like, in another case?¡± Octavio asked.


    Corey nodded. ¡°You never know where one might come up.¡±


    Liberty frowned. ¡°It makes you wonder how many bad guys are out there.¡±


    Corey shrugged. Most of these people weren¡¯t bad, per se. Some just need help, some don¡¯t really understand what they are doing. ¡°You guys are still young. You don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡± He turned to Octavio. ¡°Happy birthday, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    As the two kids walked away, Corey moved his attention to what was happening in his ear.


    Dr. Juniper Rice


    Juniper took a deep breath. Everybody was depending on her to get this right. Everybody, the entire cruise ship, and, of course, her friends, who would kill her just because she didn¡¯t give them a warning. That would be very bad for Juniper¡¯s health. She closed the door behind her, shutting herself inside a room with her long lost friend.


    Xina smiled dryly. ¡°You just have to do this, right?¡± She asked. ¡°That¡¯s what you always say. But I know better. You don¡¯t even work with these people. Or should I say, person?¡± Xina cocked her head to the side. ¡°What are you thinking, Juniper? Bringing kids into this?¡± Xina shook her head in disbelief, making her short hair sway from side to side. She looked out the window, and Juniper noticed what was on the floor. An empty bullet container. But that didn¡¯t make sense. The victims weren¡¯t shot.


    Okay, Juniper thought. Her eyes drifted to the right end of Xina¡¯s room. Nothing. The left, bare wall. So where was Xina keeping the bullets??


    ¡°You need to respond, Juniper.¡±  Corey was talking into the transmitter.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Juniper said. ¡°We were wrong to bring kids into this. It¡¯s not safe, but, well, it does give us a secret advantage.¡±


    Xina squinted at Juniper. ¡°What advantage?¡±


    Juniper smirked. ¡°If I told you it wouldn¡¯t be a secret, would it?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Corey asked.


    Xina sighed, as if she was trying to keep a hurricane in check with pure brainpower. ¡°I¡¯m sick of this, Juniper.¡± She said. ¡°Sick of your games, you acting like everything is okay, because it¡¯s not.¡±


    Now it was Juniper¡¯s turn to be confused. She didn¡¯t show it, of course. ¡°What do you mean, it¡¯s not okay? Of course it isn¡¯t! You did this, so don¡¯t act like you¡¯re trying fix something.¡±


    ¡°Juniper,¡± Corey¡¯s voice warned. ¡°We need a confession, not a full-on argument.¡±


    Juniper¡¯s nostrils flared. You don¡¯t need to boss me around, She wanted to say.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m trying to do.¡± Xina said.


    ¡°Really?¡± Juniper said. ¡°Then why, Xina? Why do all of this?¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Henry Clark.¡± Xina said that name as if it were the key to unlocking all knowledge.


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not just an arms dealer.¡±


    ¡°We need a confession.¡± Corey said. ¡°Just have her say that she did it, and lets get this over with.¡±


    Juniper wanted to take out her earpiece so badly, but she knew that would blow her cover. ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Kids.¡± Xina said.


    ¡°What?¡± Juniper said, understanding settling on her. ¡°What? No¡­ ¡°


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xina said. ¡°I had to. It reminded me too much of Jacob.¡± She said. ¡°I had to kill him.¡± She looked down. ¡°And now you have a confession.¡± She said it quietly, less than a whisper.


    <ul>


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    </ul>


    Juniper then found out where the bullets were. In a gun in Xina¡¯s hand. Juniper knew that FBI protocol said something about people being armed and something else, but that didn¡¯t matter because Juniper wasn¡¯t FBI. If she got Corey in trouble for this, oh well.


    ¡°Juniper?¡± Corey said. Juniper thought she could hear Corey¡¯s eyebrows knit together. He tried a different approach. ¡°Dr. Rice?¡±


    Juniper stirred. ¡°Xina,¡± She said slowly. ¡°Put it down.¡±


    Xina¡¯s face was emotionless. ¡°You think you can tell me what to do?¡±


    ¡°What? No.¡± Juniper didn¡¯t know what Xina was getting at. ¡°If you put it down, we can end this.¡±


    ¡°Put it down?¡± Corey repeated. ¡°Is she armed?¡±


    ¡°End this?¡± Xina said. ¡°No, it¡¯s just started. If I turn myself in, there will be interviews, and trials, and everything.¡± She took a shaky breath. ¡°And then people are going to whisper. The rumors will go around.¡±


    Juniper knew what Xina was talking about. What she had done on this cruise would look a lot worse added to her history.


    ¡°People will talk behind my back.¡± Xina continued. ¡°Oh, her brother died, and she¡¯s a serial murderer. She probably killed him.¡± Xina stared right at Juniper, and she realized that she was speechless. She didn¡¯t like that feeling.


    Juniper licked her lips, trying to think of something to say. ¡°I- they- we- we don¡¯t think you killed Jacob.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking my chances.¡± Xina said.


    Juniper¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Uh, yes, you are.¡±


    ¡°Juniper?¡± Corey said. ¡°They¡¯re here. You need to get out of the way of the door, ¡®cause I know you¡¯re standing right there.¡±


    Juniper sighed.


    ¡°I heard that.¡±


    Juniper started to move forward, towards Xina. She went around the table, and was about eight feet away from her when she took out her gun and cocked it.


    ¡°Stay there.¡± Xina said shakily.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take that as a, ¡®yes agent Byrd, I have moved into safety¡¯. I¡¯m sending them in now.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Juniper said.


    ¡°For what?¡± Xina knit her eyebrows.


    The door flew open. Two people came in. One grabbed Xina and put handcuffs on her. The other stood by the door. Juniper didn¡¯t take much notice of them. She walked, somewhat in a trance, out of the door and into the hallway where Corey was waiting. She also saw, around the corner, two familiar young faces. Juniper turned and looked at Corey. She pulled her transmitter out of her ear.


    ¡°You did good.¡± Corey said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel that way.¡± She looked up at him. ¡°I¡¯ve known Xina since forever. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to overcome this.¡± Juniper looked as Xina was taken away. ¡°Where are they taking her, anyway?¡±


    Corey shrugged. ¡°They¡¯ll only have to keep her tomorrow, and the next morning when we arrive, law enforcement will be waiting.¡± Corey smiles. ¡°And here I was, thinking that we wouldn¡¯t catch her in time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Juniper said.


    Corey frowned. ¡°Also, what was that secret advantage?¡±


    Juniper winced. ¡°Uh, Xina has a big problem with kids. You know, having kids work, orphans, that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°So, there was no secret.¡±


    ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡±


    ¡°You know, if you were in the FBI, you would get a big talking to.¡±


    ¡°Thank goodness I¡¯m not, then.¡± Juniper smiled.


    Corey nodded, though Juniper sensed his unease about her lying. ¡°Anyway,¡± He said. ¡°At least we got the job done.¡±


    Juniper nodded absentmindedly. ¡°Yeah. Imagine what the kids¡¯ parents are going to think.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± Corey said. ¡°They didn¡¯t tell their parents.¡±


    Liberty Gray


    ¡°Dad?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    It was the very last day of the cruise, and me and my dad had just finished packing. We were about to leave our room, but there was one more thing that I needed to do. I had to tell him. There was no way that I would be able to keep this from him, anyway.


    ¡°Liberty?¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± I couldn¡¯t seem to get the words out of my mouth.


    ¡°Do you have something to say?¡± My dad started to smile nervously, the lines around his eyes crinkling.


    ¡°Um, no.¡± I regretted it immediately. I just lied to my dad! Maybe I could wait a little bit, let it sink in for me too? No, I need to tell him. But how would I do that? So, I have been secretly working with Otto, two FBI agents, and a doctor to catch the killer on this ship. Wow, that¡¯s terrible. Ugh, I hate explaining things.


    Octavio Jordan Jr.


    Octavio was ready. Ready to leave this ship, ready to go back home, ready for school to start next week, and ready to get the idea of killers and unsubs and murderers out of his head.


    Liberty had been texting him last night, saying that she was planning on telling her dad about this whole thing. Octavio didn¡¯t approve, but, of course, she didn¡¯t care.


    Octavio somewhat understands Liberty¡¯s thought process. She¡¯s the kind of person that needs to confide in someone, usually Octavio for complicated things, and her dad for everything else. Octavio just wanted to make sure that she didn¡¯t reveal any federal secrets about agents Chang and Byrd being here.


    ¡°Otto?¡± He tore his eyes away from the window. ¡°You ready to go?¡± His mom asked.


    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Octavio grabbed his suitcase and looked at the room one last time. Bye, he thought. He shut the door.

 EPILOGUE

    Philipa Le put her phone down and sighed. Corey Byrd wasn¡¯t responding. She had called, texted, emailed, but he wasn¡¯t checking his phone!


    Any other circumstance, she would pat him on the back, because the last thing this world needs is robots taking over the world; but she needed a response from him. It was a job offer, and things like these didn¡¯t stand for very long.


    Philipa¡¯s phone on the table rang. She picked it up on the second ring.


    ¡°Agent Le.¡± She said. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Uh, hi. This is Corey Byrd, you called me earlier?¡±


    ¡°Hi, Mr. Byrd!¡± Philipa said. ¡°I have a job offer for you, if you¡¯re interested.¡±


    ¡°Uh, what type of job?¡±


    ¡°Glad you asked! But, I¡¯m afraid that that information is confidential.¡± Philipa said.


    ¡°Uh, then how am I supposed to say yes?¡± Mr. Byrd seemed to be confused.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re just hoping that you¡¯ll make the right decision.¡± Philipa said. ¡°We¡¯ve been looking at you for a while now, and you always make the right decision. So, what do you say?¡±