Free Sea Salt Caramel Murder (A Maple Hills Cozy Mystery Book 4) by Wendy Meadows Page A

replied, fighting to keep the ship on its set course.
    “I'll be back in two hours. I have to go check on the passengers and then see how much water the engine room is taking on.”
    “I understand. I'll hold her steady.”
    Brody nodded, walked to the back wall, and exited the bridge through a private hallway.

    * * *
    “ H awk ,” Nikki said, sitting down on a wooden chair in her cabin, “we can talk openly now.”
    “Without the killer hearing us,” Hawk added watching the cabin door.
    “Hawk,” Nikki explained, “you may not believe me, but it was beneficial for us that the killer somehow listened in on our conversations. I'm confident that the killer recorded our every word.”
    Hawk watched Nikki lean forward and rest her face in her hands. “Nikki, don't lose steam on me,” he said.
    She drew in a deep breath. “The killer isn't Mr. Fench's son, Hawk. I think we have it backwards.”
    “How so?”
    “You heard Matt—Mr. Fench's son drives around in a Porsche. He's a country club brat. Why would he risk losing this diamond in the rough? This ship brings in good money. Look at the interior architecture. I don't believe this much money and effort was put into this ship simply to send it to the bottom of the sea. Also, did you notice that Dr. Rowen knew about Mr. Lane's past?”
    Hawk rubbed his chin. “Nikki, are you saying Mr. Lane is the killer? That doesn't make any sense. That man needs money to take care of his wife. What would he gain from sinking this ship?”
    “Exactly,” Nikki told Hawk. Leaning up she looked at Hawk with tired eyes. Fighting back a yawn, she glanced at the comfortable bed in her cabin. “Hawk, why did Captain Mayfield really hire Mr. Lane? If the man was crooked, he wouldn't just hire anyone. Mr. Lane was hired on as second in command for a reason.”
    Hawk took a minute to soak in the information Nikki was throwing at him. “But why would he want to sink this ship, Nikki? He has a sick wife.”
    “Right,” Nikki said. “Hawk, I think Mr. Lane lied about his wife being home. I think that woman is right here on this ship. I think Mr. Lane is going to do something very horrible. You see his face, Hawk. He is tired, hurt, broken, and beaten down. I don't doubt he tried to go straight and live an honest life, but for the sake of his wife, he allowed Captain Mayfield to pull him back into a life of crime. I think he wants to end it all for himself and his wife, who may be much sicker than he's letting on.”
    “That theory is out there, Nikki.”
    “Hawk, after Dr. Rowen was murdered and you chased after the killer, you didn't find him, did you? No. And when Mr. Lane saw Dr. Rowen's dead body, he had sweat on the side of his temples, like he had been running. Whoever the killer is, he knows this ship better than anyone. He understands how to maneuver without being seen or caught. Also, we both need to realize something that is vital, Hawk.”
    “What?”
    “If the killer wanted us dead, we would be dead by now. Why would the killer give you a warning? He could easily have killed us at any moment, Hawk. The killer has only killed two men who knew him on a personal level.”
    Hawk looked at Nikki's beautiful face. He imagined Nikki being ill, suffering, hurting. And then he imagined his own life caught in a web of crime, forced to sit at the tables with common criminals against his will. When a man is desperate, he does desperate things. “I'm a cop—that must not sit well with him.”
    “That's why he wrote that fake note saying the killer told him to keep this ship on course. The handwriting on each piece of paper belongs to Mr. Lane, Hawk.” Nikki pulled out the letter from the killer and the piece of paper she found on Dr. Rowen's body. “See the X I made with the pen I borrowed from Mr. Lane? I marked those papers with X's for a reason. Hawk, the ink from the pen Mr. Lane gave me matches the ink on the killer's letter, the paper I found on Dr. Rowen and the warning