Alaskan Protector
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Sharon Dunn
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42
ONE
K-9 officer Maya Rodriguez took in a sharp breath as she stepped out onto the quiet upper deck of the Alaska Dream cruise ship. A fog had rolled in making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of her. Maya’s partner, Sarge, a Malinois was by her side. He looked cute in his service dog vest. All part of the disguise for their undercover work. Though he was two years old, he was small for his age and breed, and people often thought he was still a puppy. Size was deceptive, however. Sarge was a top-notch detection and screening K-9. His nose could sniff out almost anything—weapons, explosives, even infectious diseases.
Maya’s footsteps seemed to echo as she surveyed the boardwalk. Two nights ago, a woman had been murdered on this deck—an entertainment employee for the cruise line. There had been another attack on the ship as well. That victim, a female passenger, had been grabbed from behind. Her attacker held a knife to her throat, but she had managed to get away with only minor injuries. Both victims had similar profiles: young, dark haired, slender and attractive. Maya also fit that description, which was why her boss, Colonel Lorenza Gallo, had picked her for this covert assignment. Though she had been on the K-9 team for five years, this was the first time she’d been undercover.
The cruise ship owner was worried about losing business due to the attacks, so everything had to be on the down low. Ship security had not turned up any suspects or substantial evidence, which in itself was concerning. There was some speculation that the security team was covering for someone or just couldn’t do a good job when it came to serious crime on board a ship.
It was so quiet Maya could hear Sarge’s paw steps as he heeled at her side. Fear fluttered through her when her hand touched the hip where her firearm would normally be. No guns of any kind were allowed on board, which meant that if she was truly in danger, her only protection was her training and Sarge.
Though they were on the highest viewing area on the ship, she could hear the waves lapping against the hull of the ship. Despite it being June, the Alaska night air chilled her skin.
The clatter of footsteps caused her to whirl around. Her heart pounded. Sarge took up a position beside her, standing at attention and letting out a little supportive yipping noise.
A man and a woman in fancy dress emerged from the fog laughing.
Their expressions grew serious when they saw Maya and her dog.
“I was sure we would be the only ones up here in this kind of weather,” the woman said as she circled her arm through the man’s elbow.
“Just thought I’d get a little air and solitude,” Maya explained. She had seen on the ship’s list of activities that there was ballroom dancing this evening. No doubt, the couple had just come from there.
Both the man and the woman drew their attention to Sarge.
The man tugged at the bow tie he wore with his tuxedo. “There’s plenty of room on the ship. It’s way colder up here than I thought it would be. Enjoy having the deck to yourself, miss.”
“Ta-ta,” the woman said. Their laughing and joyous mood resumed as they disappeared into the fog. Maya heard a door open and shut.
“False alarm,” she murmured to Sarge. “They looked happy, like they were in love.” She shook her head. “Some of us are just terminally single, right?” Maya continued to walk the deck looking for the place where the crime report said the murder had taken place. Though all the evidence of the crime had been removed, it often helped to retrace the steps of the victim. She had very little to work with based off the report written by the ship’s security chief.
Crystal Lynwood, the murder victim, had worked for the onboard entertainment venues for less than a year. Her body had been found by the east entrance door. She’d been stabbed.
Maya located the door and reached for the knob, preparing to retrace the steps that the victim must have taken.
A hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her back. Judging from the strength he exhibited, the attacker was male. Sarge barked. The man kicked a deck chair in the direction of the dog. Maya heard a yelp of pain.
She felt herself being dragged. She crashed into another deck chair and then her assailant circled around and pushed her from the front until her back was against a wall. Before she could react, he slammed a fist in her solar plexus causing her to wheeze and gasp for breath.
He put a knife to her throat. With his free hand he pressed hard against her stomach. She was still fighting for air from the blow he’d struck. The attacker wore a ski mask.
She could hear Sarge but she could not see him. Why wasn’t he coming to help her? As the K-9 barked, she could hear the noise of one object clanging against another.
“I’m going to make you pay for what you did.” The man’s voice held the threat of violence.
She could feel the pressure of the knife against her throat. Her hands were free. Though he had her pinned in place, she might still be able to get away. She balled her hand into a fist preparing to land a blow to his stomach. He pressed the knife deeper into her skin. She smelled the coppery scent of blood, and her skin stung from the cut.
“Don’t even try,” he warned.
Sarge’s barking grew louder and then there was an odd scraping sound.
The guy shifted and let up pressure on her neck. In that moment, his face was caught in one of the lights that illuminated the deck. She saw green eyes.
Some distance away, she heard footsteps. The attacker glanced to one side and then the other. He lifted the knife off her throat and then without another word disappeared into the fog. She could hear his retreating footsteps even as the other set of footsteps came toward her.
She didn’t see Sarge anywhere—or hear him. Worry gnawed away at her. What had happened to her partner? She called his name. Now she heard the footsteps again coming toward her from the opposite direction the assailant had run to.
A silhouette of a man in uniform emerged from the fog. He held on to Sarge’s leash.
“Did you lose your service dog, ma’am? His leash got tangled up with a deck chair and then that chair caught on another one when he tried to drag it and was trapped.” The man stepped closer. “I’m the Security Chief, David Garrison.” She’d noticed him when she’d boarded this morning. David Garrison was the one who had written the report that gave her almost nothing to work with.
Her chest hurt where she’d had the wind knocked out of her. The cut to her neck, though not deep, still stung. She held her hand out. Sarge jerked away from the man and ran toward her. She struggled to speak. “I—I was attacked.”
David’s voice filled with concern as he stepped toward her. “You okay?”
She managed a nod. And then kneeled and wrapped her arms around Sarge. Holding the dog steadied her nerves. They both had had a scare.
Officer Garrison straightened his spine and squared his shoulders. “Which way? Where did he go?”
She pointed in the direction the perp had gone. David took off running. Sarge, who was trained to detect weapons and would pick up the scent of the fleeing man as well as the knife, would be able to track even more precisely than the security officer. She commanded him to go. He put his nose to the ground and then lifted his head and sniffed the air. A moment later, Sarge also took off running while she held on to the leash.
David Garrison’s footsteps echoed as he darted all along the deck. It didn’t take long for Maya and Sarge to catch up with him.
Her partner alerted on the west door that led down to the next deck. She swung the door open. Sarge scampered down the stairs. This floor was comprised of state rooms for the guests. The rooms had balconies that faced inward providing a view of the main floor where there was a pool and bumper cars as well as many shops. She had studied the layout of the ship from the maps provided on each floor, but it was massive. Ten floors of shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and staterooms. It was hard to remember where everything was.
Getting ahead of David, Sarge stayed on the scent, hesitating only a moment as they worked their way down the floors. He ran through the botanical gardens and then came to the door that led to the second deck which was mostly utilitarian and storage. Laundry and cooking facilities, as well as where the medical, administrative and security offices were held. When she peered over her shoulder, she saw that the security officer was behind them. He ran toward her favoring one of his legs with just the hint of a limp.
Sarge came to stand outside a set of double doors that were labeled Main Kitchen.
Maya commanded her partner to stop. The dog sat beside her feet. She turned toward David as he approached. “I think your man ran into this kitchen.”
“Oh really. Your service dog knows how to track, does he?” Suspicion colored his words.
“He’s protective of me is all.” But even to her own ears, her excuse for Sarge’s obvious expertise sounded lame.
David was at least six inches taller than her. Brown hair stuck out from beneath his cap. She had to admit he was good looking. Could she trust him to let him know she was undercover?
She caught herself. No matter what, she had to be on her guard. At this point, both passengers and crew were suspects. And she couldn’t rule out members of the security team, especially because David’s report had turned up zilch. Was he somehow involved?
“The kitchen is shut down at this hour. They start to prep for breakfast in a couple of hours. For sanitation reasons, your dog can’t go in.” He looked right at her. His eyes were blue. “Despite your dog’s apparent talents, we do have regulations.”
Okay, so David Garrison was way smarter than his handling of the investigation had let on. He was already suspicious of her story. And the blue eyes and the fact that he had appeared so quickly after her attacker fled probably meant she could take him off the suspect list. But he could still be covering for someone.
“I’ll wait outside here with Sarge,” she said. “My service dog.”
“I can handle this. Why don’t you go to the infirmary and get treated for that cut on your neck? I’ll get a statement from you later, a description of anything you can tell me about the attacker. I’m sure you’re pretty shaken up right now.”
She detected the tone of challenge in his voice. He clearly didn’t like a civilian interfering with his law enforcement duties.
“The cut is superficial. I can deal with it myself later. I’d rather just wait here and make my statement right away.”
He stared at her long enough to make her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t want to blow her cover after being on this boat for less than a day. She’d boarded when the ship had gotten into port in Juneau after leaving Seattle.
“Suit yourself.” David pushed open the swinging double doors.
She could see him through the oval-shaped windows as he searched the place.
Maya sighed. She’d been running on adrenaline since the attack. But now that she had a quiet moment to reflect, all the fear she’d suppressed flooded through her. A knife had been held to her throat. She gripped the door frame trying to catch her breath. Sensing her change in mood, Sarge whimpered at her feet and stared up at her. She looked down at his mostly black nose framed by tan around his eyes. The dog was always tuned in to her emotions.
Sarge thumped his tail. His way of reassuring her.
She bent over and stroked his ears. “So glad you’re my partner.”
Maya straightened up. Her heart beat a little faster as she stared down the long empty hallway, wondering where the attacker had gone. Had he run into the kitchen as Sarge’s nose had indicated or was he still lurking close by? As she stood alone in the corridor, she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched.
David Garrison switched on the lights and surveyed the entire kitchen. Stainless steel counters gleamed. The ship had many cafés and eateries, but much of the food was prepped in this main kitchen and then sent up to the other decks. In another couple of hours, it would be bustling with activity as breakfast preparation got underway.
He walked toward the ovens, checking underneath counters. As the ship’s head security officer, even he was not allowed to carry a gun, only a Taser. Not being armed to do his job was an adjustment in comparison to the life he’d led as an MP in the army. David clenched his teeth. An IED had ended his grand military ambitions, leaving him with a leg injury.
He thought about the beautiful woman standing outside the door waiting for him. Something about her and that so-called service dog was really off. He wondered if she had noticed that he favored his left leg. He shook his head. Why did it matter anyway?
There were two doors on opposite sides of the kitchen as well as a service elevator for the transport of food. If the attacker had come through here, he could have gotten away. He searched the pantry and opened the service elevator. Finally, he checked the other door down the long hallway.
Well, if the guy had gone through here, he wasn’t here anymore. David worked his way back through the kitchen. Now to deal with the woman and her dog...
She was standing in the hallway when he pushed open the door.
“Find anything?”
He shook his head. “What makes you think your dog would know where he went?”
“He was a K-9 before he became a service dog. He knows how to track and detect weapons.”
Okay, so maybe that sounded believable. But why not just tell him that in the first place. “What did you say your name was?”
“Maya Rodriguez.”
He wondered why she needed a service dog. She didn’t have any apparent disability so it might be for emotional support or nonvisual condition.
“Maya, why don’t I escort you and your dog back to your room, and you can tell me anything you remember about the attacker,” he said. “If you feel comfortable with that.”
She nodded. He turned, and they started to walk. It wasn’t lost on him that with her long dark brown hair and youthful appearance, Maya looked like the woman who had been murdered and the passenger who had been attacked. Crystal Lynwood, the actress who had been killed, was still wearing an expensive gold-and-diamond bracelet when her body had been found by another crew member. The motive wasn’t robbery, which made him worried that they were dealing with someone who was psychologically unstable. It frustrated him that he’d had pressure from the owner of the cruise line to do the investigation quickly.
As they walked, the dog took up a protective position wedging himself in between Maya and him. The canine’s black ears stood up as he padded along.
“What did you say your dog’s name was?”
“Sarge.”
They took a flight of stairs, stepping out onto the promenade, the central part of the ship. The shops were closed at this hour, though some of the entertainment venues and midnight buffets were still open. “What deck are you on?”
“My room is on the sixth floor.”
“We can take the elevator.” He pointed off in a corner.
“This ship is so big. By the time I learn where everything is, the cruise will be over.”
They walked past a music venue where the strains of Broadway tunes spilled out. “True, I think you could keep yourself entertained without ever going ashore.”
They got into the glass elevator which faced outward and provided a stunning view of the dark rolling sea as well as the glaciers and mountains in the distance. Though he missed the excitement of the military, the thing he liked the most about his job was how the scenery was always changing. The last thing he wanted was to put down roots anywhere. This ship was his home now. That suited him fine.
Both of them stared out at the landscape. “Can you tell me anything about the attacker? You said he had a knife?”
She let out a heavy breath. “I only saw it for a moment. I would guess that it was more of a hunting knife than something you would use to cook with.”
They were still waiting on the forensic autopsy for Crystal Lynwood. All he could conclude from the crime scene was that she had been stabbed. Just like with an airport, all passenger and crew had their luggage run through a screener. How had someone managed to smuggle a hunting knife on board?
The elevator came to a stop, the doors slid open and they stepped out into a carpeted hallway.
“I’m just down that way. Five staterooms away.”
Maya seemed pretty calm, so he decided to press her for more information. The best time to do an interview was as close to the crime as possible. Trauma and time tended to distort memory. “What can you tell me about your attacker’s appearance?”
“He was wearing a ski mask. Average height and build, nothing distinct about his voice.”
Again, David felt a hiccup in his assessment of Maya. The way she was describing the perp was very cop-like.
She stood outside her room. Sarge sat at her feet and looked at David with probing dark eyes. One thing was for sure, the dog was protective of her.
She pulled her card key out of her pocket. “There was one thing about him that was distinct.”
“What’s that?”
She met his gaze. “He had green eyes. If I saw them again, I would know it was him.”
Something about the way she looked at him made him want to lean closer to her. He squared his shoulders remembering that he was on the job. “That’s helpful.” Though he didn’t want to tell her about the previous attack and Crystal’s murder, both of which he was sure were committed by the same perp, she had given him significant information. “Why don’t you try to get a good night’s sleep?”
“Oh, I will,” she said.
Again, something in the way she spoke suggested she intended to do the quite the opposite. Why did he keep going back to the idea that she wasn’t being forthcoming with him? His dating history had created a natural distrust of women; they always ended up being deceptive in some way. And he understood that that colored every interaction he had with women. Still, he could not shake the gut feeling that Maya was withholding something from him.
She swiped her card key and offered him a smile. “You have a good rest of your night too.”
She and her dog stepped inside. The door eased shut behind them. But he didn’t hear the dead bolt click into place. Odd. After an attack like she had endured, most passengers would have secured every lock available.
David headed down the hall, turned a corner and continued to walk. He slowed and then stopped. Something was not sitting right with him. Maya Rodriguez was hiding something from him. He turned back around and headed toward the hallway where her room was. He got there just in time to see Maya and the dog headed up the hallway around a corner.
