Page 18 of Ship Happens
I rush away from a cackling Jim—the man lives to torture us, I swear—and hurry to the group of women. When Kindra notices me, she steps in front of me before I can reach Frankie.
“Where have you been hiding this enchanting woman?” Kindra asks as she points to Frankie. “First you hog all of Eve’s time, and now you’re determined to keep this one away from us as well? Maverick, sharing is caring.”
I hold my hand toward Frankie and motion for her to come with me, but Cat swats my hand away.
“Back off, blondie. We’re forming an all-girls team, and you can’t steal one of the few pairs of tits in this sausage fest.” Cat weaves her arm through Frankie’s, and Eve does the same on the other side. “We only need one more, and I think I can convince Rosie to join us.”
“Or,” I drawl, “you could put me on your team and up your chances of winning. You don’t know what Jim has planned.”
“And you do?” Kindra asks. “Not even Ezra knew, and he’s become Jim’s party planner extraordinaire.”
“Okay, no, I don’t know what Jim has planned, but neither do you.” I cock my head and wait for a response.
Eve places her hand on Kindra’s arm. “He has a point, honey. If we want to win, we might benefit from having some male energy on the team. Besides, it looks like Rosie and Grim have already teamed up with your men.”
We follow Eve’s pointed finger to Bennett, Ezra, Grim, and Rosie, who have taken a seat at a table.
“He could always join them,” Cat says. “They have an opening, and there are a few other women around here. Somewhere.”
But then an unfamiliar man takes a seat beside Ezra.
“Oh, fuck it,” Kindra says. “Maverick, welcome to the team. If we don’t win, it’s your fault.”
“Noted,” I say.
I scribble my name on a name tag, then peel the backing and stick it to my gray t-shirt. The girls start toward a table, and like a little pull-string puppy, I follow them. I take a seat between Cat and Frankie, but then I feel eyes on me. When I look across the room, Bennett is leveling me with a death glare.
“Frankie, could we swap seats?” I whisper, though I’ve leaned a little too close. When she turns her head to address me, our lips nearly touch.
She leans back to avoid the kiss of death, then nods. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
Once we’ve swapped places, a hush falls over the room as Jim climbs the few stairs to the stage. From his inside pocket, he pulls a stack of notecards, then adjusts his tie. He clears his throat and steps up to the mic.
“Sinners, I’d once again like to welcome you to the Bruise Cruise. After the little show before dinner, several of you approached me with questions and concerns revolving around the scavenger hunt. I’m here to squash all the rumors and explain the game in detail.”
He drones on for the next ten minutes about the scavenger hunt, and unease grows as we learn that there are multiple federal agents among us. Every rank has been invaded: Sinners, Cattle, Normies, and the crew. Our job is to find them and get rid of them without alerting the Normies on board.
Kindra’s hand rises. “What if we fuck up and kill an actual newbie Sinner on accident?”
She brings up a good point. During past retreats, killing a fellow Sinner came with steep consequences, up to and including death. Jim’s little plan sounds interesting, but there is a very large margin for error here.
Jim nods. “That’s the unfortunate bit of business, but before dispatching a Sinner, a Normie, or a member of staff, you must first bring your suspicions to me. The members who drew the short straws and were doomed to become Cattle are destined for death, regardless. If they aren’t killed during the games, they will be offered no quarter in my staff, I’m afraid.”
Shuffling sounds come from under the table, and when Frankie’s leg bumps mine, I realize she’s causing the sound with her incessant fidgeting. She looks up at me with a sheepish smile, and once again, the fidgeting stops.
And it’s no wonder she’s fidgeting. Jim has just issued a death warrant for all of her pals, and she believes her name is on the list as well. I’m tasked with ensuring that doesn’t happen, though.
But am I the only one?
I look around the room and study the unfamiliar faces. Have Ezra and Bennett been tasked with caring for a fed? Cat, Kindra, and Eve? Are we all competing against each other?
I turn back to Frankie. If that’s the game, I plan to win.
Leaning closer, I whisper in her ear. “For the rest of this cruise, don’t leave my sight.”
Her blue eyes widen, but she doesn’t speak.
“Now that we’ve gotten that business out of the way, let’s get on with tonight’s game, shall we?” Jim pulls the mic from the stand, then strolls over to the large sheet. With a wide grin, he grips one corner and snatches the material away, revealing a large randomizer wheel. Each slice of the colorful, glittery piehas something written on it, but it’s too small to read from this far away.
