by Barbara Arthur
See disclaimer in part one.
Comments welcome at Barbart@globalsite.net
"Rick, be serious!" I said to him, hardly able to suppress a grin of my own.
"Not Mom," he said.
"No, not her, but someone in San Diego. It had to be. I don't remember much of what I did there, Rick. It's like---"
"Like what?" he wanted to know.
"It's like I spent a lot of time preparing to go on this cruise, but I don't think I did. That's just how my mind is working right now."
He sighed. "A.J., go out and sit at the desk. I'm gonna clean up in
here. No argument, now.
When I'm finished, we'll talk more about it. In the meantime, try to remember everything you did in San Diego, everyone you saw. Write it down, so you won't forget it again."
"All right," I said. "All right, I will."
Rick---
I followed my brother to the outer cubby hole and saw to it that he was seated at the desk. I then got a bucket and mop which I had seen in the bathroom where I earlier found the first aid kit. I filled the bucket with water, found some soap to put in it, and headed to the holding tank to clean up A.J.'s vomit. As I passed him on the way, he was sitting with his head in his hands.
I cleaned up the mess as fast as I possibly could and managed not to get sick myself. The ship was rolling again and my stomach was not in such great shape. While I cleaned, I thought about what A.J. had told me and tried to be objective. A good private investigator has to sort through all of the information and make good judgments. A P.I. can't let such things as family relationships cloud his perspective. I knew I was going to have a hell of a time with this case.
I knew my brother well, although I hadn't been around him for several years. When we worked together, he was the best in the business at pretending to be someone else. By that I mean, he could role play with the best of them. Was he playing with me now? His story was totally unbelievable, and yet I was on the verge of believing him. Surely, no one gave him a drug or a pill which turned him into a sibling killer. Especially without him being aware something was going on.
I decided to play along with him and to keep asking questions. I also decided to watch my back when with him. I sure as hell hadn't done that very well up to now. I'd turned my back on him and let him look at my head. Not good, Rick, I told myself. Not smart at all. Finished cleaning, I took the mop and bucket back to the guard's office. A.J., still with his head down, paid no attention to me.
"A.J., you're not writing anything down. Have you come up with a list of people you saw in San Diego?"
"Yes. But, Rick, I just can't believe any of them did this. And besides, I may not remember everyone I saw. It's the oddest thing."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, there are gaps. I don't really recall arriving at Mom's. I don't recall much of anything we said. I know I saw Town. Did you know he was back in San Diego?"
I smiled. You couldn't help but smile when you thought of our old friend, Downtown Brown.
"No, I didn't. He and Temple still married?"
"Yes. They have twin boys."
"Lucky them."
" He seemed happy about it."
"Sure," I said. "Town would be a good dad."
My brother nodded. "I'm sure Town didn't drug me."
"No," I sighed.
"You don't think anybody did, do you, Rick?"
"Look, I don't know, A.J.," I answered him gruffly. "It seems pretty far fetched, to be honest."
"Maybe I just don't want to admit to myself I could even think of doing such a thing," he said.
"Maybe," I agreed with him.
He shook his head back and forth. "No, no, I won't believe it. There is something wrong with me. I don't feel normal. I wish there was some test that could be run to see what's in my system."
I frowned. "They'll probably do that tomorrow when they turn you over."
He looked at me, fear in his eyes. "You're going to let them turn me over?"
I had to turn away from his gaze. "I don't think I should stop them, Kid. They need to
investigate---"
"They need to investigate your friend Brenda, that's who they need to investigate! And they need to find how more about that guy I shot!"
I agreed with him on the latter, and, to be honest, the former, too. "Yea, well, they found out he came aboard usin' an alias, just like you."
"They told you that?"
"Yea, before I came here. "Did you know him, A.J.? The truth now!"
"No!" he blasted me. "I didn't know him, but I'll never forget his face. I'll never forget him standing there pointing that gun at you. Rick, why do you suppose Brenda is the only one in the dining room who saw me pointing a gun at you? Don't you wonder? No one else did. I wasn't. Why would she say so? How well do you know Brenda?"
It was a fair question coming from a man who was likely to be arraigned for murder. I answered. "I haven't known her long, but I thought---think---I know her well enough. We've, uh, been together a few months."
His blue eyes bore into me. Again, I turned away from eye contact with him. "You started to say thought, as if you were having second thoughts."
I wanted to lie to him, tell him I didn't have a suspicion in the world about the lovely Brenda Smart. I wanted to, but I couldn't. "I'll talk to her about it, A.J. I wondered just what you did, how she could be so sure. I'll question her, but I don't think it matters much in the bigger picture."
"It could," he said, suddenly more animated than he'd been since I came to the holding tank. "It could. She might be in on it somehow, Rick."
"In on it?" I repeated part of his statement. "How so?"
"It might be a set up, that's how so," he said.
The same thought had passed through my mind. His putting it into words made me extremely uncomfortable. "Why, A.J.? Why would Brenda want to set you up?"
"That's easy, Rick. Surely, you haven't lost your touch that much."
"Yea, I know what you're thinkin'," I said.
"And you're thinking it too, Rick Simon!" He yelled, getting to his feet. "She wanted to kill you, Rick! So, she saw to it that I was on the cruise somehow, then this other guy, whom she must have been in on it with, came to actually do the job."
"There are a lot of holes in that theory, Kid," I told him.
He sunk back down in the chair. "I know," he said quietly. He looked so forlorn I wanted to hug him. Of course, I couldn't do that. I'd never done much of that, although we had been through a lot together and found ways to comfort each other. I very much wanted to comfort him at that moment, but there was also still a warning bell going off. It rang out the words be careful, be careful, be careful, and I intended to heed it.
I waited for him to say where he thought the holes in his theory were, but it seemed he wasn't in the mood to talk more. I said, "First, it would have taken a lot of work for Brenda to set you up. What if you hadn't come? Is she in cahoots with someone in San Diego? What if you hadn't shot the guy, and he'd got caught pointing the gun at me? Didn't they figure at all on the possibility that you might shoot him? What did they think, that you would watch him shoot me without raising a hand to stop him?"
"Yes, that's exactly what they were counting on," A.J. said. "And then they were going to accuse me, say I hated you and wanted you dead."
"But what if you hadn't been armed, A.J.?" I asked.
He scowled at me. "You make good points, but I think it's worth pursuing. I need to know who gave me something to make me want to kill you, get on this cruise planning to do that. I need to know if Brenda and the dead guy were the cause."
"I wanta know, too, A.J.," I heard myself tell him. "I'll help you find out. I'll do that much for you, Kid. But, if I find out you are guilty, that you did point a gun at me, that you're lying---"
I didn't finish my speech. The ship lurched again, this time so violently, I was forced to hug my brother whether I wanted to or not.
A.J.---
We were getting somewhere, Rick and I. We were talking about how I might have come to be in the trouble I was in. He was, reluctantly, I was sure, agreeing with me that I may have been set up. I knew he was leery, and I didn't really blame him, but we were at least talking about it. I was feeling better because, to be honest, just talking it out with Rick made me feel better. And then we were suddenly tossed across the small room and up against the wall. This time, neither of us was knocked out, but we were both badly shaken by the experience.
"What the hell?" Rick muttered, when we landed, me on top of him this time.
"That was a bad one," I said. "If I want to, I can," I said. "If you want to? What the hell does that mean?" "I mean, I could hold you down here for a long time, cuss you out about the book----" "A.J., get off of me! I think you were gonna kill me!" I gazed down at him. "I told you I was. I also told you I don't know why. Everything I've told you is the truth, Rick. I don't really want to hurt you! I never did! Damn you, Rick Simon, I love you!" Our eyes locked and I was aware mine had tears in them. Tears of frustration, tears of fear, and, yes, tears of embarrassment for having said the words men don't usually say to other men. I could not recall ever having said them to Rick, although I wanted to many times, especially when he went off to Viet Nam, and I was afraid I would never see him again. But I hadn't said them then, so why now? To my amazement, I repeated them and added a couple. "I love you, damn it." He was fighting tears himself, but none had spilled over yet. His eyes were definitely wet, though. He reached up and pulled me down against him. "It's really good to see you, Kid. I love you, too. How did we get into this mess? Any ideas?" I shook my head no, because I was unable to speak. I was crying now. Rick cradled me and let me cry for what seemed like hours. Neither of us spoke until I was ready to push away. "I'll get off of you," I said. "It may be too late," he said. "What? Why?" "Because I think I'm numb." I grinned and he grinned back. "You're not numb," I told him. "Just a minute." Working my way off to the side, I got my entire weight off of him. He sat up immediately. I was now in a totally prone position. He gave me his hand and pulled me up to sit beside of him. He said, "I wonder what is going on out there? First we lurch like crazy, and then everything is calm as can be for a long time. Seems to me like it would stay rough." "It was at first, wasn't it?" I asked. "I mean, earlier, about the time you came here to my humble quarters?" "Yea, it was then." "So, what are you thinking?" I asked. "About what?" "Are you saying there's some cause besides rough waters?" He looked at me. "I don't know." "Why don't we go see?" I asked. "A.J., you are a prisoner here!" "Yes, I am, but if you took me with you, maybe hide me in your cabin,
or, maybe----" "No maybes, A.J.. If you leave this holding tank with me, we're both asking for it." "Yes, but if I stay, I won't be able to help you if you run into trouble, Rick. Where is Brenda?" "She went to her own cabin," he said. "You have two cabins?" "Yea, weird, huh?" "She's in on this, Rick, I---" "Yea, maybe," he cut me off. "Listen, I've got an idea. Let's call Mom and see if she noticed anything about you, anything different." I was willing. "Okay," I said. "I'd like to know that myself. You have a cell phone with you?" "Yep. It's in my cabin." "Let's go," I said. Rick--- We stood up together. A.J. was acting like the guy I'd always known as my brother. The crying spell must have been good for him, I thought. It had felt good to hold on to him for that time, and, to be honest, I hated to see it end. For one thing, I wasn't looking forward to the embarrassment we'd both feel, but we seemed to have gotten past it quickly. Now, down to the nitty gritty. A.J. had convinced me to take him with me when I left. It occurred to me it might have been wise for me to have given that more thought. Not necessarily because I any longer felt like I was in danger from him, but if we got caught----Oh well, too late. He walked along with me out the door of the outer cubby hole. We both stopped and looked around, just as we used to do when we were Simon and Simon, Private Investigators in San Diego. I made a comment to that effect. "Seems like our old Simon and Simon days, huh?" "We'll always be Simon and Simon, Rick," said A.J. I nodded. "Yea, I guess we will, but we're both out of practice as P.I.'s" "We should have never given that profession up," he said. "Why did we?" A retort came to my tongue. I bit it back. I wanted to tell him we had split our partnership because of his jealousy over my book and the constant trouble it caused between us. Instead, I said, "It was just time, I guess. You wanted to fulfill your dream of being a lawyer, wanted to marry Janet, and I---" "And you didn't need the money anymore," he said. "Right. Let's move on." "All right. There doesn't seem to be another soul out here." "Yea, odd as hell, if you ask me," I said and meant it. "What are you thinking?" "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking something's wrong on this ship," he said. "Let's see what we can find out on our way to your cabin." I turned to him and grinned. "That's brilliant, A.J. You haven't lost your touch a bit." He grinned back at me. "Very funny. Let's move." Although there wasn't a sign of life on our chosen path, I wished I was armed and said so. "I wish I'd brought my gun." "They took mine," he said. "Don't suppose they'd give it back to me." I laughed my trademark short laugh. "I don't suppose." "Where's your cabin?" he wanted to know. "Quite a ways yet," I said, and then totally off subject and out of the blue, I gave him some more information. "I'm broke, A.J. Spent every last dime I had." We had been walking side by side. He stopped. I stopped as well and turned to him. He seemed stunned by the news. "You're broke! Rick, how could that be?" "It could be because I've enjoyed myself to the fullest for the past several years, Kid. I've had a great time. But, it's gone." "You didn't save any of it?" "Nope." "That's incredible! You make a fortune and you don't----Rick, I can't believe this!" "I thought you'd be pleased, A.J.," I said to him. "We're back where we started. I'm broke and you're successful, or I think you are." His brow wrinkled. He shook his head. He sighed, and shook his head again. "Rick, I'm not pleased. I mean---" "A.J., you were going to kill me because I was successful. Now, you don't have to be sorry you didn't get the job done." I waited for him to spar with me some more. I couldn't have for the life of me told anyone why I was telling my brother about my financial status all of a sudden. For the longest time, he said nothing, then, "Rick, do you owe anyone money?" "Sure, I got some debts, why?" He touched my arm. "Because, don't you see, that could be a motive, could be why they wanted you dead." My turn to have a wrinkled brow. "Could be, I suppose. But the thing is, who? And how did they manage to get you in on it?" His eyes softened. "You sound like you believe me now." Did I? "Maybe." "Rick, I'm sorry you're broke, I mean, you must have been totally irresponsible, but I'm sorry. I feel so different about things---" "Sure! My bein' broke changes things! I knew it!" "That's not what I mean!" He exclaimed. "What do you mean?" "My head ache is gone. I've had a headache since I got on this boat. Now, it's gone. My mind is clear, Rick." "What's that got to do with my bein' broke?" I asked him. "It ties in. Listen, it was never the money, it was how you portrayed me. But lately, I haven't been thinking straight. Everything has taken on a sinister twist. I see that so clearly now. I've been on something without knowing it. I'm sure of it, Rick." I stared at him. "I'm glad you're so clear and sure about things. I'm a mixed up puppy, myself. Let's go on and talk to Mom."
PART THREE
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