Laura Marlin Mysteries 2: Kidnap in the Caribbean by Lauren St John Read Free Book Online Page B

Ocean Empress , where it was possible to try half a dozen different activities and eat in a different restaurant every day of the cruise.
    On their third day at sea, a Tuesday, she and Tariq spent the morning playing mini golf and chatting to her uncle. Lunch was a fudge sundae for each of them. They’d had so many pancakes for breakfast they couldn’t fit in anything else.
    In the afternoon, the last of the clouds blew away and a silky blue sky arched over the ship. Sea birds wheeled overhead. Passengers in bikinis and board shorts baked on sun loungers, sipping exotic cocktails with umbrellas in them.
    Laura and Tariq had a lovely time shooting down water slides and kayaking along fake rapids. It was a relief to know that Skye was happy and taken care of. Calvin Redfern had woken that morning in a lot of pain, but for now he was engrossed in his Matt Walker book and finding comfort in a large chocolate cake.
    ‘It’s funny how life can change in the blink of an eye,’ Tariq said. He was thinking of his nightmarish existence as a modern day slave before a chance encounter had brought him into contact with Laura.
    Laura turned over onto her stomach so she could watch the activity in the wave pool from beneath the brim of her baseball cap. ‘Yes, it is. We’re pretty lucky.’ She was thinking of how, in just a few months, she’d gone from a dreary orphanage, where she’d been bored half to death and had nothing in common with anyone, to a Caribbean cruise ship adventure with her best friends.
    From the other side of the pool came a screech that ended in a gurgle. Jimmy Gannet had exuberantly dive-bombed an inflatable dinosaur, not realising until he was in mid-air that there was a small girl floating dreamily on its back. His mum and dad rushed to inspect the damage. From a distance, they resembled a pair of excitable parrots.
    ‘Every silver lining has a cloud,’ quipped Laura.
    ‘Tariq! Laura! My dear children, how are you?’ cried Rita Gannet. She came rushing over, leaving Bob to deal with the irate mother of the crying girl. ‘Oh my goodness, we simply could not stop talking about you and your uncle after you left last night,’ she said, whipping off sunglasses the size of small planets. ‘Jimmy’s imagination has been quite fired up by it. I’ve never seen him so excited by anything.’
    Laura fought the urge to run away. Jimmy’s father had fished him out of the pool and was escorting him in their direction, wrapped in a huge flowery towel.
    ‘Are you sure she’s okay, Dad?’ he was saying. ‘I feel terrible. I didn’t see her there.’
    ‘Sure she is, son. Some people have nothing better to do than complain, that’s all,’ complained Bob, striding over and flopping down on a candy-striped lounger. The lounger collapsed in the middle, trapping him in its the depths like a Venus flytrap swallowing a bug.
    Tariq, Rita and Jimmy rushed to help, but most of Laura’s energy went on trying to stop a fit of giggles. In the end, she had to stuff a corner of towel into her mouth.
    ‘Damn this cheap and nasty pool furniture,’ Bob mumbled when he finally crawled scarlet and sweaty from the clutches of the chair. ‘Rita, add that to the list of things we’ve found wrong so far, and we’ll try to get some money back.’
    ‘Yes, dear,’ said his wife. ‘How are you enjoying the ship so far, kids? Is your uncle on the mend, Laura? What’s wrong with him, anyway? Is he seasick?’
    ‘He’s much better, thank you,’ responded Laura, ignoring the question.
    ‘Great, great. And what are your plans for tomorrow?’
    Laura glanced quickly at Tariq. She knew what was coming next. The Gannets wanted a playmate for Jimmy. She wracked her brains for an excuse. ‘Well, we hadn’t decided … We’re not sure …’
    Then she remembered Tariq’s words. She knew he was right, they should give Jimmy a chance. ‘Actually, we were thinking of trying the rock climbing wall.’
    Bob poked his son. ‘Rock