Heavenly Honeymoon (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 15) Read Online Free Page A

snickers from the people who witnessed my meltdown.”
    Talin smiled but didn’t respond. He looked down at his notes. “I understand your anger. I too have no patience for animal abuse. However, there were eight guests on board this evening who reported you told Mr. Jimenez that he should sleep with one eye open as long as you were on the island. Given the fact that Mr. Jimenez didn’t make it through the cruise alive, that’s a threat I must take seriously.”
    I groaned. “I know I should never have said that. It really wasn’t my finest moment. I said a lot of things I regret. But I was mad. Really mad.”
    “Did you take your anger one step further and stab the man?” Talin glared at me in a less than friendly manner.
    “No. I swear. Zak suggested we go inside, so we did. The others wandered back inside shortly after that as well. After my outburst Zak pretty much glued himself to my side for the rest of the evening. We would have left, but we were in the middle of the ocean, so there was really nowhere to go.”
    “I have seven witnesses who stated that Mr. Jimenez left the room soon after everyone came back inside. You left the room alone sometime after that.”
    I closed my eyes and prayed for mercy from this rigid man. There was no way around it. Things were going to look bad.
    “Mrs. Zimmerman . . .”
    I opened my eyes and looked at him. “I’m sorry; I was praying. What I’m about to tell you is going to make me sound guilty, but please keep in mind that I really am innocent.”
    Talin didn’t say anything, so I decided to take a leap of faith and plunge ahead.
    “Dezi surprised Lucinda with a cake for their anniversary,” I began. “One of the waitstaff left it on the table while we were all on the deck, but only a small portion of it had been sliced. The knife that had been left to cut the remainder of the cake, should we need it, had disappeared. Park decided he wanted a second piece, so I volunteered to go to the kitchen to find a knife to replace the one that had vanished.”
    “The knife that had vanished where?”
    “I don’t know. It was there one minute and gone the next. Maybe one of the staff came in while we were all talking. Anyway, the kitchen was deserted when I got there, so I picked up a knife that was sitting on the counter and started back toward the dining area. I passed one of the waiters in the hall who told me I had the wrong knife. He took the knife from me and then offered to bring the correct utensil out to the table. I returned to the lounge and waited, but he never brought the knife, so I decided to go back for it. When I was on my way back to the kitchen I found Ricardo in the hallway with a knife in his back. I’m pretty sure it was the same knife the waiter had taken from me. I pulled the knife out and turned Ricardo over with the intention of trying CPR. That was how Kim found me: kneeling on the floor in front of Ricardo’s body with the bloody knife in my hand. But I didn’t kill him. I swear.”
    “And the man you gave the knife to? What did he look like?”
    “He was a tall, thin man with dark skin and dark hair. He might have been the man I saw Ricardo speaking to that first night I was on the island, but I don’t know for certain. I honestly didn’t pay all that much attention to details. I do remember that he had on black pants and a black shirt, which was what the man on the beach had been wearing. I imagine he must have been one of the kitchen staff who I hadn’t met yet.”
    “I spoke to every single person on board as they left the boat,” Talin informed me. “There were no passengers on board who fit your description. The only members of the staff or guests with dark skin were Rosa and Jerrell, and they both wore white.”
    “No, it wasn’t either Rosa or Jerrell. It wasn’t anyone I’d met that night.”
    Talin shoved the list in front of me again. “Who hadn’t you met?”
    I studied the names. “I met all the guests of course.