One Man's Opus (Book 3): Opus Adventure Read online

  Rick was almost a zombie by the time they walked back to their room. Annette took one look at him and moved off the couch so Tina could get him to sit down.

  “What’s wrong? Drunk?” she asked.

  “I don’t think so, he had a few but not enough for it to have made him this bad,” she said pulling his shoes off. “I’ve seen him drink more once or twice and he was nowhere near this bad.”

  “Drugged?” Annette asked.

  Tina opened her mouth to say something then closed it again. He had complained that the drinks had hit him hard with the last one. Was it possible? Had they counted on Rick’s reflexes on being slowed to rob them both? Were those girls in on it, or somebody at the bar? Her mind swirled with the possibilities. Still, she wasn’t sure. She pulled Rick’s phone out of his pocket and looked up the number of the bar, then got her phone out.

  “What are you doing, dear?” Annette asked.

  “I’m going to call the bar, see what they think,” she said and hit send with her free hand and tossed Rick’s phone on the couch next to him.

  Rick woke up to see Tina, Annette, and Owen getting everything packed up.

  “How are you feeling?” Tina asked.

  Rick moaned, “Not good, what happened?”

  Annette shared a look with Tina, and his wife came over and sat down with him.

  “Rick, that last drink you had last night was spiked.”

  “What drink?” Rick asked.

  “The… They said this might happen. Listen, you remember anything from last night?”

  “Walking on the beach with you, then racing you. Wait, is everything ok—” A note of panic crept into his voice.

  “No, everything’s fine,” Annette assured him.

  “Then what…?”

  “What do you remember?” Tina asked again.

  “Running in the surf, racing you?”

  “Yes, go on,” Tina urged.

  “Ordering drinks and then… Did I fall and hit my head?” Rick sat up, his hands going to his head and wincing.

  “Somebody spiked your last drink. You were feeling tipsy so you didn’t finish it. Somebody tried to steal my purse last night… Don’t worry, we were both fine, I scared him off.”

  “What?” Rick asked, rubbing his hand over his face.

  “Anyway, the two ladies who’d been sitting with us drinking Sprites… they checked on us. I got you back here and you passed out, basically. I called the bar to ask them if they knew anything, but they didn’t. About an hour ago, the Miami PD called. Apparently one of the gals finished your drink off. Too young to buy their own, I guess? Anyway, her friend called 911 in a panic. When the cops got involved they tracked down the bartender who put them in touch with me. They say somebody tried to slip you a roofie.”

  “Was it the guys who tried to steal your purse?” Rick asked, his voice pained.

  “I think so. The police are tracking that down, but they said you would sleep it off easily. Now that you’re up, if you hurry, we can still get on the cruise ship!”

  Rick got up slowly, his legs wobbled and made his way into the bathroom. Owen tried to follow, but Annette scooped him up and deposited him in Tina’s arms.

  “Dayee…. Ewwwwwwwwwwww….” Owen started to say as the sounds of retching came from the bathroom.

  “Maybe we won’t be on time after all,” Annette said.

  “We won’t miss it,” Tina said with a smile. “We have an hour and a half until we have to be there, and we’re ten minutes away. The Waze app on my phone says traffic is light, and I can practically see the dock from here.”

  Louder retching came from the bathroom, making Tina’s confident smile falter a minute. “Maybe I should get this guy in the shower. Owen, you stay out of trouble.”

  “Ubble!” Owen echoed.

  Tina was ready for a mess, but found Rick upright and wiping his mouth out.

  “Sorry, I made myself puke. I feel hung over and wanted to purge anything left in there,” Rick said sheepishly. “I should be good to go after a shower.”

  “I wasn’t sure how bad off you were going to be,” Tina admitted.

  “Well, as long as you were looking out for me, I wasn’t worried.”

  “Wait, is that a compliment?” Tina asked, smiling at him.

  “You take that crazy karate stuff. You’re tougher than you let on.”

  Tina smiled, not caring to tell him the entire story. She didn’t want to worry him, and she’d rather he not remember her going savagely feral when she’d kicked the guy in the kidney area. She wasn’t proud of that, but she had been pissed at their evening being ruined. That, and the man knocking Rick down and almost tearing her off her feet.

  “I am. You get your bad self ready—”

  “Dayee, hi!” Owen said, squeezing in the bathroom between Tina’s knees.

  “Hey, buddy. You look all spiffy.”

  “Iffy!” Owen agreed and then began to tear at his clothing.

  “No showers with Daddy. Come on, I’ll find you some Bubble Guppies or Oomie Zoomies.”

  “Ooom uppies!”

  “I think he wants both,” Rick said as he scooped up Owen and handed him to Tina.

  “I wan Dayeeeee!”

  “Not this time. Daddy has to wash off the yuck, yuck!”

  “Teenky?” Owen asked, a hand grabbing his mom’s chin and pulling her face to meet his.

  “Definitely stinky.”

  Rick mumbled a curse under his breath and took his shirt off. “Can you run me some clothes in? I feel like crap, but I think some hot coffee and a steaming hot shower will do wonders for me.”

  “I can do that and don’t strip till I get out of here, we still have a guest.”

  “Oops! Sorry,” he said as Tina edged out of the door and pulled it closed behind her.

  “I wan Dayee!” Owen repeated.

  “Let’s watch cartoons,” Tina redirected.

  Annette had heard it all, and the show was already on TV. When Owen was put down, he crawled up on the couch next to her. Tina got Rick’s lists out from his laptop case and sat down. She knew everything that was in the bags they were taking on the trip. They’d gone through everything before they had left and those bags hadn’t been touched. Other things, like Rick’s gun, would have to go into the safe bolted underneath his seat, but she suspected it already was there. Same thing with any knives. She went through the banned items list he had printed off and compared it to the list of things he’d packed.

  “What are you looking for, dear?” Annette asked.

  “I’m just double checking—”

  The TV made a loud noise and then the Emergency Broadcast System came on. Tina turned back to Annette, having heard that test at least once a day. That’s when she realized that it wasn’t a test. They were talking about a potential tropical storm. It was expected to hit northern Florida, but there was a wind advisory going into effect later today as a precaution.

  “I asked the cruise line about this,” Annette said, “back before Rick got the ticket… I was worried because it was hurricane season. They just take the big boats out to sea where they can ride it out if it gets really bad, but this? This isn’t nothing.”

  Thunder crashed outside, making them all wince.

  “I hope…” Tina began.

  “Me too,” Annette told her.

  “My Grammy,” Owen said, pulling Annette’s arm around him.

  “You trying to make Mommy jealous?”

  Owen giggled.

  16

  Rick

  I let Tina drive the van. Despite not liking to, she was an expert. I did tease her that I’d have to put a phonebook under her butt so she could see over the steering wheel, which didn’t amuse her much, but it did me. I sat in the back seat with Owen. He was babbling up a storm. He was trying to figure out how to say more words and, when Tina missed a turn she said something that, for the first time, Owen parroted exactly. I busted up laughing.

  “That’s not going to
help,” Tina said, turning.

  “Maybe he just said truck?” I offered, still grinning and seeing the baby’s face light up for getting a reaction out of me.

  “No truck. Fu—”

  “Let’s not say that, buddy,” I told him, putting a finger over his mouth.

  “Thank you,” Annette said. “Though if Bud was here, he’d probably say Owen is ready for his first cigar and whiskey.”

  Tina giggled and turned again. “Hey, I didn’t miss it by much. This takes me to their parking lot too!”

  Tina managed not to ding, bump, or dent anything and backed into a spot near the back gate. I was going to ask her to, but like always, she was reading my mind.

  The unpacking went quick, we each had a large rolling bag, and all of Owen’s extra stuff not in the diaper bag was packed in my suitcase. Tina’s, of course, was full. Packed to the brim. Had to sit on it to get it to zip shut, and then Opus had to help so she could move to zip it. I still had some room left over, a fact I didn’t mention to her. I wanted to bring some souvenirs back. I scooped up the little man, dragged my backpack and felt that there was something missing. I turned back to the van, hiking Owen further up on my hip.

  “What are you looking for?” Annette asked, her own roller bag in hand.

  “I don’t know—”

  “He’s looking for the dogs,” Tina said.

  I looked at her, realizing she was absolutely correct. I nodded and then closed the side door. Tina ran around checking the locks before dropping the keys in my pocket.

  “Everybody got their passports?” I asked.

  Annette groaned, “Is he always this anal?”

  “Anal?” I asked her.

  “You mean a list-making worry wart?” Tina said, patting her back pocket. “Of course he is. We checked this before we sat down.”

  My head was still fuzzy and sore from last night. I just nodded and tried to keep up when Annette and Tina set the pace. It was brutal. It was like the intermittent sun was jabbing daggers into my eyeballs, and my stomach was a roiling mess. I hid it well, but what scared me was how much of the previous night I didn’t remember. I didn’t remember getting bowled over, and I didn’t remember Tina running them off. I didn’t remember a clear night turning into a stormy day.

  “Dayee, iiiip!”

  “Ship?” I asked him.

  “Iiip!” he said, pointing.

  Sure enough, it was a word he had learned on his own from somewhere. It was HUGE!

  “That sight gets an old lady’s heart a racing!” Annette said.

  “Let’s check in before it starts raining,” I said, looking up, feeling that cool wind blowing through again.

  By the time we got checked in and our bags to our room and unpacked, I was ready to get some food and sit down. A portable crib had been delivered and Owen was sitting in it, playing with a couple of the big plastic Chuck trucks Tina had got for him. He was laying on his side, his movements slowing down. He’d thrown an absolute fit and had wanted to start running as soon as we got onboard, but that wasn’t happening. Not yet.

  “You hungry?” Tina asked.

  “Yeah, but little man looks like he’s going to go down.”

  “Want me to go grab some food and bring you some back?” she asked, probably knowing how wiped out I still felt.

  “That sounds good. You going to check on our neighbor and see if she wants to go?”

  “I think I will. Who knows, maybe get her out and mingling with others?”

  “It’s too soon to match make!” I shot back.

  “I wasn’t going to, but she might want to meet people her own age so she doesn’t feel like she has to hang out with us the entire time, if she doesn’t want to. She and Bud lived up north mostly alone for a while. I know he was a bit of an introvert like me, but I don’t think she is.”

  “Gotcha,” I said, then she grinned as I yawned.

  “You and baby cakes hold down the fort. There will be food back when you both are done with your nap!”

  “Our?” I looked over and the little guy was out cold, a car still in his right hand.

  “Yes. You’re still not feeling good, I can tell.”

  “Busted. Maybe a few rum runners would fix that?” I said, to get another grin and an eye roll.

  I woke up to a quiet room. Owen was still asleep, but Annette and Tina were nowhere in sight. I was used to having a dog or a toddler or Tina usually on the bed or couch next to me. I got up to test my stomach out and found it had settled during my nap. I used the restroom and checked out our room. It was spacious, but it definitely was on par with the nice hotel room we’d had. There was a TV mounted on the wall, a large queen-sized bed, a table and chairs for two, a small fridge and enough dresser space to unpack our clothes and a large closet to hide our suitcases in.

  I walked to the window and looked out. I could see the deck in front of us, the railing, and could see that we were underway. The clouds were dark and I could see the deck was wet, but it didn’t look like it was raining right now. I went and found my room key on the table next to my laptop bag and pocketed it. That was when I saw the note.

  There’s sandwiches in the fridge. You were out cold, so I changed Owen, gave him a bottle, and put him back down. He must have not been done napping because he was out cold really soon after that. Annette and I were invited by some ladies she met to play shuffleboard. I can hardly contain my excitement. Come up on deck and save me when you and Owen are ready! First few rum runners on me!

  I snorted and went to the fridge. It looked like she’d brought me back a couple club sandwiches. I took one out and unwrapped it as I walked back to the table. I’d work for a little bit and then bring the baby man with me. I dug into the food and booted my laptop. I’d heard that the internet here was almost $.75 a minute unless you bought a big enough package. I wasn’t really planning on needing the internet, but it’d be nice to at least back up my work once a day.

  I was thinking all of that and scarfing down the first quarter of my sandwich when I heard Owen’s breathing change. As a parent now, I’d learned the sound of the kiddo breathing when he was awake, and when he was sleeping. When he had a cold or if he was excited. Right now, he was waking up. I closed my laptop and finished my sandwich off.

  “Momma,” he said softly.

  “I’m in here with you right now, buddy,” I told him, standing up.

  His view of me had been blocked by the bed, but when he heard and saw me, he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

  “Eat?” he asked, seeing me chewing.

  “Sure,” I said, picking him up.

  He was warm and soft in my arms as I sat him on the end of the bed. I used to worry about him falling off, but he’d mastered the art of getting on and off our bed at home that was slightly larger than this one. We had to upgrade when Tina was pregnant because Opus and Ophelia wouldn’t stay on the floor, and Tina had turned into a raging bed hog. Worse than her usual using me as a body pillow.

  “Down,” Owen said.

  I’d been carrying him toward the fridge, but put him down instead. “Eat?” he asked again.

  “I’ll get you something. Let me see what else Mom put in the fridge here. We’ll get you squared away and then go find her.

  “Oppy go bye, bye.”

  “Opus did go bye, bye. He’s at a playground for dogs,” I said, stretching the truth a bit.

  I opened the fridge and was looking at the sandwich wondering if I could get him to eat parts of it when I saw a fruit cup she had brought back from somewhere. It wasn’t a prepackaged cup, but cut up chunks of fruit in a clear plastic cup. She must have realized that he’d wake up hungry. Here I was, the first one interested in prepping and my wife constantly was two or three steps ahead of me. Must. Up. My. Game.

  “Come eat this,” I said, finding a package of plasticware on the wire shelf of the fridge.

  “Oooooooh kaaaaay” Owen said, running my way when he saw what I was holding up.

  He hit my leg
and squeezed. “Rute!”

  “Fruit, looks like apples, pear, banana and maybe some pineapple.”

  He giggled and I tried to move my leg, but he wrapped his legs around my ankle and his arms just over my knee. I walked, dragging him and making him squeal in joy, to the table. I put the food down and then moved my computers to the bed. Then I plopped him in the opposite chair of where I had been sitting earlier. He was still mastering tableware, but he managed to make a minor mess, something I cleaned up easily with a wash cloth from the bathroom. I changed his butt before venturing out to find my wife.

  “Oh he’s a cutie,” some young ladies, probably late teens, early twenties, told me as I left my room.

  Already, daily clothing was being abandoned for bathing suits. These two had probably checked into their rooms long enough to do a quick change, but I felt out of sorts and hardly noticed.

  “Thanks, Owen, you want to say hi?”

  Owen turned his head into my shoulder and then waved at himself. The girls giggled and gave him a wave goodbye. I turned and looked around and saw the stairwell to go up a level where I heard raucous laughter from what sounded like shenanigans. Venturing out without a diaper bag made me feel dangerous and out of control, but I would feel like a total dork if I had a Mickey Mouse diaper bag over my shoulder. I hadn’t thought to pack my backpack—

  “Oh there you are!” Tina said, coming down the stairs I was coming up.

  “Hi. Thanks for the food, hit the spot, for both of us,” I told her.

  “Here,” she said, holding her arms out.

  Owen had already been leaning her way so I handed him over. He started trying to get her glasses, but she switched hips, telling him to knock it off, giggling like a girl at his tomfoolery.

  “Where’s Annette?” I asked.

  “She met a couple ladies her age. They’ve already started calling themselves the widowers club wives.”

  “Oh lord…”

  “Oh don’t worry. They made a pact to have fun and avoid single guys,” Tina told me. “Let’s get off the stairs. I was just coming down to check on you guys, or we could go back up?”