Page 69 of Deposed

“Where are they?” asked Edward.

“Hold on.” Are you in London?

On a Thames booze cruise.

“Booze cruise,” I said. “She’s really sick.”

Henry pressed the intercom button. “Head for the Westminster Millennium Pier.”

“But you don’t know where the cruise is,” I said.

“It will be on the Thames, which bisects the entire city. Ask her for the name of the boat or its location.”

Which cruise? Where are you?

Forgot the name. We boarded at Butler’s Wharf and turned around at Greenwich.

I shook my head. “None of this makes any sense to me.” I handed my phone to Henry, who seemed to have the best knowledge of London. “It’ll be faster if you ask her the right questions.”

Duncan wrung his hands. “Hobson? May I ask what Alice ate?”

“She didn’t mention any food. Just that she had a cocktail while she was on penicillin.”

He shook his head. “That isn’t right. I’ve mixed alcohol and penicillin, and it didn’t have that effect on me.”

“Let’s focus on finding her.” I rubbed my brow and stared as the Houses of Parliament whizzed by.

Shortly afterward, the limo stopped at a pier, and Blake stepped out. Big Ben loomed from the other side of the bridge.

Henry handed me back my smartphone. “I know where they are, but the cruise will likely stop at Butler’s Wharf, since it’s already turned around at Greenwich. If we head there, we’ll catch up with them as they arrive.”

“Are you sure we’ll make it on time?” asked Edward.

“I’ve told Blake to find a speedboat.” The ominous tone in Henry’s voice said he wasn’t sure. Not even one bit. He rushed ahead through a line of people waiting to board a river bus.

Edward placed a hand on the small of my back and guided me along the pier. I glanced over my shoulder, partly looking for signs of Mr. Carbuncle. Charlotte might have told him we would use the pier nearest to her father’s home. I shook off the paranoid thought. It was too far-fetched, even for Charlotte.

Henry returned seconds later, beckoning us to hurry. Blake had found a boat willing to take us directly to our destination without stopping. We rushed past the people and onto a red speedboat that accommodated twelve passengers. One of the two men in charge handed us yellow lifejackets, and we took our seats. Henry stood in the front with the two men, presumably to make any last-minute arrangements.

The boat’s engine roared to life, and Blake took the seat next to me. “They won’t stop at any of the eight other piers on their route.”

My phone buzzed. I glanced at Alice’s message. All the girls are throwing up!

I updated the others on the newest development.

“It’s strange that she didn’t mention the boys being sick,” Edward said over the noise of the engine.

Duncan, who sat in the seat in front, turned around. “Charlotte wouldn’t poison a cocktail and give it just to girls.”

I held the smartphone up. “See for yourself.”

The rest of the journey through the Thames was tense. Famous buildings I’d only seen from afar zoomed by, but I couldn’t enjoy the sights. Not when anything could be happening to a boatful of girls. Edward tried calling 999 and having ambulances sent to help the girls, but the operator needed the name of the boat and its location. I stared at the screen of my smartphone for several minutes. Alice had gone silent for an agonizingly long time. I tried calling her, but I got transferred to voicemail.

After passing Tower Bridge, the majestic drawbridge consisting of two huge towers connected by a walkway at the top, we reached Butler’s Wharf Pier, just as a group of boys rushed en masse off a double-decker river boat and up a ramp. They huddled together at the covered walkway at the top, staring down at the boat. I shook my head and gaped. There were about fifty boys.

Blake leaned across and pointed at a trio of large males at the back of the procession. “That’s Coates, that’s Bierson, and that’s Ellis.”

The speedboat stopped behind the party boat, and we piled out and along the pier. My mouth dried to the consistency of sandpaper, and my heart skipped several beats. What the hell would we find on that boat?