Portside Peril (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 2) (4 page)

Millie was dreaming.  In her dream, she was running across the lido deck.  Someone was chasing her.  She picked up the pace and began to run.

Millie cast a furtive glance over her shoulder.  The person chasing her was dark and menacing. 

Millie was certain it was a man and he was closing in on her!  Millie tried to run faster, but the faster she ran, the closer he got.

She made it to the steps, grabbed the handrails and raced down the steps.  Her feet thumped loudly on the stair treads. 

Icy fingers touched the back of her bare neck.  Millie shivered at the touch. 

She closed her eyes and the thumping came again.  Except it was louder and this time it wasn’t a dream! 

Her eyes flew open. She was
awake now and someone was pounding on the cabin door. 

Millie flung back the covers.  Her feet dropped to the floor and she shuffled over to the door, opening it just far enough to peek out through the crack.

It was Andy.  The first thing she noticed was his typically clean-shaven face had day old stubble.  The second thing she noticed was that he was wearing the same outfit he’d had on the day before.  It was almost as if he hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Millie grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. She shut the door behind them. “Are you okay?”

Andy leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes. “She’s dead.”

“Who is dead?”

“The girl, Courtney Earhart. They found her body a short time ago.” Andy rubbed his temple.  “The room steward knocked on the door and when she didn’t answer, he let himself in to make up the bed and clean the cabin.”

Millie swallowed hard.  “H-how did she die?” She hoped the poor thing hadn’t somehow managed to roll over and suffocate herself.  If that were the case, Millie would never be able to forgive herself. 

She knew she should have stayed with her, waited until she was semi-sober before leaving. Millie had been 100% certain the girl was out for the night; convinced that she would probably wake up with a killer hangover but at least she would wake up.  This didn’t seem to be the case now. 

Andy rubbed the stubble on his chin.  “Overdose.  She left a suicide note.” 

“Overdose?”  Millie would have thought it would be alcohol poisoning.

Andy nodded.  “Some sort of anti-depressant.  They found the empty bottle next to her body.”

Millie furrowed her brows.  How could that be?  Courtney wasn’t even capable of walking to the bed by herself, let alone finding a bottle of prescription drugs and downing the whole thing.  On top of that, she obviously had a weak stomach.  Millie herself had been a witness to that.  It was very odd.  Something was not adding up.

“Where is she now?” 

Andy shoved his hands in his pockets.  “In the cooler, right next to her fiancé, Kyle.”

“Cooler?”

“You know…the morgue.”

If there was any comforting thought to the entire tragedy, it was that they were together now.  “Can we make a run down to her room?  You know, so I can take a peek?”

Millie held her breath.  It didn’t hurt to ask.  She wasn’t sure if Andy would agree or not.

“That’s why I’m here.  You have a nose for this stuff and now with two deaths in less than 24 hours, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

Millie made a quick trip to the bathroom to change into street clothes before she grabbed her cell phone and followed Andy out of the cabin. 

Millie mulled over the previous evening’s events and her conversation with a very intoxicated Courtney.  She remembered how Courtney had mentioned she thought Kyle had been murdered and alluded to the fact that she might be next.   

She would tell Andy what had transpired the night before but not until she had a chance to look around the cabin for clues.  “I have something to tell you, but want to wait until I look at the room.”

He didn’t have a chance to answer.  They were standing outside the open cabin door.  Two men, dressed in ship’s security uniform, were inside.  Millie tiptoed in, careful not to touch anything. 

She plucked her cell phone from her front pocket and began snapping pictures.  She took pictures of the bed, the floor. With the tip of her shoe, she eased the bathroom door open and took a couple quick photos.

The closet door behind her was ajar.  She stuck her elbow in the gap and nudged the door open before snapping a few shots of the interior.

Satisfied that she had as many photos as she would possibly need, she turned to Andy.  “Any chance I can take a peek in the you-know-what?” She jerked her head toward the hall.

He nodded and waved her out.  They walked silently down the long hall.  When they got to the stairs, they made their way down several flights and headed in the direction of the medical center. 

They stopped at the end of a long hall, in front of a door marked, “Restricted Area.” Andy pulled his key card from his pants pocket and inserted it in the slot. 

Millie sucked in a breath.  She wasn’t used to looking at dead bodies.  Only on TV. She hoped she wouldn’t embarrass herself and pass out cold.

“…better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission,” Andy was saying.

“I’m sorry, Andy.  I didn’t catch all that.”

“No.  I was just saying I’m not sure if this is against policy, letting you back here and all.  But that I’d rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.”

Millie liked that saying.  She’d have to remember that for future reference.  If she overstepped her boundaries.  Say, during an investigation.

She followed Andy into the small room.  One bare bulb hung from the low ceiling.  The room was cold and sterile. Millie shivered.

Over in the corner, pressed together against the far wall, were two gurneys.  A white sheet covered each of the gurneys.  The outline of bodies was clearly visible: the bodies of Kyle Zondervan and Courtney Earhart.  “Are these being taken off today?”

Andy answered in a low voice, almost a whisper.  “Yes, the authorities are waiting for customs to clear the ship.”

He took a step closer.  “You want to take a peek?”

Millie was torn.  She did and she didn’t.  What if there was a clue, something that would help solve the murders…unless, of course, Courtney was responsible for their deaths. 

No! Something in Millie’s gut told her it wasn’t that cut and dried.  Determined to get to the bottom of it, she took a deep breath and nodded.  “I’m ready.”

Andy lowered the sheet that covered Kyle Zondervan’s body first.  Millie avoided looking at his face.  He was dressed in khaki shorts and a pale green button down shirt.  On his feet was a pair of tennis shoes. 

She switched her phone to camera and took a quick snapshot.  “Okay.”

Andy carefully covered him back up and shifted to Courtney’s body.  Millie knew this one would be harder to see.  He pulled the sheet back and once again, Millie avoided looking at her face.  She took a couple quick photos.  “That should be enough.”

Andy pulled the sheet back over her body and they stepped from the room.  “So what do you think?”

Millie looked up and down the corridor.  There was a group of people further down the hall, out of earshot.  Then she dropped the bombshell.  “I met Courtney last night.  She was up in the VIP area.”

She went on to explain to Andy everything that had happened.  How Courtney was so drunk, Millie helped her back to her room and that when they got there, the young woman had passed out on the bed.  “She was out cold and that’s why I’m not sure I believe that she committed suicide.  I mean, she couldn’t even stand up, let alone write a suicide note and then down a bunch of pills.” She shook her head.  “Something doesn’t add up here.”

Andy tugged on the edge of his ear. “They’re comparing the handwriting on the note to the form that Courtney filled out the other day when she boarded.”

The “form” was a form all passengers were required to fill out prior to boarding.  It was a small questionnaire, really, where guests checked boxes and signed off saying they hadn’t been exposed to certain illnesses and that they themselves had no flu-like symptoms.

“What about witnesses?  Friends of the couple?” Millie remembered the previous night in the club when Courtney and her friends had been off in the corner drinking.  Surely, someone would be able to shed some light on Courtney’s state of mind and her relationship with Kyle.  It would also be helpful to know whether or not it was on the rocks. 

“They’ve been interviewed,” Andy said. He looked down at his crumpled shirt and wrinkled slacks.  “I have to go shower before guests are up and around.  Can’t have the cruise director looking like a train wreck.”

The two wandered down the steps to “I-95,” the main employee corridor and crew quarters.  “I’ll meet you up in my office in an hour.” Millie nodded and watched as he disappeared down the hall and around the corner. She headed back to her cabin to go over what she had so far.

The cabin was empty when she got there. In fact, now that Millie thought about it, it was empty when Andy showed up on her doorstep earlier.  Sarah, Millie’s cabin mate, must have pulled an early shift. 

Millie grabbed a clean uniform from the closet and slipped it on.  She pulled out the only chair in the cabin and plopped down at the desk. With her glasses firmly on her nose, she scrolled through the photos of the VIP deck right after Kyle went overboard. 

Somehow, she needed to talk to the friends of Courtney and Kyle, to see what their thoughts were.  That was her first order of business. 

When Millie got to the second picture, she noticed Zack, standing off to the side.  He didn’t look happy. 
Why was he there?  Had he just happened to be passing by and stumbled upon the accident after it happened?
  Zack was next on her list.

She studied the photo of the suicide note. 

Next, she focused on the picture of the cabin.  It looked a lot like it had the previous night when Millie had helped Courtney to her room. 

She flipped past the photo of the makeup counter, then scrolled back. She tapped the screen and zoomed in.  The room card.  The one that Millie had placed on the counter before leaving was in the exact spot that Millie had left it, which meant that Courtney never left the room after Millie. 

There was something different about the photos.  Something that Millie couldn’t quite put her finger on.  She’d have to think about it, but for now, she had to get going.  It was time for work.

Millie wandered into the backstage dressing room on her way to Andy’s small office. Andy and Zack were standing in the far corner.  Andy’s face, red with frustration, was mere inches from Zack’s face.  Millie could hear every single word. 

She scooched a little closer but still out of sight.  Millie pretended to straighten some of the makeup cases and arrange the hairbrushes.  “…and you should never have been up on deck.  If anyone finds out you knew Courtney, dated her even, and that you were up on deck when her fiancé died, it is going to put you right in line for suspicion.”

Millie’s eyes widened. 
Zack had dated the dead girl?
If that were true, he would most certainly be a suspect.

“But she asked me to come up there and talk to her,” Zack argued.

“Why?”

Zack shrugged.  “Never got a chance to ask.  All I know is she was upset and I couldn’t tell her no.”

Millie slipped back around the corner before Zack or Andy spotted her. 

She cleared her throat and entered the room.  “Hey guys.”

Andy stepped forward while Zack eased past Millie and hightailed out of the dressing room. 

The two of them stepped into his small office, which was really just a partitioned cubby off in the corner.  They went over the schedule for the next two days. 

Millie wasn’t surprise that he put her in charge of trivia again.  She was surprised that he scheduled her to host bingo.  On her own.  She started to protest. Andy held up his hand.  “You’re good Millie.  Don’t sell yourself short.”

“But…”

“No buts.”

Millie closed her mouth and they continued going over the rest of the schedule. 

After they finished, Millie headed to the kitchen to track down Annette.  A lot had happened since the three women had met in the library. 

Annette looked as if she were about to explode when she saw Millie saunter in. She grabbed her hand and pulled her to the corner, right next to the walk-in freezer.  “The fiancé is dead,” she hissed.

Millie nodded.  “Andy told me.”

“She left a suicide note.”

“Andy told me that, too.”

Annette stuck her hand on her hip.  She tipped her head to the side. “Well, did he tell you the bodies are off the ship today but all the friends decided to stay on board?”

“No.” Millie shook her head.  She did not know that but she was glad they were staying on.  Hopefully, she’d have a chance to track them down.

Annette glanced around. She lowered her voice.  “Cat said the friends of the couple were in the store this morning.  She said to stop by when we had time.  She might have something.”

That was promising.  A lead! Millie turned to go.  “I’ll head up there now.”

“Without me?” Annette seemed so disappointed; Millie relented and told her she would wait.  That they would go together.

Millie left the kitchen promising Annette they’d run by there when she took her afternoon break at three. She had half an hour before the first round of trivia started.  Millie decided it would be best to avoid the gift shop since it would be too tempting to swing on in there.

Instead, she decided to take a shortcut through the casino, which was directly across from the shops.  She made a beeline down the center aisle when something – actually, someone – caught her attention.

There, sitting at a row of machines near the door, was the couple that had been on the deck when Kyle went overboard: Courtney and Kyle’s friends.  They were engrossed in play and didn’t notice Millie as she slowed to a stroll and pretended to study the machines. 

The girl picked up a half-empty beer bottle and took a sip.

The whole thing was a bit odd.  The two of them didn’t appear to be distraught over the sudden death of their supposed friends.  Shouldn’t they be a bit more somber, more subdued? 

The guy leaned over and whispered something in the woman’s ear.  She laughed and went back to playing her machine. 
With friends like that, who needs enemies?
Millie thought to herself. 

The woman glanced up at Millie.  Her eyes narrowed as they traveled up Millie’s uniform and settled on her nametag. She grabbed her beer off the ledge and tapped the man’s leg.  “C’mon.  Let’s get out of here.”

The two abruptly rose from their seats and exited the casino.  Millie watched them as they headed to the elevators.  Maybe they thought she was following them. 

Millie shrugged and went in the opposite direction, toward the trivia area.  She spent the next hour engaging a large group of passengers.  This trivia contest was a bit different from the others she had hosted so far.  Millie played clips of hit songs and the guests had to guess the artist and song name.

It was harder than it seemed and no one got them all right, although one couple came close.  Millie was excited with the prize this time.  It was a buy-one, get one-free coupon for bingo. 

She was wrapping up the trivia, putting the folder in the cupboard and locking the door when Annette careened around the corner.  “You didn’t see Cat yet?”

“Nope.” Millie shook her head.  “We’re going together, remember?”

The two women picked up the pace as they made their way into the gift shop.  Cat was waiting on customers so Millie and Annette wandered around, inspecting the what-nots inside.  After the customers left, Millie and Annette headed to the cash register near the back. 

Cat skipped the small talk.  “The couple came back in.  You know, the specialty products purchasers.”

She patted the top of her head, waved to someone through the plate glass window, then leaned forward.  “They seemed pretty shook up about their friends.”

The complete opposite of what Millie had just experienced.  “Go on.”

“Well, the girl had said Courtney was getting threatening notes and she felt like she was being stalked.”

“And?”

“Well, I said. ‘How can that be? You think someone on board the cruise ship was out to get them?’”

“Then the girl said that Zack.  You know, Zack Smythe, had dated Courtney and had some sort of serious obsession with her.”

Zack had been in the area when young Kyle went overboard.  Was Zack there when Courtney died?  He wouldn’t have access to guests cabins, unlike Millie who had a master key.  Of course, Courtney could have let him in, let someone in her room that she knew.

Things were not looking good for Zack, at least not in Millie’s opinion. 

“So the couple are staying on?  The friends?” 

Cat grabbed a bottle of glass cleaner and sprayed the top of the counter.  “That is one of the things I asked.  You know, after all, it sounds like they were good friends and such.”

Millie hoped they were staying.  She was planning on the fact that they were staying.  There was more to their story than they were letting on and Millie planned to get to the bottom of it. 

Then Cat dropped a bombshell or, as Millie liked to describe it, another wrench into the mystery.  “Yes.  They’re finishing the cruise.  Not only them, but Kyle’s ex-girlfriend, who also happens to be Courtney’s sister.”