Portside Peril (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 2) (8 page)

Millie was craving banana bread.  Something she hadn’t had in months.  Long before she ever boarded the cruise ship.  “What about banana bread?”

Annette nodded.  “Perfect.  Some of the bananas are getting too ripe.  We can make some loaves tonight and the staff can put them out for breakfast in the morning.”

Scout was back.  He plopped down at Millie’s feet, waiting for her to pick him up. “I have some info on the you-know-what.”  She leaned in.  “Room service delivered to one Courtney Earhart’s room the night of her death.”

Millie’s eyes widened.  “What time?”

“One in the morning.”

One in the morning…not long after Millie had left the unconscious girl in bed.  She couldn’t wait to hear that one.  Plus, Cat had some info now, too.  This investigation was starting to shape up!

Scout was as good as gold the entire time Millie had him with her. 

She gave Captain Armati a glowing report.  She told him how the passengers adored Scout.  She even mentioned the little girl, Maisie, that hadn’t talked in weeks and how she promised to meet the family in the same spot the next day so she could visit with Scout again.

Captain Armati thanked Millie for taking Scout out.  She told him she’d be back in the morning to pick him up. 

Millie nuzzled Scout’s head.  “See you in the morning.” Scout’s sad brown eyes followed Millie to the door.  He whined when she opened it. 

Millie smiled at Staff Captain Vitale on her way out.

It was still a little too early to head to the kitchen.  The crew would be cleaning up after the dinner crowd.  The headliner show would be starting in a few minutes so Millie headed to the theater. 

She stood in the back and watched the magician perform some of his tricks.  Millie always wondered how they did some of the stuff they did.  Years of practice, she decided. 

The show finally ended.  Millie stood off to the side and watched as the passengers exited the theater.  More like stampeded.  She waited for the theater to finish clearing out and was almost ready to head to the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of two vaguely familiar figures. It was Adam and Melissa West: Courtney and Kyle’s friends.  They weren’t alone.  They were talking to another couple as they walked. 

Millie faded into the shadow of the door.  She didn’t want them to spot her.  Her eyes narrowed.  The other couple they were with was even more interesting than the Wests themselves.  The other couple was the couple Millie had met earlier.  Maisie’s parents.  The ones with the little girl who wouldn’t talk!

Millie could see they weren’t having a casual conversation amongst strangers.  No, the four of them knew each other.  Millie’s suspicions were confirmed when Melissa West picked Maisie up and hugged her tight.  That meant that Kyle and Courtney had not only traveled on board with Courtney’s sister, Chloe, and the Wests, this other couple somehow knew them. 

Millie stood there for several long moments.  Why hadn’t Chloe mentioned the other couple? She had told her about the Wests. 

She headed upstairs to the kitchen.  Surely, somewhere there was video footage of passengers boarding the ship, not to mention the manifest – a way to track passengers that were sailing together.

Annette and Cat were already in the kitchen when Millie got there.  Spread out across the expansive counter were all of the ingredients for banana nut bread.  Cat was mashing bananas in a bowl while Annette mixed the dry ingredients.  She handed Millie a stack of bread tins.  “Here. Grease these.” She stuck a stick of butter in Millie’s hands.

Millie pulled an apron over her head.  She tied the back and grabbed the tin on top of the stack. 

Cat peeled a ripe banana and dropped it in the bowl in front of her.  “Melissa and Adam West are getting off the ship in Grand Cayman.”

The stop in Grand Cayman was a couple days away.  South Seas Cay, the ship’s private island, was their next stop. 

“What about the other couple with them? Are they getting off, too?”

Annette dropped her fork on the counter.  “What other couple?”

“The couple I saw exiting the theater with the Wests just a few minutes ago.”

Annette picked the fork back up and began sifting the ingredients. She paused long enough to drop a teaspoon of salt into the mix.  “So how many suspects do we have now?”

Millie reached for another tin.  She lifted an index finger.  “Chloe.” She raised a second finger.  “The Wests, the mystery couple.” She put her hand back down.  “And don’t forget Courtney herself.” Not that Millie believed that for a minute.  Something smelled fishy and it wasn’t the ocean!

Annette cracked an egg in a second bowl.  “Now what?”

Millie finished greasing the pans.  She slid them over to Annette.  “We need to take a peek at the manifest.  You know, find out who boarded with whom.”

Cat wrinkled her nose.  “I’m sure Dave Patterson has already done that.”

Millie frowned. True. He probably had.  Maybe she should visit him in the morning.  Honestly, she was surprised he hadn’t tracked her down and interrogated her.  Of course, with the list of suspects growing, he probably hadn’t made it that far down the list. 

The girls finished mixing the bread and Annette popped the pans into the oven. 

Annette turned to the cabinet behind her, bent down and opened the door.  She pulled out a tray of tempting treats and set them on the counter. 

Millie leaned in. Her mouth began to water.  “What are those?”

“Coconut key lime bites,” Annette told her.  “Here…try one.” She lifted the plastic cover and pulled two out. She handed one to Cat and the other to Millie. 

Millie nibbled the corner.  It was tart, coconut, sweet, and it melted in Millie’s mouth.  She rolled her eyes.  “These are heavenly.  You should call them ‘A Taste of Heaven Coconut Bites.’”

Cat bit into hers.  The tart lime made her mouth pucker.  Then the sweet took over and rolled over her tongue like a layer of sugarcoated coconut. 

Annette plucked one out and popped it in her mouth.  “You like them?  These are just an experiment.  No recipe or anything.”

Millie reached for another one.  “I hope you remember how to make them.  I need this recipe.” Not that Millie had anywhere to make them, but she could save it for someday when she went back home.

Annette handed one more to Cat and then tucked the plastic covering over the goodies.  She slid the tray back into the cabinet and closed the door.  “That’s my private stash.”

When the bread had finished baking, Annette pulled the dozen loaves from the oven and left them on the counter nearby to cool.  She sliced one of the loaves into thirds and wrapped them in tinfoil. She handed one to Cat and the other to Millie. 

Millie’s eyes burned as she looked down at the banana bread.  It reminded her of home.  She blinked back the tears
.  Why would something so small, so simple affect her like that?  She must be exhausted
, she decided.

Annette waited until Cat and Millie were out of the kitchen before she turned off the light.  Millie glanced in the mirror on the wall on her way out of the dining room.  She barely recognized her own reflection.  She looked tired.  Of course, it had been a long couple of days with little sleep. 

Tomorrow was a sea day and Millie didn’t have to report to Andy’s office until after she picked up Scout.  She could barely keep her eyes open as she slipped out of her work uniform and into her pajamas. 

Millie opened the Bible she kept tucked in the corner of her bed.  She flicked on the small light near her head and opened to where she had left off.  She smiled as she read Matthew 6:34:

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Millie closed the Bible and shut her eyes.  Wasn’t that the truth!

Millie was up early the next morning.  Either she had somehow managed to get enough sleep for a change or she was excited to start her day with Scout.  Plus, it was a sea day.  Unlike tomorrow when she had to be up early and on the first shuttle boat to Majestic Cruise line’s private island, South Seas Cay.

Sarah was already gone.  Millie had heard her creep out of bed and head to the bathroom hours ago.  Sarah had tried to be quiet but their cabin was so small, so compact, you could hear every noise whether your were crawling out of bed or taking a shower. 

Millie was getting used to it and had actually fallen back asleep while Sarah was in the bath.  Although Sarah was younger than Millie’s own daughter, Beth, she was the perfect roommate. 

Millie slipped into the shower and wet her hair.  She squeezed a glob of shampoo in the palm of her hand and then lathered her hair.  Her mind drifted to the events of the day before and her first day with Scout.

She thought about the young couple that had stopped by while Millie was eating her lunch.  The ones with the little girl. Her eyes narrowed.  What was her name? 
Melody? Mandy?
  No.  Maisie!  The little girl’s name was Maisie.

They knew Courtney and Kyle.  But how? 

After Millie dressed, she headed down the I-95 corridor and ran smack dab into Dave Patterson, head of security.  “Ah. Just the person I’m looking for.”

Millie swallowed hard.  It looked like Patterson had finally made his way down the list.

“You have a minute?” He didn’t wait for her to reply as he motioned her along.  “We can talk in my office.” His office wasn’t far.  It was one deck above the crew quarters but at the other end.

He talked as he walked.  “I’m sure you were expecting me.”

Millie nodded.  “How is your investigation into Kyle Zondervan and Courtney Earhart’s untimely deaths going?”

Patterson slipped his key card in the door marked “Security” and pushed it open. He waited for Millie to step inside before following her in.  “As you know, it’s tentatively being called a murder / suicide.”

He nodded to the small metal chair in front of the desk and slipped into the larger, padded chair on the other side.  He leaned back in the chair, his fingertips resting on his chin as he studied Millie.

Millie sat nervously on the edge of her seat.  Patterson had a way of making her feel as if she were some sort of fascinating bug he was studying under a microscope.  Or a nosy woman who couldn’t mind her own business, which was probably closer to what he thought, she decided.

“How did you manage to end up in Courtney Earhart’s room the night of her death?”

Millie picked an imaginary piece of lint from her sleeve.  “I-I uh, ran into her up on deck.  She was drunk and didn’t seem capable of navigating the steps back to her room so I offered to walk her back to her cabin.”

“Then what happened?” he prompted.

“When we finally got to her room,” Millie squeezed her hands into small fists, “she-uh.  She passed out on her bed. I was worried she was going to choke.  You know, she’d thrown up and I figured if she threw up again she might suffocate so I tipped her to the side and propped pillows around her.”

Patterson leaned forward.  “Then what?”

Millie shook her head.  “She was out like a light.  That’s why I have a hard time believing she was capable of not only writing a suicide note but also swallowing all those pills.  She must’ve thrown up 2 – 3 times before I took her to her cabin.”

Patterson nodded thoughtfully.  He pulled a manila folder from his top desk drawer and opened the clasp. He pulled out several 5x7 photos.  The photos were of Courtney’s room, Courtney lying on the bed, and the bottle of pills. He turned the photos around.  “Is this what the room looked like when you left?”

Millie slipped her reading glasses on.  She studied the first photo.  The one of Courtney.  “Not quite,” she admitted.

“The outfit.” Patterson tapped an index finger on top of the photo of Courtney. 

Millie finished his sentence. “Was not the outfit Courtney was wearing when I left her cabin. The dress she had been wearing was blue – not pink - and there were stains on the front from her – uh, heaving. And probably spilling a few drinks.”

He slid the second photo forward. The one of the bottle of pills.  “Do you recall seeing this in her cabin that night?  Sitting on the dresser perhaps?”

Millie studied the photo.  She closed her eyes, trying to remember that night.  “No.  I don’t recall seeing the pill bottle.  Of course, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.  It could have been,” she admitted.

She opened her eyes to find a set of brilliant blue ones studying her intently. She wriggled in her chair uncomfortably.  Dave Patterson had beautiful blue eyes. They were like the ocean and they crinkled kindly. 

Millie blushed, hoping he couldn’t read her mind.  She wasn’t convinced that he couldn’t.  It was as if his eyes were staring into her soul.

He broke the gaze as he reached for the third and final photo.  The one of the cabin.  “What about the cabin?  Is this what it looked like when you left?”

Millie slid her glasses up and grabbed the photo.  It was then that she noticed something she hadn’t noticed before.  “I never realized there was an adjoining door.” The door connected Courtney and Kyle’s room to the West’s room!

“Do you think they’re suspects?” Dave Patterson already had the answer to that.  He had already talked to Chloe Earhart and knew that Chloe’s sister, Courtney, felt as if her life was in danger.  Chloe had also alluded to the fact that the Wests had had a falling out with Courtney and Kyle on the flight to Miami.

Millie nodded.  “I wouldn’t rule anyone out.” Which made her remember the other couple.  Maisie’s parents.  “There’s another couple with them on the cruise.  I’m not sure of their names, though,” she admitted.

Patterson gathered the photos and dropped them back inside the envelope.  “How do you know?”

“Because I saw them leave the theater last night with the Wests.  The way they were acting.  They know each other.”

Patterson massaged the back of his neck. “Chloe never mentioned another couple.”

Millie picked up. “Which is odd.  I mean, wouldn’t they all be suspects?”

He let go of his neck and began to drum his fingers on the desktop.  “I could bring Chloe in for questioning again but maybe we shouldn’t tip our hand yet.”

“I know how you can find out who they are,” Millie told him.  “The mysterious couple have a daughter.  Her name is Maisie.”

Patterson grinned, showing off a brilliant set of pearly-whites.  Millie had never seen him smile, or if she had, she was certain she had never seen him smile like that!  Her mouth turned into the Sahara Desert in the noonday sun.

“Is there any other tidbit of information you’d like to share?” he prompted.

She slowly shook her head.  There was something niggling in the back of her mind but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was.  Not when he was smiling at her like that!

He abruptly got to his feet.  “Thanks for your help, Millie.” He stepped over to the door and opened it.  “You’ll let me know if you stumble upon anything else?”

Millie nodded.  The desert sand was blowing hard.  Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth.  Millie stepped out of the room and gave a small wave, still not trusting herself to speak. 

Dave Patterson watched her for a few seconds and slowly closed the door.  He shook his head.  Millie Sanders was a bit of an enigma.  Like fire and ice.  One minute a chatterbox and the next she clammed up.  He had to wonder how she ended up right in the thick of things.