Chapter 12
Cat struggled to keep up with Millie’s hurried pace. “Where are we meeting Sharky?”
“At the confiscated storage room. He claims he has a boatload of clothes he was getting ready to donate to the charity thrift store near the port. We’ll have plenty to choose from. Do you have the stuff?”
Cat patted her pocket. “Ready to activate...err…scratch-tivate.”
The friends rounded the corner and found Sharky seated on the Flamethrower, his hotrod scooter. Fin, his gray and white rescue cat, lounged in the basket hooked to the front.
“Hey, Fin.” Millie rubbed his ears. “You’re looking a little plump, buddy.”
“He’s getting kinda fluffy. I keep telling myself I gotta cut back on his treats, but I’ve been putting it off,” Sharky said. “Just look at that face? How can I tell him no when he stares at me with those hungry little eyes?”
“You should take him off the ship more; let him stretch his legs,” Cat suggested.
“That’s the plan. We’re getting off in Grand Turk, aren’t we, Fin?” Sharky patted his head. “The only problem is he’s not a fan of sand. It gets in his fur and drives him nuts.”
“Maybe you can head out in the Flamethrower and find some less sandy spots.” Millie lifted the bags she was holding. “Thanks for meeting us on such short notice.”
“No problem. Another week and it would have been slim pickings.” Sharky tapped in the keypad code and swung the door open. “If my count is correct, we have seven extra on board now.”
“Three crew members and four yacht passengers. Three of them are women.”
“The clothes are over here.” Sharky pointed to an entire section filled with boxes and bins. “I try to keep it organized but you’ll still have to do some digging.”
“I’m good at digging.” Millie set the toiletry bags aside and reached for a bin. “Hopefully, this won’t take long.”
While Cat and Millie dug through the bins, Sharky rearranged a shelf containing a variety of electrical devices. “Let me know if you need help.”
“Will do. I’m already finding a few things.” Millie stuffed a pineapple and palm tree shirt into an empty shopping bag Cat had given her from the ship’s shop. A pair of stretch pants and a sleeveless button-down blouse followed. “I hope we’re close to guessing their sizes.”
“If not, they can swap with one another.” Cat added men’s cargo shorts and a collared quarter-sleeve shirt to a bag. “Remember, we’re keeping Mr. Manning’s items separate.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Moving at an efficient pace, Millie and Cat found several articles of clothing for each person, including the three crew members.
Millie reached the bottom of the last bin. “I think this is enough for now.”
“Bring back whatever won’t work or what they don’t want,” Sharky said. “I hope they appreciate all you’re doing for them.”
“I have my doubts, especially about Mr. Manning.”
“The guy who was whining and crying about not hooking the Zodiac up and trying to tow the yacht?”
“Same. For the record, it was Daddy’s yacht.”
“Ah.” Sharky rubbed the stubble on his chin. “He struck me as slightly obnoxious.”
“More than slightly.” Millie told him about the incident in Bimini.
“I would’ve given the guy a knuckle sandwich if he threatened Fin.”
Cat pulled the plastic bottle from her pocket. “We have something almost as good as a knuckle sandwich. This.”
“What is it?”
“Itching powder made from ground rose hips.”
Sharky eyed it with interest. “Does it work?”
She unscrewed the cap. “There’s only one way to find out.”
He gave Millie a sly side smirk. “Have you tried it?”
She shook her head.
“I’ll try it if Millie tries it.”
“I’ll admit, I am curious.”
Cat pulled a pair of rubber gloves from her pocket and slid them on. She dumped a small amount of powder into her gloved palm. “Who wants to go first?”
Sharky and Millie looked at each other.
“It was your idea,” Millie said.
“True.” He held out his arm. “I’ll take a light dusting please.”
Cat sprinkled the powder on his arm and rubbed it around.
Sharky winced. “It feels like sandpaper.”
“Although harmless, it stimulates nerve endings which makes it feel like itchy sandpaper.” Cat finished rubbing it in. ‘Now, imagine this sprinkled inside your underwear.”
Sharky tried brushing it off. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s not a pleasant feeling.”
“I’m curious,” Millie said. “Why do you have itching powder?”
An unreadable expression flitted across Cat’s face.
“Never mind. I probably don’t want to know.”
“Probably not. The good news is I would never use it on any of my friends.”
“Note to self,” Sharky said. “Don’t get on Cat’s bad side.”
“Are you ready Millie?”
“Sure.” She held out her arm, watching as Cat sprinkled the powder just below her elbow.
She rubbed it in and instantaneously Millie felt an itching and burning. “Ugh. How do you get rid of the burn?”
“Water. You’ll want to rinse it off.”
“There’s a drinking fountain around the corner.” Sharky hustled out of the room and down the hall.
As soon as Sharky finished, Millie rinsed her arm. “How long will it itch?”
“For a few hours. A word of warning, the more you scratch, the worse it gets.”
The trio returned to the storage room to collect the items.
“I’ll need to make sure I give Jeremy his special bag.”
“The one with the Lacoste shirt,” Cat said. “If he’s as snooty and pretentious as you say, he’ll want to keep the high-end items for himself.”
Millie hesitated. “As fun as this sounds and believe me, Jeremy deserves some discomfort, I’m not sure we should prank him.”
“Party pooper,” Sharky grumbled.
Millie’s radio went off. It was Felix asking how much longer she would be. He broke up and she could only hear part of what he said.
“You’ll have to step out into the hall,” Sharky said. “Reception in here is the pits.”
Millie stepped out into the hall.
He waited for her to exit the storage room and nudged Cat. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Absolutely.” Cat sprinkled a generous amount of itching powder on the Lacoste shirt and rubbed it into the fabric. She carefully folded it and placed it back inside Jeremy’s bag.
Sharky lifted his hand, giving Cat a high five. “I sure wish I could be there when he puts this shirt on.”
“Me too. The guy isn’t going to know what hit him,” she said. “He’s lucky we didn’t put it on his underwear.”