Chapter 17
“According to what the yacht captain told me, the card Jeremy uses is paid for by James Manning who keeps a small line available because his son has a habit of running it up.” Millie shared what she’d learned during her conversation with Tohan.
“Jeremy was taking his father’s yacht to Nassau to score some drugs.
How he came up with the cash is beyond me, but I suppose if there’s a will, there’s a way. ”
“He doesn’t have any drugs on him.” Nic told them Patterson had searched all seven and confiscated certain items when they boarded the ship. “I guess I need to figure out who this guy is.”
Using her cell phone, Millie tracked down the attorney’s website and showed it to Nic. “Jeremy’s father is a Miami area lawyer.”
“I’m assuming he’s been notified of what has transpired.”
Millie glanced at the clock. “Tohan and Jeremy planned to give him the bad news at ten. I haven’t heard how it went, but I’m guessing he’s not too happy his yacht sank.”
“Can you give me the number for the law office?”
Millie snatched a scratchpad off the cabinet and scribbled down the number. “It probably won’t hurt to be proactive and get a feel for what we might be dealing with when we get back home.”
“Exactly,” Nic grimly replied. “What’s the saying? Let no good deed go unpunished.”
Millie wished him luck and she and Gloria swung by the apartment to check on Scout. The pup met them at the door, his tiny tail wagging ninety miles an hour.
He trampled over the top of Millie’s shoe and pawed at Gloria’s leg, begging to be picked up, to which she promptly complied.
“Such a cute little fella.” Gloria cuddled him. “He makes me miss my Mally girl.”
“How is Mally?”
“As feisty as ever and keeping Paul company.” Gloria told her that she’d talked to her husband the previous night. “He mentioned the ground was covered in a dusting of snow. Winter will soon be upon us.”
“A reminder you should soak up every ray of sunshine you can,” her cousin reminded her. “On that note, let’s head to the lido deck for limbo on the lido.”
Before they left, Millie swapped out her long pants for work shorts and a lightweight collared blouse. To the tippy-top and midship they traveled, where Felix was wrapping up dress the guest, a one-handed, multi-team game of dressing a designated team member.
“Cruise director Millie is on deck. Don’t go anywhere. You won’t want to miss limbo on the lido.” Felix handed her the microphone and whispered in her ear. “Do you need a hand?”
“I appreciate the offer, but Gloria can help me with the bar.” Millie held the microphone to her mouth. “Who’s ready to go low?”
The crowd hooted and hollered.
“Awesome. Line up over here.” She gave the deck band her signal. A lively tune of the ship’s signature song, “Limbo on the Lido,” started to play.
With Gloria on the opposite side, Millie and her cousin held the bar high. Men, women, teens, and children easily ducked beneath it. They lowered it a few inches. Once again, everyone made it through.
“Let’s see how low you can go,” she sing-songed.
The band picked up the tempo. The teens, tweens, and young children breezed through. Younger adults also slid under without difficulty. The older crowd struggled, and they lost two contestants.
Kneeling on the deck, Gloria and Millie lowered the bar, easily eliminating the adults with only the younger passengers scraping by.
Finally, it was down to two contestants. A tween and young girl. Ladies first; the girl struggled to clear the bar before finally making it past. The tween collapsed halfway under and crawled the rest of the way to a boisterous round of applause.
“Seems to me we have two winners.” Millie called them onto the stage. “What are your names?”
“Noah.”
“Scarlett.”
“Noah and Scarlett,” she repeated. “How does twenty dollars’ worth of arcade tokens sound?”
Noah’s eyes lit. “Sweet.”
Scarlett clasped her hands, bashfully swinging them back and forth. “Thank you, Millie.”
“You’re welcome sweetheart. Hang on and I’ll get the coupons.”
The crowd cleared and her young winners followed her off stage. Millie wrote out two blank coupons for the arcade and signed her name. “You did a great job.”
“It was fun.”
The children scampered off while she and Gloria placed the limbo bar behind the cabinet. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to grab a quick bite to eat.”
“Sounds good. I’m starving.”
Heading aft, they took the stairs all the way to the lower deck. Because the crew members’ dining room was midship, they walked along the “I-95 corridor” until reaching the surprisingly spacious eatery.
Gloria stepped inside, whistling loudly. “I took a quick peek in here during the tour but didn’t realize how nice this is.”
“Almost as nice as the Waves buffet,” Millie said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a pizza or made-to-order sandwich station, but the food is still tasty.”
Starting at the far end, they each filled their trays. Millie’s consisted of a tossed salad, a cup of broccoli cheddar soup, baked chicken breast and a dinner roll.
With a brief stop at the beverage station for ice water, they found a quiet table in the corner.
Millie’s radio went off. “Millie, do you copy?”
“No rest for the wicked,” her cousin teased.
“At least during the daytime hours.” She plucked her radio from her belt and pressed the button. “Go ahead, Nikki.”
“I…uh…remember you mentioning your cousins were on board for this voyage.”
“Gloria Kennedy and Liz Rasmussen. They brought friends with them.” Millie rattled off their names. “Why?”
“There appears to be a minor issue.”
Millie shot her cousin a questioning glance. “There’s an issue.”
Gloria shrugged her shoulders.
“Where are you?”
“Eating lunch in the crew dining room.”
“I’ll meet you there.” Nikki told her she was on her way and signed off.
“Who is Nikki?” Gloria asked.
“She’s a Guest Services supervisor. They handle passenger complaints, lost-and-found, as well as monitoring customers’ onboard accounts,” Millie explained.
“I hope Liz isn’t down there complaining,” Gloria sighed.
“Where is Liz?”
“Bingo.”
“Again?”
“I wasn’t kidding when I told you she’s become obsessed.”
Millie sampled her soup. “Why?”
“I have no idea. I mean, it’s not like she needs the money. Floyd is loaded.”
“Maybe she likes the adrenaline rush of calling bingo.”
Nikki appeared in the doorway. She caught Millie’s eye and hurried over.
“Oh.” She abruptly stopped when she noticed Gloria. “Hello.”
“Nikki Tan, meet my cousin, Gloria. Gloria, Nikki.”
Nikki’s eyes flitted from one to the other. “You’re booked in the same suite as Liz Rasmussen.”
“Liz is my sister.”
Millie pulled out the empty chair next to her. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks.” Nikki perched on the edge, nervously licking her lips.
“You look like you’re ready to bolt,” Millie joked.
“Unfortunately, I have some bad news.”
“About Liz?” Gloria asked.
The Guest Services supervisor bobbed her head. “Ms. Rasmussen’s credit card on file has been declined. We’ve been trying to locate her. I left a message on her phone this morning but so far haven’t heard back. I’m wondering if you might be able to help me track her down.”