Chapter 21
“Fire Up is potent enough to give users a buzz,” Giselde said.
Millie grimaced. “According to Arturo Bautista, his brother, Angelo, the employee who was fired and escorted off the ship in Miami, had a drug problem.”
“I thought he was being sent home,” Camille said.
“Last I heard, his case was being turned over to the FBI. Meanwhile, Arturo is still working.”
“So maybe he has a drug problem,” Camille theorized. “And blamed it on his brother.”
“Great,” Millie groaned. “Which means there’s a good possibility we still have a potentially problematic crew member on board.”
Giselde unlocked the cabinet and removed a bottle of Fire Up. “You want to try it?”
“I’ve always been curious,” Camille said. “It takes only a sip?”
“Only one. This is our sample bottle.” Giselde shook the contents. She plucked a small plastic pill cup from the shelf, poured a tiny amount, and handed it to Camille. “Bottoms up.”
She took a tentative sip and abruptly stopped. “Are you sure this is safe?”
“One hundred percent. Although some people react differently, this small of a dose will only give you a brief energy spike.”
“I find it hard to believe it only takes a single sip.” Millie held her breath while Camille tipped the cup and swallowed the contents.
The others grew quiet, observing her reaction.
“How do you feel?” Gloria finally asked.
“Tingly.”
“Like you could run a marathon?”
“Not a marathon. More like I had a double espresso with a shot of whipped cream. It’s actually quite tasty.”
“You sampled the mixed berry one.” Giselde reached for a clean cup. “Anyone else?”
Millie and Gloria looked at each other.
“I can always use an energy boost,” Millie said. “Are you sure it’s legal?”
“In every country except the US,” Giselde said. “I’ve read the studies. The number one ingredient is ginseng, mixed in with some other stuff.”
“Have you tried it?”
“Of course. I’m jacked up enough so I limit my intake.” She poured two more samples.
“As long as there isn’t anything illegal in it.” Millie took the cup from her and handed the other to her cousin.
“Bottoms up.” Gloria downed the contents.
Giselde watched them closely. “How do you feel?”
“Warm. Like I do after I come inside from the freezing cold and drink a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows sprinkled on top,” Gloria said.
“What about energy?”
Millie thumped her chest. “The heat is spreading and my scalp is tingling.”
“Which means the ginseng is kicking in.” Giselde tossed the empty cups in the trash and put the sample container back inside the cabinet before locking it. “You’ll have an energy boost for the rest of the day, mark my words.”
“Thank you for letting us sample it.” Millie, with Gloria and Camille falling into step, returned to the spa’s check-in desk.
“I feel pretty peppy.” Camille bounced on the tips of her toes. “If a little shot makes me feel this energetic, I can’t imagine what chugging a container would do.”
“I’m not sure I would want to find out.” Millie tugged on her lanyard. “We better get going. I need to track down Patterson to see if he caught anyone on the surveillance cameras.”
“Good luck. Hopefully, they’re isolated incidents.”
“I wish, but my gut tells me this isn’t the case.”
Walking at a brisk clip, the cousins descended the stairs, not slowing to take a breather on their way to the bottom.
“I have to say, I’m feeling a pep in my step,” Gloria said.
“Me too. This way.” Making a sharp left, they strode to the end of the corridor, stopping when they reached the security department’s office.
Millie rapped on the door and stuck her head around the corner. “Hey, Patterson.”
“Hello, Millie.”
“Do you have a minute?”
“I do.” He motioned them inside. “Sharky told me you were targeted by the vandal too. I figured you would stop by sometime today.”
“Gloria and I hosted an event at the spa. When we finished, Camille showed us the fitness center’s door and how someone had tried breaking into a storage cabinet.”
“I can safely say the same person is responsible for the damage.”
“You caught them on camera?”
“We did.”
“Who is it?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know. I couldn’t see the person’s face.” Patterson told them it appeared to be a lone vandal. “It happened around one thirty this morning.”
“When almost everyone on board the ship was asleep,” Millie said. “This may not matter, but in what order did it happen?”
“The fitness center was hit first, followed by your office. Scout’s framed photo was last, almost as an afterthought, I suspect.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have the footage handy for us to watch,” Millie said.
“I do.” Patterson offered them a chair. “Have a seat.”
“Actually.” Millie began tapping her foot. “I would rather stand.”
“Me too.”
“It’ll take me a second to pull them up.”
Millie fidgeted, regretting her decision to swing by Patterson’s office while still under the full effects of the energy shot.
Gloria shifted her feet. Back and forth, back and forth.
The head of security stopped what he was doing and stared at them. “Are you two okay?”
“We sampled Fire Up, an energy drink that the fitness center sells.”
A mischievous grin filled Patterson’s face. “Giselde got you.”
“Camille tried it first. We were curious after discovering someone had tried prying the cabinet open.”
“Fire Up is potent.”
“You’re telling me.” A sweat broke out on Millie’s forehead. She grabbed a tissue and began dabbing at it.
“It’s hot in here.” Gloria tugged on her blouse, her face turning a blotchy shade of red.
“Water helps.” Patterson reached inside his mini fridge, removed two bottles of water and handed each of them one.
Millie unscrewed the cap and guzzled the contents while Gloria did the same.
“Much better,” Gloria gasped. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Fire Up isn’t for the faint of heart,” he said. “I have the first clip ready.”
Millie and Gloria stepped in behind him. A shadowy figure stealthily crept across the theater stage and out of view. A second camera, this one mounted in the corner above Millie’s office door, appeared.
The vandal reached into a sling bag, removed a canister and sprayed the outside of the door before shoving it back into his bag and slinking off.
Patterson clicked through a couple of screens. Another still shot appeared. He pressed the play button again. The darkly clad figure appeared. Similar to the previous incident, he took the canister from his bag and spray-painted the handicapped restroom door. Instead of cow, they wrote crip.
“What does crip mean?” Gloria asked.
“I can’t be certain, but my guess is it’s short for cripple.”
“How rude,” Millie said. “Sharky didn’t mention this.”
“Because I had my guys remove it this morning. One or two passengers may have noticed it but not many.”
“You said the fitness center was first,” Millie prompted.
“Correct.” Patterson clicked out of the screen and opened another one. He zoomed in on the frame before pressing the play button.
The trio silently watched as the same person approached the door leading into the fitness center. He removed the can from his bag and wrote “Fix” with a line through it on the door.
After finishing, the vandal entered the fitness center and veered right, out of the camera’s range.
“They’re heading toward the storage room where the Fire Up is kept,” Millie said.
“We don’t have a camera mounted in there. Clearly, they knew what they were looking for.”
“I know who I would start with,” Millie said.
“Arturo Bautista,” Patterson said. “His brother is being held in Miami until the FBI concludes their investigation.”
Millie stared blankly at the screen. “So maybe it wasn’t just Angelo behind the theft, vandalism and pranks. Maybe the brothers were in on it together.”
“I was thinking along the same lines.” Patterson started to add something and abruptly stopped.
“You’re keeping an eye on him.”
“We are, at all times going forward.”
“I don’t understand about the cabinet.” Millie rubbed the back of her neck. “Why didn’t he just break the glass and steal the stuff?”
“Because it would make too much noise,” Gloria theorized. “Is the fitness center always open?”
“Certain areas are open twenty-four hours,” Patterson said. “Including the section where the door was vandalized.”
“So anyone, even a passenger, could have caught them.”
“Highly unlikely considering the late hour,” Millie said. “Who wants to work out at one thirty in the morning?”
“Someone who drank half a container of Fire Up,” Gloria joked.
“True.” Millie tapped her lower lip, struggling to put the pieces together.
“I can see your wheels spinning,” Patterson said. “I already plan to speak with the fitness center staff to see if anyone showed a keen interest in the energy products, including Bautista.”
“From what Giselde said, it’s popular.”
“She told me the same thing.” Patterson shifted, giving them his full attention. “How are you feeling?”
Millie pinched her thumb and index fingers together. “We only had a teeny tiny sip.”
“Not enough to do more than give me the jitters,” Gloria said.
“I’m sorry about your door.”
“Sharky has already started painting over it. Hopefully, this is a one and done and an isolated incident.” A sliver of hope welled up in Millie, quickly shot down by the little voice in her head warning her the troublemaker, if related to Angelo Bautista, was only just getting started.