Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series: Box Set: Books 1-3

by Hope Callaghan

  - 7:30 a.m. – Sunrise Stretch, Fitness Center

  - 8:00 a.m. – Zoom with Zumba, Fitness Center

  - 8:30 a.m. – Acupuncture Seminar

  - 9:00 a.m. – Spirits and Samplers in Paradise Lounge. Millie wondered how anyone could drink with the tossing and turning of the ship, then she remembered the people up at the bar before it was even daylight.

  - 10:00 a.m. – Acupuncture. How to relieve stress. Midship bar. Millie could use that class right about now!

  The schedule ended there. Millie tapped her pen on top of the notepad. “I have a schedule that ends at ten. We can use parts of the schedule that was already printed but that schedule was based on a port day and outdoor activities.”

  Tara Daughtery, one of the other dancers, nodded. “When we have a cancelled port day or inclement weather, Andy revises the schedule, takes it down to the office and has copies printed. Someone from guest services arranges to have them dropped off at all the cabins.”

  Terror struck Millie’s heart. Now, not only would she have to revamp the schedule, she would have to hurry up, get it printed and distribute it ship-wide. Her eyelid began to twitch.

  Zack recognized her look of terror. “Don’t worry, Millie. We’ll help get the schedule up and running and make sure it all goes off without a hitch.”

  Millie turned grateful eyes to her young friend. “Thank you.” She looked around the table. “Thank you all. I owe you one.”

  Millie rolled up her sleeves, determined to get the job done. Soon, they had a new schedule that would make Andy proud!

  Millie jotted down the final activity and jumped from her seat. “Better get this puppy printed.”

  The group followed her out. “Make sure you tell them to drop them off in the cabins,” Alison called after her.

  Millie waved the papers in her hand. “Got it!”

  Guest services was empty. Only a couple brave passengers milled about.

  Millie stepped behind the door that separated the lobby from the back of the counter.

  Nikki, Sarah’s friend, was behind the desk. Millie handed her the sheets. “I need to get copies of this printed. It’s the revised schedule.”

  Nikki nodded. “Great! We wondered when we would have it. Hang tight!”

  She disappeared behind the doors in the back.

  Donovan stepped out of his office and approached the counter. “What happened to Andy?”

  Millie shook her head. “He’s in bed, sicker than a dog. Looks like I’m in charge.”

  “You can handle it, Millie.” He sounded a lot more confident than Millie felt. “I’ve never known Andy to get seasick – ever – and I’ve worked with him for years.”

  Nikki was back with a stack of the newly printed schedule of activities: Cruise Ship Chronicles. She handed a dozen to Millie. “The rest are headed to room stewards on each floor to leave under the door of every cabin.”

  Millie thanked Nikki and headed back to the theater. Her next task would be to decide who would host what events. The ship was still rocking and rolling and the halls still empty.

  Either Millie was starting to get used to the rocking of the ship or the seas had started to calm. She hoped it was the latter. She wondered how Andy was doing and thought about what Donovan had said – that Andy had a strong stomach and he wasn’t prone to motion sickness.

  Maybe it was something else - what if someone had poisoned Andy?

  Chapter 16

  The entertainment staff was like angels, minus the wings. Whatever Millie asked them to do, they took the task with nary a grumble. When the meeting ended, they all split up and headed to their assigned activity.

  The group was so helpful and so efficient that Millie had nothing to do! She wandered upstairs to the buffet area, which was virtually empty. Only a handful of passengers with strong stomachs were eating. They had the place to themselves.

  Millie grabbed a plate and started down the buffet line. Even though her stomach was no longer queasy, she didn’t dare push it. She settled for a scoop of scrambled eggs, a small pile of hash browns, some dry toast and an apple.

  When she rounded the corner and started for the coffee station, she ran smack dab into Sarah, her roommate. Sarah looked down at Millie’s plate. “You’re feeling better,” she observed.

  Millie nodded. “I feel good but Andy…” She blew air through her thin lips, “he’s sicker than a dog.”

  Sarah wiped her rag along the stainless steel cabinet and the puddles of spilled coffee disappeared. “Most of the guests are hanging out in their cabins.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Room service has gone berserk.”

  Millie hadn’t thought about that. She hoped they wouldn’t run out of saltine crackers and dry toast!

  Sarah lifted the rag and folded it in her hand. “That and the bars are busier than ever.”

  Always one to look on the bright side, Millie was glad she didn’t work for room service – or work at one of the bars. No, Millie was quite content to keep her own job!

  She wandered to a table in the corner and slid into a booth that faced the window. The waves still looked huge. She shifted her gaze. Far off in the distance, she could see a faint line of clear skies. It looked as if calm seas were on the horizon!

  After Millie finished her food, she dropped the dirty plates in the bin near the door and stepped out onto the lido deck.

  The safety net still covered the entire surface of the pool. What was left of the water in the pool sloshed over the sides. She made her way across the lido deck and down to the kitchen.

  By now, Annette would be hard at work and Millie wanted to talk to her about Andy. Now that she had a breather, she had time to think about how sick he had become.

  Millie stepped into the kitchen, which was a beehive of activity. Staff bustled frantically here and there. They were right in the throes of the breakfast crunch.

  She waited off to one side until she caught sight of Annette as she whizzed by on her way to the walk-in freezer. She held up a finger when she saw Millie.

  A few minutes later, Annette made her way over to Millie. “This place is an absolute zoo. Room service, room service, room service. That, and barf bags.”

  Millie chuckled. “I heard it was bad.”

  Annette picked up a room service menu and started to fan herself. “This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”

  Millie wiped her brow. The kitchen was a bit on the warm side. “Speaking of bad, Andy is in his cabin. He became violently ill.”

  Annette dropped the menu. “Andy? That man has a gut of iron. Nothing makes him sick. In fact, I don’t think I ever recall him getting sick.”

  Millie leaned in and lowered her voice. “He was throwing up. I had to help him to his cabin.”

  “You don’t think…” Annette trailed off.

  “Did he come up here to get a bite to eat or did you deliver food to him today?”

  Annette’s eyes shifted as she thought about it. The morning had been crazy. Even so, she would have remembered seeing Andy or sending food out of the kitchen. She could count on one hand how many times he had made a special request for meals and only in emergencies. “Nope. Not at all.”

  “When I leave here, I’m going to go check on him.”

  “Annette! We ran out of wheat bread!”

  “I gotta run!” Annette darted off to the other side of the kitchen.

  Millie headed out of the kitchen and straight to Andy’s cabin. She tilted her head and placed her ear to the door. What if he was asleep?

  Millie knocked softly and waited.

  Slowly, the door opened and Andy peeked through the crack in the door. When he saw Millie, he opened it wider so that she could step inside.

  Andy looked rough. His carefully groomed red hair stood straight up. A day’s beard shaded his face. He was wearing a pair of boxer shorts, which Millie pretended not to notice, and a t-shirt covered with stains Millie did not want to dwell on.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.


  Andy slowly lowered himself onto the edge of his bed. “Like I’ve been run over by a freight train carrying toxic chemicals and after the train ran over the top of me, my neck got caught on the caboose and it dragged me along a set of tracks with spiked rails for several miles.”

  “That bad?”

  Andy rubbed his forehead. “No. Worse…much worse.”

  “I stopped by to check on you and to let you know that the backstage staff and I have everything under control so you stay here and rest.”

  Andy was visibly relieved. “Thank you, Millie.”

  “You’re welcome,” she told him. “Is there anything I can bring you? Soup? Toast?”

  “No. If I get hungry, I’ll just call room service later.” You and every other passenger on board.

  She almost asked Andy if he thought he might have eaten something bad but she didn’t. She would have plenty of time to talk to him about that later. Right now, he needed to rest and get back on his feet.

  Millie could fill in in a pinch but that was about it. No one could replace Andy, especially not her.

  Millie told Andy she would check on him later in the day and headed to the door. She let herself out and slowly closed it behind her. She gave it a hard tug to make sure it had locked.

  Instead of heading straight upstairs, she walked past the crew mess, which was empty, and then made a pit stop in the officer’s dining room.

  Millie pushed the tinted glass door open and stepped inside the dimly lit room. At first, Millie thought the room was empty, then she heard the murmur of soft voices that echoed from the dark corner.

  Millie stepped further in.

  Donovan and Veronica Chang sat together at a table in the corner. Their heads bent close together, almost touching.

  They didn’t notice Millie.

  She cleared her throat. “Ahem.”

  Donovan’s head shot up. “Hey Millie!”

  “Hi Donovan.” She nodded at Veronica who gave her a half-hearted smile. The young woman ran slender fingers through her jet-black hair and stared at Millie with her amber-colored cat eyes. Unblinking.

  Her stare caused a shiver to run down Millie’s spine. There was something about the woman…

  “Are you looking for someone?” Donovan asked.

  Millie shook her head. She had no idea why she had made the impulsive decision to stop in the private dining room.

  “No one in particular,” Millie answered vaguely. Before Donovan could ask another question Millie couldn’t answer, she backed out of the room.

  Why was Veronica talking to Donovan? Millie frowned. She hadn’t seen the woman’s application in the pile. She knew that the deadline had passed to apply for the job.

  Was there something else? Another position that Veronica was trying to get?

  She glanced down at the watch on her wrist. She had just enough time to make a quick stop in the theater to check on the staff before she headed up to the bridge to check on Scout.

  The entire back of the stage blazed with bright lights, something Andy would have had a fit about, which was probably why they were on. Everyone knew Andy wouldn’t be around.

  Millie didn’t mind the bright lights. There were times the backstage was downright creepy, especially at night when she was back there by herself.

  She wandered over to Andy’s chair and plopped down. His notebook was still on the table. Millie slipped on her glasses and flipped it open.

  Andy kept meticulous notes of past schedules. She read the entries with interest. Andy had some great ideas for entertainment. She wondered why he had never implemented them.

  Andy’s pot of coffee sat on the table nearby. She lifted the container. It was half-empty.

  Millie grabbed Andy’s coffee cup, pulled it close and then poured some of the leftover coffee into the cup. She lifted it to her nose, about to take a sip when an odd odor wafted up. It was some sort of herb or chemical smell she couldn’t put her finger on.

  Millie dipped the tip of her finger in the brown liquid and lifted it to her lips. “Yuck!”

  The coffee had a bitter taste and left a lingering metallic taste in her mouth. She wondered how Andy could have drank that much and not noticed the odd taste or weird smell.

  Chapter 17

  Footsteps echoed across the smooth stage floor.

  Millie shoved the stopper in the top, grabbed the carafe and carried it to the dressing room. She needed to get the pot of coffee to the kitchen.

  Several of the entertainment staff had stopped by to fill Millie in. Guests had started to trickle out into the common areas now that the ship had stopped bobbing around like a cork.

  After the brief meeting, Millie had just enough time to make it up to the bridge to check on Scout and see if the captain wanted him out-and-about on the ship.

  She knew she looked a little odd carrying a half-empty coffee pot around but she didn’t dare leave it somewhere and chance someone emptying the contents.

  Ingrid Kozlov answered the door when Millie knocked. Millie would be glad when she had her lanyard back and she could just let herself in.

  The woman opened the door. Her eyes dropped to the carafe in Millie’s hand. She grunted then walked back across the bridge, leaving Millie to trail behind her.

  Captain Armati was front and center in the bridge. He briefly looked up and smiled when he saw Millie. “Good morning, Millie. I’m glad to see you haven’t succumbed to the high seas.”

  She shrugged. “I guess I have a stronger stomach than I thought.”

  Captain turned to Ingrid. “I’ll be right back.”

  He motioned Millie to follow him. They walked down the hall that led to the captain’s apartment. Armati punched in the secret code and opened the door.

  Millie followed him inside.

  She spotted Scout, curled up on his bed next to the sliding glass doors. He opened his eyes but stayed put in his small bed.

  Her heart lurched. Poor Scout didn’t like the rough seas.

  The captain bent down and stroked his head. “He’s been like this all morning. Poor fella doesn’t like the rocking and rolling.”

  Millie reached down and stroked his ears. He licked her finger, closed his eyes and sighed. She wasn’t sure what one could give a dog for motion sickness. At least the seas had started to calm.

  Captain stood. “I’m sure he’ll back to his peppy self soon enough,” he predicted.

  Millie still had the carafe in her hand, which the captain had now noticed. “Do you always carry a pot of coffee around with you?” he joked.

  Millie hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I think I’m holding a clue to Captain Vitale, the other crew and now Andy’s mysterious illness.”

  He frowned. “I heard Andy was down in bed. I assumed it was the rough seas.”

  Millie shook her head. “Everyone, including Andy, told me he has never had motion sickness in all the years he’s worked on the ships.”

  She lifted the carafe. “I found this in his office, sitting on his table. It’s half empty. When I poured a small bit into his cup, I noticed an odd smell and when I tasted it…” She wrinkled her nose.

  Captain reached for the carafe. “Let me try it.” He took the carafe to the kitchen, set it on the counter and grabbed a coffee mug from inside the cabinet.

  Millie had never seen the inside of the captain’s kitchen, only a brief glimpse of the corner from the living room.

  It was small but efficient. It had everything one would need to prepare a gourmet meal: standard size refrigerator, small electric stove with an oven and a microwave. It even had a dishwasher!

  Armati lifted the stopper and poured a small amount of coffee in the cup. He lifted the cup and sniffed the contents. His brow furrowed. “It does have a faint odor, almost medicinal.”

  Next, he lifted the cup to his lips and took a small sip. He grimaced at the taste and wiped away the lingering residue with the back of his hand.

  “Pretty bad, huh,” Millie said.


  Captain shook his head. “Andy drank this?”

  “Yes. I think he did.” Andy must have some hardy taste buds to stomach that stuff! “Maybe he mixed a lot of creamer and sugars and it disguised the taste.”

  Millie pointed at the pot. “I’m going to take this to the kitchen to see if Annette can tell me who delivered this to Andy. Someone on this ship is making the crew and staff sick.”

  Captain Armati nodded. “I heard you were reprimanded for sneaking into Donovan’s office.”

  Millie’s shoulders sank. “Yeah. It probably wasn’t the brightest idea.”

  “Probably not,” the captain agreed, “but I admire your loyalty to your friend.”

  Millie shoved the stopper in the top of the carafe and lifted it from the counter. “I hope Scout gets to feeling better.”

  Millie stopped on her way out to give him a little smooch on the head before she walked back into the bridge.

  Captain Armati followed her out. She stopped at the door. “Would you like me to check on Scout later?”

  Captain nodded. “I think he would like that.”

  A small smile lit Millie’s face as she turned her back. Perhaps the captain would like it, too!

  ***

  On her way to the kitchen, Millie swung by the gift shop to talk to Cat, who was behind the counter, hard at work. She caught Millie’s eye as she rang up a purchase. She slipped the purchases into the bag and handed it to the customer.

  Millie waited for the person to exit the store. “Been quiet around here?”

  Cat shook her head. “No way!” She craned her neck and glanced at the shelves behind her – the ones that contained aspirin, cough drops, Band-Aids. One whole section of the shelf was empty.

  “Let me guess. That was where the motion sickness medicine used to be,” Millie said.

  Cat snapped her fingers. “Bingo! I could have easily doubled the price and still sold out.” She pointed at the coffee carafe in Millie’s hand. “What’cha doing with that?”