After everyone took their place, Alison switched the CD player on and a catchy, upbeat jazz song blared through the speakers. The forty-minute workout flew by and when it was over, Millie’s limbs were loose and she was wide-awake.
She thanked Alison for a great workout before heading to the women’s locker room for a quick shower and to change out of her workout clothes and into her uniform. She had finished showering and dressing and was about to step out of the dressing room when she caught murmured voices and Captain Armati’s name.
Millie released her grip on the door handle. She took a step back as she held her breath and listened. “…with Captain Armati.”
“Or maybe Luigi’s boss, Carmine, had something to do with Luigi’s death,” another female replied. “Paloma told me he was sending her notes and it was creeping her out.”
The voices drifted away as the female crewmembers exited the changing room. Millie’s heart began to pound. She’d heard the chief electrician’s name before, neither good nor bad, just that he ran a tight ship in the electrical department, a critical function on all cruise ships.
What if the chief electrician and Luigi had argued and Carmine, seeing his opportunity to commit the near-perfect crime, set Andy up…or even Captain Armati? Meanwhile, he got away with murder and ended up with the dead man’s girlfriend.
Millie hurried from the locker room. She made a pit stop in the buffet area for a quick breakfast consisting of an English muffin, slice of sharp cheddar cheese, a small scoop of scrambled eggs and a couple slices of crispy bacon.
She headed to a small bistro table outdoors where she assembled her makeshift sandwich. Millie bowed her head and closed her eyes. She prayed for a good day. When she finished praying, she lifted her head and stared out at the tranquil seas before picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.
Her next order of business was to head down to the karaoke stage to make sure the mic was still disconnected and the wires shoved under the edge of the stage before she called in the electricians to give her a hand and hopefully a few clues.
Chapter 9
“I don’t understand.” Marcus shook his head and stared at the tangled cords. “It work fine yesterday.” His shoulders slumped. “This might take some time to figure out.” He plucked his radio from his belt, lifted it to his lips and pressed the button. “Filip. Do you copy?”
The radio crackled. “Go ahead Marcus.”
“I need help on deck five by the karaoke,” Marcus said. “The equipment, it not working.”
There was a long moment of silence. “I be right there,” a clipped voice replied.
“We fix you up in no time,” Marcus assured Millie.
“I appreciate your help,” Millie said. “I’m sure you’re even busier now that Mr. Falco is gone.”
“Yes.” Marcus nodded. “But uh…”
She could see him search for the right words. “We be all right. Mr. Carmine, he make sure we get work done.”
“Ah,” Millie said. “Mr. Carmine is in charge of your department, even higher than Mr. Falco’s position.”
“Yes,” Marcus agreed. “Carmine, he a good man but Mr. Falco, no so much. They argue but maybe it have something to do with…” Marcus’ voice trailed off.
Millie was losing him! “Paloma,” she blurted out. “The men were arguing over Paloma.”
“Yes.” Marcus glanced around and then leaned in. “I heard Mr. Carmine threaten to contact Falco’s wife to tell her about girlfriend, Paloma.”
“I wonder what Paloma thought of that,” Millie mused.
“Ah. She no care. She go around telling everyone she tell the missus herself. Luigi and her, they get in big fight. Women.” Marcus shrugged his shoulders.
The other worker, Filip, arrived on scene and the conversation ended. Millie attempted to lead them toward the wires she had disconnected the night before. She finally gave up and pointed out where the “disconnect” was located as she held up the wires. “Shouldn’t this be plugged in?”
Marcus hurried over and took the wire from Millie. “Yes, but I thought I already check this wire.”
Millie waved her hand at the thick roll of jumbled wires. “It would be easy to miss with all of these.”
Marcus snapped the ends together and Millie made her way over to the microphone. She flipped the switch. “Testing, testing.” Her voice echoed in the atrium and several passengers waved.
“You fixed it.” Millie shut the microphone off and grinned at Marcus.
“You fixed it Miss Millie. Maybe we should hire you in our department,” Marcus joked.
The men packed up their toolboxes and headed for the stairs.
After they were gone, Millie wandered over to the guest services counter. Nikki Tan smiled as Millie approached. “I caught the beginning of last night’s karaoke. You did a great job and the guests were rocking it out.”
“Thanks.” Millie propped her elbow on the counter and casually cased the room. “I need to track down an employee who works in housekeeping. I only have her first name, though. Paloma.”
“Ah.” Nikki lifted an eyebrow. “So you are on the case.” She shifted her attention to the computer in front of her and began tapping on the keys. “Yes. Paloma works on deck eleven, the panorama deck. It looks as if she cleans the suites near the front of the ship.”
Millie nodded. “I’m familiar with the section. My cousins, Gloria and Liz, cruised a few months back and they both had suites on the panorama deck. Thanks for the info.” She patted the top of the counter and then turned to leave.
“Millie.”
Millie turned back.
“I don’t want Captain Armati to leave either,” Nikki said softly. “It would be like losing a family member.”
Millie blinked back unexpected tears and swallowed hard. “I think so too, Nikki,” she whispered. “I think so, too.”
***
The suite area of the panorama deck was empty except for a cleaning cart and a young woman who was holding a clipboard, inspecting the cart’s contents. “Paloma?”
The woman took a step back and turned. Whatever Millie expected Paloma to look like…this wasn’t it. She was young, a lot younger than Luigi Falco.
“Yes?”
“I’m Millie Sanders, Assistant Cruise Director. I wondered if you had a moment to chat with me.”
The girl slowly nodded and a long dark strand of hair fell across her face. “Of course. You work with Andy, Mr. Walker,” Paloma said.
“I do,” Millie replied, “which is one of the reasons why I’m here. I’d like to ask you a couple questions about Luigi Falco.”
The woman’s brown eyes widened. “I…Mr. Patterson already talked to me.”
She continued. “I had nothing to do with Luigi’s death.”
“From what I’ve heard, Luigi had many enemies, including his own boss, Mr. Carmine.”
The young woman’s mouth formed an “o” and she tightened her grip on the clipboard she was holding.
Millie pressed on. “Did Luigi ever mention arguing with Mr. Carmine, Mr. Walker or the captain?”
“He mentioned their names, that they tried to have him fired so he filed a complaint,” Paloma said.
Millie had to wonder how on earth the attractive young woman standing in front of her had managed to become involved with a much older, married man who was disliked by so many of the ship’s crew. Perhaps it was a sense of security, or maybe he had promised her a promotion.
A young crewmember, carrying a vacuum cleaner emerged from a cabin three doors down.
“I must get back to work.” Paloma scurried into one of the suites and disappeared from sight.
Millie nodded to the young man and then retraced her steps. When she reached the end of the hall, she stopped. Something told her Paloma knew more than she let on.
When she reached the end of the hall, Millie studied her surroundings. There was a women’s restroom near the stairwell. She slipped inside, leaving the door open a fra
ction of an inch, just enough so she could keep an eye on the hall.
Moments later, Paloma darted into the stairwell. She glanced around nervously before grabbing the handrail and descending the steps.
Millie sprang into action as she eased the door open and tiptoed across the hall. She peered over the stairwell and caught a glimpse of the top of Paloma’s head.
The steps were steep and Millie took them two at a time in an attempt to trail Paloma but by the time Millie reached the deck where she’d last seen the woman, she had vanished into thin air.
Chapter 10
“I do love a good stakeout,” Annette said.
“Me too. I need to take my mind off being cooped up on this ship,” Cat added.
“That’s…”
Cat held up a hand. “I know. It’s my fault. I’m working on it.” She changed the subject. “So what’s the plan? You think this Paloma chick knows more about Luigi Franco’s death than she’s letting on and now you want to track her every move?”
Millie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know about every move. I have a strong hunch about her.”
“Or maybe you’re grasping at straws, desperate to make a connection,” Annette said. “Either way, I’m in. I have something that may make our gumshoe operation a little less tedious. Be right back.”
Annette disappeared through the side galley door.
Millie turned her attention to her friend, Cat. “You’ve been avoiding us,” she said bluntly.
Cat lowered her gaze and rubbed an imaginary speck on the galley countertop. “Maybe,” she admitted. “I feel guilty, knowing I let you and Annette down the other day when I promised to walk as far as the dock, but when I got there, I panicked. I thought I was going to pass out.”
Millie was on the fence about telling Cat that Annette and she had decided to contact a local psychologist they hoped could meet with Cat when they reached the island of St. Thomas. She wasn’t sure how Cat would react so she attempted to broach the subject.
“How do you feel about talking to a professional, someone who can help you work through your feelings instead of being pressured by two friends who are trying to force you out of your funk?”
Cat twirled her finger in a circular motion near her temple. “You mean like a cuckoo doctor? A shrink?”
“A psychologist…a woman,” Millie said. “What if I told you I was able to get an okay to bring her on board so you wouldn’t have to get off the ship?”
Cat gazed at Millie thoughtfully. “I dunno…”
“Don’t say no yet. Think about it,” Millie insisted.
The galley door swung open and Annette sauntered back into the kitchen. She slid a black box with a set of headphones on top of the counter. “I think we oughta start with this.”
“What is it?”
“A wiretap.”
“Where did you get that?” Millie waved a dismissive hand. “Never mind. I probably don’t want to know.”
Annette pulled a small device from her front pocket and held it up for inspection. “All we gotta do is attach this baby to Paloma’s cleaning cart and we can listen to every single word she says.”
Millie frowned. “It could take time to hear anything. We don’t have a lot of time. We need to uncover the killer before we dock in Miami.”
“You have a better plan?” Annette set the small device on top of the black box.
“I do. I think we should sneak into Paloma’s cabin and search it,” Millie said.
“It sounds risky.” Cat frowned. “What about her cabin mate? What if we get caught?”
“All we gotta do is get our hands on Paloma and her cabin mate’s shift schedule. While they’re at work, we sneak in and search the place.”
“Just like that.” Annette snapped her fingers.
“Kind of. I haven’t worked out the details yet,” Millie admitted. “We could bribe the head room steward to get the information. I’m sure the crew who work in the same department, bunk together. I would think Paloma’s cabin mate also works in housekeeping.”
“True,” Annette agreed. “Maybe we could do a little ‘greasing of the palms.’” She rubbed her thumb across her other fingers. “Cold hard cash to take a look at Paloma and her cabin mate’s shift schedule.”
“First we have to figure out who shares her cabin,” Cat said.
“That’s easy enough. Who is the biggest gossip and nosiest person on board this ship?” Millie asked.
“Rachel Quaid,” Cat and Annette said in unison. Rachel Quaid had joined the crew aboard Siren of the Seas a few months back. She nearly managed to get herself fired her second day on the job after attempting to dig up some dirt on Donovan Sweeney by sucking up to the staff at guest services, Donovan’s close-knit group of employees.
Nikki Tan ratted Rachel out, which had nearly turned into a knockdown, drag-out brawl behind the guest services desk. Brody, one of the ship’s bouncers, happened to be passing by when it started and stepped in to break up the hair-pulling, face-slapping scuffle.
It was the talk of the ship until the next big thing came along, but Rachel’s busybody reputation grew as she planted her nose firmly in everyone’s business. It may not have been a huge issue had it not been for the fact the woman had access to a lot of the crew and staff’s private information. She was the ship’s nurse.
“We need someone who can get her to talk.” Millie had only met the woman in passing.
Annette and Millie eyed Cat, who was close to Doctor Gundervan, Rachel’s boss.
“Oh, don’t look at me.” Cat shook her head. “I try to avoid the woman at all costs. She’s already trying to psychoanalyze me and ruin, I mean, run my life.”
“But she does like you,” Annette pointed out. “Which means you may be able to get the insider scoop on Paloma.”
Two sets of eyes gazed at Cat intently. “All right,” she caved. “But if she tries to hypnotize me again, that’s it. You’re on your own.”
Cat popped off the stool and muttered under her breath. “I have no idea how you two manage to talk me into some of this stuff.”
“While you head down to the medical center, I need to get my trivia contest under way,” Millie said.
“And I need to work on tomorrow’s menu,” Annette said.
“I’ll report back later,” Cat promised.
The trio separated and Millie headed up to the seating area outside the casino. It was the official location for trivia and Andy had recently given Millie free reign to tinker with the trivia contest questions.
So far, she’d tried a Caribbean islands trivia contest, which had been a huge hit, as well as a Majestic Cruise lines trivia contest.
Today, she was going to play it safe, and decided to host a sports trivia, followed by a movie trivia.
Andy swung by and stood off to the side for a few moments before winking at Millie and continuing toward the theater. The grand prize, a ship on a stick, was awarded to a group of young passengers who managed to answer every single sports question correctly.
Millie handed each of them a plastic “Siren of the Seas” ship on a stick. “I guess I need to ramp up the questions. You guys are good.”
After trivia, she headed to the theater to assist Zack, another of the dancers, with several rounds of bingo. The crowd grew and filled the theater. “Must be raining outside,” Millie commented, after selling out her first pack of bingo cards.
“Bingo,” Zack quipped. “Rain is good for business.”
The bingo sessions ended and Millie wandered down to the crew mess to grab a bite to eat. It had been hours since she’d eaten her makeshift breakfast sandwich and soon, she would have to assist Pierre LeBlanc, the sommelier, for the wine tasting event up on deck six.
As Millie ate a bowl of stew, she wondered if Cat had been successful in finding out who bunked with Paloma.
If only she knew.
***
Cat Wellington took a deep breath, lifted her hand and tapped lightly on the outer door of the
medical center. The light was on but no one answered so Cat gently twisted the handle, pushed the door open and stepped inside.
There was no one in the front waiting room, but she could hear the clanging of cabinet doors in the back, where the medical equipment and several hospital beds were located. The room reeked of rubbing alcohol and disinfectant.
“Hello?”
The noise stopped and Rachel Quaid appeared in the doorway. “Hi Cat. How’re you doing?”
“Okay,” Cat said and then quickly realized she needed a reason to visit the medical center. “Actually, I’m feeling a little queasy today. Not sure if I ate a bad batch of something so I wondered if I could get a packet of antacids from you.”
“Sure.” Rachel smiled. “Be right back.”
Cat gazed around the office while she waited for Rachel to return. “Here you go.” She dropped the packet in Cat’s hand. “I’m sure you heard all about Luigi Falco’s unfortunate accident.”
“Yes. It would be hard not to.” This was too easy! The woman was already talking.
“It sounds like he had his share of enemies, including the higher ups.” Rachel made an upward thumbing motion. “Guess I better watch my “p’s” and “q’s” with a killer on the loose.”
“Yes,” Cat agreed. “You never can be too careful.”
“That girlfriend of his, she must be taking this hard,” Rachel continued.
“Paloma,” Cat nodded.
“Yes. Paloma Herdez. My guess is she’ll be off the ship when we dock in Miami. If I were her, I would head straight home so when the baby comes along, she has family to help her care for it.”
Chapter 11
Cat stared at Rachel. “Baby? Paloma is pregnant?”
Rachel’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my gosh! Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, you did.”
“I…you can’t tell anyone you heard it from me,” Rachel begged. “I could lose my job.”
Cat’s window of opportunity flew wide open. “Oh, my lips are sealed Rachel, but I do have a favor to ask. You don’t mind, do you? I mean, now that I’m keeping this secret.”
Killer Karaoke (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 7) Page 5