It took Millie a couple of minutes to remember what a code 30-30 meant, until the ship began to tilt to the side and she quickly shifted her feet to keep her balance.
A code 30-30 was a vomiting incident in a public area. And according to the radio call, it was more than one incident.
A maintenance crewmember rushed down the stairs carrying a stack of white paper barf bags. She stopped at the bottom of the stairwell, dropped a stack inside the Plexiglas container attached to the railing and then continued down the steps.
The ship swayed again. This time, the movement was even more noticeable, so Millie headed to the wall of windows port side. She wasn’t the only one. Passengers gathered near the windows and peered out at the dark, swirling clouds.
Millie shifted her gaze from the storm clouds to the raging seas. Her stomach churned at the sight of the whirling waters.
There was another 30-30 call on the radio, this time the call was for the lido deck.
“Ick.” Millie pressed a light hand to her stomach as she stepped away from the window and began making her way to the front of the ship.
She climbed the steps to the bridge and waited for the next movement of the ship to subside before slipping her keycard in the slot.
She gripped the railing and made her way onto the bridge. Nic stood near the controls, flanked by Captain Vitale on one side and First Officer Craig McMaster on the other.
The men were speaking in low voices as they huddled near the monitor. Millie cleared her throat and Nic turned. Their eyes met and she could tell from the expression on her husband’s face that they hadn’t encountered the worst of the weather.
“We hit a rough patch,” Millie said.
“Yes,” Nic nodded. “I hoped to skirt Hurricane Imelda. Unfortunately, it’s moving faster than originally forecast and she also appears to be picking up steam.”
“How much longer can we expect rough seas?”
Nic and Captain Vitale exchanged a quick glance.
“We’ll feel the movement and motion for at least another twenty-four hours,” Vitale replied. “How are the passengers faring?”
“The crew is placing barf bags on all of the stairwells. I’ve heard three 30-30 codes on the radio, each for a different deck.”
The ship shifted again and so did Millie’s stomach. She clutched her gut and swallowed hard.
Nic hurried to his wife’s side. “There’s some ginger in the downstairs bathroom medicine cabinet.”
“I think I better take some,” Millie whispered.
Nic walked his wife to the door and waited until she was safely inside before closing the door behind her.
Scout was nowhere in sight, and Millie feared the small pup was succumbing to the rough seas, as well. “Scout?”
Nnn…nnn.
Millie used one hand to steady herself and slowly made her way into the living room where she found Scout curled up on top of his doggie bed.
He let out another low whimper as Millie eased to her knees. She began stroking the small pup’s head. “It’s going to be okay,” she cooed.
Scout gave her hand a quick lick and then closed his eyes. His tiny body shuddered as he let out a whimpering sigh.
She shifted her gaze to the balcony sliders where rain pelted the glass and strong winds howled at the door.
There was no way Millie dared let Scout out to use his potty pad. She shifted her gaze to his water and food bowls and realized he’d barely touched either.
Millie pulled Scout’s spare potty pad from the hall closet and set it next to his bed. He barely gave it a glance.
She stayed with him as long as she dared before lifting onto unsteady feet and carefully making her way to the downstairs bathroom. The bottle of ginger pills was right where Nic told her. Before exiting the apartment, she swallowed one of the pills and dropped a second one into her pocket for later.
The men were still focused on the controls and the ship’s center console, so Millie quietly tiptoed to the exit and let herself out.
“Millie. Do you copy?” It was Andy.
Millie unclipped her radio from her belt. “Go ahead, Andy.”
“The Mix and Mingles event has been postponed. I would like to have a quick meeting in my office.”
“I’m on my way.” Millie headed for the stairs, making sure to keep a firm grip on the railing. She made it all the way down to deck three without passing a single passenger or crewmember.
Millie stepped inside the quiet, dark theater and cautiously made her way along the center aisle. She stopped briefly when the ship lurched and then continued to the stage where she heard the murmur of low voices coming from Andy’s office.
The office was packed with the ship’s entertainment staff. Millie eased in next to a pale Danielle, her hand firmly clamped over her mouth.
“Are you okay?” Millie whispered in her ear.
Danielle shook her head.
Millie caught Andy’s eye and he began waving his hands. “Thank you everyone for coming here on such short notice. As you all know, the Siren of the Seas has hit some rough seas, a direct result of Hurricane Imelda.”
Andy went on to explain they had hoped to avoid the storm completely, but the storm had increased in both speed and intensity. “According to Captain Armati and the ship’s officers, we’re looking at another twenty-four hours of rough sea conditions. This means many of the passengers will likely remain in their cabins. For those with heartier constitutions…”
“Don’t you mean stomachs of steel?” Kevin quipped.
“Or anyone less prone to motion sickness,” Andy attempted a smile. “These passengers will expect that we continue to show them a wonderful cruise vacation. The reason I asked you to meet me here is to find out who is struggling with the sea conditions.”
Millie almost raised her hand, but quickly realized it wouldn’t look good if the captain’s wife couldn’t handle the rough seas. Besides, the ginger was beginning to settle her stomach.
Danielle, a sickly shade of green, slowly raised her hand, still keeping the other tightly clamped over her mouth.
“I have plenty of motion sickness pills available.” Several of the staff came forward to take Andy up on his offer and one by one, they exited the office until only Andy and Millie were left.
“You sure you feel okay Millie? You look a little pale.”
“I’m feeling better. I stopped by the apartment to take a ginger pill and it appears to be helping somewhat.”
“I’m glad to hear it. As they say…the show must go on.”
Millie stepped closer, taking note of Andy’s pasty complexion. “I should ask the same of you, Andy. Are you feeling all right?”
“I’ll be fine.” Andy waved dismissively. “I have to admit despite having been through several of these storms before; this is one of the rougher ones.” He nodded his head toward the door. “How is it going up on the bridge?”
“It’s all hands on deck,” Millie said. “Nic, Captain Vitale and McMasters are all up there. By tomorrow we should be cruising into calmer seas.” At least that was Millie’s hope, unless the hurricane shifted.
Millie thought about her friends, Nadia and Regan. “I have a few minutes before reporting for trivia. I think I’ll drop by Nadia and Regan’s cabin to see how they’re managing.”
She told Andy to call her if he needed anything before she headed out of his office.
When she reached the Leclerc’s cabin, she knocked lightly. There was no answer.
Certain the couple was taking it easy and resting, she made her way to the supply cabinet adjacent to the Winning Streak Casino. The ding of the slot machines drifted into the corridor and she caught a glimpse of several passengers seated at the machines as she unlocked the cabinet to retrieve the trivia materials.
A handful of passengers wandered over to grab pens and notepads and she thanked them for joining her.
Millie switched the microphone on and began her first round of trivia. More passengers
trickled in and by the time she started the third round, the tables were full.
The trivia challenge ended in a three-way tie. Millie passed out complimentary coffee bar gift cards to the winners before making her way to her next event, a wine tasting demonstration.
Millie found Pierre LeBlanc, the sommelier, rummaging through his portable wine refrigerator. “Millie Armati, reporting for duty.”
“Ah, Miss Millie. I thought Danielle was assisting me with this afternoon’s wine tasting.”
“Nope. You’ve got me instead.” Millie glanced around. “I see people are already waiting for the demonstration to begin. I figured no one would show up.”
“You would be surprised.” Pierre handed Millie two bottles of red wine. “This is turning out to be an eventful cruise.”
Millie set the wine on the table and reached for the bottle Pierre was holding. “Eventful in more ways than one, thanks to the party of family reunion members who are terrorizing the ship and passengers.”
“I heard several of them were causing a commotion outside the buffet area this morning, something about one of the other passengers cutting in the buffet line and when another passenger tried to stop them, the woman elbowed him in the gut and then denied it.”
“Oh no,” Millie shook her head. “These people are causing so much trouble.” She thought about poor Micah’s death and how he’d been guarding one of the troublemakers.
She needed more information and Patterson wasn’t talking. Not that she could blame him. “I hate to say it, but it would make life easier if the rowdy passengers kept a low profile in their cabins like some of the other passengers who are feeling under the weather.”
“Not a chance.” Pierre shook his head. “Despite the rough conditions, it appears we’re going to have a large turnout.”
Millie turned her head and watched as several more passengers began making their way to the folding chairs. “I guess I better get a move on.”
While Pierre continued sorting through the wine fridge, Millie finished arranging the display table. She positioned the white wines on one end, the red wines on the other and then placed the plastic cups in between.
“Hey, what’s up with the plastic cups?” Millie waved a plastic cup at Pierre.
“We switch from the good stuff during rough weather,” Pierre explained. “Unless you’re keen on cleaning up broken glass?”
“Nope.” Millie shook her head. “I’m not.”
“Before I forget.” Pierre handed Millie a roll of raffle tickets. “We’re giving away a complimentary bottle of Leese-Fitch cabernet sauvignon. Would you mind passing out the tickets to the guests?”
“Of course not.” Millie made her way to the seated guests, giving one ticket to each of the participants and then returned to the front where she finished arranging the table. As soon as she finished, Pierre lifted the mike and began his wine tasting presentation with a joke about the stormy conditions before explaining the different wines and food pairings as Millie made her rounds with the small samples.
“My assistant, Millie, passed out raffle tickets for a drawing for a complimentary bottle of cabernet along with coupons for the gourmet coffee bar. Please raise your hand if you did not get a ticket.”
Several hands shot up and Millie hurried to hand tickets to the attendees. She worked her way from the front to the back and paused when she reached the back row where a female passenger held her hand in the air.
Millie recognized the woman and was certain she’d already given her a raffle ticket. “We’re only giving out one ticket per guest.”
Millie turned to go and the woman clamped onto her arm. “I don’t have a ticket and I am a guest on this ship. If you don’t give me a ticket, I’ll report you,” the woman gritted out.
Millie’s eyes narrowed as she studied the woman, and it dawned on her that she recognized her because she was the same troublemaker Danielle had pinned to the deck earlier.
Chapter 10
Determined not to allow the woman to cause a scene, Millie forced a smile as she tore off a ticket and handed it to her. “I must’ve mistaken you for someone else.”
The woman mumbled something to the young woman seated next to her as she snatched the ticket from Millie’s hand. “I’ll be right back.” The woman abruptly stood and stomped off.
“I…I’m so sorry,” the young woman said to Millie when the older woman was out of earshot. “My aunt is a little stressed out right now.”
“Who is your aunt?”
“Alice Turner. Both she and her son have had separate incidents on board the ship. A ship employee attacked and injured Aunt Alice.”
The warning bells went off in Millie’s head. This woman, and the other woman who stormed off, were members of the Turner Family Reunion. “I happened on the incident between Vic Turner and another passenger. I’m not sure how it started.”
The woman glanced to the side and then lowered her voice. “It started over a woman, Jennifer something. She was flirting with my cousin, Vic. He met her at a bar and Vic bought her a drink. He didn’t know she was on the cruise ship with another man, and her fiancé to boot.”
Millie interrupted. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“My name is Elyse Bivens.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Millie apologized. “Then what happened?”
Elyse shifted in her chair. “Vic backed off. The woman, Jennifer, started following Vic around, flirting with him and that’s what she was doing when her brother surprised her. She claimed Vic was stalking her. The brother started threatening Vic, he pushed him aside to walk away and they started fighting.”
“So you’re saying Jennifer was the one who started the incidents between your cousin and her brother?”
“Yep.” Elyse’s head bobbed up and down. “I wouldn’t doubt she had something to do with that poor security guard’s death either. I saw him in the hall outside Vic’s cabin right after they placed him under cabin arrest. He was a nice man and told me the other fellow…I know he was referring to the woman’s brother, was giving him a hard time and trying to leave his cabin.”
“Really?” Millie lifted a brow. “Have you told anyone?”
“Yeah. I told a Mr. Patterson what the security guard said and he thanked me and told me he would look into it.” Elyse waved the raffle ticket. “It doesn’t matter if I win. There’s no way I would go to the coffee bar. Jennifer hangs out there each morning around nine, when she’s not hanging out in the regular bar. I see her there almost every day and alone. I’m beginning to think the fiancé is a figment of her imagination.”
“You said there was an incident with your aunt,” Millie prompted.
“Yeah. Aunt Alice was in one of the hot tubs when a female crewmember came over and told her she had to leave. Aunt Alice got out of the hot tub and that’s when the crewmember shoved her. Aunt Alice shoved her back and then the woman knocked her down on the deck.”
“Were you there when it happened?”
“No,” Elyse shook her head. “I heard about it from another cousin. I don’t dare mention it to Aunt Alice.”
The conversation ended when Elyse’s aunt lumbered back to their seats. She handed her niece a beverage and scowled at Millie.
The front of the woman’s blouse slipped down and Millie noticed a deep, red scratch on her neck. She wondered if Danielle had left the mark during their scuffle.
“Are you bothering my niece?”
“No. We were making conversation.” Elyse lowered her eyes and Millie glanced at her watch. “The drawing is about to get under way.” She gave Elyse a quick smile, but didn’t look at Aunt Alice as she made her way to the front.
As usual, Pierre laid on the charm as he wrapped up his presentation and announced the raffle winners. Millie’s mind wandered to Elyse’s version of what happened between Vic and Aaron Quillen, and also Alice and Danielle.
She made a mental note to swing by the coffee bar after the wine tasting wrapped
up to see if she could find the young woman who appeared to be the main instigator in at least part of the drama taking place on board the ship.
Pierre drew the winning ticket for the wine and another for the coffee bar. Neither Alice, nor her niece, Elyse, won the raffle.
The crowd dispersed and Millie helped Pierre tear down the display and put the remaining bottles of wine back in the wine fridge.
Millie finished by rolling up the tablecloth while Pierre locked the fridge. “I noticed you talking to the young woman near the back.”
“Yes. She and her aunt are part of the large family reunion on board.”
“The ones who are causing trouble?” Pierre asked.
“Yes. One of the family members got into a physical altercation with another passenger. Micah was one of the security guards, guarding the troublemakers.”
“Yes. Micah, he had some issues of his own,” Pierre said.
“That’s what I heard. I don’t know the details.” Millie waited for Pierre to elaborate, but all he did was shake his head.
“I don’t want to gossip about a man who is no longer here to defend himself.” Pierre thanked Millie for helping him with the wine tasting and then patted her on the back. “You are a good woman, Miss Millie. Captain Armati is lucky to have you, although I suspect you keep him on his toes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you should.” Pierre gave Millie a mock salute and then pushed the wine cart to the bank of elevators. She waited until the doors closed before heading to the stairs and climbing up one flight where the gourmet coffee bar was located.
The pub tables and bistro tables that dotted the coffee bar were empty except for a couple seated in the corner. Millie slowed. Jennifer Quillen was not one of the passengers, so she kept moving.
She headed upstairs to the lido deck and onto the open deck where a powerful wind caught the lapels of her jacket. She kept a firm grip on the handrail as she made her way from one side of the deck to the other.
A thick netting covered the ship’s main pool and water sloshed over the sides as the ship swayed back and forth.
The only other brave souls on deck were a trio of crewmembers, who were busy tying stacks of lounge chairs to the metal support posts. One of them gave Millie a quick nod as she cautiously passed by on her way to the other side.
Fatal Flirtation: A Cruise Ship Mystery (Cruise Ship Cozy Mysteries Book 13) Page 6