“Hi. Can I help you?” A young girl with bright red hair and an anxious expression approached.
“We’re looking for Annette,” Liz said.
“Annette Delacroix?” the girl asked.
“I guess,” Gloria said. “I’m Millie’s cousin,” she added, not sure if it would make one iota difference.
“Yes. Millie.” The girl nodded. “Annette is around here somewhere. I’ll be right back.”
The girl wove her way around the counters. She passed by an entire counter covered in delicious desserts, including chocolate covered strawberries that made Gloria’s mouth water and disappeared around the corner.
She returned moments later, followed by a woman with curly brown hair and an athletic build.
“Thank you Grace.” The woman dismissed the young girl and turned her attention to Gloria and the gang. “I’m Annette Delacroix. How can I help you?”
The woman’s piercing blue eyes didn’t miss a thing as she studied the women in front of her, as if they were some sort of fascinating insect.
Gloria took a step forward. “I’m Gloria Kennedy, Millie’s cousin. We wondered if we could talk to you for a moment.”
Annette’s expression softened. “Ah, the infamous Cousin Gloria whose exploits Millie greatly admires.”
Gloria grinned. “I heard you two don’t do too badly yourselves,” she shot back.
Annette shrugged. “Yeah. We’ve had a few adventures. So what brings you to my neck of the woods?”
Liz stepped forward and lowered her voice. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
“Follow me.” Annette turned on her heel, headed to the other end of the kitchen and stopped in the far corner, away from the other workers. “What’s up?”
Gloria briefly explained what had transpired and what Millie had told them, some of which she guessed Annette may have already known. When she got to the part where Gloria mentioned it was not Captain Armati’s birthday, Annette held up a hand.
“Wait a minute!” She ran a hand through her curly dark hair and began pacing back and forth. “If what you’re saying is true, Amit may have walked straight into a trap.”
Annette stopped. “I’ve been wondering what happened to him. I sent him up to the bridge with the cake and he never came back.”
“We can search for him,” Frances offered.
“With eight of us, we should be able to find him,” Dot added, and then immediately regretted offering since she knew Gloria was a magnet for trouble.
“If you don’t mind,” Annette said. “I can’t leave the kitchen right now.”
“How do we get to the bridge?” Lucy asked.
Annette opened the drawer of a nearby cabinet, pulled out a Siren of the Seas deck plan and unfolded it.
The girls crowded around as Annette explained the quickest way to reach the bridge. She handed the deck plan to Gloria. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to Amit.”
Dot touched Annette’s arm. “We’ll do our best to find Amit and no matter what, we’ll come back to tell you what we did find.”
“Thanks,” Annette’s lips curved in a half-hearted smile. “I would appreciate that.” She followed them to the galley door and the women stepped out into the hall.
Gloria glanced back at the swinging door. “Let’s get this search party underway.”
***
Millie sucked in a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage. She had bigger fish to fry than to worry about a few hundred people staring at her while she fumbled through her opening lines.
The theater was packed, Millie’s introduction went off without a hitch, and when she swept the curtain to the side to make her way backstage, she ran smack dab into Danielle.
Danielle grabbed Millie’s arm and propelled her to the side. “What is going on?”
“What do you mean?” Millie asked.
“The ship isn’t moving,” Danielle hissed under her breath. “It’s crawling with security. Not only that, I can’t find Andy and you have suddenly become the Vanna White of cruise ship entertainment.”
“Follow me.” Millie, followed by Danielle, headed out of the theater, through the double doors and onto an open deck. “No one can reach the bridge or the engine room, the doors are locked and none of our access cards work.”
“Someone has taken over the ship,” Danielle eyes widened. “It all makes sense now. First, someone vandalizes Andy’s cabin and then tries to break into Pursuer Donovan Sweeney’s office. Someone was looking for something; an access card would be my guess.”
Millie hadn’t considered that angle, hadn’t had time to consider that angle. “Annette mentioned earlier someone had ordered a birthday cake to be delivered to the bridge because it was Captain Armati’s birthday but Andy told me his birthday is Christmas Eve. It must have been a ploy to gain access to the bridge.”
“Amit!” Millie’s eyes widened in horror as it dawned on her what had happened. “Annette was going to send Amit to the bridge with the cake!”
“Which means Amit is in danger.” Millie left Danielle near the rail and power walked across the deck toward the galley.
Danielle easily caught up. “Oh no, sister! We’re in this together!” she vowed as she fell into step with Millie.
The women hustled to the galley and Millie flung open the door, her eyes scanning the room. She spotted Annette off in the corner, brandishing a meat tenderizer and pounding a piece of steak into submission.
“Amit!” Millie blurted out when she spotted her friend.
Annette glanced up, a spark of determination in her eyes. “Amit is missing. Your cousins and their friends are searching for him now.”
Millie marched across the room. “What do you mean they’re searching for Amit?”
Annette took one more whack at the steak and then set her weapon down. “They stopped by here earlier to tell me what was going on. I told them about the cake, how someone had ordered it for Captain Armati’s birthday. Your cousin said it wasn’t the captain’s birthday. I sent Amit up to the bridge with the cake and he never came back.”
Annette picked up the pointed tool and shook it in her hand. “I’m waiting for Sous-chef Marc Gravois to show up so I can join the search. I’m gonna find Amit if I have to tear this ship apart, bolt-by-bolt,” Annette vowed.
Despite Annette’s strong words, Millie spied a tiny crack in her friend’s armor and a flicker of worry in her eyes. Annette and Amit were close…like mother and son.
“We’ll wait with you and then search together,” Millie promised her friend.
“Unless your cousins and their friends find him first,” Annette said.
A burst of heat burned Millie’s ears at Annette’s words. This was Millie’s stomping ground and her territory. Gloria and Liz should not be sticking their noses in where they didn’t belong! Not only that, Millie knew the ship like the back of her hand. If anyone could find Amit, it was Millie!
Millie clenched her jaw and forced a smile. “I hope so, too.” She did hope Amit was found safe and sound, but for heaven’s sakes, did Gloria have to be the one to find him? Didn’t the woman ever want to take a break from sleuthing?
The sous-chef arrived a short time later and assured Annette he would cover for her and to not worry about finishing her shift.
Millie, Annette and Danielle made their way into the hallway.
“Let’s go find Amit,” Millie said.
Chapter Ten
Gloria and the girls stared at the white metal door with the red and white sign that read, “Restricted Area. Authorized Personnel Only.”
“Now what?” Ruth asked.
“We work our way backward,” Gloria decided. “Assuming Amit made it this far.” She took a step back. “Perhaps his attacker surprised him, came up behind him while he was waiting for someone to open the door to the bridge.”
The girls retraced their steps, stopping at every door and peering inside.
The eight of them split up
and scoured the area surrounding the bridge, returning a short time later without turning over a single clue.
“This was a complete waste of time,” Liz griped. “We missed the first headliner show all because of some conspiracy theory.” She glanced at her watch. “If I go now, I’ll have just enough time to catch the second show.”
“I-I’ll go with you,” Frances offered. She shrugged her shoulders at Gloria as if to say she was sorry, and then trailed behind Liz as they strolled to the bank of elevators.
The elevator doors opened. Liz turned her nose, tilted her chin and stepped inside.
“I hope she doesn’t get stuck between floors,” Gloria joked as she watched the doors close.
“Maybe we should go back to our balcony and keep an eye on the bridge,” Lucy suggested.
“I guess.” Gloria gazed one last time at the bridge door, wishing she had some way to sneak inside, before reluctantly following her friends down the stairs.
“I think I’ll head down to the theater to watch the show,” Margaret decided.
“Me too,” Andrea said and then she looked at Gloria. “If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Be my guest. I’m not in the mood.” Gloria turned to her friends. “Why don’t you all go and enjoy the evening.”
Lucy shook her head. “Nah. I’ll hang out with you if you don’t mind.”
Andrea, Margaret, Dot and Ruth continued down the steps and headed to the theater.
Lucy and Gloria made their way to the galley to let Annette know they had come up empty-handed, but the man inside the kitchen told them she had left for the day so they headed back to the suite.
When they reached the suite, Gloria swiped her keycard and stepped inside. Lucy closed the door behind them before heading to the balcony.
Gloria dropped her keycard on the coffee table and followed her friend outside. “This ship is not moving. There’s something going on. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Maybe you should let Millie handle this one, after all this is her turf,” Lucy wisely pointed out.
“True,” Gloria admitted as she leaned her elbows on the railing and stared out at the dark waters. “Maybe I should butt out.” She shifted her gaze to the bridge and a movement caught her eye.
“What did Ruth do with those binoculars?” she asked.
“They’re on the coffee table.” Lucy darted inside the suite and grabbed the binoculars. She stepped back out onto the balcony and placed them in Gloria’s hand.
Gloria lifted the binoculars to her eyes, rolled the focus wheel and studied the dark waters. “Oh my gosh! Will you look at that!”
***
Millie stood in front of the door leading to the bridge and silently stared at it. “I could try my card again.” She lifted the lanyard from around her neck and swiped her card through the slot. Nothing happened.
She grasped the door handle and quietly twisted. It wouldn’t budge.
Millie stomped her foot, aggravated. “I wish I had x-ray vision and could see inside the bridge.”
She leaned forward, placed her hands on her knees and tilted her head to the side as she studied the wall surrounding the door.
“Huh.” She lifted her finger and swiped the wall. “Frosting,” she announced as she held up her index finger.
Annette tipped her head and inspected Millie’s finger. “Looks like the frosting that was on the captain’s red velvet cake.”
Annette ran her thumb across Millie’s finger, removing a trace of the frosting and then licked her thumb. “Yep. That’s it.”
“Gross!” Danielle curled her lip.
Annette shifted her gaze and then rubbed the tip of her shoe across a faint white smear on the carpeted floor. “I have a theory. Follow along with me here…Amit made it this far with the cake. While he was waiting for someone to let him into the bridge, someone jumped him from behind, knocking the cake out of his hand.”
“It’s possible they overpowered Amit and now he’s in the bridge, along with the captain and the others,” Danielle added.
“True,” Millie agreed. “But if you were attempting to hijack a ship, wouldn’t you want as few captives as possible? Think about it. Power in numbers.”
She lifted her slightly frosted finger. “One. Captain Armati.” She lifted a second finger. “Two. Staff Captain Vitale. Then you have Ingrid and maybe even Amit. That makes at least four captives.”
Annette clenched her jaw. “So you think they killed Amit and dumped his body overboard? If anything happens to Amit, I will never forgive myself.”
“Which is why we have to keep moving, keep searching. There has to be something, some sort of clue,” Millie said.
Danielle, Annette and Millie turned and slowly wandered down the hall. Lining the left hand side of the corridor were storage closets. As luck would have it, Millie had a master key to everything onboard the ship, including the storage closets.
She stopped in front of the first storage area, the one closest to the bridge, inserted her key and opened the door. The closet was full of cleaning supplies.
The closet next to it was chock full of bright orange life vests.
When Millie got to the third one, she paused. The cabinet was unlocked, the door slightly ajar. She stuck her finger on the edge of the frame and pulled.
The door swung open and a leg flopped out.
It was one of the maintenance crew…an unconscious maintenance crew; at least Millie prayed he was unconscious and not dead.
“Does he have a pulse?” Danielle bent down on one knee.
Annette dropped down next to Danielle, and pressed her index and middle finger to the side of his neck. “Yes!”
There was a large lump on his temple and his face was pale, but he was breathing. “Help me get him out,” Annette said as she grabbed his arm and tugged.
Millie reached for his ankles while Annette grasped him under his arms.
“Hey!” Annette said. “Can you hear me?”
The man moaned.
The girls finally managed to drag him out of the closet and position him so that he was flat on his back.
Millie plucked her radio from her clip, turned it on and lifted it to her lips. “Doctor Gundervan, do you copy?”
“Go ahead Millie.”
“We need you up on deck ten near the bridge. Stat.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Millie leaned against the wall, keeping one eye on the hall and the other on the door to the bridge, half expecting a crazed killer to burst through the bridge door, guns blazing. “I really need to stop reading those scary books,” she mumbled.
“Huh?” Annette lifted her head and gazed at her friend.
“Never mind,” Millie said.
Thankfully, Doctor Gundervan appeared moments later. “Whatcha got, Millie?”
Gundervan shifted his gaze. “Oh no! What happened?” He dropped to his knees and set his black medical bag on the floor next to the unconscious man.
Annette crawled out of the way and the three women hovered nearby as they watched Doctor Gundervan examine the man.
While Doctor Gundervan checked his vitals, he began to come around. His eyes fluttered open and he stared blankly at Doctor Gundervan before shifting his gaze beyond the doctor. His eyes met Annette’s. “Where am I?”
“I think he’s going to be okay,” Doctor Gundervan said. “Can you sit up?”
With the help of Doctor Gundervan, the man slowly eased to a sitting position. He gently placed his fingers against his swollen temple. “I don’t know what happened. I was standing in the hall, looking at the surveillance camera. The next thing I know, my head hurts like the dickens and she is hovering over me.” He pointed at Annette.
Gundervan eyed Annette and then shifted his gaze toward the bridge. “We should get him down to medical,” he said.
The doctor helped the man to his feet and the two of them slowly shuffled down the hall to the bank of elevators.
Annette, Danielle and
Millie trailed behind. They waited for Doctor Gundervan and the injured man to step into the elevator before following them in.
Millie clenched her teeth and nervously watched the elevator doors close, praying they wouldn’t end up trapped inside.
When they reached the medical center, Annette, Danielle and Millie waited in the small reception area while Doctor Gundervan, accompanied by a nurse who met them at the door, helped the man into the back.
Annette paced the floor while Danielle and Millie watched the door to the examination room anxiously. “I wonder if he was able to catch a glimpse of his attacker.”
Before Millie could reply, the door to the medical center burst open and Dave Patterson, accompanied by Purser Donovan Sweeney, stepped inside.
The sight of the two of them jogged Millie’s memory. She popped out of the chair. “Oh my gosh! I’m supposed to open for the second seating show!”
Patterson waved his hand. “We just left Andy. He’s on his way to the theater as we speak.”
“Whew!” Millie wiped her brow. “I forgot all about it!”
Donovan nodded his head in the direction of the examination room. “What happened?”
Annette briefly explained how they had gone to the bridge and how Millie had found a small glob of frosting on the wall next to the door leading into the bridge.
“We started to search the storage closets near the bridge door and when we got to the third one, we found the maintenance guy unconscious and stuffed inside one of the closets,” Millie explained.
Danielle crossed her arms and focused her razor sharp gaze on Dave Patterson. “Has someone hijacked Siren of the Seas?” she asked him point blank.
Patterson’s eyes slid to Donovan Sweeney and then he gazed at Annette uneasily. “The short and sweet answer is yes. Someone has taken over both the bridge and the engine room. They have somehow managed to scramble all radio signals and communication. We’re sitting ducks.”
Donovan Sweeney quietly closed the outer door to the medical center and then shoved his hands in his front pockets. “We have several spotters patrolling the decks. It appears there is a boat out there lurking in the waters not far from Siren of the Seas.”
Cruise Control (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 6) Page 7