Cruisin' for a Bruisin' (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 9)

by Hope Callaghan

  Danielle was up unusually early and instead of being grouchy, she was chipper. She even offered to grab some coffee while Millie got ready, which Millie readily accepted.

  Not only did Danielle bring back coffee, she brought back a tray, laden with enticing breakfast treats. Millie realized she’d missed dinner the previous night, and despite the feeling of foreboding, she devoured her food.

  While they ate, the women discussed the new pool activities and all of the items they would need to purchase before the ship set sail.

  After they finished, they stopped by the crew mess to drop their dirty dishes in the bin before climbing the stairs to the lido deck to scope out locations.

  The morning flew by and as the hours passed, Millie’s uneasiness began to subside. She was still determined to track down Brody to confront him with her suspicions he was covering for someone but figured he would be sleeping. She still hadn’t formulated a plan on how to broach the subject.

  Danielle and Millie had just finished their meticulous material list they planned to run by Andy for approval when Millie’s radio began squawking. “Millie, do you copy?”

  Millie frowned at the sound of Dave Patterson’s voice. “Now what?” she asked Danielle before lifting the radio and pressing the button. “This is Millie. Go ahead.”

  “Please meet me in my office.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes. Now.”

  “I’m on my way.” Millie hung her head as she clipped her radio to her belt. The proverbial other shoe had dropped.

  Chapter 19

  The first thing Millie noticed when she stepped inside Patterson’s office was Sharky Kiveski seated across from Patterson. His face was beet red and he was breathing hard.

  The second thing she noticed was she wasn’t the only one who had been summoned to Patterson’s office. Annette was there looking none too pleased.

  “Thank you for joining us,” Patterson motioned toward the door. “Please. Close the door behind you and have a seat.”

  Annette sat on one side. Sharky sat on the other. The seat in the middle was empty so Millie dragged it close to Annette. Patterson waited until Millie was seated before speaking.

  “I just left Mr. Kiveski’s office.”

  “It’s a nice office,” Annette said.

  Patterson gave her a dark look and cleared his throat. “It was a nice office. Someone vandalized it while Sharky was making his rounds this morning.”

  He leaned in. “Do either of you have any idea who might’ve done that?”

  “No. Millie shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “Sharky seems to think you do.”

  “That’s crazy,” Millie sputtered. “Why would we tear your place apart?”

  “Because Reef fingered you two as having something to do with Isaac’s death last night,” Sparky said. “Not only that, ever since you two broads showed up…”

  “Mr. Kiveski,” Patterson warned.

  Sharky rolled his eyes. “Okay, ever since you two ladies showed up in my office, it’s been nothing but trouble. It’s either you or Brody Rourke.”

  “Brody is asleep in his cabin,” Patterson said as he turned his attention to Millie. “Do you have an alibi for your whereabouts this morning?”

  “Of course.” Millie nodded. “I’ve been with Danielle, going over the plans for the new lido deck activities.”

  “What about you?” he asked Annette.

  “I’ve been in the galley working on lunch. Several of the kitchen crew can vouch for me, including Amit. I haven’t left the kitchen all morning.”

  “That clears one of you. You’re free to go.”

  “Not without Millie,” Annette said. “You know there’s no way she trashed Sharky’s office. I mean, not without a good reason.”

  “Thanks for trying to help.” Millie patted her friend’s hand.

  Patterson grabbed his radio and turned up the volume. “Danielle. Do you copy?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Where have you been all morning?”

  “I’ve been up on lido with Millie. We’ve been going over the plans for the new outdoor activities.”

  Millie shot Sharky a triumphant look.

  “She could be lying,” Sharky muttered. “I’m willing to let this whole thing slide if she comes to my office and cleans up the mess.”

  “I.” Millie was about to say “refuse” but changed her mind. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Perhaps there was some hidden clue inside Sharky’s office, something that would lead her to who was behind Brody’s attacks and Isaac’s death. “I’ll do it.”

  “Are you sure?” Patterson asked. “You both have alibis.” He turned to Sharky. “It could be a disgruntled employee. Have you written anyone up lately?”

  “I write people up on a daily basis, but they’ve never trashed my office before. I still say it’s got something to do with these two,” Sharky insisted.

  “I’ll help,” Annette offered. “It’s time for my break anyway.”

  Sharky stood. “You coming?”

  “I’ll need to change first,” Millie said as she pointed at her white slacks.

  “Me too.” Annette glanced at her spotless chef’s uniform.

  “I’ll be waiting,” was Sharky’s parting shot before exiting Patterson’s office.

  Annette flipped him the bird.

  “Annette,” Millie said.

  “He’s a jerk.”

  “True, but you have to admit, he’s got a point,” Millie said.

  “Try not to aggravate Sharky while you clean up his office,” Patterson warned.

  “Of course not. You know we wouldn’t do that,” Annette said sarcastically. “He’s our new best bud. Him and his pal, Reef, who by the way, ought to be at the top of your list of suspects.”

  “He’s there,” Patterson said. “We’re already working with the port police to determine the cause of Mr. Risang’s unfortunate demise.”

  “Do you think he committed suicide?” Millie had to ask.

  “It’s possible. We’re not ruling anything out.” Patterson sighed heavily. “The fact Isaac was telling everyone Brody was about to get canned casts suspicion on him. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get him off the hook this time.”

  Millie briefly explained her theory, how she thought Brody might be covering for a friend by taking the heat and taking the beatings.

  “Reef Savage seemed all too anxious to throw Annette and me under the bus last night. He had opportunity to arrange for Brody’s attack and who’s to say he didn’t trash his own office just to throw the investigators off?”

  “I agree,” Patterson said. “We’ll be looking closely at Reef, not to mention Brody and Brody’s cabin mate. There’s also Hugh someone but I’m not sure how he fits into the picture.”

  “We better get going before Sharky throws a hissy fit,” Annette said.

  The women parted ways to change into old work clothes and then met up at the stairwell.

  “Let me guess. You agreed to clean Sharky’s office because you want to snoop.”

  “Bingo,” Millie said. “This will give us the perfect opportunity to look around. Someone was looking for something inside Sharky/Reef’s office.”

  “I hoped maybe this Isaac guy’s death was tied to Brody’s attacks and last night was the end of it,” Annette said.

  “Me too. I guess it was wishful thinking on our part.”

  Sharky was standing in the center of his office when the women arrived. “I was just about to call you on the radio. Look at this place.”

  Strewn across Sharky’s desk and floor were sheets of paper. His desk drawers were wide open. One of the filing cabinet doors was bent.

  Sharky followed Millie’s gaze. “Someone tried to pry open the cabinet.”

  The water cooler in the corner was tipped at an odd angle and a puddle of water had soaked a pile of papers scattered on the floor. Even the mini fridge behind the desk had been ransacked, its contents carelessly piled
off to one side.

  “I’m leaving for a couple hours and when I get back, this place better be spic and span or else.”

  “Or else what?” Millie couldn’t help herself.

  “I’m filing a complaint and taking it all the way to the top, to Captain Armati!”

  Annette snickered and Millie elbowed her. “We’ll have it clean.”

  Sharky hopped on his scooter, flipped the switch and with a big bang backfire, roared out of the office and out of sight.

  “Good riddance,” Annette said as she closed the door behind him. “Now. Where do we start?”

  “Let’s start with the water cooler.” They tipped the water cooler upright and dried the floor and papers with a stack of shop towels they found stacked in the corner of the small changing room.

  The women worked in silence as they snooped and cleaned, moving as quickly and thoroughly as possible as they searched for clues.

  They organized the papers first, stacking them in tidy piles on the desk before salvaging as much of the refrigerated items as possible. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Sharky will expect us to replenish the stuff we had to toss out.”

  “Yeah, a half-eaten box of ho ho’s, a block of moldy Colby cheese and this.” Millie held up what looked like a petri dish full of fungus. “Disgusting.” She dropped the dish in the trash bag and turned her attention to the filing cabinet.

  “Someone wanted to get inside this cabinet pretty bad,” Millie said as she ran her finger along the edge of the twisted metal.

  Annette shoved her hands on her hips and gazed at the tidy office. “It looks like our job here is done.”

  “I think it’s cleaner now than before someone trashed it,” Millie said.

  Annette started to answer when the sound of tires squealing caught her attention. “He’s baaack.”

  Sharky appeared in the doorway, peering inside. “This looks a little better.”

  “A little better?” Millie asked. “No. It looks a lot better.” She pointed to the stacks of papers on the desk. “We didn’t know where to put these so we just stacked them up.”

  Sharky ignored Millie and shuffled to the back of the room where he opened the refrigerator door. “You’re gonna replace my stuff, right?”

  “Not our responsibility,” Annette said.

  Sharky slammed the door shut. “You might as well have admitted responsibility. Who in their right mind would clean up this mess unless they made it in the first place?”

  “Unless they wanted to snoop,” Millie muttered under her breath.

  “Yeah, well you wasted your time.” He pointed at the damaged file cabinet drawer. “All the good stuff, the employee dirt, is locked in there.”

  Annette ignored the comment and marched to the door. “Our job here is done.”

  “No hard feelings? Right?” Sharky hurried after them.

  “You jerk,” Annette said.

  Sharky shrugged. “Eh. I’ve been called worse. So the next time you need a favor, you’ll keep ole Sharkster in mind? That was a tasty dinner the other night.” He patted his protruding stomach.

  Annette opened her mouth but Millie reached out to stop her. “Of course. You never know when we’ll need another favor.”

  “Over my dead body,” Annette growled.

  “That’s what I thought.” Sharky held the door. “Watch out for my scooter.”

  The women slipped past the flaming scooter and headed to the exit.

  “I do believe Sharky may have given me my ‘ah ha’ moment. It was sitting back there, right on the edge of my mind. When he walked in and started looking around, it dawned on me.”

  “You mean as far as cracking the case?”

  “There’s a strong possibility that Brody stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have and there really was a body.” Millie nodded. “I know just the person who might be able to help crack this case.”

  “Who is that?”

  “Cat.”

  Chapter 20

  Annette and Millie searched high and low for Cat. The first place they tried was the gift shop, after that, her cabin, and then every other area. “Where could she be?” Millie was stumped.

  “You don’t think she got off the ship,” Annette said.

  “I have an idea.” Cat was making progress in venturing off the ship in ports but so far, Millie was sure she hadn’t explored Miami unless she was with Joe, Doctor Gundervan. “Let’s check medical.”

  “Great idea. We can see if Doctor Gundervan has any information on Isaac’s death while we’re there.” The women descended the stairs until they reached deck two. The ship’s medical center was on the same deck as security as well as the ship’s morgue.

  The door was unlocked so they stepped inside the small waiting room. It was empty. The tinkling of a woman’s laughter echoed from the examination room.

  “Anybody home?” Millie hollered toward the back.

  The laughter stopped and Cat emerged, her face flushed. “Hi Millie. Annette.” She smoothed her hair and stepped into the waiting room.

  Doctor Gundervan followed her out, looking like a school kid who had just been busted. “Hello Millie.” He nodded to Annette. “Annette.”

  “Where’s Rachel?” Rachel was the ship’s nurse and gossip extraordinaire.

  “She’s upstairs on break,” Doctor Gundervan said.

  “Ah.” Annette lifted a brow. “Cat thought the good doctor might be lonely so she thought she’d keep you company without nurse busybody taking notes.”

  “I was just getting ready to leave.” Cat turned to her beau. “We’re meeting tomorrow at ten just outside the gangway?”

  “Yes. Don’t forget your sunscreen and swimsuit in case we decide to hop off at the beach.” Doctor Gundervan gave Cat a quick peck on the lips. “Now which one of you ladies needs my assistance?”

  “Neither. We were actually looking for Cat.”

  “Oh.” Doctor Gundervan cast Cat a quick glance. “You need her for another spy mission?”

  “Cat,” Millie admonished.

  “What? He’s not going to tell anyone.”

  “While we’re here, is there any news on the poor deceased man?” Annette asked.

  Gundervan shook his head. “You know I can’t discuss the case. All I can say is I’m almost positive there’s still an open investigation into Mr. Risang’s death.”

  Cat blew her beau a kiss before following Annette and Millie into the hall.

  Annette pulled the door shut. “Where’s lover boy taking you tomorrow?”

  “Somewhere called Lincoln Road. It’s a shopping area near Miami Beach. We’re going to have lunch and do a little sightseeing.”

  “It sounds like fun.” Millie changed the subject. “I was wondering if I could take a look at your computer again.”

  Cat frowned. “You can’t log onto the employee computers? I heard the connection is lightning fast now that we’re docked in port.”

  “No. I need your computer.”

  “Ah.” Cat lifted a brow. “I see. You want to take a look at the log.”

  “Yeah. Do you still have access?”

  “As far as I know.”

  The trio hurried up the steps and when they reached Ocean Treasures, Cat unlocked the door and motioned them inside. “I’m sure any day now Donovan is going to figure out the site isn’t secure and he’ll block it.”

  “I still don’t know what we’re doing,” Annette grumbled.

  “You’ll see in a minute,” Millie promised.

  Cat made her way to the back of the newly renovated gift shop.

  “You did a great job re-designing this place,” Millie complimented.

  “Thanks.” Cat turned her computer on, swiped her access card and then reached for her glasses. “You’re in luck. I still have access.” Cat tapped the keyboard. “Who or what are we looking for?”

  “First, I want to check Brody’s movements since the first night he was attacked.”

  Millie peeked over
Cat’s shoulder as she studied the screen. “He’s pretty consistent, starting his shift at eleven p.m. and then clocking out at ten a.m.”

  “Whew.” Annette blew air through thinned lips. “Now that’s an all-nighter.”

  “Yeah. Eleven hours is a long shift,” Cat agreed.

  “Were you ever able to hear anything on the listening device you hid in Brody’s cabin?” Millie asked.

  Annette tapped her pocket. “I’ve been listening off and on, whenever I have a break but so far, there’s nothing.”

  “It was worth a shot,” Millie said. “Now I want to take a look at Isaac Risang’s movements.”

  Cat exited Brody’s file and typed in Isaac’s name. “His file is missing.”

  “Patterson must’ve pulled it,” Annette said.

  “That’s okay,” Millie said. “How about Nevlin Cooper, Brody’s cabin mate?” A thought occurred like a bolt of lightning. “Can you go back to the last night in San Juan?”

  “No.” Cat shook her head. “I think you asked me the other day. I only have information from the last few days; right after the new system was live online.”

  “Rats. Okay. Let’s look at what you have on Nevlin.”

  Similar to Brody, Nevlin’s schedule was consistent. He clocked into work at eleven and clocked out at ten. There was one noticeable difference. Since docking in Miami, Brody hadn’t left the dock area and ventured out.

  Nevlin, on the other hand, had. Every night, he’d exited the ship via the main gangway around eight p.m. and returned mere minutes before his eleven o’clock shift started.

  “That’s interesting,” Millie murmured. “There’s one more. Hugh and I can’t remember his last name.”

  “We looked him up the other day.” Cat exited Nevlin’s file and typed in Hugh. “I found him. Hugh Mufti. He’s a swing shifter.”

  Annette eased around the counter and stared at the computer. “I must be losing my touch. Why is he on the radar?”

  Millie stared at his picture. “He was in the lounge and playing cards the night Isaac was shooting off his mouth.”

  “I have two separate theories but they could be tied.” She shifted her gaze and stared out the window. “What if Nevlin got into a tight situation in the red light district and called on Brody, his friend and cabin mate, to help him out, you know back him up?”