Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series: Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 4

  Millie nodded. “Andy gave me a tour, introduced me to a few people but now I’m striking out on my own,” she admitted.

  Cat nodded. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.” She pulled another box from the cart and set it in front of her. “I was so glad to see what’s-his-name gone.” She shuddered dramatically.

  Millie remembered Annette, the head of the food department, had made a similar remark. “I’ve heard that before. So what was so bad about…uh…”

  “Toby,” Cat finished. “Or as I liked to call him, ‘Toady.’” Cat tugged on the bottom of her skirt and stepped out from behind the counter.

  Millie glanced down at Cat’s shoes. She was wearing leopard print stiletto heels. If Millie had to guess, they were at least six inches high! Millie wouldn’t be caught dead in them. She’d break her neck. Of course, they would make a perfect weapon if you wanted to…say, for example, strike ones cheating ex-husband in the forehead…

  Her eyes traveled back up. The pattern on the shoes matched the leopard print scarf tied around Cat’s neck.

  Cat walked over to the display case and began rearranging the shelf. “He was a humdinger, that one. A real creep.” She shook her head, as if to erase the image from her mind.

  Cat rearranged a pile of boxed candy before she dropped her hands to her side. Her shoulders drooped forward. “Today hasn’t been the best of days.” Cat grabbed a wayward strand of hair and expertly tucked it back into the beehive. “Did you hear about the girl that died?”

  Millie nodded. “I saw her lying on the floor by the bar, right before they covered her body.”

  Cat nodded. “That was Olivia. She worked with me here in the gift shop.”

  Millie perked up. She’d hoped to find out a little more about the young woman, particularly now that there was a bit of a mystery surrounding her death. “Did you hear how she died?” Millie didn’t want to tip her hand and let her know she’d heard they suspected a venomous bite.

  Cat nodded. “One of the bartenders, Bobby, was in here a little while ago. Something about a wound on her ankle. Maybe a spider bite.”

  Satisfied with her new window display, Cat faced Millie. “That poor girl was deathly afraid of spiders. How ironic is it that she may have died from a venomous bite?”

  Millie shook her head. She wasn’t sure about the “ironic” part. Her detective radar was in full gear now. The clues were adding up – and it wasn’t pointing to a cut and dried “I happened upon a spider” by accident.

  “I don’t think it was an accident,” Cat said. She opened her mouth and quickly closed it. Millie waited for more but that was all that Cat had to say, other than, “I better get back to work.”

  Millie took that as her cue. She waved goodbye and headed out the door. The woman knew something else and Millie wished more than anything that she knew what that “something else” was!

  Chapter 4

  Millie wandered out of the gift shop and over to another set of doors on the other side of the corridor. She grinned when she realized the doors were in the shape of a piano. Ivory Lounge. It was the piano bar. The door was open and Millie could hear muffled sobs from within. She stood to one side, tilted her head, and peeked around the corner.

  “You’re new.”

  A male voice with a heavy accent was close to her ear. Too close. Millie whirled around and came face-to-face with a man who standing in what most people would consider their “personal space.”

  Millie took a step back. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn’t wearing a ship’s uniform. The second thing she noticed was that he was tall. And thin.

  She nodded. “Yes. I’m the new assistant cruise director.” Millie tucked her hands behind her back. “Mildred Sanders. But you can call me Millie.” She groaned inwardly, not sure why she had added that last part, considering she wasn’t sure she wanted him calling her Millie!

  “Ahh…I see.” He returned her small nod with one of his own. “I am Jose Juan Carlos Garcia Santiago Hernandez. But you can call me Gary.” He gave a small bow.

  “Gary.” She blinked rapidly. He didn’t look like a Gary.

  “You like a tour of the ship?”

  Millie shook her head. “Andy’s already taken care of that. Thank you,” she added. The man – Gary – was giving her weird vibes. A chill ran up her spine. There was something about him.

  “You w…”

  Gary cut her off. “Nice to meet you, Millie.” Her named rolled off his tongue, extending the “e” sound and pronouncing it more like Milleeeeeee. He reached for her hand, lifted it to his lips and softly kissed the top.

  Millie’s mouth dropped open. Before she could reply, he was gone. Right then and there, she decided he was the oddest man she had ever met. At least so far. The day was still young.

  Not wanting to chance another encounter with “Gary,” Millie turned on her heel and headed in the opposite direction. She walked past the bank of elevators and over to the stairs. There was still a whole lot of ship to cover. Her plan of attack was to start at the top and work her way down.

  Out on deck, the crew was hard at work scrubbing deck boards and polishing handrails. In the buffet area, others were running back and forth, arranging tables and setting up stations for the following day.

  She smiled at quite a few of the workers but didn’t stop as she continued past the dining room and to bar in the back. The bar area was like a ghost town.

  She headed to a set of stairs leading up to another, smaller deck area. Off to one side were sliding glass doors. Millie trudged up a small ramp and stepped inside. The air was cool – the space quiet, unlike the area she had just passed through.

  Millie knew there was a small church sanctuary tucked away in the corner of the ship, close to the top. A small, painted sign hung on the wall nearby: Sky Chapel. She was in the right place.

  Millie stepped inside. It was cozy. The inside had been painted white, which made it look a bit bigger than it was. There were two rows of pews. A small aisle separated the pews.

  In the front was a stained glass wall. Hanging on the back wall was a cross. On both sides of the cross were two artificial windows. In front of that was a small podium.

  “Can I help you?”

  Millie whirled around. “I-I was just checking out the ship.” A gray-haired, middle-aged man was standing in the doorway. “Are you the pastor?”

  He didn’t look like a man of the cloth. Not in casual shorts and shirt. No. He definitely looked more like a guest, but that was impossible since there were no guests coming on board the ship until tomorrow. He nodded. “Pastor Pete Evans. At your service.” He smiled and gave a small bend of his waist.

  She took a step closer to him. “Do you have regular church services?” She had read on the ship’s website that they did.

  He nodded. “Yes. Nondenominational.” He folded his hands in front of him. “Every Sunday morning at nine a.m.”

  Millie let out a sigh of relief. She had been involved in her church back home. Mostly teaching Sunday school classes or filling in for the choir. It gave her some comfort knowing she would at least be able to spend some time in the House of the Lord once a week.

  “Care to join me?” He pointed to a nearby pew. Millie slid onto the seat. He joined her, sitting a short distance away. “You’re new on the ship.” It wasn’t really a question.

  “Yes. Assistant Cruise Director,” she told him. “Mildred Sanders but you can call me Millie.”

  “Ahh.” He nodded. “You’ll like Andy,” he predicted.

  “I already do.”

  “We’ve had a bit of excitement today.” He crossed his arms and leaned back. “A sad situation – the death of one of the crew - Olivia LaShay.”

  Millie was all ears now.

  “She was troubled, it seems.”

  Millie wondered what he meant by “troubled.” She remembered hearing that Olivia had boyfriend after boyfriend. She probably made quite a few enemies. Quite possibly one that was angry enough
to kill her.

  Pastor Evans must have decided he had said too much. He abruptly got to his feet. “I hope to see you Sunday morning, Millie.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  Millie wandered out of the sanctuary and down the small ramp. Yes. The chapel would be her perfect church away from home, she decided.

  It took her another hour to hit every floor and check out every guest area. Her feet were beginning to ache, just a bit, so she headed back down to the crew quarters. In her room, she flopped down on the bed and kicked off her shoes.

  The sound of a toilet flushing made her bolt upright. She felt guilty for settling in and immediately popped up off the bed.

  Sarah came out of the bathroom and plopped down in the chair at the desk. “How’d it go?”

  Millie smiled. “So far, so good. I think I’m going to like it.” She looked around the cramped space and jerked her head toward the door. “I have a feeling I’ll be spending most of my time out there.”

  Sarah nodded. “Yeah, me too.” She glanced at her watch. “Did you hear anything else about that poor woman that died?”

  Millie lifted her hands high above her head and stretched her back. “They think it was a spider bite. Her roommate found an aquarium in their cabin this morning.”

  Sarah wandered over to the closet to study her reflection in front of the full-length mirror. She adjusted the tag on her shirt. “I heard the same rumor. I met her roommate, Maribelle. She works in the dining room, too. She’s really shook up about the whole thing.”

  “Oh?” Sarah had Millie’s undivided attention. “Where’s her cabin?”

  “Three doors down that way.” Sarah pointed toward the bathroom.

  Millie made a mental note to remember that as she glanced at her watch. It was time to meet Andy.

  Chapter 5

  Sarah headed to the crew area while Millie went in the opposite direction down the I-95 corridor. She stopped in front of the metal door she had taken earlier, grateful that she was already learning her way around the ship. At least a little.

  To the left was a bank of elevators. To the right, the stairs. Millie opted for the stairs since she wasn’t a huge fan of elevators. Not since the time she was in the elevator of the Sears Tower in Chicago, years ago and the elevator decided to stop. Halfway up.

  It was then Millie discovered she suffered from some form of claustrophobia, so elevators were out. Unless it was life or death.

  Luckily, the crew areas were on Deck 1 and the theater / stage was on Deck 3. She stepped inside the theater and headed to the front. She could hear Andy and his big, booming voice before she could see him. He was off to one side, talking to one of the young male dancers, whose face buried in his hands.

  Andy placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can do this, Zack. You have to! You’re a performer – a professional! The show must go on!”

  “But I can’t. Her face! It’s there every time I close my eyes.” Anguished cries rocked his body.

  Millie took a step closer. Andy glanced up. He gave her a look of helplessness.

  Millie slid a chair close to the young man and sat down on the edge of the seat. She had no idea what was going on, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Olivia - the dead girl.

  She touched his arm. “Is there anything I can do?”

  The young man, Zack, lifted his head. Hollow, grief filled eyes stared into Millie’s. “Can you bring Olivia back?”

  Andy took this as his cue to leave and made a hasty exit from the room. She watched him retreat and then turned her attention back to the heartbroken young man.

  “We can pray for her and her family.” And pray that God would comfort this poor man, Millie silently added.

  He nodded. They lowered their heads and Millie offered a small prayer for the girl she had never met. “Lord, we pray for peace and comfort for Zack, for Olivia and for Olivia’s family. We pray that Olivia is now safely in Your arms.”

  Zack lifted his head and wiped his eyes. “Thanks.” He glanced at her tag. “Thanks, Millie. That helped a lot.”

  They finished in the nick of time. The dancers were filing out of the dressing area and onto the stage.

  Millie stood next to Andy as the two of them watched the show from the wings. It gave her a completely different perspective from that angle. She got a chance to chat with a few of the performers before they went on. They were a bunch of characters, all right. And probably a whole lot of fun to hang out with – if she were at least 30 years younger.

  After the show ended, the performers changed out of their costumes and into crew outfits. Andy grabbed a clipboard that was hanging on the wall and began to make his way down the checklist as he meticulously counted the costumes and headpieces.

  “Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to inventory the costumes.” He glanced around and lowered his voice. “You’d be amazed at how many of these expensive pieces somehow manage to sprout legs and just wander off, never to be seen again.”

  Millie wondered if maybe there was a black market somewhere for designer costumes.

  After Andy finished, he locked the dressing room door and the two of them made their way off the stage. The theater was empty. Millie shivered as she looked up at the cavernous ceiling. She was glad she wasn’t alone.

  Andy left her outside the theater mumbling something about getting a jump-start on tomorrow’s schedule.

  Not certain what else she should do, Millie headed down to the crew dining room. It had been hours since she’d eaten and her stomach began to grumble. The smell of fried foods and sizzling burgers hit her when she entered the cafeteria.

  There were only a handful of employees inside. She grabbed a tray at the end of the line and moved forward. She eyed the burgers sizzling on the grill. She could feel her arteries hardening.

  Millie sighed and reached for a salad before moving on.

  A young woman, her hair pulled back in a long, dark ponytail came up beside her. Millie glanced down at her tag: Maribelle.

  Millie’s eyes widened. She wondered if this was Olivia’s cabin mate. She didn’t have to wonder long. A man on the other side approached the counter. “How are you holding up Maribelle?”

  Maribelle lifted her head and glanced at the man behind the counter. “Not so good, Josh,” she answered. “They’re saying Olivia was murdered.” Tears welled up in the young woman’s eyes.

  Josh raised his brows. “Murdered?”

  “That Olivia was bitten by a spider and it wasn’t an accident.” She lowered her voice, but not enough so that Millie couldn’t hear. “They’re questioning me. As if I had something to do with her death!”

  Millie moved on. She had to. It would look suspicious if she continued to stand in the same spot and eavesdrop. She edged forward and reached for an apple.

  Maribelle and Josh followed her down the line. The man behind the line rearranged the array of desserts. “How do they know it was a spider? Did they find it?”

  Maribelle shuddered. “Nope and they won’t switch my room. I won’t be able to sleep tonight, wondering if something’s crawling on me.” She rubbed her arms, as if to brush off an invisible spider.

  Millie shuddered. She hated spiders and the fact that a deadly spider might be on the loose didn’t make her feel much better. She had reached the end of the line and Josh had moved on. Millie turned to her. “I heard about that poor girl,” she said. “Do they really think someone murdered her?”

  Maribelle grabbed a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich and followed Millie toward the chairs. “I think someone killed her,” she confessed. “They found an aquarium buried in the bottom of Olivia’s closet but it did not belong to Olivia, I can promise you that.”

  Millie wandered over to the nearest empty table and sat down. She held her breath, hoping Maribelle would join her.

  She let out the breath when the girl slid into the seat beside her. “But who would have motive to kill her? I heard they thought maybe she’d b
een bitten before she got back on the ship.” Of course, that was before they found the spider’s home inside the cabin…

  She didn’t wait for Maribelle to answer. “Why do you think you’re a suspect?” she asked.

  Maribelle tore the crust from her sandwich and dropped it on the edge of the plate. “Olivia and I had a bit of a falling out just before her death,” she confessed. “A very public falling out. As in - I told her I wished she was dead and a bunch of people heard me.”

  Millie tore the packet of ranch dressing open and dumped it on her salad. She popped a forkful of lettuce along with a cucumber into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully. “I heard that Olivia had quite a few enemies on the ship.”

  Maribelle’s eyes narrowed. “That was because she made it her personal goal to steal everyone’s boyfriend, including mine.”

  Millie wiped the outside of her apple with her napkin and took a bite. That certainly gave Maribelle motive. Of course, it gave a lot of others on board motive, as well. Still, she would be the most likely suspect and the one who was closest to her. Motive and opportunity.

  “Who do you think killed Olivia?” Millie asked.

  Maribelle glanced around then lowered her voice. “I think it was Cat.”

  Cat…Cat… “You mean the lady that runs the gift shop?”

  “Olivia was spreading rumors, telling everyone Cat was about to be fired and that she was going to get her job,” Maribelle confided. She lifted what was left of the top piece of bread from her sandwich, pulled out a wilting piece of lettuce, and tossed it on the plate.

  Millie decided Maribelle was a picky eater.

  “Of course, Olivia was a compulsive liar so whether or not that was true.” Maribelle shrugged.

  Millie tapped the tines of her fork on the edge of her plate. That was motive. “Anyone else you think might be a prime suspect?”

  Maribelle was turning out to be a wealth of information. “There’s one more. At least, one more that I think could be capable of murder.”