Vanishing Vacationers (Cruise Ship Christian Cozy Mysteries Series Book 5) Read online

  Brandon grinned. “You promised we could go with you today. We waited for you on the gangway.”

  Nathan interrupted. “I saw you take off so Brandon and I ran after you.”

  Danielle glanced around. She could take them back to the ship and insist they stay put, that she would somehow make it up to them later.

  Danielle crossed her arms and studied Brandon’s face. “How did you get off the ship without a guardian?” The boys were too young to be allowed off without supervision. “We told the security guard you were waiting for us.”

  Danielle’s heart sank. She was on the hook. On the one hand, she knew the wisest thing to do was to take them back, but these boys were smart. She correctly guessed they would find a way to get back off the ship. Security knew they were with her. If something happened to them, she would never forgive herself.

  “We won’t be any trouble,” Nathan promised. His brown eyes begged.

  Against her better judgment, Danielle caved. “Oh, all right. Millie is gonna kill me,” she groaned.

  The trio passed by the salt ponds that formed a triangle. Danielle motioned them to follow single file as they passed by the still, shallow waters.

  The jungle was straight ahead. “Let’s go.”

  She waved the boys forward and the trio left behind the last sliver of civilization for miles around as they stepped off the beaten path and entered the jungle in search of Hassadona Pass.

  Beams of early light peeked through the towering treetops. It reminded Danielle of bunches of broccoli. “I wonder what kinds of trees those are.”

  Brandon, the older brother, took a step back. His eyes traveled upward. “It looks like a gum tree, indigenous to the region. I think this island is far enough south to be considered Central America.”

  “Living among the gum trees, slurping up coconut juice,” Nathan began singing.

  Danielle burst out laughing. He changed his voice and now sounded like a chipmunk. “That was funny.”

  Nathan, encouraged by Danielle’s delight at his antics, began a new song, this time with a deeper baritone. “Hey Boo Boo. I’m getting’ kinda hungry. We need to find a picnic basket.”

  The boys had been in such a hurry to track down Danielle, they had skipped breakfast.

  Danielle dropped her backpack on the dirt path, unzipped the middle section and reached inside. She pulled out a granola bar and an apple. “Take your pick.”

  Nathan grabbed the apple. Brandon reached for the granola bar. Danielle had packed a few snacks and bottles of water but she hadn’t planned on company. If they were lucky, the search would zip right along and they would be back onboard the ship before lunch.

  Danielle led the way, praying they were headed in the right direction. Everything looked the same. She quickly realized she should have brought some sort of marker to mark the rocks as they passed by.

  Mosquitoes buzzed around her head.

  She stopped a second time, reached in the front pouch of her backpack and pulled out a packet of repellant wipes. She handed one to each of the boys and kept a third, wiping her face, her arms and all exposed skin.

  “Agh!”

  Danielle jumped, spun around and clutched her chest. “What?”

  Brandon was holding a palm branch, looking guilty.

  Nathan rubbed his neck. “I thought a spider was crawling on me.”

  “Brandon,” Danielle warned, certain the older brother had caused Nathan to think there was a spider.

  Brandon dropped the branch. “All right.”

  Danielle lifted the backpack and slung it over her right shoulder. They started to climb upward, which was an encouraging sign. According to everything she had researched, Hassadona Pass was at the top of a winding mountain range.

  She glanced at her watch and picked up the pace, with the boys following close behind. They had been walking for a little over an hour and making good time…she hoped.

  “I wish I had a machete,” Nathan said. “I’d cut my way through the jungle.”

  Visions of Nathan swinging a sharp object back and forth filled Danielle’s mind. Although the jungle canopy had thickened and it was getting tougher to push through, she could envision Nathan accidently slicing off a body part in his enthusiasm to cut through the dense brush.

  “I think we’re almost there.” Danielle hoped they were.

  Brandon abruptly stopped. “I hear something.”

  Nathan and Danielle stopped. Danielle heard it, too. It sounded like water!

  According to Danielle’s research, Hassadona Pass was next to a towering waterfall.

  “Let’s go!” She motioned them to hustle up and the trio picked up the pace as they sprinted along a line of trees toward the sound of the water.

  The three of them swiped at the palm fronds as they pushed on.

  Danielle raced around the side of the rock wall and into a clearing. “Oh no!” she screamed.

  She tried to stop, to motion to the boys to go back, but it was too late.

  Chapter 13

  Millie paced the corridor. It was getting late…almost five in the afternoon and daylight was fading fast. Soon it would be dark.

  She had left Dave Patterson a message to contact her as soon as he was back on board the ship.

  Oscar told Millie that Patterson had accompanied the two investigators as they searched for the missing Roush family. She knew they would return soon. No sane person would search the jungle after dark.

  She had a fleeting thought that perhaps Patterson and the investigators had run into Danielle and the boys…or maybe the “gods” had gotten them, too.

  If not, they would have to track down Mrs. Kingman to let her know what had happened. It was time to come clean and tell the grandmother her suspicions. She hoped the boys’ grandmother wouldn’t be too angry with her. After all, Danielle had promised she would not take the boys. Millie could not control Danielle’s actions.

  For the tenth time, Millie radioed Oscar. “Anything yet?”

  “No. Miss Millie. They have not boarded. It is getting dark,” he said.

  “I know Oscar. This isn’t good.” She clipped her radio to her belt, lowered her head and closed her eyes. “Dear God. Please protect Danielle, Nathan and Brandon.”

  “I heard you were looking for me.”

  Millie’s head shot up. Patterson was back. With him were two men dressed casually in khaki shorts and short-sleeve button-down shirts.

  Millie gave them a brief nod and turned to Patterson. “Danielle left the ship early this morning. She was going to search for the Roush family.”

  Patterson lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not surprised. You didn’t want to go with her?”

  Millie shook her head. “No. I had to work at noon. I didn’t have time.”

  Millie sucked in a breath. “She hasn’t returned.”

  Patterson crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “Danielle is experienced enough to handle herself.”

  “True,” Millie agreed. “The only problem is, is that she’s not alone. She has two young passengers, two boys, with her.”

  Patterson’s mouth hardened in a straight line. His eyes bore into Millie’s eyes. “You’re serious.”

  “Dead serious,” Millie replied. “The boys followed her off the ship. I can only assume they caught up with her and the three of them are somewhere in the jungle.”

  Patterson glanced at the two investigators standing off to the side. “It’s too late to send out a search party now. We will have to wait until morning.”

  He went on. “What about the parents? Do they know the boys followed Danielle off the ship?”

  Millie sighed. “Kind of. The boys are travelling with their grandmother and their sister. Danielle and the boys told her they were going on a day excursion.”

  Millie’s radio crackled. “Millie. Are you there?” It was Nikki from guest services.

  Millie plucked the radio from her belt, lifted it to her lips and pressed the
button. “I’m here, Nikki. Go ahead.”

  “Uh. Mrs. Kingman and her granddaughter, Courtney, are here. They are looking for you…or Danielle. Something about her grandsons not returning to the ship yet.”

  Since the ship had docked for the night, guests were free to come and go as they pleased. Most of them had already returned. There wasn’t much to do on the small island at night.

  Not only that, each guest had been given an updated itinerary the night before. At the top of the sheet in big, bold letters, was a strongly worded suggestion for passengers to be back onboard before dark and not wander around the unfamiliar island at night.

  Patterson held out his hand. “May I?”

  Millie thrust the radio in Patterson’s hand. “Be my guest.”

  “Nikki. This is Dave Patterson. Could you please have someone escort Mrs. Kingman and her granddaughter to my office?”

  “Yes, of course,” came the prompt reply.

  Patterson turned his attention to the two detectives. “You may be of some assistance and you’re welcome to stay.”

  One of the men, the taller of the two, nodded. “If you don’t mind.”

  The four of them stepped into Dave Patterson’s office. The men stood off to one side.

  Patterson settled in behind his desk and Millie perched on the edge of a chair, directly across from him.

  No one uttered a word as they waited. Millie wondered what Patterson would tell the grandmother. She didn’t have long to wonder. Moments later, she heard a light tap on the plate glass.

  Nikki peeked around the corner and peered inside. She swung the door open and stepped to the side. She waited for Mrs. Kingman and Courtney to enter the small office.

  Mrs. Kingman studied their solemn expressions. “They’re missing, aren’t they?”

  “Please. Have a seat.” Patterson waved to the two empty chairs near Millie.

  G’ma Rae slid into the seat and got right to the point. “They didn’t go on an excursion. They are searching for the missing family.”

  Millie wondered how she knew. She was about to find out.

  “I overheard the boys whispering at the dinner table last night. I thought they were making it up but now I see that’s probably not the case.”

  Patterson sat upright in his chair and gave Mrs. Kingman his full attention. “We fear you may be correct.” He glanced at Millie out of the corner of his eye. “It is too late to search for them tonight but we are coordinating a search party to begin combing the island at daybreak.”

  Millie finally spoke. “There’s the off chance they will return on their own.” Even though she spoke the words, they rang hollow. Danielle wouldn’t be foolish enough to stay out past dark in an area she knew nothing about.

  The only weapon she could possibly have was a Taser, unless of course, she was able to purchase a gun in town.

  Millie quickly dismissed the thought. Danielle wouldn’t buy a gun she couldn’t bring back onboard the ship.

  She hoped the worst-case scenario was they were lost and tomorrow morning, searchers would find them safe and sound.

  ***

  After Mrs. Kingman and Courtney departed Patterson’s office with the assurance security would contact them immediately if they had any new information on the boys’ whereabouts, Millie stayed behind. “I would like to help in the investigation,” Millie said.

  Patterson frowned. He couldn’t stop Millie. She was a free agent if she wasn’t on the clock. The last thing he needed was for her to come up missing, too.

  The island of Kiriban had now taken nine people in the last few weeks. Nine people missing. Six of them without a trace. He hoped Danielle and the boys were lost, but his gut told him it was something else…something ominous.

  The island held a secret. It was his job to figure out whom…or what was taking out the visitors.

  Millie left Patterson’s office and headed up the stairs. It was time to check in with Andy…to tell him what had happened.

  Millie rounded the corner of the theater where G’ma Rae and Courtney were sitting on the steps. They looked as if they were waiting for someone. Millie was certain that “someone” was her.

  “We want to help search tomorrow,” Courtney blurted out. “My parents are going to freak out,” she added.

  Millie frowned and glanced at G’ma Rae who nodded her head in agreement. “Paula and Fannon will board the next plane, boat, water taxi, whatever, if they think the boys are in danger.”

  Millie would do the same thing. She glanced at her watch. “The search party is meeting at the gangway at 6:00 in the morning.”

  G’ma Rae nodded. “We will be there.”

  Millie couldn’t stop them…just like Patterson couldn’t stop her. It was possible if the women stuck together, they might actually be able to help one another in the search.

  She left the women near the theater entrance and headed to the galley. Maybe Annette had something up her sleeve that would help in the search.

  Millie peeked through the round porthole window to make sure no one was on the other side before she flung the door open. Annette was in the storage closet, clipboard in hand.

  “I need your help!”

  Annette peered at Millie over the rim of her reading glasses. “Let me guess. Danielle is missing.”

  Millie nodded. “Not only her, but the two young guests that went with her.”

  Annette pulled off her glasses and rolled her eyes. “Good grief! Why in the world would she take those boys?”

  Millie explained how, according to the surveillance video, it looked as if Danielle had tried to leave the ship without the boys and they had followed her off. “We need to try to track her down.”

  Annette shuddered. The small island gave her the willies. Maybe it was the superstitions of the people, or maybe it was the fact vacationers were disappearing right and left. “What does this make? Ten people now in less than a month?”

  “Nine,” Millie corrected. “Will you go?”

  Annette set the clipboard on top of tomato sauce jars. “Yes. Now if it was just Danielle, I might say she dug her own hole and will have to find her own way back to the ship, but the two young boys…the parents must be worried sick.”

  “Grandmother,” Millie said. “The boys came on the cruise with their grandmother and sister.”

  “Whew!” Annette blew air through thinned lips. “This keeps getting better and better.”

  Millie had a thought. “Should we ask Cat?” She didn’t want her friend, Cat, to feel slighted she hadn’t been asked to go.

  “Yeah, we probably should.”

  Annette agreed to meet Millie, the grandmother and granddaughter at six the next morning and Millie headed out in search of Cat.

  The gift shop was open, the store empty. Millie wasn’t surprised. It was nearing the dinner hour and passengers were either in their cabins dressing or already making their way to the dining room.

  Millie stepped through the open door and made her way over to the counter where Maribelle, a gift shop employee, looked bored out of her mind. “Where is Cat?”

  Maribelle glanced at her watch. “She called about an hour ago and said she was back from her date with Doctor Gundervan.”

  Millie interrupted. “Don’t let her hear you call it a date,” she warned.

  Maribelle rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know. Anyway, she had fallen asleep in her cabin and wanted to know if I could cover for her. She said she was gonna run back into one of the shops to pick up some vitamins at the drug store and would be here in a jif.”

  Millie frowned. “She hasn’t come back yet?” The trip to the drug store should have taken twenty minutes, tops.

  “Nope. I’m starting to get a little worried.”

  “Let me check her cabin.” Millie headed for the door.

  She quickly walked across the corridor and to the stairs, taking them two at a time. Why on earth would Cat wander off alone? Of course, it was a quick trip and she probably felt it was safe.
>
  Still, with all of the people vanishing, it wasn’t safe to venture out on the island alone, especially when it was getting dark! Although Cat wouldn’t have known Danielle and the young Kingman boys were now missing.

  She reached Cat’s cabin in record time and knocked sharply on the door. No one answered.

  Millie hustled down the long hall to the crew dining room. The place was packed. Her eyes scanned the room. Cat was nowhere in sight.

  There was only one thing left to do…trace Cat’s steps from the ship to the island drug store!

  Chapter 14

  It was one flight up to reach the gangway, which was deserted, except for one lone security guard who manned the machine near the exit. Millie reached the exit and stared out into the dark night.

  Was she next? If she walked off the ship, was she sealing her fate?

  She turned to the security guard. “Can you check to see if Catherine Wellington has returned?”

  The security guard looked vaguely familiar but Millie couldn’t remember his name.

  He opened the front cabinet, leaned over and tapped the computer screen hidden in the cabinet. Moments later, he shut the cabinet door and straightened. “No Miss Millie. She has not.”

  Millie unclipped the radio from her hip and held it to her lips. “Andy, do you copy?”

  “Go ahead Millie.”

  “I need to make a quick trip to the drug store in St. Parrot.”

  “Where are you now?”

  Millie stepped to the side to let a couple board. “At the gangway.”

  “I’ll be right there,” Andy tersely replied.

  Minutes later, Andy appeared, accompanied by Dave Patterson. “Maribelle just told Andy and me Cat left the ship and as far as she knew, hasn’t returned,” Patterson said.

  Millie nodded. “Maribelle said she left over an hour ago to make a quick trip to the drug store. I’m worried,” she confessed.

  “Patterson will go with you,” Andy said.

  Millie was relieved beyond measure. “Good.”

  Patterson placed his hand under Millie’s elbow. “Let’s go!”

  Millie inserted her key card into the machine. The machine dinged and Millie hurried ahead so Patterson could punch out.