“You’re right. I’ll swing by there seeing it’s on my way.” Taking the center stairs two decks up, Millie walked to Ocean Treasures. She found Cat standing in the back ringing up a purchase.
Cat completed the transaction and waved her over. “Hey, Millie.”
“I thought you were going to the crafts class I haven’t started hosting.”
“It’s been super busy, so I stayed to help.” Cat clasped her hands. “Whatcha got?”
“Clothes for our rescued passengers. They’ll also need toiletries.”
“I have some handy dandy packs ready to go. How many do you need?”
“Seven. There are four yacht passengers and three crew members.”
“Be right back.” Cat darted to the storage room. She returned with several small plastic shopping bags and set them on the counter.
Millie peeked inside a bag, noticing a toothbrush, a travel-size tube of toothpaste, dental floss, a cheap plastic comb, and a disposable razor. “This covers the necessities.”
“Nothing fancy but it’ll do in a pinch. So…what happened to their yacht?”
“I don’t know, other than it belonged to the father of a passenger who wasn’t too keen on calling his dad to give him the bad news.”
Cat rubbed her thumb and index finger together. “They must have some money.”
“I think Daddy is a Miami area attorney. In fact…” Millie set the items aside, reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “It might not be a bad idea to find out. The friend called his father James. James Manning.”
She grew quiet, tapping the screen and entering James Manning Miami in the search bar. Seconds later, a site popped up. The man in the photo looked vaguely familiar. “I’ve seen this guy before.”
Millie turned her phone so Cat could see.
“I recognize him. You’re right about him being an attorney. He runs ads on local Miami television channels all the time,” Cat said. “He has a catchy slogan.”
“I think I’ve heard it. Something along the lines of,In a crash? Call us for cash. South Florida’s largest injury law firm.”
“Yep,” Cat confirmed. “Sounds snake-y, huh?”
“Based on what I’ve learned so far, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in this family.” Millie tapped on the link,About us. She sucked in a breath. “They have a bunch of lawyers. Great. Jeremy will beg his father to sue Siren of the Seas for not hooking onto his sinking yacht and trying to save it.”
“The Zodiac can’t rescue a yacht.”
“You and I are smart enough to figure this out. Mr. Manning wasn’t convinced. He was ranting and raving about it.”
“Trying to save his own hide.” Cat wrinkled her nose. “So these were the people you ran into in Bimini when one of them grabbed Scout and you thought the guy was going to throw him overboard?”
“Same.”
“Does he remember you?”
“Yep.”
“What did he say?”
“He called me, Gloria, Liz and the others old biddies.”
Cat stared at her. “Are you serious?”
“I felt like slapping him.”
“He would have deserved it.”
