“I could’ve sworn I saw you put it in your bag before we went for a swim,” Gloria said.
“It’s gone.”
“Maybe you tossed it in one of ours by mistake.” Liz reached into her bag. “Not in mine.”
Lucy checked hers. “Mine either.”
“Where on earth could it have gone?” Millie patted her pockets, frantically trying to remember when she’d last seen it. “Who would have messed with my lanyard?”
“Yours has a special security level,” Gloria said. “Hopefully, a passenger didn’t notice you leaving it on the chair and decided to help themselves.”
Millie’s heart plummeted. “Looking back, I should’ve kept it with me.”
Dot shaded her eyes, studying the long rows of lounge chairs, almost all filled with beach gear. “I could be way off, but having someone specifically target your stuff doesn’t make any sense.”
“A few people have come by to say ‘hi’ which means you’re easily recognizable,” Ruth pointed out.
Nearing a state of panic, Millie emptied her bag and searched every nook and cranny. Her friends and family did the same, all to no avail. “It’s gone. Great. I’ll need a replacement.”
“Can you cancel your old one?”
“Yes, although canceling those with top level security requires approval from corporate. They keep track of who has what.” Millie quickly packed up her belongings. “Don’t forget you need to be back on board by three.”
“Good luck finding your lost keycard.”
“Thanks.” Moving at a fast clip, Millie made a beeline for the dock. She reached the security checkpoint and showed the guard her ID. Thankfully, he didn’t ask to see her keycard. The next stop was the gangway.
Noticing Suharto at one of the stations, Millie picked his line to board.
“Good afternoon, Millie. I trust you had a nice day off.”
“Nice up until a few minutes ago. My lanyard and keycard are both missing, along with my coin purse.”
Suharto’s eyes filled with concern. “Your master keycard is missing?”
“Correct. I need to get to Donovan’s office ASAP.”
“I will manually check you in.” He tapped the screen. “All set.”
“Thanks.” Millie reached the scanning station. She set her beach bag on the conveyor belt and crossed through the metal detector, impatiently waiting for it on the other side.
She felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to find a security guard standing behind her. “Your bag needs to be inspected.”
“Inspected?”
“You hit the lucky lottery draw of random inspections.”
“Great.” Millie stood off to the side, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. It seemed to take forever before a security supervisor arrived to inspect her bag. Long seconds dragged by, and she could feel beads of sweat form on her forehead.
Finally, the supervisor placed her items back inside and handed her the bag. “You’re free to go.”
“Thank you.” Millie took off at a dead run, not slowing until she reached Guest Services. She stepped behind the counter and knocked on Donovan’s door.
No one answered.
Nikki caught Millie’s eye and made her way over. “Donovan is in a meeting on the bridge.”
“Thanks.” She jogged to the front of the ship and took the forward stairs to deck ten, only steps away from the bridge. Millie came to a quick stop when she realized there was no way to let herself in without her keycard.
