“Glad I could help. Good luck catching the culprit.”
“I’m going to need it. He’s a sneaky dude.” Millie’s schedule app chimed, reminding her about her first hosting event, which meant if she hurried, she would have enough time to pick up her new keycard and make it to the lounge with seconds to spare.
Donovan must’ve been waiting for her because as soon as she stepped into his office, she noticed a master keycard sitting on the corner of the desk. On closer inspection she saw her name printed in big bold letters withCruise Directorin smaller letters directly below it.
A panoramic shot of South Seas Cay, Majestic Cruise Lines’ private island replaced what had been a background image of Siren of the Seas.
“I like the new background.”
“We’re rolling these out next week,” Donovan said.
“It’s very tropical.”
“Did you find anything downstairs?”
“Jeremy Manning’s CBD bottle was empty. The other items Patterson took from him and his group were still there.”
“Maybe it wasn’t him,” Donovan said. “I checked again while I was waiting for you. I confirmed your card was only used to access the storage room. No other areas of the ship were accessed before I put a freeze on it.”
“Whew. That’s a relief.” Millie swiped her hand across her forehead. “I’ll need a new lanyard.”
“I have a few.” He opened his top desk drawer, pulled out a pink lanyard and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” She slid her keycard into the slot before draping it around her neck. “I’m going to find out who stole my card and took my cash. The weird thing is none of us noticed. Not me, my cousins, or their super-sleuth friends.”
“People tend to let their guard down while on vacation,” Donovan said. “Thieves and criminals are always looking for opportunities.”
“But someone had to have been paying attention to know what they were taking.” Millie thought about when Jeremy and the others were first rescued, how she’d delivered clothing, toiletries, and keycards to them. “Now that I think about it, Jeremy’s friend, Devan, made a comment about my keycard, how he thought it was cool.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The cards were only issued to officers and certain managers on board the ship, and they would be using crew members' keycards.” Millie briefly closed her eyes. “I may have inadvertently given him the idea to steal my card.”
“Could be,” Donovan agreed. “Speaking of your family and friends, are they having a good time?”
“I left them at the beach. Based on how my day is going, I’m sure they’re having a much more enjoyable one than I am. At least I hope so.”
Chapter 26
Ruth stopped to shake a pebble out of her sandal. “Are we almost there?”
“We’re close.” Gloria pointed over the tops of the trees at the lighthouse’s peak, which looked like it was only a few yards away.
“I see a sign.” Lucy hustled along the sidewalk and stopped in front of the bright blue billboard that read,Bay Tide Lighthouse
“See? The walk wasn’t so bad.” Gloria adjusted her backpack and marched to the ticket booth.
A woman with candy-apple red glasses peered at them through the window. “Can I help you?”
“We would like three tickets to tour the lighthouse.” Lucy plucked her wallet from her sling bag.
“That’ll be thirty dollars. We close in an hour.”
“Thirty dollars for an hour's tour?” Ruth gasped. “Would you consider offering a discount, seeing how it’s close to closing time?”
The woman looked them up and down. “Are you passengers from the ship?”
“We’re employees.”
