“About permanently shutting down your old keycard’s access?”
Millie nodded.
“Not that I’ve heard. He still has it temporarily inactivated so it’s only a matter of time.” Nic studied her face. “You’re worried about it accidentally being reactivated?”
“I am. Who knows what the thief might decide to do? Access the bridge, the engine room.”
“Donovan’s office.” He eyed her thoughtfully. “It might not be a bad idea to keep an eye on our rescued guests.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Millie checked to make sure her pup was seated in the stroller and began pushing him toward the door.
“Captain!” A bridge officer rushed over.
Millie, noting the panic in his voice, paused.
“We need to return to shore!”
Chapter 30
“Return to Grand Turk?” Nic’s brows furrowed.
“Corporate just called. Siren of the Seas has received a bomb threat.”
In the blink of an eye, the bridge became a beehive of activity. Nic and the other officers gathered at the table to take the call from corporate.
Millie was too far away to hear what was being said, only occasionally catching a word or phrase.
She felt the ship shudder, signaling the Azipods engaging. As if in slow motion, they turned back toward the port.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. All passengers, please report to your muster stations.
Millie’s countless hours of training kicked in. This was no drill, but an actual emergency.
She ran to Nic’s side. “I need to report to my station. Scout…”
“Can stay with me. I’ll get him off the ship.”
Millie rushed down the steps and into the corridor. The cabinet filled with crew members' life jackets was already open. A team member stood handing them out.
She slipped one on while jogging to her assigned location. Organized chaos ensued with passengers frantically trying to reach their stations. Many seemed confused, unable to remember where they were supposed to go.
Working as quickly as possible, Millie directed as many as she could.
“Hey!” Danielle fought her way through the crowd. “You made it back on board just in time.”
“For a bomb threat.”
“Bomb threat?” Danielle’s eyes grew round as saucers.
“I was on the bridge when the call came in. We’re turning around and going back to Grand Turk.”
Millie, with Danielle standing on the other side of the stairs, directed passengers, instructing them on where to go, doing their best to keep everyone calm and moving in the right direction.
With all her muster station passengers checked in, the wait began. Ten, fifteen, twenty minutes passed. At the half-hour mark, Millie felt the ship shudder again. Because of her location, she wasn’t able to see out the windows, but prayed this meant they had reached shore.
All the while, her radio blared with security crew members checking in from various locations. She almost wept with relief when Suharto announced that the ship was secured and the gangway in place.
Station by station, musters were called and passengers escorted off the ship.
