“I do, but how else was I going to nail the guy?”
Oscar briefly closed his eyes. “I’ll let him know what you found. He won’t be happy.”
“I’m sure he won’t.” Millie stepped toward the door. “If he wants to talk, tell him to give me a call.”
Gloria grew quiet, a troubled look on her face as she followed her cousin out of the office and down the hall to the elevator. “I hope you don’t get into too much trouble.”
“Patterson will lecture me, maybe even write me up but he’ll also be glad that we finally have proof of Jeremy’s involvement.” Millie tapped out a text to the group, letting them know they’d accomplished their mission.
“I hope you get this guy.” Gloria pressed the up button. “I should go check on Lucy.”
“Good idea. And by the way…” Millie winked. “Thanks for the backup.”
Her cousin laughed out loud. “Anytime, Millie. Anytime.”
With a nonstop schedule on tap, she slipped into cruise director mode. She kept her phone on and turned up, eager for word from Juji.
The evening ended with a couple of back-and-forth texts. Juji was still waiting to talk to a couple of the shop owners and promised she would do so as soon as they opened for business early the next morning.
She also got a message from Patterson, telling her he wanted to meet with her to discuss what she’d left in his office. Millie put off replying, thinking it would be in her best interest to give him time to calm down.
Ruth and Dot had monitored Jeremy and Devan at the fitness center but found nothing out of the ordinary or suspicious.
Later that night while Millie lay in bed tossing and turning, she mulled over all that had transpired. What would happen if Juji discovered no one had sold the burner phone? They would be back to square one, except for a can of black spray paint she couldn’t use to nail Jeremy.
The fact of the matter was that Siren of the Seas sat in the middle of the ocean with one or more individuals on board who might, at that very moment, be plotting more chaos.
*****
“Working out at this hour should be against the law.” Liz trudged behind Gloria and Margaret on the way to the fitness center the next morning. “I haven’t even had a decent cup of coffee.”
“At our age, we need to be moving more. You should consider adding exercise to your daily routine.”
“Does shopping count?”
“I suppose if it isn’t online and you visit a brick-and-mortar store.” Gloria opened the fitness center’s door. “Our best bet is to split up and spread out.”
Margaret flexed her muscles. “Free weights are my jam.”
“I’ve always wanted to try a Peloton bike,” Gloria said. “The treadmills might be more your speed, Liz.”
“I suppose.” She plodded over to the row of treadmills.
Gloria, with her hand on her hip, watched her walk along the entire row. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to decide which machine I want to use.”
“They’re all the same,” Margaret said.
“Location, location, location.” Liz pointed to the windows. “If I have to sweat, I prefer an unobstructed ocean view.”
“The ones on the left fit the bill.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Liz daintily plucked a sanitizing wipe from the container and cleaned the display screen. She set the used wipe in the cup holder and began fiddling with the buttons.
Margaret tugged on Gloria’s arm and whispered in her ear. “She doesn’t know how to use it.”
“Give her a couple more minutes,” she whispered back.
