Page 39 of Waylaid in Whittier

“Which means we might need to widen the list of suspects,” Annette said. “Especially if other gold miners are staying in these RVs.”

“I can’t see any reason they would target me or know about the spot I found, other than Wanda.”

“All roads, at least at this point, lead back to Wanda. It looks like we need to find out more about her.” Millie glimpsed a dark SUV pulling into the RV area, along with a van with lettering on the side. “Someone just pulled in.”

“That’s Alex and Carter. I’ll introduce you to them.” Elvira took off, returning less than a minute later with two men by her side.

As they drew closer, Millie noticed one was younger, in his late twenties or early thirties if she had to guess, while the second man looked closer to his mid-forties.

“Alex, Carter, these are my friends from the cruise ship, Siren of the Seas.” Elvira nudged the forty-ish man’s arm. “This is Alex, my hero, and the person who helped get me out of jail.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Sharky shook their hands. “Sharky Kiveski, head of maintenance on board Siren of the Seas.”

Millie was next. “Millie Armati, cruise director.”

“Brody Rourke, night security supervisor.”

Annette held out her hand. “Annette Delacroix, in charge of the food.”

“I’m Cat. I run one of the ship’s gift shops.”

“You have an interesting group of friends,” Carter said. “I’ve never been on a cruise ship, but after talking to Elvira, she’s convinced me maybe I should try it sometime.”

The group chatted about Elvira’s incarceration and Wanda’s attack, both Alex and Carter expressing deep concern about the incident.

Millie almost mentioned someone ransacking Elvira’s RV, but caught herself before she slipped. She thought Elvira was going to tell them but didn’t. “I hope she’s going to be all right.”

“Carter and I just left the hospital. Wanda has a few staples in her head and sprained her wrist when she fell. The doctor is releasing her and has told her she should make a full recovery.”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt to be on guard,” Brody said. “Considering her attacker is still on the loose.”

Carter motioned to Elvira. “Will you be packing up and leaving to board the ship?”

“It was my original plan. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to leave Whittier pending the outcome of Wanda’s investigation,” Elvira said. “I’m keeping my fingers crossed the charges will be dropped.”

“That sucks.” Sharky frowned. “I thought it was a done deal, and you were free to leave.”

“What about all of your gear and belongings?” Carter asked. “Are you leaving everything behind?”

“Otis was kind enough to rent me his old truck cheap, way cheaper than a rental company would’ve charged me, so I’m giving some of my stuff to him,” Elvira said. “I’ll hang out here tonight. If we have any luck figuring out what happened, I can load up and move out pretty quickly.”

“We’re packing up ourselves, getting ready to head back to LA.” Alex consulted his watch. “Best of luck, Elvira. I hope you make it out of town.”

“Thanks again for everything and for helping get me out of jail. I need to run back down there and sign off on the bond papers, so I had better get going.” Elvira watched the men walk away. “Maybe it was Otis. He’s been getting chummy with me.”

“I hate to sleuth and run, but I gotta get back to the galley,” Annette said.

“I need to head back too,” Brody said. “I’ll give you and Cat a ride.”

“I guess that leaves Sharky and me to do a little poking around at the apartment complex to see what we can find out about Wanda.”

“I’ll catch up with you after I’m done,” Elvira promised. “It’s probably best you go without me. The building’s manager was a jerk to me the last time I was there.”

“What did you do?”

Her eyes slid to the side. “The details are a little fuzzy, but I may have thrown a fit when the post office wouldn’t let me mail a package, claiming the contents were hazardous.”

“The post office is near the apartment building?” Cat asked.

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