Page 51 of Waylaid in Whittier

“I think you were getting ready to chicken out,” Millie teased.

Annette waved dismissively. “We’ve been in sketchier situations.”

“Unless we get caught, and then it might make it to the top five.”

“True. Alaska is a long way from Miami.”

“I have no intention of getting stuck up here.” Millie motioned toward her friend’s phone. “Was that Jose?”

“Yeah. We were gonna meet up after I clocked out. I told him I would need to take a raincheck. He wanted to know what I was doing.”

“Did you tell him?”

“Nah. He’s not too enthused about me getting involved in other people’s business.”

“Even if it involves a friend who asked for your help?”

“He thinks…” Annette’s voice faded.

“He thinks I’m a bad influence.” Millie meant it as a joke, but she could tell from the look on her friend’s face she’d hit the nail on the head. “He does. He thinks I’m trouble.”

“In his defense, he doesn’t know you. Jose has only heard the rumors, how you’ve been involved in a few…in a lot of issues on board the ship.”

“But not without a reason. And, I might add, we’ve done a pretty good job of catching the bad guys, even saving Scout from being kidnapped and Sharky killed.”

“He doesn’t understand. I’m sure once he gets to know you, he’ll change his mind,” Annette said. “I need to run back to my cabin to grab a few things and will meet you out at the gangway.”

“See you soon.” Millie trudged out of the galley, her concern over her friend’s budding romance with Jose weighing heavy on her mind.

To be fair, the group of friends had been involved in some sticky situations through the years. Millie had even been written up for misconduct. But all the mysteries, all the involvement, had been for a reason.

It was possible someone was filling Jose’s head with half-truths. On the flip side, perhaps he felt threatened by Annette’s friends and was trying to drive a wedge between them.

She hoped not. Millie had been one of Annette’s closest confidants, her friend, for years now. What right did Jose have to waltz back into her life and think he could tell her who she should and shouldn’t hang around?

Something told her eventually she and Jose would clear the air. Whether it would be a positive thing or a day of reckoning remained to be seen.

*****

Millie paced. “Brody is late. Maybe he can’t make it after all.”

“There’s always the option of renting an Uber,” Annette suggested.

Sharky counted heads. “You, me, Danielle and Millie all in one vehicle being dropped off at a supposedly abandoned mining site? I’m sure it won’t raise any red flags.”

“Last I heard, he was on his way. He should be here any moment,” Danielle said. “What about Elvira?”

“She’s back at base camp, keeping an eye on the others. She told me she wasn’t ready to leave yet, and seems convinced the culprit is going to break into her RV again.”

“To steal what?” Millie asked. “I thought she was all packed up and ready to hightail it out of there.”

“To be honest, I’m not sure why,” Sharky said. “She was being slightly evasive and said something about setting some sort of trap.”

“Setting a trap?” Millie folded her arms. “Maybe she’s feeding you a line. She went back to Mount Baldie, found a bunch of gold and is hoarding it in her RV until she boards Siren of the Seas.”

“Letting us do all her dirty work,” Annette added.

“You never know with Elvira. I do know one thing. She’s freaking out that she might be stuck in Whittier.”

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