Page 66 of Waylaid in Whittier

“Putting yourself in her shoes and not being familiar with the layout of the ship, where do you think she might hide her gold?”

“There’s a coupla spots. Knowing Elvira, she would avoid the recycling center.”

“Thinking someone might incinerate or crush her gold in the compactor,” Millie said.

“Yep. The only other spots I can think of are the pipe tunnel or the duct keel. We’re closest to the pipe tunnel. We’ll try looking there first.”

Millie kept pace with Sharky, both moving at a fast clip along the corridor to the other end of the ship.

He abruptly stopped in front of a metal door, only about half the size of a standard door. He eased it open, revealing a surprisingly spacious room filled with pipes.

She stepped over the threshold and paused, giving her eyes a chance to adjust to the lack of light.

“Elvira?” Sharky’s voice echoed loudly in the cavernous area.

No answer.

“She’s not here.” He turned to go.

Millie stopped him. “Hang on. While we’re here, we should check for potential hiding spots.”

Sharky showed her several easy-to-reach spots, all of which were empty. He tapped the side wall. “If Elvira was sneaking around in here, she wouldn’t get my phone calls. The metal would block the signal.”

“Excellent point. To me, this means there’s a good chance she’s been scurrying about somewhere down here hiding her stuff. You mentioned the duct keel.”

“Which is where we’re heading next.” Sharky escorted Millie out of the pipe tunnel, through a maze of corridors to another door, similar in size and shape to the one they’d just exited.

He flung it open and straddled the lower ledge. “Watch your step.”

“Thanks.”

Massive metal pipes ran the length of the room for as far as the eye could see. Metal runners ran horizontally, supporting the bulky pipes and offering plenty of hiding spots.

“Elvira?” Sharky called out.

No one answered.

“At the risk of sounding stupid, what exactly is this place?”

“The duct keel carries the fuel lines, hydraulic lines, stuff like that.” Sharky climbed over a metal runner. “Chances are she wouldn’t go too far down the pipeline.”

“I’ll start looking over here.” Millie veered left and began checking the nooks and crannies, while Sharky scoured the other side.

“Hey, Millie.”

Millie ran to the other side and found Sharky holding a black bag. “Ten bucks says we found Elvira’s stash.”

Chapter 25

Sharky removed a rock from the black bag.

“It looks like an ordinary old rock,” Millie said.

“Looks can be deceiving.” Using his fingernail, he scraped off a chunk of dirt. “It looks a little shiny.”

“We need something to polish it.”

Sharky untucked his shirt and rubbed the spot. A glimmer of gold appeared. “Sure enough. This belongs to Elvira.”

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