Page 67 of Waylaid in Whittier

Millie eyed the bag with interest. “How many gold nuggets are in there?”

“Enough to make it worth her while to hide them.”

The doorknob rattled.

Sharky shoved the nugget inside the bag and held his finger to his lips. He motioned for Millie to follow him to a hiding spot a few feet away.

They made it just in time to see Elvira scurry around the corner. She stopped in front of the spot where Sharky had found the bag and swooped down to grab it.

“What the?” Elvira fell to her knees, frantically feeling around.

Sharky stepped out from behind the pipe, dangling the black bag in his hand. “Looking for this?”

Elvira jerked back, her eyes round as saucers. “I…uh. What are you doing here?”

“A better question is…who gave you permission to sneak into a restricted area and use it as your hiding spot?”

“I-I…well…you see. I needed to keep my find on the down-low,” she stammered.

Millie emerged. “To keep your boyfriend from finding out how much gold you actually found?”

“The thing is, I mean, you have a lot of friends, people I don’t know. Not to mention those room stewards, the cleaning ninjas, are everywhere.”

“Everywhere in passenger cabins.” Sharky rolled his eyes. “No one comes and cleans my cabin. It’s my responsibility.”

A flicker of skepticism filled Elvira’s eyes. “Seriously? I would think having someone take care of your cabin, keeping it neat and tidy, would be a given.”

“You thought wrong. The housekeeping department comes in every few months to do a deep cleaning. The rest of the time, it’s all on me.”

“Elvira Cobb,” Millie scolded. “Those friends you seem so worried about, including me, spent our own time, what little we have when we’re not working, trying to save your neck and this is the thanks we get?”

Elvira hung her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking you would pull a fast one, smuggle your gold out of Whittier, and no one would be the wiser.” Sharky clenched his jaw. “I hate to say it, but I’m seeing you in an entirely different light and not necessarily a good one.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “It was uncool of me to hide it from you.”

“You two discuss this in private. Let me know if we’re still on for heading to the stakeout site.” Millie whispered, “good luck,” in Sharky’s ear and took off.

She ran upstairs to pre-record “Fun Times at Nine with Millie.” After finishing, she treated herself to a shot of caffeine from the specialty coffee shop, along with a gourmet banana nut muffin, and made her early morning rounds.

All the while, she monitored her cell phone, waiting for Sharky’s call to let her know if the stakeout was a go, or if he’d decided he’d had enough of Elvira’s antics, helped pack her bags and escorted her off the ship.

The small clue bouncing around in the back of her mind from the previous night continued nagging her, but no matter how hard she tried, Millie couldn’t figure it out.

Finally, at quarter past seven, Sharky sent a text letting her know the surveillance mission was still on. She promptly ran upstairs and swapped out her work uniform for street clothes. Reaching the gangway, Millie found a somber Sharky and a sullen Elvira waiting.

“Thanks for meeting us, Millie. Elvira has something she wants to say.”

Elvira blew air through thinned lips. “I’m sorry…genuinely sorry I didn’t trust you enough to let you know I found gold.”

“Sharky mentioned you had found some. One would only conclude you wouldn’t leave it behind. As you pointed out, we have a lot of people…crewmembers on board the ship. Having said that, you need to trust someone. At the very least, trust your boyfriend, who has been trying to help you,” Millie lectured.

“I know, and I’m truly, truly sorry. Please don’t tell the others what I did.”

“Apology accepted.” Millie made a zipping motion across her lips. “My lips are sealed. Moving on, we should hit the road.”

Elvira brightened. “Thanks, Millie. You’re as awesome as Sharky says. In fact, you’re a lot like Carlita. Between you and me, she’s put up with a lot of my cockamamie antics over the years.”

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