Page 69 of Waylaid in Whittier

Millie grabbed her bag, exited the vehicle, and met up with the others near the front.

Elvira patted her backpack. “Time to hit the trail.”

Millie let the others take the lead, slowly following behind. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. Something told her she was going to regret this stakeout. She hoped for once she was wrong.

Chapter 26

“We might as well get comfortable.” Elvira eased in behind a towering pine tree. Crossing her legs, she set her backpack in front of her. “I figure we have half an hour before the crew starts their final taping, giving whoever attacked Wanda…aka Carter…the opportunity to show up to search this area.”

Millie perched on a boulder a few feet away, hidden from view by a clump of scrub brush. “You seem certain he’ll show.”

“Because he’s running out of time. Besides, I dropped plenty of clues and CTA. There’s no way he won’t.”

“CTA,” Sharky repeated. “Can’t tell anyone hints?”

“Call to action. Any last-ditch effort to find something will have to be today. Whoever attacked Wanda knows she and I are hot on the trail of finding gold.”

“Or at least have a general idea of the vicinity,” Sharky said.

Wanda settled in next to Elvira. “I have my emergency remote phone ready to call my brother. As soon as we get a visual, he’ll secure his search warrant and bam!” She slapped her palms together. “We’ll have proof. My brother once worked as an undercover cop. He knows how to get the goods and get them fast.”

“I hope you’re right.” Millie watched Elvira unzip her backpack and begin rummaging around inside. She removed several Siren of the Seas’ RTG meal bags, one right after another. “You brought food.”

“Breakfast. I didn’t have time to grab something earlier and I’m starving,” she said.

“Even though grabbing breakfast is the reason why you left this morning while I took a shower.” Sharky gave his girlfriend a pointed stare.

Elvira had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “I was running behind after taking care of a few errands.”

“Giving yourself permission to access an unauthorized area of the ship,” he reminded her.

Wanda sat quietly watching the couple bicker. “Something tells me there’s a story here.”

“You don’t want to know,” Millie said. “Trust me.”

“I brought enough food for everyone. Call it my peace offering.” Elvira handed out the ready-to-go-meals. “Annette hooked us up.”

“I had to hustle to get out the door as well.” Millie took the bag of food. “Thank you.”

“It must be pretty awesome living on a cruise ship.” Wanda unwrapped her breakfast sandwich and inspected the contents. “Ham, egg, and cheese on a ciabatta bun. Yummy.”

“Along with fresh fruit.” Millie opened the plastic bag and popped a grape into her mouth. “Amit and Annette do a great job of making sure the RTG meals are balanced and nutritious.”

“Even the healthy stuff is tasty.” Sharky peeled back the lid on his yogurt. “Did I ever tell you that Annette and I once dated?”

“Annette from the ship, Annette?” Elvira asked. “No. I don’t recall you ever mentioning it.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“What happened?”

“We didn’t connect romantically.”

“And now she’s dating Jose Juan Carlos what’s-his-name aka Gary.”

“You don’t like him?” Sharky asked.

Millie tipped her hand back and forth. “I’m on the fence. I heard he dumped Annette, transferred to another ship, and now he’s back. What about you? You worked on Siren of the Seas when he was here before. Did you know him?”

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