Page 63 of Tiki Hut Tragedy
A short list of activities appeared. At nine, Astrid was tracked to the Hurricane Bar, deck twelve midship. From there, she swung by the buffet. The next time increment posted at nine forty-five. Astrid showed up at Lucky’s bar, directly outside the casino.
“What’s this button?” Millie tapped the screen.
“Activity on Astrid’s card. Go ahead and click it.”
Millie clicked on the link. A list of purchases appeared: a chocolate martini, and a bottle of water. “This tracking system is incredible.”
“Your every move is recorded. I’m sure the bigwigs use it to analyze passengers’ purchases, their habits, stuff like that.”
“No kidding.” Millie clicked out of the transaction and scrolled down to the next entry. Astrid entered the casino at five minutes past ten. The next entry was an hour later. She left, used the restroom and returned to the casino.
Millie stared blankly at the screen. “Astrid was at the casino when I was there. Either she’s invisible or…”
Sharky finished her sentence. “Unrecognizable.”
Chapter 26
Millie stared at the screen, struggling to connect the dots. “This isn’t making sense. I know for a fact Astrid wasn’t in the casino.”
“And this RFID tracking system is one hundred percent accurate, unless the woman gave her keycard to someone else.”
“Why would she?” Millie racked her brain, trying to remember if she’d seen others from the group playing in the casino. Even if she did, why would Astrid give her card to someone else? She needed it to enter her cabin and to make purchases. “I need to sleep on this.”
Sharky cleared the screens and shut his computer off.
Fin, who was in his usual spot on top of the desk, slowly stood.
“It’s past Fin’s bedtime,” Sharky said. “Maybe a good night’s sleep will clear the cobwebs and tomorrow we can figure out what’s going on.”
Millie thanked him for his help and headed home. While she dressed for bed, she played out every scenario. The only thing that made sense was that Astrid was there, but for whatever reason, she hadn’t seen her. True, the place was packed, but she had been specifically searching for the woman.
Nic was already in bed waiting for her when she finished getting ready. He watched her crawl under the covers. “You look like something is bothering you. I’ll take a wild guess and say it’s the anonymous note.”
“I wish I knew who sent it so I could ask them why they think Dixie’s death wasn’t an accident.” Millie scooched over, making room for Scout.
He took his usual spot, sandwiched in between their pillows, where he curled up and promptly fell asleep. “He’s all tuckered out.”
“Scout’s not the only one.” Nic leaned over and kissed her goodnight. “Give your beautiful, busy brain a rest.”
“I’ll try.” After saying their prayers, Millie did the one thing that never failed to relax her mind—to think about all the blessings in her life. Nic, her children, her grandchildren, her friends, her health, a job she loved.
The last thought she had before she finally fell asleep was an idea, a plan on how she could figure out once and for all if Astrid was spending time inside the casino.
*****
Millie and Annette were on Sharky’s doorstep first thing the following morning.
Annette, a former employee of the NSA, the National Security Agency, knew a great deal about covert operations, how to track people and had helped Millie many times during her previous investigations.
“How much longer do we wait?” Annette checked her watch.
“Sharky should be here any second.” Millie craned her neck. “I see him now.”
The Flamethrower, Sharky’s scooter, flew down the corridor. Fin, with tufts of fur blowing, sat calmly in the front basket. The scooter came to a screeching halt only a few feet away from where the women stood. “Uh-oh. Double trouble.”
Fin leapt from the basket, landing lightly on his feet. He butted his head against Millie’s leg, purring loudly. “You’re a brave fella, riding around with Sharky when he’s driving like a maniac.”
“He loves going fast. The faster, the better.” Sharky fished a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. “Something tells me the mystery of Invisible Astrid kept you up all night.”
