Page 24 of Tiki Hut Tragedy (Cruise Director Millie Mysteries #6)

“I need to bribe Sharky.”

Annette opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. “I have a super wet burrito, enchiladas, some green chile taquitos and a whole pan of leftover tamales from last night’s Mexican fiesta.”

“I’ll take a serving of each, along with a batch of your atomic salsa.”

“Why are you bribing Sharky?”

“Remember how he said he was going to cut back on his dark web searches and stop hacking into the ship’s computer systems after he got in trouble last month?”

“Yeah.” Annette peered down her nose. “I heard Patterson gave him two days off unpaid and wrote him up. ”

“Unfortunately, I might need his help.” Millie filled her in, starting with what Danielle had overheard from two of the contestants and the anonymous note she’d received.

“Why don’t you track down the surveillance footage from the Guest Services area and find out who it was?”

“I’ve already talked to Nikki. She empties the box once a day and in the morning.”

Annette grimaced. “Which means you would be sifting through camera recordings for hours.”

“Even if I got lucky and saw someone over by the mailbox, the camera angles are all off. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. The good news is I’ve narrowed down my list of suspects.”

“The top contestants.”

“Wendy the Wolfette, who was Dixie’s cabinmate, is at the top of the list. Hotshot Hannah and Gail the Gobbler. All three have a shot at winning the competition. With Dixie gone, the odds are stacked even higher in their favor.”

“So how does Sharky fit into your plan? I mean, how will his super-secret backdoor sites help?”

“RFID.”

“Ah.” Annette finished assembling the food and placed the dishes in the warming oven. “Radio-frequency identification.”

“I watched a fascinating show about how an RFID card cracked a high-profile murder case involving an executive. His killer was traced via an RFID card.”

“We already know how Dixie died. She drowned.”

“Yes, but if someone intentionally took her out, her killer is still on board.”

“How will the RFID card help? ”

“By tracking the top suspects. Maybe. I don’t know. What I do know is Sharky has the knowledge to help me figure this out, and he’s hungry.”

“He’s always hungry,” Annette corrected. “He’s like a bottomless pit. Now that I think about it, Sharky would be the perfect person for an eating competition. Despite his size, he can put away the food.”

While Annette finished heating the bribery dishes, Millie packed up everything she thought might sweeten the pot—corn tortilla chips to go along with his super spicy salsa, a couple cans of chilled Coke, a carton of milk and some empty storage boxes for his leftovers…if there were any.

By the time she finished, Annette had loaded his food into a large tote. She zipped the top and set it on the floor. “This thing weighs a ton. You sure you can carry it?”

Millie hoisted the tote. “It’s a little heavy, but the food is only going one way…downstairs.” She th anked her friend, promising to bring the tote back later, and headed out.

Because she’d called ahead, Sharky was in his office eagerly anticipating her arrival. His eyes lit when he saw her. “You got the goods?”

“There’s enough food in here to last you for days.”

“Maybe a couple, but seeing how I’m extra hungry, I’ll take all the delicious dishes I can get.”

Millie slid the tote onto his desk.

Fin, Sharky’s cat, who had been napping on the chair, slowly stood. He arched his back, yawning loudly.

Millie scratched his ears. “Annette packed a few treats for you too,” she cooed.

Sharky unzipped the top and removed a tin of food. He lifted the lid and sniffed the contents, making a sour face. “Sardines. ”

“I bet Fin won’t mind the smell.” Millie pinched her finger and thumb together, plucking a plump sardine from the container.

Fin lunged forward. He snatched the treat from her hand and promptly gobbled it up. The cat licked his whiskers, looking for seconds. “Fin has the same appetite you do.”

“He learned from the best.” Sharky lined the dishes in a tidy row, tied a bib around his neck and dug into the food. “I love favors,” he crowed. “Especially when Annette is around to help prepare them.”

“You do seem to have a hankering for Mexican food.”

“It’s the best.” Sharky slid the dish forward. “You want some?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I try to limit my spicy food intake, especially on sea days when I’m busy and breaks are few and far between.” Millie waited while Sharky sampled the dishes, deeming each one better than the last.

Plowing through until the very end, he ate exactly half of each before packing them up and placing them off to the side. Sharky reached for the bag of tortilla chips and eased the lid off the atomic salsa. “I love this stuff.”

“Annette wanted me to warn you this batch is off the charts.”

“Sweet,” he whooped. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Hang on.” Millie removed the container of milk from the tote and set it next to him. “You might need this.”

“I hope so.” Sharky dipped a chip in the salsa, scooping up a generous amount of the atomic sauce. He shoved the entire chip into his mouth and began chewing. It took only a few seconds for his face to turn bright red. Beads of sweat formed on his brow and chin.

“Are you…are you all right? ”

Sharky clenched his fist and pounded on the desk.

Fin, startled by the banging, made a hissing sound and jumped down. He stalked across the floor and curled up on his bed. Sharky’s sidekick shot him an annoyed look before closing his eyes.

“You scared Fin.”

He made a puffing sound. Grabbing hold of the milk carton, he chugged half of it. “Ahhh…much better.”

“Maybe you should water the salsa down,” Millie suggested.

“And ruin the heat? No way.” Sharky sprang from his chair and sprinted over to Fin’s bed. “Sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Fin opened one eye and promptly closed it, purring loudly as he dozed off.

“I think it’s safe to say he’s forgiven you. ”

“He knows I didn’t do it on purpose. When the heat takes over, I can’t see straight.” Sharky returned to his chair and reached for another chip.

“You’re a glutton for punishment,” she teased.

“Only one more and then I’ll put them away.” He scooped up another sizeable dollop of hot sauce and devoured it. His face, still red from the previous tasting, turned an even deeper shade.

Finishing off the milk, he clipped the bag of chips and placed it on top of the stack of food. The salsa—or what was left of it—went directly into the fridge. “Now that I’m full, I can focus on your favor. Based on the level of goodies you delivered, it must be a biggie.”

“I would like to spy on a few members of the Belly Buster’s group. I’ve done some research about RFID, how keycards can track and record movement.”

“On every passenger aboard this ship. The technology has come a long way. The downside is I’ve heard some chatter and complaints about how the Federal Trade Commission is weighing in on whether it’s an invasion of privacy.”

“So, for example, we could track Wendy Jorgensen’s activity.”

“Correct.” Sharky held a finger to his lips. “What I’m about to tell you needs to be kept between you and me. Promise?”

Millie made an “x” across her chest. “Promise.”

“Majestic Cruise Lines created a master map for each of the ships. The RFID cards are able to track all movements. It’s even advanced enough to name the location.” He went into a long spiel, tossing out terms like “polarity alignment,” and “RF wave transmittal.”

“This sounds like it’s exactly what I’m looking for.” Millie rubbed her palms together. “How does it work?”

“You enter the RFID card number associated with the passenger. With a couple of quick clicks, it creates a report hour by hour of the exact location the card, person, has visited…basically a printout.”

“Starting from the moment they first got their keycard?”

“Yep. All the way up until a few minutes ago,” Sharky said.

“If you ran a report on Wendy, it would list every spot she’s been? What about in port?”

“Nope. It only records within a certain radius. As soon as a passenger leaves the ship, there’s no way to track him or her.”

“I have a small handful of people I want to research. Let’s start with Wendy.”

“I’m sorry, Millster. No can do. I got in deep doo last time I got caught monitoring ship employees, even though it was an employee who works for me and the knucklehead was goofing off. If I get caught again.” Sharky made a slicing motion across his neck. “Patterson will fire me. ”

“Crud.” Millie frowned. “There has to be a way. Is Patterson monitoring your computer?”

“24/7.”

“Hmm. Maybe we can use my computer instead.”

Sharky’s eyes slid to the right, toward his filing cabinet.

She followed his gaze. “Let me guess, you have a personal computer that isn’t traceable.”

“Maybe.”

“We can use that. No one will be the wiser.”

Sharky grimaced. “I promised Patterson, and I’m a man of my word.”

“There has to be a way.” Millie wasn’t ready to give up. She was close…close to figuring out what had happened to Dixie—if her death was truly accidental or if something much more sinister had taken place. A brilliant idea popped into her head.

“During the course of your conversation and lecture from Patterson after you got caught, did my name happen to come up?”

Sharky thought about it. “I don’t recall you being mentioned.”

“So your promise didn’t involve me in any way?”

“No.”

“Good, because I know exactly how I can get the information without you breaking your promise.”