Page 29 of Tiki Hut Tragedy (Cruise Director Millie Mysteries #6)

“You guys hang out here while I check to see if Pastor Haakenson is in his office.”

Sharky patted the top of the coffee maker. “This baby is like brand new. He’ll get years of use before it breaks down again.”

“I’m glad to hear he’ll be back in business as far as inviting others in for coffee.” Millie slipped into the sanctuary. Walking down the center aisle, she could see the pastor’s office light was on and his door was ajar.

She gave it a light rap.

Haakenson, who was seated behind his desk, looked up. Noticing who it was, he greeted her with a warm smile. “Millie. Come in.”

“Do you have a minute? ”

“Sure. For you, I have two.”

“Actually, I need more than a few minutes, more like half an hour.”

“I have plenty of time.”

She held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”

Millie ran to the door and ushered her friends inside…Sharky, Annette, Amit, Barty, Cat, Andy, Danielle, Donovan, Brody, Nikki, Carlah, who worked in the specialty coffee shop. “He’s here.”

Walking single file, they strolled into his office with Sharky taking the lead. He set the box on the desk. “Your coffee maker is fixed and ready to brew.”

“Thank you.” A puzzled expression crossed the pastor’s face. “What’s going on?”

“We’re here to make it official and welcome you to Siren of the Seas,” Millie said.

Sudden tears welled up in the pastor’s eyes. “You’re here for me? ”

“Here to say we’re glad you’re a part of the Siren of the Seas’ team.” Millie quickly introduced her friends, those the pastor hadn’t yet met.

“We need coffee.” Cat got busy brewing a pot while Amit, who had baked a cake for the special occasion, began slicing pieces and putting them on plates. “I baked my specialty, a lemon layer cake with cream cheese frosting.”

After cake and coffee were served, Millie invited the others to share one thing they loved about working on board the ship.

“The crew,” Cat said.

“The recycle center,” Sharky said.

A collective groan went up.

“Kidding. I’m kidding. My friends, of course.”

As they worked their way around the room, the theme became clear. The close-knit group was what each felt was most important .

Millie went last, summing it up perfectly. “You’re now a member of the Siren of the Seas’ family. We’re all friends. If you need something, all you have to do is call one of us and we’ll be here to help.”

The pastor’s lower lip quivered. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I’m excited about this new journey, and please know if I can help any of you, my door is always open.”

The party started to wind down. Annette was the first to mention Dixie Trent’s death. “That was a pretty interesting twist at the end, Astrid avoiding detection while gambling.”

“Although Astrid swears up and down she had nothing to do with Dixie’s death, I spoke to Patterson right before I got here.

He thinks it’s only a matter of hours before she’s officially charged,” Millie said.

“After running some checks, they discovered she had a prescription for pills that help with digestion. One major side effect is drowsiness. ”

“It still doesn’t mean she did Dixie in,” Danielle said.

“There’s more,” Millie said. “The prescription was filled in Miami the day we left for our cruise. When Astrid was brought in for questioning, the prescription wasn’t with her.

It’s possible she slipped it in Dixie’s drink before they left on the excursion and then dumped the bottle in the ocean to get rid of the evidence. ”

“So the bottle could be what the GoPro recording caught Astrid holding onto,” Sharky said.

“A toxicology report will determine if the drug was in Dixie’s system,” Annette pointed out.

“I knew from the minute I laid eyes on her there was something different about the woman,” Sharky said. “I had no idea she was a hot babe. I’m kinda surprised because I can pick the hot ones out from a mile away.”

“Good grief,” Cat groaned .

“Astrid confided in Patterson that she didn’t think the women would respect her if they knew what she really looked like, not to mention how young she was so Astrid disguised herself, trying to blend in,” Millie explained.

“I have to say, as far as solving mysteries go, this one was tricky,” Annette said.

“My first inclination was to suspect Wendy, Dixie’s cabinmate,” Millie said.

“Who was actually the one to tip us off and get the ball rolling,” Cat reminded them. “Albeit anonymously.”

“All the clues pointed to her, for sure,” Danielle said. “She had motive and opportunity.”

“I know one thing…I won’t be in a hurry to take a tiki hut excursion anytime soon.” Cat shivered involuntarily. “Those things are dangerous.”

“It wasn’t an ideal situation. The women were drinking, spinning around and around and then arguing with each other to top it all off,” Sharky said. “If they confirm Astrid was responsible, she practically had the scene handed to her on a silver platter.”

Annette leaned her hip against the counter. “I’m still a little fuzzy about why Astrid wanted Dixie dead.”

“Wendy told me she overheard Astrid and Dixie talking. Astrid wanted to cut a deal. She had figured out a way to throw the contest and let Dixie win. Dixie threatened to report her to Amerifinest. From what we can piece together, Astrid needed money to pay off a substantial gambling debt and figured she could cover it if she and Dixie split the pot,” Millie said.

“She didn’t know Wendy inadvertently overheard the conversation. ”

“Why did she hang out in the casino as herself and not mousy Astrid?”

“Patterson and I wondered the same thing. From what we learned, it had something to do with a ‘code of conduct.’ Basically, Astrid, as the host signed an agreement to abstain from certain activities while supervising the group, including gambling.”

“Not to toot my own horn, but I was instrumental in solving this one.” Sharky puffed out his chest.

Annette tilted her head. “There’s something different about you. You have a new look.”

Sharky ran his hand over his cropped locks and strutted in a slow circle for all to see.

“Your fin is finito,” Danielle teased. “I like it.”

“Seeing how we’re back in the sweltering Caribbean, it helps keep my noggin cooler.” Sharky made googly eyes at Annette. “I heard Danielle isn’t the only one who likes buzz cuts.”

“Oh, brother.” Annette rolled her eyes. “I made a comment about how it was an improvement over the spiked look, not that it made me swoon over you. ”

“Elvira,” Millie reminded him. “You’re already spoken for.”

“I like it. It gives you a hint of Kojak swag,” Danielle said.

“Who loves ya, baby?” Sharky shot back in a raspy voice. “Anyway, I’m finding chicks dig the new look, so I think I’ll keep it.”

Millie sobered. “Thank you for stepping up and offering to help. If not for your GoPro and other…tools, we would never have figured out Astrid was betting heavily in the casino.”

Ting-a-ling. Millie's phone alarm chimed. “The eating competition is getting underway. Is there a television around here?”

“Behind the cabinet doors.” Pastor Haakenson opened the doors, revealing a large, flat-screen television. He turned it on, flipping through the channels until he found it. They all grew quiet, their eyes glued to the screen .

“I need another piece of cake.” Sharky grabbed a generous slice and dug in.

The contestants approached a large scale, each weighing in.

“Look.” Amit’s eyes grew round as saucers. “Do you see the size of the slices of pizza they will eat?”

“They’re huge.” Millie grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.

“…consuming nine-pound pepperoni pizza slices,” the announcer explained.

A second group of contestants arrived, ones who were not part of the Belly Busters. They formed a semicircle, and each contestant stepped in front of a ginormous slice of pizza. The buzzer rang. The women grabbed the slices and began eating.

“Wendy’s technique is to take a bite and sip some water,” Danielle said. “I think she might be onto something. ”

“It’s kept her in the top five,” Cat said. “Gail has a different strategy.”

Gail broke off a large piece of pizza, rolled it up and crammed it into her mouth.

While the minutes ticked by, the women chewed, swallowed, drank, repeating it over and over.

Meanwhile, the host kept a running commentary, moving from contestant to contestant, adding his own take on how the eating was proceeding.

Gail took a slight lead. Wendy stepped it up a notch, sipping and stuffing, her cheeks bulging.

A third contestant, not part of the Belly Busters group, picked up the pace.

“I can’t watch.” Cat tossed her empty cake plate in the trash. “No amount of money would be worth stuffing my face.”

“I would do it for forty thousand smacker-oos,” Sharky said. “Hey, I might take up professional eating as a side hobby. ”

Millie’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “You’re off to a good start with the cake.”

“It’s all in the technique, Mill-ster.” Sharky patted his protruding belly. “I’m a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to.”

The contest wrapped up with Wendy the “Wolfette” wolfing down her pizza first. Hotshot Hannah was a close second.

The host escorted her to the scales for the post-competition weigh-in.

Millie’s jaw dropped when she saw how much Wendy had gained. “Ten pounds,” she gasped.

“That’s a whole lotta pepperonis.”

An enthusiastic round of applause ensued. Wendy claimed victory with her signature wolf's call after collecting her check and the trophy—a plastic pepperoni pizza mounted on a stand. A brief blurb about the upcoming pilot television program and Wendy hosting it was announced.

Annette turned the television off. “And that’s a wrap. We can give ourselves a congratulatory pat on the back for helping her walk away with the grand prize.”

“All of those practice runs and consuming tons of food,” Millie said. “Watching the competition makes me want to jog around the track a time or two to burn off a few calories.”

Danielle tapped the top of her activity app. “It makes me want to eat some ice cream before I head over for the lido deck’s funny flop.”

Sharky belched loudly. “Excuse me. I’ll meet you there, Danielle. But first, I’m gonna pack a few slices of cake to take home.”

“A soft swirl cone in this Caribbean heat sounds tempting,” Millie said. “I’ll go with you.”

“Me four,” Annette said. “How about you, Cat? You want a little cold treat to wash down the cake?”

“As long as it’s not pepperoni pizza flavored,” Cat grimaced .

Sharky left, promising to meet them by the ice cream machine on the pool deck.

Millie flung her arm around Annette. “Something tells me if you gave Sharky an ounce of encouragement, he would tell Elvira sayonara and ask you out on a date.”

“I’m done with dating.” Annette dusted her hands. “I hate to say it, but Sharky seems more stable than Jose.”

“Sharky’s the best. He might be a little quirky, but he’s solid.”

Danielle playfully nudged Millie’s arm. “I think we can officially add him to our team of amateur sleuths. What do you say?”

Cat made a timeout. “We need to put a little more thought into this. Let’s hold off, at least until after we’re done eating our ice cream.”

Tink. Millie’s cell phone chimed. It was a text from her cousin. “Hold up, everyone. Gloria sent me a text. ”

“Who is Gloria?” the pastor asked.

“Millie’s cousin from Michigan,” Cat explained. “She’s also a super sleuth. When those two get together, you better watch out because they always seem to stir up some sort of mischief.”

“Liz, my other cousin, who is Gloria’s sister, just booked an all-expenses paid cruise on board the Siren of the Seas for her and their friends.”

“Whoo-ee,” Cat whooped loudly. “This oughta be an exciting adventure.”

“Liz, Gloria, Margaret, Lucy and Dot? Something tells me we’re in store for some High Seas Hijinks.”

Millie waited for her friends to make their way out of Pastor Haakenson’s office. “Would you like to go with us for some ice cream?”

“Yes, I think I will. You and your friends have had some exciting adventures.”

“You have no idea. The way things are shaping up, I envision even more in our future.” Millie linked arms with him, trailing behind the others at a slower pace. It was good to be home, enjoying the palm trees and warm breezes with nothing but blue skies on the horizon, at least for the time being.

The end.