Page 13 of Waylaid in Whittier

She gave it a light rap and stuck her head around the corner. “Good morning, Patterson.”

“Good morning, Millie, or should I call you snow bunny,” he teased.

“Very funny.” She tapped the top of her watch. “You got a minute?”

“For you, I have two. What’s up?”

“I just talked to Sharky. His girlfriend Elvira is in Whittier and MIA.”

Patterson’s expression sobered. “I’ve already reached out to the Whittier PD. I gave them the name of the group Elvira was working with. The person I spoke to promised to look into it, to see if they could locate her.”

“Thank you.” Millie pressed her hand to her chest. “She was supposed to check in with her sister, who is running her businesses while she’s up here and hasn’t.”

“What about your friend, the woman who lives in Savannah? I think her name was Garlucci. Maybe Elvira has touched base with her.”

“Carlita Garlucci-Taylor. I’m sure Dernice has already spoken with her,” Millie said. “I guess we’ll have to wait to find out what the Whittier authorities come up with.”

“She could surface. If she’s out in the boondocks searching for gold, it’s possible she doesn’t have cell phone reception.”

“Which is what I told Sharky. Unfortunately, Elvira’s a city slicker. I’m not sure how well she would do being stuck out in the wilderness overnight.” Visions of the woman lost…or worse yet…injured and unable to get help flitted through Millie’s head.

“We can only do so much. I hope Sharky doesn’t decide to go search for her and end up in trouble, too.”

“I suppose if we don’t have an update by tomorrow, he and I can get off the ship and go look for her.”

“But not in the wilderness,” Patterson said.

“No. We’ll stay in town and ask around,” Millie promised. “On an entirely different subject, I have a question. Do you know Jose Juan something, something Hernandez? He recently returned to Siren of the Seas and works in the IT department.”

Patterson drummed his fingers on his desk. “The name sounds vaguely familiar. Why?”

“I’m just curious.”

“Curious in a good way?”

“He hit my radar. He hit Danielle’s and Amit’s radars, too.”

“Are you trying to make a mystery out of a new employee?”

Millie bristled at the comment. “Of course not. When was the last time I did that?”

“Let me think.” He tapped the bottom of his chin. “A couple months ago, when you reported one of the stevedores who was unloading at the Ketchikan port.”

“Because he kept going back and forth but wasn’t moving pallets,” she said. “Hey, you never know when a dock worker is going to go rogue and do bad things.”

“As you recall, he was in training.”

“Okay.” Millie sighed. “I’ll admit, I occasionally have an overactive imagination.”

“Which is why you’re great at solving mysteries. I don’t know this Hernandez employee.”

“Good. I suppose this is a good thing,” she said. “As far as Elvira goes…”

“Hopefully, we’ll hear something about Sharky’s girlfriend soon.”

Millie thanked him and exited his office. An uneasy feeling settled over her. Elvira could very well be in trouble. She hoped not because there was no way she or Sharky were equipped to search for her in Alaska’s wilderness.

*****

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