Page 15 of Waylaid in Whittier

“You’re welcome.” Nic carried their empty plates into the kitchen. “I’ll take Scout with me to the bridge.”

Millie tracked down the pup’s co-captain’s hat and placed it on top of his head. “He’s ready to help navigate.”

After Nic left, Millie finished cleaning up. She was halfway to her office when Sharky radioed.

“Millie, do you copy?”

“I’m here, Sharky. Go ahead.”

“Where are you?”

“Heading to my office.”

Sharky signed off, promising he was on his way.

He must have been in the vicinity because she found him waiting outside her door when she arrived, a look of concern etched on his face.

Millie’s heart plummeted. “You have news.”

“Dernice finally called me back. There’s a reason we haven’t heard from Elvira.”

Chapter 6

Millie said the first thing that popped into her head. “We were right. Elvira went searching for gold and is missing in Alaska’s wilderness.”

“Not even close,” Sharky said. “She’s in jail.”

“In jail?” Millie made a choking sound. “What happened?”

“I don’t know the details. What I do know is it involves someone from the gold mining group.” Sharky told her he was on his way to Patterson’s office to see if he could get more information.

“I’ll go with you.”

It was a quick trip from the theater to the other end of the ship. As luck would have it, the lights were off with no sign of the head of security.

Not wanting to broadcast Sharky’s personal emergency, she dialed his cell phone number. Patterson didn’t answer, so she left a brief message. “While we wait, we can check the local news to see if there’s anything being reported.”

“Good idea.” Returning to their starting point, Millie ushered her friend into her office. She promptly turned her desktop computer on. “I’ll start with Whittier’s local news.”

A preliminary search came up empty-handed. “Crud. I’m striking out.”

“Try Anchorage. We’re close to the city.”

“Good idea.” Millie cleared the screen and tried again, this time clicking on a local news link.

Several recent stories appeared. She made it halfway down when a post caught her eye. “I may have found something.” Millie slipped her reading glasses on. “Do you know the name of the company Elvira was shadowing?”

“I have it written down in my office,” Sharky said. “It was gold something.”

“Gold Grade Mining Group?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

Millie crooked her finger. “Check it out.”

He hurried around the desk and peered over her shoulder. “Georgia Woman Arrested for Vicious Attack.” The story claimed an out-of-state woman who arrived in Alaska several days prior to work alongside a team of goldminers and television production crew, became involved in an altercation with another woman, also a part of the team, at a bar in downtown Whittier. After leaving, the victim was attacked and taken to a local hospital.

Near the bottom of the story, the victim’s name was released, Wanda Tillman. The last paragraph listed the suspect’s name, Elvira Cobb.

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