cruise. I’m not sure of their names, though,” she admitted. Patterson gathered the photos and dropped them back inside the envelope. “How do you know?” “Because I saw them leave the theater last night with the Wests. The way they were acting. They know each other.” Patterson massaged the back of his neck. “Chloe never mentioned another couple.” Millie picked up. “Which is odd. I mean, wouldn’t they all be suspects?” He let go of his neck and began to drum his fingers on the desktop. “I could bring Chloe in for questioning again but maybe we shouldn’t tip our hand yet.” “I know how you can find out who they are,” Millie told him. “The mysterious couple have a daughter. Her name is Maisie.” Patterson grinned, showing off a brilliant set of pearly-whites. Millie had never seen him smile, or if she had, she was certain she had never seen him smile like that! Her mouth turned into the Sahara Desert in the noonday sun. “Is there any other tidbit of information you’d like to share?” he prompted. She slowly shook her head. There was something niggling in the back of her mind but for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out what it was. Not when he was smiling at her like that! He abruptly got to his feet. “Thanks for your help, Millie.” He stepped over to the door and opened it. “You’ll let me know if you stumble upon anything else?” Millie nodded. The desert sand was blowing hard. Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Millie stepped out of the room and gave a small wave, still not trusting herself to speak. Dave Patterson watched her for a few seconds and slowly closed the door. He shook his head. Millie Sanders was a bit of an enigma. Like fire and ice. One minute a chatterbox and the next she clammed up. He had to wonder how she ended up right in the thick of things.
Chapter 15 Millie was late. She had five minutes to make it up to the bridge and pick up Scout. She didn’t want the captain to think she was irresponsible and shirking her doggie duties. Fortunately, Millie was getting fast at navigating the ship. She was in front of the door to the bridge in four minutes flat with a whole minute to spare. Captain Armati was off in the corner, talking to Staff Captain Vitale. The two men nodded as Millie made her way across the bridge. Captain Armati met her in the hallway, near the entrance to his private quarters. He smiled at Millie. “Ready for another day with Scout?” He didn’t wait for a reply as he punched in the code that unlocked the door. Millie caught a whiff of cologne. The smell lingered in the air as she followed behind him. It smelled nice, and expensive, she decided. Her eyes wandered to the back of his gray head. A man in uniform. Captain Armati was an attractive man. She wondered if he was married. Millie gave a mental shake. What was wrong with her? First, she was getting butterflies in Dave Patterson’s office and now she was admiring the back of Captain Armati’s head, trying to figure out if he was married! Was she finally, after all this time, coming back to life again? Millie figured that was all done and over with. That she would never be interested in men again. That she could wrap herself up in so many other projects there wouldn’t be room for someone else. “…and Scout was sound asleep.” Captain Armati was talking. Millie wasn’t listening. She was still having that internal conversation about joining the living again and showing an interest in the opposite sex. Millie’s mind had wandered and she missed what the captain had said. She blurted out the first thing that popped into her head. “Scout sleeps in your bed?” She had never let Daisy do that. Of course, that was Roger’s decision. Millie might have, but Roger had always been adamant there would be no dogs in the bedroom. She followed Captain