These were the feelings of his heart as he lay there in The Lady Droxell with Catherine just a few feet away. His head was telling him something entirely different. In fact, it was condemning him. Hadn't he just jumped into a relationship that ended in a disaster? Wasn't he on hiatus from work at his father's suggestion to heal from the quick decision he had made with Rosalind? Was he not aware that Catherine was dealing with the trauma of having her husband killed in a car crash? Was he not aware that a relationship for either of them right now would be categorized as 'rebound' and doomed to failure? He didn't have to imagine too hard the reaction his parents would have if he were to enter into another relationship right now.
It was with these conflicting thoughts running through his head that Alex fell asleep on The Lady Droxell that night.
Chapter Thirty-three
CHICAGO
Michael and Marilyn spent the afternoon playing tennis at the country club. He kept checking his phone for a message from Catherine. There were none. His concern had turned to full-blown worry. His preoccupation with not hearing from Catherine was becoming increasingly more irritating to Marilyn.
After they were finished playing tennis, he suggested they have dinner there at the club. At this point, Marilyn's pent up annoyance surfaced.
"I thought you were going to beat me that last set, Marilyn. That was a good match -- a really good match. Why don't we stay and have dinner here tonight? Would you like that?"
"Frankly, you haven't been the best company today. You have been so distracted about not hearing from Catherine -- checking your phone every five minutes. Maybe, you should just take me home. You can go home and focus on getting up with her."
"I sense you are upset. I didn't mean to be inattentive to you, Marilyn. I'm just really concerned. It's not like Catherine to not at least have called once to let me know she arrived. And she is not answering my calls. Anything could have happened. She could be in a hospital somewhere."
"Well, like I said, just take me home and then you can do whatever you need to do to try to reach her. It's been a long day. I'm tired and not that hungry."
"Okay, whatever you want."
Marilyn and Michael headed for his car. He dropped Marilyn off at her house and then headed home.
When he got home, he went to find Jean and Ella. They were together in the kitchen having some dinner.
"It's good to have you home," Ella said.
"Have you eaten? Can I get you some dinner?" Jean asked.
"Sure, just fix me a plate of whatever you're having. I'll eat it right here with you. Were there any calls from Catherine here at the house phone today?"
"No, sir," Ella answered.
"You haven't heard from her yet?" Jean asked.
"No," he answered in a tone that clearly indicated the level of concern he was now feeling.
"I just don't understand it," Jean continued, "it's not like Miss Catherine to not keep in touch."
"I know, I'm concerned. I've left numerous messages, but she hasn't returned any of my calls. I'm trying to remember the name of the place she stays at -- the lodge she goes to. I know it's something with 'Osprey.' I'll see if I can find a number for the lodge and try calling it. If I can't find the number, I can call her office tomorrow; her secretary will have it."
"That sounds like a good idea," Jean said as she brought him his plate.
"Did you have fun today with Miss Marilyn?" Ella asked.
"I'm afraid I wasn't too good of company -- I was too preoccupied worrying about Catherine."
"Well, that's understandable."
"I'm afraid it wasn't too understandable to Marilyn, I think she's upset with me. But I'll have to straighten that out later."
Michael started eating the food that Jean had brought him.
"Dinner is excellent, Jean. How did you know I was hungry for pork chops and mashed potatoes?" He said laughing.
"You're always hungry for pork chops and mashed potatoes. I remember when you were a youngster, you used to come into the kitchen and say, 'Ms. Jean, will you fix me some of those chops with the taters!'"
"It took me a while to learn to say potatoes! I do remember that! I'm glad that both of you have been loyal to the family and me all these years. I feel like I was blessed with three mothers! Sometimes when I was young, it wasn't always a good thing -- nothing got past any of you!"
All three laughed as they thought back to the many happy memories they had all shared.
"Well, thanks for dinner. I'm going to head up to my room and search the computer for the lodge's number."
"Okay, come down and let us know if you reach her," Jean said.
"I will."
. . .
Michael headed up to his room, got his iPad and began searching for the lodge. Catherine had said the name of the lodge on a number of occasions. He knew it had more to the name than just 'Osprey Lodge.' After a few attempts, he finally got the number. He immediately called it.
James was still at the front desk and took the call.
"The Osprey Cove Lodge, this is James, how may I help you?"
"James, this is Michael Gregstone. I'm trying to reach my sister, Catherine Wellin. I believe she checked in yesterday?"
"I'll be happy to ring her room, sir."
"Thank you."
The phone in the Veranda Room rang. But, of course, there was no answer. Catherine would not be returning to her room tonight as she was stranded on The Lady Droxell.
Michael became more frustrated and concerned, so he rang the general number again. He asked James to give a message to Catherine when she returned to have her call him.
James told Michael that he would be happy to give her the message if she returned in the next thirty minutes. After that, he would be off duty, and the desk calls would go to voicemail. He said he would be happy to see that she got the message in the morning.
Michael hung up the phone after his last conversation with James. Well, I know she arrived at the lodge. She evidently checked in. That relieved his mind to a degree. He would just have to wait until morning.
Michael's thoughts drifted back to the day he had spent with Marilyn. She had not attempted to hide her annoyance with his concern over Catherine. Was she jealous? He thought back to the dinner the three of them had shared at the club while Catherine was visiting. Catherine wasn't the only one who had noticed that Marilyn had been cool toward her. Michael had been excited for the two of them to meet. He wasn't expecting Marilyn to be so aloof with Catherine. He had hoped they would become good friends. They needed to become good friends -- especially if Catherine moved back to Chicago. Michael wanted to be a major part of her child's life. A lot of red flags were going off in Michael's head. If Marilyn was already resenting Catherine, what would it be like if she moved into the estate? How would she handle his involvement with the child?
Michael had been close to asking Marilyn to marry him. But now he was having second thoughts. He definitely would be putting that on the back burner. Catherine was his priority right now. He wished he could have reached her tonight. He turned on the TV to distract himself and eventually fell asleep.
Chapter Thirty-four
PUERTO VALLARTA
Max and Eva leaned back in the airline seats on their flight from Albuquerque to Puerto Vallarta. They had just visited the site of Eva's previously-owned Corvette's demise. They had visited the area where Doug's accident occurred and spoken with both the nearby gas station employees and the motel owner. They were pleased with their findings.
While no one at the gas station could conclusively say they recognized the picture of Doug, they seemed to remember seeing the red Corvette. They had better success with the motel owner, Mr. Jacobsen. He identified both the picture of Doug and the car. He told them they were both hard to forget. The car was a beauty, and he was about as 'arrogant as they come' to quote his description of him. Mr. Jacobsen told them that the guy complained about everything. In fact, Mr. Jacobsen had even told him to leave i
f he didn't like it. After he had done that, he said the guy calmed down. When they asked him if he had noticed anything else odd about him, Mr. Jacobsen mentioned that he thought that he was driving two vehicles. He was watching him carefully to be sure there wasn't another occupant in the room that he was trying to get out of paying for. But he appeared to be the only one in the room, and he had observed him getting out of both vehicles. It was a small one-story motel where the cars park directly in front of their rooms. Mr. Jacobsen further explained that the motel had not been too busy at the time, and so it was obvious that both vehicles belonged to him.
Max and Eva could hardly believe the payoff they were receiving for their minimal amount of detective work. And then they asked the big question. They asked if he remembered the guest's name. They said he had been involved in a crime and may be using an alias. They had flashed a fake detective badge.
Mr. Jacobsen pulled out a ragged Dollar Store notebook which he apparently used to have his guests sign in. Next to their signature, he had written the room numbers. He did not remember the name off the top of his head, but he remembered the room. He told them that one of the occupant's complaints was about the air conditioner, and he had just had the air conditioning fixed in that unit. He went through the pages of scribbled names and told them it was 'D. Castlebury.' He had stayed in Room #6.
Max and Eva headed straight for the Albuquerque airport to study flight destinations to Mexico. They narrowed down the flights they thought he might have taken based on the timing of the accident. The newspaper had said it occurred sometime before daybreak. Their theory was that he would have headed straight to the airport. Using this rationale, Max and Eva had zeroed in on Puerto Vallarta. And so, they were en route to try to find 'D. Castlebury' in Puerto Vallarta.
They knew that they still had a lot of work cut out for them. And even if they found Mr. Castlebury, it would be a delicate task getting the diamonds back. Max and Eva were sophisticated jewel thieves, but they were not thugs. What were they going to do -- go up and ask him to hand over the diamonds? But Max and Eva were masterminds. They would figure it out. Max had taken three weeks off from work. They would use every minute of it to try to recover the diamonds. And if it was necessary, he would take more time off.
. . .
As soon as their plane landed, they took a taxi over to the upscale oceanfront hotel where they had made a reservation. It had an excellent central location and would be a comfortable place to work. They were both tired from the flight. They went out on the balcony of their room which overlooked the bay and enjoyed a glass of wine.
"What a stunning view," Eva said, "why haven't we come here before?"
Max looked over at Eva and smiled, "If we are successful with our mission, I promise to bring you back for as long as you'd like, how does that sound? In fact, we may even buy a place here!"
"Sounds like we better get working. So, Max, what is the first thing you would do? He's obviously decided to abandon his old life. He has changed his identity and appears to be alone. He arrives in Puerto Vallarta with wealth beyond his wildest dreams. What is the first thing he is going to do?"
"Okay. Well, he needs a place to live. Does he rent for a while and see if he likes the place or does he jump right in and buy a property? Either way, he has to work with a real estate agent. But we can't exactly walk into the real estate agencies and asked if they rented or sold a house to D. Castlebury."
"No, but we can go in and ask them to show us properties. We can inquire where other Americans have recently bought properties. It's a long shot, but we have to start somewhere. Remember we are putting pieces to a giant puzzle together. I'd say we have a pretty big chunk in place already if our hunch is right that he chose Puerto Vallarta."
"Alright, I agree, visiting the real estate companies might be a good idea. But let's also think about his interests we discovered on social media. We saw a picture of him in a diving T-shirt. There can't be too many dive shops here. Let's visit them."
"Good idea, Max. I'm not sure I have enough energy to do a whole lot today, can we start tomorrow? I think the beach is calling my name!"
"Okay, but tomorrow -- bright and early -- we need to hit the streets."
Eva smiled, "I'll be ready. That's what I like about you, Max, you are flexible!"
"Is that a nice way of saying you have me wrapped around your little finger!"
"Call it what you want, let's get our bathing suits on and enjoy some of this Mexican sunshine!"
. . .
The next morning Eva and Max did get right to work. They asked the hotel concierge what would be the best real estate agent to use for a high-end property. She gave them the name of two agencies -- Riviera Real Estate and Bayside Real Estate. They called the first company, Riviera, and set up an appointment with an agent named Jason.
They met Jason at the Riviera Real Estate office.
"Jason, my wife and I have a limited amount of time this morning. But we would like you to take us on a brief overview tour of the different areas offering ocean views. We would like to focus on areas that other Americans have purchased property. We do not want to set up any specific appointments to see property today. Would that be possible?"
"I would be more than happy to do that. In fact, that is an excellent approach to take. After you have seen the various areas, you will be in a better position to know where you would like me to look for a listing. It would be helpful if I know what your budget is."
"I understand, we have a flexible budget. We would like to see your high-end listings."
Jason seemed more than pleased with that response. It wasn't often he had an opportunity to work with someone with an unlimited budget. He always managed to fall a little short on sales to beat Tim, one of the other agents in the office, for the top agent of the month. The top agent got a hefty bonus. He was going to try his best to make this sale.
"Well, let's get started," Jason said smiling as he directed Max and Eva out to his car.
Max had discussed with Eva that he was going to try to get the agent to take them past properties that Americans had recently bought. He had her bring along a notebook and told her to make a note of all the addresses.
"Jason, as we drive through the different areas, would you be kind enough to point out properties that have sold recently to Americans. And if you know it, perhaps you could share the price it sold for."
"Yes, sir. I'll be happy to do that for you. I'm here to serve. Whatever information you need to help you make the right decision on a property here in Puerto Vallarta, I will do my best to provide. I may not have all the sale prices, but I'll do the best I can."
"Well, it sounds like we are off to a good start. My wife is planning to take notes of the different areas."
"Good idea - after a while, areas and house begin to blur. Taking notes is an excellent idea. I often suggest it to my clients."
After about half an hour, Jason had taken them through many beautiful areas -- all with water views. As instructed, he pointed out properties that had sold recently to Americans. And Eva faithfully recorded the addresses. The problem was there were way too many properties. Somehow they needed to narrow them down. So Max took another approach.
"Jason, you are doing an excellent job with the overview. But I'm thinking that I would like to narrow things down somewhat. As I said, our budget is flexible. If I was to ask you to show me the last five most expensive homes sold recently, could you take us there? In fact, to narrow it down even more, let's say in the last couple months."
Now, Jason was really getting excited. Not only was their budget flexible, they wanted to see the highest-priced listings. He could already see the 'Top Sales Agent of the Month' plaque hanging in his office.
"Not a problem, Mr. Harrodson, let me do a quick computer search, and we'll head right over to them. I'm here to please -- whatever is helpful to you, I'll be glad to provide."
"Oh, and as before, we would like these highest-priced sales to be prope
rties that Americans have bought.
"Yes, sir. I'll have them pulled up in a minute."
Max looked at Eva and raised his eyebrow as though to say, "we've got this guy right where we need him."
"Okay, I have five of the highest-priced properties, sold in the last two months. I'll take you over to them right now. They are actually not too far apart."
Eva paid particular attention to the addresses of each of these properties. If the address wasn't visible, Jason was happy to provide it from the computer listing. The plan was to come back to each of these properties and do surveillance on them to try to get a glimpse of the owner. It was a long shot, but as Max kept saying, finding Doug was like a puzzle that had to be put together one small piece at a time. And as in a puzzle, sometimes you try a piece, and if it doesn't fit, you move on to another. If this didn't work, they would move on.
They had gotten through three properties in about twenty minutes -- with two more to go.
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