I let my lips linger. Mostly because I didn’t want her to see how much I would have preferred to be kissing her lips. And also because I was scared that if I did let her go, I might act on that temptation. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t jump into any kind of a relationship with Francesca Cruz. She was too good for me. She didn’t deserve a mess of a guy like me. She deserved something better. Much better. And if I was ever going to start something up with her, I’d have to prove to myself that I could be someone she deserved. And at this moment, I wasn’t that guy.
I whispered into her forehead. “Maybe you’re right, Francesca.”
My hand dropped and she pulled her head back. Our eyes met, and I knew she knew how I felt. She knew it was a wrong time, wrong place kind of thing. We were trying to recover my ex from the clutches of an evil man. And I had a lot of work to do on myself. She got it.
“It’s getting late,” she whispered back, tearing her eyes from mine.
“Yeah,” I said. “We need to get an early start tomorrow if we’re going to figure out how to get Pam back.”
“Okay.” She nodded. She stood up and walked over to Hugo, who was snoring softly on a blanket he’d found on the floor. “Come on, Hugo. We better get going. It’s late.”
Hugo didn’t budge.
“Oh man, he’s out like a light,” I said. “Why don’t you two just stay here tonight?”
“Danny, I—”
I held up a hand. “I’ll sleep on the sofa. You and Hugo can have my bed. Just don’t let him drool on my pillow, please.”
“Danny! Your legs hang over your sofa! I can’t make you sleep here.”
I grinned. “Oh, trust me. I’ve fallen asleep on this sofa many times since I’ve moved into this cottage. It’s comfy, and I don’t mind a bit.” I lied about the comfy part, but if it meant Francesca didn’t have to drive home, I was happy to sleep on the sofa.
She looked down at her dog, who pawed at the air in his sleep. “He does look comfortable.”
I stood up and took her by the hand. “Just let him stay there. Come on.”
I led her to my bedroom and opened the door. “The most comfortable bed on the island,” I promised with a wide grin. “And as you can tell by the fact that the bed is fixed, housekeeping was here today. You get fresh sheets and everything.”
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
I shook my head. “I’m absolutely positive I don’t mind.”
“Okay.” Standing up on her tippy-toes, she extended her neck to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Thanks.”
The feel of her lips on my cheek made my body tingle. It was going to be a rough night sleeping alone on the sofa after that simple little gesture. I squeezed her hand before letting it go. “G’night, Francesca.”
“G’night, Danny.”
I turned to leave.
“Oh, Danny?”
I stopped and turned to look at her. “Yeah?”
“You can call me Frankie if you want.”
My head bobbed. “G’night, Frankie.”
“G’night, Danny.”
34
I woke up early the next morning to my phone ringing.
My eyes flashed open. My body jerked to attention and, forgetting where I was, I rolled off the narrow sofa and onto the floor with a thud. Hugo, who was lying across the room in a ball, looked up at me and yawned.
I scrambled to grab the phone as it rang again. It had to be the kidnapper calling back!
“Drunk here,” I croaked.
“Terrence?” The sound of a sweet old lady’s voice caught me off guard.
“Evie?” I said, rubbing a hand against my scalp and suddenly wondering what time it was. Only a slim sliver of light came in from beneath my living room’s shades. “Is everything okay?”
“I hope so. Did Al stay over there last night?”
“Al?” I lifted myself up off the floor and plopped down on the sofa again. This time in a seated position. “No. Why?”
“Well, I’m not sure exactly,” said Evie. “He’s not here. Maybe he’s just gone to breakfast early. But he usually leaves me a little note if he leaves before I’ve woken.”
I frowned. “But you saw him come home last night?”
“I didn’t. That’s the thing. I was reading in bed, waiting up for him, and I guess I fell asleep. His side of the bed is made, and it seems odd that he’d straighten it before I was awake. But if he came in last night after I’d fallen asleep, it’s possible he decided to watch television in the living room so as not to awaken me. Sometimes he falls asleep in his chair, and if I don’t wake him, he doesn’t come to bed. But then it occurred to me that perhaps if it had gotten late, he’d decided to stay at your place last night. Of course I would have appreciated a call if he’d—”
“Evie, Al didn’t stay with me.” Panic crept up into my chest and grabbed hold of my heart tightly.
“Oh dear…” she began. I could hear the worry in her voice. “He hasn’t answered his phone either.”
I had to keep it together. Evie couldn’t know that I was now just as concerned as she was. “Don’t worry, Evie. He probably just doesn’t have his hearing aids in. I’ll go check the dining room and the lobby. I’ll check with Artie too. I’m sure he’s fine. No worries. Okay?”
“It’s hard not to worry. He’s all I’ve got!”
“I know he is. And I won’t let anything happen to him. Let me run out and do a little digging, okay?”
“Yes. Thank you, Terrence. Call me the second you find him. Please?”
“Don’t worry, I will. I promise.”
I hung up the phone and tried to center my thoughts. Al had left last night after volunteering to take Mack home. I wondered if Mack had made it home. I flipped through my contacts and found Mack’s number and dialed. It rang and rang, and then the message that said the user’s voicemail hadn’t been set up yet picked up again.
Ugh. She wouldn’t answer for me anyway. She was too pissed at me because I’d almost gotten her killed the night before. Women.
I needed to go look for Al.
I slid my feet back into my boat shoes and strode towards my bedroom. I gave a little knock on the door before opening it and peering inside. Francesca was curled up in my quilt. Her dark hair was sprawled out across my pillow. I snuck over to the bedside. I hated to wake her up, but this could be a serious emergency.
“Frankie,” I whispered.
She didn’t move.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and touched her shoulder. Her skin was warm and soft. “Frankie,” I whispered again.
“Hmmm?”
“Time to wake up. We have a bit of an emergency situation on our hands.”
She practically sprang out of bed. “Did Hugo poop on your floor?” she asked, her hair wild. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.”
“Well, good morning to you too,” I said, flashing her a smile.
Her eyes blinked sleepily. She inhaled a deep breath and then smiled back at me, her head cocked sideways now. “Good morning, Danny. Did Hugo poop on your floor?”
“No, as of now, my floor’s safe. But Al isn’t. Evie just called. She doesn’t think Al made it home last night.”
Francesca’s eyes widened. “What!”
“I need to go look for him.”
She immediately went for her shoes. “Correction, we need to go look for him.”
35
“Thanks, Artie,” I said before hanging up the phone. I turned to Francesca, who was in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. “Artie said Al’s not in the dining room, the gift shop, or the men’s room in the lobby. He just went and checked for me.”
“Well, we know Al was driving Mack back to her car, and then he was supposed to head home after that,” she said, turning down the driveway that would lead us to the employee parking lot. “We’ll start by checking to see if Mack’s car is still there.”
I manually rolled down
Francesca’s window and leaned into the fresh island breeze. I needed the air to clear my head and calm me down, as I was already feeling panic’s tight grip twisting the pit of my stomach. “Shit, Frankie. What if they got Al?”
Turning to look at me, she shook her head. “There’s just no way. Why would they take him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they were trying to grab Mack again and they got Al somehow.”
She hooked a right when we hit the parking lot. “Let’s not go jumping to conclusions.”
I sucked in my breath when I saw Al’s pride and joy sitting there. “Oh my God,” I whispered, pointing to the sleek black golf cart. “That’s Al’s.”
Francesca shook her head. “That can’t be good.” She pulled her vehicle up to a stop next to the golf cart. There wasn’t a single trace of Al inside. She looked around the lot. “Do you see Mack’s car?”
I motioned up ahead. “Drive around. I’ll scope it out.”
“What’s she drive?”
“It’s a little silver Honda. Four-door.”
The parking lot was small. Cars were parked around the perimeter of the lot, with two rows of cars nose to nose in the center. It took us all of thirty seconds to inspect the lot and discover that Mack’s car wasn’t there.
“So now what?” I asked, throwing my hands up.
“We speak to the guard shack. See what they know.”
“The staff switches over at six a.m.” I explained. “They’re not gonna know what happened last night.”
“You got any cameras on the entrance?”
“I’ve got eyes on the entrance and the guard shack, but not on the employee parking lot.”
She shook her head. “You’re gonna want to get working on that.”
“I know. It’s on my to-do list. I’ve been a little slow getting things done.” I shook my head. After everything Francesca and I had spoken about last night, I knew now that not only had I let the hurt I felt over Pam’s betrayal affect my personal life, I’d also let it affect my professional life. I’d put only the bare minimum into my job as head of resort security. All of that was coming to an end here and now.
“Let’s speak to the guards, and if they don’t have anything, we’ll go check out the security cameras,” said Francesca.
“You read my mind.”
Francesca pulled her vehicle over to the guard shack, and Caleb Wilson, the dayshift guard stepped out.
“Good morning, Drunk.” He tipped his hat at me. Caleb was a fairly serious man. He was clean-shaven, with a wide nose and dark, squinty eyes. “Is there something I can help you with this morning?”
“Yeah, Caleb. This is my friend Francesca.”
He nodded at her.
“We’re trying to figure out what happened to the owner of that black golf cart parked in the employee lot. Do you know where he went?”
Caleb shook his head. “No, the cart was there when I got here. I asked Davis, the night guard, about it. He was surprised to see it there. He said he hadn’t even noticed someone drive it in.”
“Did he mention if there was any kind of security issues last night in the employee parking lot?”
“He said it was a quiet night,” said Caleb. “Is there something I should know?”
I frowned. “No. Not yet. But I’m looking for Al Becker. He’s the owner of the golf cart. If you hear anything about his whereabouts, I’d appreciate a call.”
Caleb gave a tight smile. “Sure thing.”
“Thanks.”
Francesca put the vehicle in motion, and we took off.
“Let’s head to my office and we’ll have a peek at the security footage of the guard shack last night.”
“Got it.”
* * *
Francesca took the seat next to me as I pulled up the footage.
“I don’t even know what time it was when Al and Mack left last night, do you?”
Francesca shook her head. “No, but the guard shack can’t have that much action, can it? We were at Tiburon Point at around eight thirty. It had to have been at least nine thirty when we got back. Start then and just see who comes and goes from there.”
I nodded and fast-forwarded to the parts we were looking for.
We spent the next twenty minutes fast-forwarding through footage and pausing every time a car passed through. There were several cabs that passed through the gates, but they were all innocuous-looking island cabs. We watched several resort employees leave for the evening, and then we saw Mack’s car drive away.
“Rewind that,” instructed Francesca.
I rewound it, and we watched it three more times. It was clear that it was Mack driving, and there was no one else in the car. She hadn’t been abducted again.
I slammed my hand down on the desk. “Dammit!” On my feet now, I paced the room. “What the hell happened to him? Old men just don’t up and disappear!”
“Calm down. We’re not going to find Al if we lose our heads.”
“I don’t even know where to look, though!”
“We’ll figure something out,” she promised, though I could tell by the look on her face that even she wasn’t so sure. “I think we need to speak with Mack. She was likely the last person to see him before he disappeared. Maybe she saw something before she left.”
“I already tried calling her. She doesn’t answer her phone.”
Frankie winced. “Yeah, she was pretty upset when she left last night.”
“Maybe we—”
My phone rang then. I felt it vibrating in my pocket and closed my eyes. It could be a handful of people. It could be Artie calling to tell me that Al had been there all along. It could be Caleb at the guard shack telling me that he’d called Davis and they knew what had happened to Al. It could be Evie calling for a status update. And it could be Al himself calling to tell me where’d he been all night and telling me to relax, he was home safe and sound.
Or, it could be the kidnappers.
I held my breath and pulled my phone from my pocket.
Francesca looked up at me. “Who is it?”
My heart dropped. Restricted. “It’s Dexter.”
“Well, answer it!”
My heart throbbed wildly in my chest as I did. “Drunk here.”
“You tired of playing games with me yet?”
I crumpled into my squeaky office chair. “Completely tired.” And this time, it was the truth. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. “Is Pam okay?”
“Oh I’ve got no need for her anymore,” said Dexter, followed by a throaty little maniacal laugh. “I’ve got someone better.”
My heart immediately froze as panic filled my blood with a rush of adrenaline. “What?” I breathed into the phone.
“Not what, Daniel. Who?” Dexter laughed. “I’ve left you a little present back at your place. You might want to get back there and check it out. Then we’ll talk.”
The phone clicked.
I stared at Francesca.
This was bad.
Really, really bad.
“What?” she squealed. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling like I’d been punched in the gut.
“Well? Does he have Al?”
“I didn’t ask and he didn’t say.”
“Okay, so then why do you look like that?”
“He said he doesn’t have a need for Pam anymore. He said he’s got someone better.”
Francesca’s face went pale. “Oh my God.”
“He said he left a present for me back at my place. We gotta get back there, now!”
Francesca’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Hugo!”
* * *
We could hear Hugo barking even before Francesca turned off the ignition. He was barking as though the devil himself was in there with him.
She looked over at me. “Something’s not right. Hugo doesn’t generally bark like that.” She pulled her gun from her center console. “They might still be in there.”
I pushed
the barrel of the gun down. “This is my mess, Frankie. I’m going in first.”
She shook her head. “You’re unarmed, and that’s my dog in there. I’m going in first. If anyone messed with him, they’ll have to answer to me.”
Meeting her eyes, I looked at her sincerely. “Frankie, I’ve already gotten Pam into this, and Mack, and now possibly Al. I can’t have you in the middle of this too. Please. Just this once, I’m asking you to let me go in first. You’ll be right behind me, so you can set your FOMO dial to simmer. Alright?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine. But I’ll be right behind you.”
“Thank you.” We both climbed out of the vehicle, neither of us closing the doors, and we approached the porch carefully. My eyes scanned the area for any signs of a disturbance. Seeing nothing, I motioned for Francesca to take the other side of the stairs. She nodded, and we flanked the doorway. I reached down and slowly turned the handle, then pushed it open with my foot.
Hugo came rushing out to the porch, barking like crazy.
“What is it?” asked Francesca, lowering the weapon.
“Woof woof woof!” the dog insisted, bouncing around in the doorway.
I stuck my head inside, careful not to get it blown off, and when I didn’t see anything, I cautiously moved my whole body inside. “Looks clear to me.”
Francesca followed Hugo as he bounded towards my bedroom. “What are you barking at?”
I held her arm. “They could be in there,” I whispered.
She nodded, and together we approached the open doorway in the same manner we’d approached the front door. Hugo bounded in ahead of us and began barking wildly again.
I went in first to find Earnestine dancing in my windowsill. “Rawck! No morning kisses! No morning kisses! Rawck!”
Hugo ran right up to the window and barked wildly at the dancing parrot.
I slumped forward. “Fuck! Earnestine! You scared the hell out of us!”
“Yeah, she did!” said Francesca. “That’s what had Hugo so worked up!”
Drunk on a Boat Page 19
