by Debby Mayne
Chapter Nine
Don’t Fight the Sea
There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.
—Joseph Conrad
O n Thursday we got off the ship in Jamaica. Sheila and I faced a huge dilemma: sunblock caused a burning sensation on our already burnt skin. In the end, we both coated ourselves in Aloe Vera and put on long-sleeve shirts and pants. We also wore huge straw hats so that our faces stood no chance of seeing any sunlight first-hand.
“You look like a tourist,” Warren said as we boarded the bus in to go to Dunn’s River Falls.
“Oh well. I am a tourist. I might as well look the part.”
Just before the bus took off, someone familiar climbed aboard. I smiled when I saw the best man.
“Well, hello.” He stopped by our row to offer a smile. “Looks like I’ll have friends nearby.”
“Definitely.” I nodded. “You going to climb the falls?”
“Yep. Tried to talk Kenzie into going but she’s so busy with rehearsals and all.”
“How are things, well, how are things going?” Warren asked.
Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know. For some reason Jake isn’t speaking to me today. He’s acting so odd.” Kevin leaned down to whisper, “Does anyone else but me wonder if he’s up to something? I mean, he’s my best friend, but the way he’s acting this week has me so confused. I know he’s hurting but I just wonder. . .” Kevin’s words drifted off.
Before I could say, “I’ve been wondering the very same thing,” the tour guide’s voice came over the loudspeaker, asking all passengers to take their seats. Kevin shrugged and trucked to the back of the bus where he sat next to an elderly man, who’d fallen asleep in his seat.
At this point, a female tour guide boarded the bus. She put us through several rounds of “Don’t worry, be happy!” and then we were on our way.
Well, on our way until we got about halfway there. Then I heard a popping sound and the bus began to hobble along. The driver pulled over and the tour guide went up to ask him what had happened. She reappeared with a rousing, “Don’t worry! Be happy!” and then proceeded to tell us we’d had a blowout. Another bus was on the way.
Only, the other bus didn’t come. Not for a while, anyway. The tour guide’s over-the-top smile and bright personality faded more with each passing minute and her true personality came out when people asked to get off the bus to wait in a nearby parking lot.
“Tragedy brings out the worst in some people, I guess,” Sheila muttered from the seat behind us. “Folks aren’t always what they pretend to be.”
“No, indeed. And I had to wonder, based on what Kevin had just told me, if the groom-to-be was who he pretended to be. Had he been stringing Meredith along for some reason? Why pretend to want to marry her, and then get rid of her just before the wedding? It made no sense.”
Then again, none of this made sense. And things got even more nonsensical as the clocked ticked away the minutes and we sat on the hot bus.
Miss Don’t-Worry-Be-Happy finally agreed that we could get off and stand in the parking lot when one of the older ladies complained the heat was making her nauseous. Minutes later we exited the bus and ended up in a parking lot. I could hear the tour guide on the phone, yelling at someone on the other end. Yep. The happy-go-lucky persona was just that—a persona. Not the real deal.
Only, I’d fallen for it, hadn’t I? Those happy-go-lucky types were often up to something.
Hmm. Kevin was a happy-go-lucky type, wasn’t he? Maybe he had something to do with this. Maybe he made up that story about the groom just to divert us. Maybe—
“Annie?” Warren gave me a strange look.
“What?”
“You’re not with us, are you?”
“Of course I’m with you. I’m standing in a stinky parking lot in front of a broken-down bus in beautiful Jamaica, wondering how long it’s going to take before we’re rescued.” And wondering how long it’s going to take before a certain bride-to-be is rescued. Or if she will ever be rescued.
“I know you, Annie. You’re here in body, but not in spirit.” He gave me a knowing look.
“I’m just thinking, Warren. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Unless it lands you in trouble. So, stop thinking, Annie. Just relax and enjoy yourself. We’re in Jamaica.”
“Right.” I looked around the icky parking lot, beyond the stack of old tires, past the broken-down sign in front of a nearby store and happened to notice Kevin, talking on his cell phone.
“Ooo, they have cell service?” I reached for my beach bag and pulled out my phone. I’m going to call Candy.”
“It’ll cost a fortune from here, Annie,” Sheila said.
“I don’t care. I want to make sure she’s okay. Make sure she hasn’t had the baby yet.”
The minute I turned on my phone, three text messages came through from Candy. They’d obviously been sent on Sunday, looking at the date on them. The first was a picture of Sasha. The second, a picture of Copper. The third, a very pregnant Candy, holding one dog in each arm.
“Well, I don’t think it’s very wise for her to be lifting those heavy dogs while she’s pregnant,” I said. “I need to tell her to take it easy.”
Warren rolled his eyes. “Annie, she’s a big girl.”
“Yes.” I looked at her blossoming belly. “She is, at that.”
I placed the call and spent a few minutes laughing and talking with Candy, who definitely had not had the baby yet. She even put the phone on speaker so Sasha and Copper could hear my voice. They responded with yipping and yapping, clearly excited.
When I ended the call I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.
“Is something wrong, Annie?” Sheila asked.
“No.” I shoved my phone back in my bag. “I just miss them, is all.”
“You were dying to go on this cruise, remember?” Warren crossed his arms at his chest. “You said it was going to be the experience of a lifetime.”
“Well, it’s definitely that.” I looked out toward the road just as another bus pulled up. Kevin didn’t seem to notice, so I walked his way to let him know. When I got close he quickly ended his call, pressed his phone into his back pocket and followed me onto the new bus. Well, new to us. Turned out it was a pretty old, run-down bus. And our lovely tour guide grew more sour by the moment.
As we drove toward Dunn’s River Falls, I couldn’t control my wandering thoughts. The missing bride. The groom and maid of honor. The emotional mother-of-the-bride. The best man with the pink sparkly cell phone.
Pink. Sparkly. Cell phone.
Weird. But there it was, a flash of reality. He’d pressed a pink, sparkly cell phone into his back pocket. Very, very odd.
Or not. Maybe he’d borrowed Kenzie’s cell phone to use in Jamaica. Yes, surely that was it. The girl had a lavish tattoo, after all, Maybe she liked over-the-top things like pink sparkly phone cases.
I put all thoughts of the MIA bride out of my mind when we got to Dunn’s River Falls. We walked the path along the falls, watching as dozens—no, hundreds—of people climbed up, up, up. Any other time I might’ve joined them, but not this time. Not with this sunburn.
“Wishing you could do that?” Sheila asked.
I gazed into her burnt face and smiled. “Well, I suppose. Or maybe I’m happy for the excuse not to have to. Looks slippery. And dangerous.”
“A little danger is good for the soul.” She grinned. “If I didn’t have this sunburn, I’d be first in line to sign up for this. Life is short. There are only so many adventures, and I want to be front and center for all of them.”
Indeed, she did.
We lingered at the edge of the falls, watching people climb, climb, climb. We didn’t know any of them, of course. Until Sheila happened to see our friend, Kevin.
“Yoo-hoo! Kevin!” She called out his name and he glanced our way, then smiled and gave us a wave. Sheila snapped a photo of him. She happene
d to catch a shot of him slipping and nearly falling.
“Don’t distract him, Sheila,” Orin said. “Don’t want the poor fella to break his neck so you can get a great shot.”
“True, true.” She showed up the photo. “But I did get a good one, didn’t I? Do you think he’ll mind if I post this to Facebook?”
“Not from here, please,” Orin said. “It’ll cost you a fortune for Wi-Fi.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll post it when we get back home,” Sheila said. “I can’t wait to show everyone what a great time we’ve had.”
“Great time?” Warren laughed. “Which part? The sunburn? The missing bride? The broken-down-bus?”
“All of it.” My best friend’s eyes filled with tears as she shoved her phone back into her bag. “Several months ago, when Orin was going through chemo, I didn’t know if we’d ever get to take a trip like this. So, this one will be a memory-maker. Who knows if we’ll ever pass this way again.”
Oooh, I wanted to give her a hug, right then and there. Stupid sunburn! Instead, I gave her a broad smile and stared into her tear-filled eyes. Who, indeed, knew if we’d ever pass this way again? Some journeys in life were meant to be taken only once, after all. I would do my best to lay down my anxieties about the missing bride and focus on what was right in front of me—my husband and my friends.
Chapter Ten
This Ocean
“Eat well, travel often.”
A fter re-boarding the ship in Jamaica we said our goodbyes to excursions and settled in for the long trip back to Galveston. We had two more days at sea ahead of us and I didn’t want to miss a minute with Warren, Sheila and Orin. Following a hunch—if one could call it that—I used our onboard credit for Internet access. I needed to do a bit of super-sleuthing. After fifteen minutes I gave up, more confused than ever.
Warren and I played cards with Sheila and Orin on Friday morning in the library and then ate lunch at the Windjammer. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Natalie, Jake and the whole wedding party.
Well, most of the wedding party. Kevin was still missing from the group. Why had Jake turned him away? I made up my mind to stop thinking about it, if I could.
So, I tried.
I tried as we played miniature golf at 2:30.
I tried when Sheila and I ate an ice cream cone around four o’clock while our husbands snoozed in the cabins below.
I tried extra hard when I passed Kevin and Kenzie in the hall on my way back to the cabin before dinner.
I tried as we ate dinner at our table with Jake and Natalie joining us. Alone.
I tried and tried all night long as I tossed and turned in the bed, the waves knocking the Navigator of the Seas around like a bar of soap in a bathtub.
But, try as I may, I couldn’t stop thinking about Meredith. When I awoke Saturday morning it was all I could do not to say something to Warren. He must’ve picked up on my anxieties some time after breakfast. We’d just returned to our cabin when he gave me that ‘I-know-you’re-up-to-something’ look.
“What is it, Annie?”
“Nothing.”
“Mm-hmm. You’ve got something on your mind.”
I shrugged.
“Well, you need a distraction. Want to go to the library to read a book?”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “Remember how loud it was in the library yesterday? There were at least thirty people playing some sort of dice game. I couldn’t hear myself think, let alone read.”
“Ah. Well, what about the café down on five? We could read there. Or just drink another cup of coffee.”
“Loud music. The rhythm bothers me.”
“Okay then, how about up on eleven? By the pool?”
“The glare is a problem with my e-reader. Can’t read a word in the sunlight.”
“There’s that Solarium area,” he suggested. “It’s covered. They have those nice lounge chairs.”
“And it’s impossible to get one of them. Have you been up there? Every single chair is taken. If you’re not there by seven-thirty in the morning, you don’t get one.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“Warren, I hope you’ll forgive me in advance, but I have something else altogether that I want to do today and I’m hoping—no, I’m praying—you’ll go along with it.”
“Annie? What are you up to?”
“Warren, I want you to come with me to the ship’s security office.”
“Security office?”
“Well, I don’t really know if that’s what it’s called but wherever we go to ask about a missing bride.”
“Annie, they’ve already searched the ship. They’ve even called in the Coast Guard, remember? There’s no sign of her.”
“I know, Warren.” I sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. “But something is nagging at me and I can’t let it go. Remember they said she was photographed coming aboard that day in Cozumel?”
“Right.”
“I want to see that photo.”
“Why?” His brow wrinkled.
“I don’t know. I’m just playing a hunch. But I have to see that photo.”
“All right, Agatha Annie.” He extended his hand. “Do you want your side-kick to come with us?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Well, c’mon then. Time’s a wastin’.”
I threw my arms around his neck, realizing that my sunburn barely hurt anymore. “Thank you, thank you. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Minutes later we stood in Sheila and Orin’s room, explaining my prompting to talk to the people in security. My BFF said, “I thought you’d never ask,” then reached for her phone. “In case you need my photographic skills,” she said. “This phone has an excellent camera, remember?”
It took a bit of doing to figure out where to go, but the folks at the front desk referred us to the security department. The officer needed a bit of persuasion but finally agreed to let us look at the photo of Meredith once we explained we were friends of the family.
As soon as I saw the picture of Meredith, my heart lurched. I hadn’t prepared myself for the frightened look on her face. This wasn’t our smiling, happy bride-to-be. This was a woman terrified by her situation. But, why?
I squinted, trying to get a better look at the screen. “She is alone, right?”
“Looks like it.” The officer zoomed in on a passenger behind her. “This is one of our crew members. I can tell from the uniform.”
“Uniform?”
“Right. Many of our regular crew members work with the photographers in port. They all wear a certain uniform for when it’s their turn to do that.”
“I see.” So, Meredith had come back through alone, with only a crewmember behind her. No one in the bridal party. Very strange, indeed.
“Did you get your questions answered, Annie?” Sheila asked.
I sighed and shook my head. “No. And I feel like a fool for getting everyone’s hopes up. I was sure I’d see something that would trigger a thought, a memory, an idea.”
“It’s okay, honey.” Warren gave me a compassionate look. “Can we just agree to put all of this behind us and let the proper authorities take it from here?”
I wanted to agree, but couldn’t manage anything more than a grunt.
We left the office and headed up to the café for a cup of coffee. It had to be more than a coincidence that we landed at a table next to Natalie and Jake, who appeared to be in a quiet conversation. A little too quiet. A little too close, too.
Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought so. A couple of minutes later the bride’s parents approached. They took one look at Jake and turned on their heels, as if to leave. I called out to them and they stopped.
“Please join us,” I said. “We’d love to have you.”
Sheila and Orin moved their chairs over to make room and, with a sigh, Betsy and her husband joined us. I could tell they were uncomfortable around Jake and Natalie, though.
“We’d hate to interrupt anything
personal.” Betsy’s words were directed at me, but her gaze was on Jake and Natalie.
“I promise, this is not what you think.” Jake pinched his eyes shut and shook his head. “Not at all.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Betsy asked.
“Honey, calm down.” Mr. Williams reached out and put his hand on his wife’s wrist. “Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“The benefit of the doubt? My daughter disappears and these two are as thick as thieves. Every time I turn around they’re together.”
At this proclamation, Natalie rose. She walked right up to Mrs. Williams. “You want to know why I’ve been talking to Jake? Is that it?” Natalie glared at Meredith’s mother. “You think maybe I’ve been hitting on him, or I have some sort of infatuation with him?”
“Well, don’t you?” Mrs. Williams gave her the evil eye. Mr. Williams set his gaze on his coffee cup.
“No. I don’t,” Natalie said. “And if you really understood what I’ve been going through, you would know first-hand. The truth is, Mrs. Williams, I already have a boyfriend. Or, rather, I had a boyfriend.”
Oh boy. The plot really was thickening now. Maybe my suspicions about Natalie and Jake had been wrong, after all.
Betsy shook her head. “I don’t believe you. I’ve known you for two years, Natalie, and I’ve never seen you with any other guys than Jake and Kevin.”
“Exactly.” Natalie gave her a knowing look and crossed her arms at her chest. “You just answered your own question.”
Mr. Williams’ brow slanted into a frown. “What are you saying?”
Betsy’s eyes widened. “Are you trying to tell us that you and Kevin are. . .”
“Were,” Natalie said, and then sat back down, her lips curling down in a frown. “Not are. Kevin and I were a couple, but we ended it one week before getting on the ship. I found out that he was just using me to get to one of my friends. He wasn’t really interested in me at all.”
“So, he broke your heart and now you’re seeking comfort from Jake?” Betsy asked. “Is that it?”
