Girls' Night Out_A Novel

by Liz Fenton

  “That’s good—it will help,” Lauren said.

  Natalie shot her a look.

  “I mean, it’s not good that they will make money off it, but maybe it means they will make finding her a priority.”

  “She’s right,” Maria said, sensing Natalie’s apprehension.

  “As long as we can trust them,” Natalie said.

  Maria lowered her voice to a whisper. “My brother always told me if I got on the wrong side of the police to never offer them any information. To only answer what they asked. That’s my advice to you when you talk to them. And I would definitely not ask them about TMZ. You do not want to anger them.”

  Natalie swallowed hard and looked at Lauren, who seemed panicked too. She wondered whether she should call Arthur first or hire a lawyer who wasn’t their in-house counsel. But then again, Ashley was simply a missing person and they’d called the police to report it. To find her. Natalie would just answer their questions like Maria suggested and not offer any additional detail. But when she got to the part about her blank memory, would they believe her?

  “It’s going to be okay, right?” Lauren asked Natalie.

  “I hope so,” Natalie said. But her heart was doing that thing again—the beats were all over the place, like a toddler pounding on a toy drum. She put her hand up to her chest.

  “I’ll take you over to them.” Maria smiled as if trying to calm them.

  She and Lauren followed Maria. Natalie glanced at her phone again, which had been buzzing in her hand nonstop. The most recent text was from Ben with a PLEASE CALL ME. She fired off an OK. She felt bad she hadn’t talked to him yet, but a part of her was holding off because of what he might say—the same thing she’d been thinking: that Ashley might have disappeared so she could sabotage the deal. She shook the thought away—even thinking it seemed cruel. Would Ashley really put them through this just to get her way? But if she hadn’t, that thought was even worse, because it might mean something bad had happened to her. Tears pricked Natalie’s eyes. She felt hopeless.

  They approached the officers. “Hello, I’m Natalie Sanders and this is Lauren Davis,” Natalie said.

  “Good morning, I’m Officer Garcia,” a tall, barrel-chested man with a broad nose said in perfect English. He introduced his partner, Officer Lopez, whose accent was thick when he said hello. He was much shorter than Officer Garcia, with wide-set eyes and a pinched face. They were both in their fifties, Ashley guessed. “We understand your friend Ashley Green has not been seen since last night?”

  “Yes,” Natalie said.

  “We would like to take a statement from each of you,” Officer Garcia said, his steely eyes giving nothing away.

  Natalie and Lauren nodded.

  Natalie’s heart was still pounding. She’d never even had a traffic ticket. Talking to the police seemed so serious. Especially when they had guns strapped across their chests.

  “Which of you was the last to see her?” Officer Garcia asked, and Natalie tried to avoid looking at his weapon.

  Natalie looked at Lauren. “I was,” Natalie said, something stirring inside of her. Would that automatically make her a suspect?

  “Okay, we’ll start with you,” Officer Garcia said. “Let’s find somewhere a little more private,” he said, looking around the lobby.

  Natalie shot Lauren another look. Were they separating them to make sure their stories lined up? Her heart felt like it might break out of her chest.

  Lauren nodded at Natalie as if she understood her concern. “I’ll wait over there.” She pointed to where they’d just been sitting. “I’m going to post Ashley’s picture and information on MissingAmericans.com. And I’ll call the US Embassy too and the US Consulate,” she said. “They can help us get in touch with the local hospitals to check if she’s at any of them—I’m sure she’s fine, though.”

  Natalie nodded. “Me too. I’m sure she’s fine.”

  Officer Garcia gestured at Natalie. “Are you ready?”

  Natalie’s mouth was so dry. She swallowed several times and followed the officers into the hotel’s bar, which, luckily, was empty. They settled into three chairs around a high-top table, Natalie facing out toward the beach. She thought about waking up wet this morning. Ashley’s text to Jason with the wave emoji. The couple hearing something in the water. Could those things be connected? Should she mention them to the police? Maria had warned her not to, but what if doing so could help find Ashley? She didn’t know what to do.

  “When did you last see Mrs. Green?” Officer Garcia asked, flipping open a small navy-blue notebook. He wrote Natalie’s name in neat letters. Her first thought was the outdoor dance floor. Marco’s hands on Ashley’s hips. The dark sky with bright stars. The stage with white lights draped across it. She heard the lyrics of “Brown Eyed Girl.” She heard Ashley laughing. She saw her flip her hair, which she’d worn loose around her face. She wished she could recall a single defined detail after that, but she still only had silhouettes of ideas that refused to take shape. Was that the last time she’d seen her? No, it couldn’t have been.

  “We were at La Cantina. We were dancing,” Natalie said. She closed her eyes and saw Ashley’s arms swaying high above her head, her eyes shining from the alcohol. Natalie had felt so good in that moment, the drinks she’d consumed loosening her limbs, making her wonder why she didn’t imbibe more often. “To ‘Brown Eyed Girl,’” she added and the officers nodded, as if they’d heard the popular American song before.

  “That was the last you saw her? She disappeared off the dance floor?” Officer Lopez leaned forward.

  “No, that’s just the last thing I can remember.” Natalie sucked in a long breath, studying their faces. She wondered which one of them was bad cop. So far, they both seemed like the good kind, but it had only been a couple of minutes.

  “You lost your memory?”

  Natalie nodded. “I think someone may have drugged me. Or given me bad alcohol?”

  Officer Garcia and Officer Lopez shared a look.

  “My husband showed me an article about a resort in Cancún under investigation for serving toxic drinks after an American tourist died. I can’t figure out any other explanation.” She sat up straighter and made eye contact with Officer Garcia. She needed to hold it together, to appear confident.

  “When and where do you suspect this may have happened?”

  Natalie folded her hands. “I don’t know. We got to La Cantina around nine thirty. So sometime after that?”

  “Did you ever leave your drink unattended?”

  Natalie took a deep breath before responding, disappointed in herself. She didn’t usually make mistakes like this. She was the person who never left her front door unlocked—even when she was home. “Yes. When we were on the dance floor. I know, it was stupid,” she said before the officers could judge her. But they didn’t react.

  “Were you and Ashley with anyone else?”

  “Yes. Lauren was also there. And Marco.”

  “Who’s Marco?”

  Natalie hesitated. Who was Marco? She had no idea. “He’s the owner, well, actually he works at Tropical Kiss—that smoothie bowl place down the road. We’d hung out with him a lot during our trip. We met him in a yoga class the morning after we arrived.”

  “What day was that?”

  “Tuesday.” Natalie thought back to her excitement as the car pulled up to the hotel, taking that first whiff of warm sea air. Lauren snapping pictures with her phone. Ashley’s jubilance when she first saw the ocean. None of them dreaming they’d end up here.

  “Okay, so you were at La Cantina with Lauren and Marco. What’s Marco’s last name?”

  “Smith. Marco Smith.”

  “Smith?” Officer Garcia frowned as he wrote it down. “Marco is typically a Latin or Mexican name. Is he either?”

  Natalie nodded. “I think he’s Mexican. He told Ashley he was born here.”

  “Any chance he lied about that?”

  Natalie nodded. “He also told us
he owned Tropical Kiss. I guess he misled us about a lot of things,” she said. “And now he’s gone.”

  “What do you mean, gone?”

  “He disappeared, too. We thought Ashley might be with him, so we went to his apartment this morning, and he had cleared out of there. There were only a few pieces of furniture left.” She paused. “And a dog bowl.”

  “Dog bowl?”

  “He had a yellow Lab—Spencer.” Natalie pictured him running down the beach, the fur around his face blowing backward. Marco throwing him a Frisbee. He hadn’t seemed like a liar. Her radar hadn’t gone off.

  Officer Garcia wrote something in his notebook. “Do you think Marco might have taken Ashley against her will? Hurt her?”

  Was Marco capable of kidnapping, or worse? Natalie had been wondering this all morning. The thought sickened her. Had his spirituality simply been a mask to conceal the truth? “I don’t know. I hate to even think of that possibility.”

  “I know it’s hard, but if we are going to find her, you must consider everything.” Officer Garcia gave her a sympathetic look. “Think back. Was his behavior ever concerning? Were there any, as you say in America, red flags?”

  Natalie went over their time with Marco. He had obviously been attracted to Ashley. Wanting to spend a lot of time with her. He’d left with her that day at the beach. But according to Lauren, it was because Ashley had asked him to. Had there been anything concerning about how he’d acted? Other than not seeming to care that Ashley was married, no. Not that Natalie had seen. “No. I didn’t pick up on anything like that.” Had she missed something? An important sign that could have saved Ashley?

  “Even after spending so much time with him? There was nothing off? You’re sure?”

  “I suppose I could have missed the warning signs,” Natalie said. “But I’ve thought about it. Other than spewing a lot of spiritual jargon, I thought he was harmless.”

  “Harmless?”

  “Yeah. That’s how I would describe him. But I could obviously be wrong. If he’s a sociopath or something like that, he’d be charming, wouldn’t he? He’d hide the dark side?” She looked at the officers.

  “Perhaps,” Garcia said.

  “Maybe that’s exactly what he did—made us think he was a good guy, but then last night, the bad part of him came out?” Natalie shivered at the thought but kept her stream of consciousness going. “Maybe he and Ashley argued and things took a turn? He knew we were leaving today, so he could have been desperate?” She shifted in her seat. “Could that all be possible? Was he conning us?”

  “You tell us.”

  “I don’t know! I’m not the expert here!” Natalie said loudly before covering her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m just scared.”

  “Scared? Why?” Officer Lopez leaned in.

  “Because we haven’t heard from her. We don’t know where she is. We have no idea if she’s okay! And now you’re saying maybe Marco did something to her.” Natalie’s eyes filled with tears. She was more than scared. She was frightened, frustrated, and mad all rolled into one—it bordered on hysteria.

  “We’re just trying to get some information. That’s all. We aren’t saying he harmed her.”

  “You’re also not saying that he didn’t.”

  “She’s missing, and he has disappeared. It appears he is likely involved somehow. But to what extent, we don’t know. Okay?” Officer Garcia said.

  Natalie swallowed and gave a slight nod.

  “Okay, let’s move on.” Officer Garcia looked at Officer Lopez.

  “You don’t remember most of the night?” Officer Lopez asked. Did she catch suspicion in his eyes or was she imagining it?

  “That’s true, I don’t.” Natalie hated that she might hold the information that could help Ashley and she couldn’t get to it. “But I wish I could. I would do anything to know what happened.”

  “But maybe you do know. Think, Natalie,” Officer Lopez said.

  I have.

  Her insides twisted so hard she felt sick. What if she did know exactly what happened to Ashley? And right now Ashley was somewhere, desperate for her to remember so she could help her.

  “I really don’t know,” Natalie said, a tear falling down her cheek. She stared at the officers’ cold eyes, slowly becoming aware they did not believe her.

  “Okay, okay,” Officer Garcia said. “Let’s consider another possibility.”

  Natalie exhaled quietly.

  “Could she have left with him of her own free will?”

  Natalie contemplated this—that Ashley and Marco were lying on a beach somewhere laughing about how Natalie wouldn’t be able to sell the company. Planning when Ashley would pop back into her life—after Revlon was long gone. Could she be capable of that? Or had she been so distraught over Jason, and that her plan to make things better with Lauren and Natalie had backfired, that she’d hurt herself? This was a thought that had crouched deep in the corner of her mind since they’d left Marco’s apartment. But Ashley would never harm herself. Would she? Natalie much preferred the alternative theory—that she’d left with Marco willingly.

  “I suppose it’s possible she might have left with him.”

  “Why do you think so?”

  Natalie was not going to mention Revlon or Jason. “She and Marco had grown close this week.” She clasped her hands in her lap, trying to reconcile the Ashley she thought she knew with the one who might have abandoned everyone.

  “But you said they might have argued last night,” Officer Lopez said.

  “I was just speculating on how things might have gone downhill between them. You were asking me if I thought he might have taken her. Now you’re asking me if I thought she left on her own. The answer is that I don’t know the answer,” Natalie said as calmly as she could. It felt like they were spinning her words, trying to catch her in a lie. But was it lying if she simply wasn’t telling them everything she suspected?

  “You mentioned they had become close. How close?” Officer Garcia asked.

  Natalie chewed on her cuticle, and it started to bleed. She sucked on it. “She spent a significant amount of time with him,” she said, before backpedaling. “But it wasn’t like that, I don’t think.” When the officers remained silent, she added, “She’s married. She has kids.” But Natalie still wondered if something had happened between them. She’d seen Marco touch Ashley possessively more than once. They had an easy rapport—an intimacy even—but there was no proof they’d been intimate. Ashley tended to be affectionate—she’d casually graze their head of marketing’s forearm in conversation. Give their head of manufacturing a playful swat on the shoulder to make a point.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Officer Garcia said. “People come down here, and they act crazy. Treat Mexico like it’s some sort of playground.”

  Was that what Ashley had done? Left the Unites States and lost her mind?

  “Let’s back up to the dancing. What happened next?”

  “We left.”

  “All of you?” He looked at his notepad. “Lauren, you, Ashley, and Marco?”

  “No. Just Ashley, Marco, and me.”

  Officer Garcia put his pen down and gave Natalie a long look. “Why didn’t Lauren join you?”

  “She told me earlier that Ashley asked her to, but she said no.”

  “Why?”

  “It had been a long night—things were tense between all of us.”

  Officer Lopez sat up straighter. “So you weren’t getting along?”

  “Not really.”

  “Do you think the fact you weren’t getting along has something to do with her disappearance?”

  What was he getting at? She felt that dread inside her again. Was it because of the officers, or was it coming from her subconscious? “No, I don’t.”

  Officer Lopez gave her a look. “Why do you remember that, but not much else?”

  Natalie rolled her neck. She wished she knew why some things had remained in her memory and some had vani
shed. “I don’t know.”

  Officer Lopez looked like he was going to say more, but Officer Garcia spoke first. “Okay, so what time did you leave La Cantina?”

  “I’m not sure—Lauren said we left around eleven thirty.”

  “Where did you go?”

  Natalie’s face flushed. “Lauren said Ashley told her we were going to Marco’s place.”

  “So Lauren is filling in all of your blanks?” Officer Lopez said.

  “The ones she can, yes.”

  “And you believe her?” Officer Lopez held her gaze a beat too long.

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “There are just a lot of holes from last night; we’re asking everything we can,” Officer Garcia said, obviously trying to soften the questioning.

  Natalie thought about the harsh words Lauren said to Ashley last night. Had she told Natalie everything about their conversation? Lauren had seemed tormented about how she’d treated Ashley. Maybe there was more to the story.

  Officer Garcia leaned forward. “Do you think Marco could’ve drugged you, then taken you to his place?”

  “How could I know?” But Natalie evaluated the theory. He would have been able to get Ashley to his place without drugs, so why would there be a need to put something in Natalie’s drink once they were there? Unless that had been his plan for getting Natalie out of the way so he could take Ashley. She shivered.

  “Usually when someone drugs another person, it is with the intention of—” Officer Garcia started.

  “Sexually assaulting them, I know,” Natalie interrupted, rubbing her arms as she thought about how she and Ashley could have been violated.

  “Did that happen? Did Marco or someone . . .”

  “No. At least I don’t think so,” Natalie said, recalling how she’d taken inventory of her body this morning. Nothing seemed off—physically anyway. But what if she simply had no recollection of it? What if she had been raped? She shivered involuntarily again.