“I just wanted to know if you talked to the guest yesterday about her departure time this morning.”
Mari put her professional face back on. “Yes, I did. I spoke to Ms. Calcara last night. She had a nine o’clock flight this morning, so Desi asked if we could pick her up at six.”
“And what did Pam say? Did she say that was okay?”
Mari nodded. “Yes, she said that was just fine and that she’d be ready.”
“And did you tell her where to meet Akoni?”
“Of course. I told her to stop at the concierge’s desk at a few minutes to six and her ride would be waiting for her.”
I frowned. “And she understood that?”
Mari shrugged. “She seemed to. Why?”
“Desi just informed me that she didn’t make her flight. Akoni told him that he went to her room and knocked, but there was no answer. He asked one of your girls to check her room when she didn’t answer. She found that Ms. Calcara had already checked out. Do you know which of your girls he would have asked to open her room?”
Mari thought about it for a second. “Gigi Flores is cleaning that area of the motel. I assume she was the one that he saw.”
I groaned inwardly. Gigi and I had had a bit of a brief thing. Of course, she hadn’t appreciated it when I’d simultaneously had a thing with Alicia, one of the front desk girls. How was I supposed to know that the two of them were friends and they’d eventually swap sexual escapades?
“Okay, thank you, Mari. I appreciate it.”
Wordlessly, she lifted a brow and pressed the button on the elevator. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Drunk.”
I grinned. “Feel free to make it two eyes.” I walked away, but as I heard the elevator ding and the doors open, I turned around and pointed at her. “Hey, Mari, I just ordered us some new chocolate from Switzerland. It should be here next week. I’ll bring it by when it comes in.”
She rolled her eyes as the doors shut.
I’d win that woman over to the dark side yet.
12
I found Gigi Flores’s cleaning cart in front of a room on the ground floor of the second motel building. I knew it was her because I could hear her slightly off-pitch singing pouring down the corridor between the hotel buildings and the resort. I approached the motel room with ease, careful not to scare her. The last thing I needed was for Gigi Flores to be even more pissed at me than she already was.
Knocking on the door frame before entering, I called out her name. “Gigi? Hey, Gig,” I said, peering into the room. I didn’t see her in the bedroom, but then I heard her voice again, coming from the bathroom. I knocked on the bathroom door. “Gig?”
I walked in to find the woman leaning over the tub, headphones in her ears, singing in Spanish. Her curvy bottom moved in time to the rhythm of the song she sang. I stared down appreciatively at the badonkadonk that had first attracted me to the woman in the first place and bit my knuckle.
Damn.
“Gig,” I said.
When she didn’t turn around, I gingerly tapped her on the shoulder.
“Ahhhh!” she screamed, jumping to her feet, a spray bottle and a scrubbing pad in her rubber gloved hands.
I flinched, curling up my arms over my head as she aimed the bottle at me. “It’s just me!” I screamed.
Her earbuds fell from her ears and dangled around her neck. “Drunk!” she bellowed, her voice echoing off the tile walls. “¡Ay, carajo! You scared the hell out of me!”
“I’m sorry! I knocked! You didn’t answer.”
“That’s because I had headphones on!” she snapped angrily, now holding a hand to her chest. “My heart is racing!”
I wanted to say that I had that effect on women, but I thought better of it and instead decided an apology was my best course of action. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Want me to go get you some water?”
She scowled at me and strode towards her cart just outside the motel room to put her cleaning solution and scrubber on the cart. “No, I don’t want any water. What do you want, Drunk? Are you here to rub it in that you used both Alicia and me for sex and then pounced on the new girl the second she arrived?” She stared at me with her head tipped sideways.
Ouch.
“Oh no. Official security business, actually,” I assured her.
She peeled off her yellow gloves and dropped them onto her cart before folding her arms over her chest. She tapped her foot on the floor impatiently.
Taking that to mean that she was listening, I continued. “Akoni mentioned that you had helped him look for a guest this morning because she never showed up for her ride.”
“Yeah,” said Gigi. She pointed up the corridor. “She’d already checked out. Why?”
Relief that Gigi didn’t seem to be aware that the woman in question had been my ex washed over me. That was one less person I had to explain things to. “The woman never showed up for her flight. I’m just checking around to see if I can find out what happened to her.”
“I have no idea what happened to her.”
“You didn’t see her leave her room this morning?”
Gigi shook her head. “Nope. But I did see a guy knock on her door about a quarter to six this morning.”
My brows lifted in surprise. “Yeah? Recognize him?”
Gigi frowned and shook her head. “Not at all.”
“He wasn’t an employee here?”
“Nope. I’ve never seen him before.”
“Well, what did he look like?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, he was skinny. Tall, but not as tall as you. Maybe six foot even. He had a ponytail. Dark hair.”
“White guy? Black guy?”
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure he was white. I didn’t get a very good look at his face,” she admitted. “I didn’t realize anyone was going to ask about him or I would’ve paid more attention.”
“No, no, it’s alright, I understand. So, he knocked on the door. Did she answer?”
“Someone did. I saw the door open and then I went about my business, cleaning the room two doors down. I was in there for about five minutes, and when I came out he was gone.”
“But you don’t know if she left with him?”
“No, I have no idea.”
“Do you remember anything else about the guy? Clothing, jewelry, tattoos?”
She thought about it for a moment before nodding. “He did have a cross tattooed on his forearm.”
“A cross? What kind of cross? Can you describe it?”
She made a face. “Yeah, it was kind of gross.”
“A cross was gross?”
“Yeah, it was about this big.” Gigi extended her forearm and kind of sketched out the rough size of it with her other hand, approximately eight inches by three inches. “And the two pieces of the cross were like wooden daggers. The one going up and down looked like it pierced through his skin and had some blood colored in. It was very realistic looking.” She made a face as if recalling it disgusted her.
“Ahh. And do you know what he was wearing?”
“Jeans and a t-shirt?” she guessed.
“Shoes?”
She shrugged. “Can’t say I even looked at his shoes.”
I nodded. “Okay, anything else you remember?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Like I said, I just saw him knock and then I went to finish cleaning the room I was working on.” She tipped her head sideways again. “You think something bad happened to this lady?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. I’m just trying to find out who gave her a ride.”
Gigi nodded. Then she looked at me a little more closely. “So. How are things going with you and the new girl?”
I lifted a shoulder. What in the hell was I supposed to say to that? “Fine, I guess.”
She took a half step towards me. The seductive way she’d looked at me right before we’d begun hooking up returned. “Only fine? Maybe you’ve forgotten that being with me was waaay bette
r than just fine.”
I smiled at her before shooting her a wink. “Oh, trust me, Gigi. I haven’t forgotten.”
13
Now, armed with the knowledge that some unknown guy had actually gone to visit Pam, I was forced to do what I absolutely hadn’t wanted to do. I sat in my tiny shoebox of an office, staring at my computer screen. My fingers clumsily clicked buttons on the keyboard, trying to remember how to access the new security system I’d had installed after being appointed to my new position. Technology wasn’t exactly my forte. Not that being a police officer back in the States had exactly been in my wheelhouse either, but this was even less familiar to me than that was.
There was a knock at the door.
I glanced up to see Al tottering into my office. “Figure anything out yet?” he asked, his voice phlegmier than usual.
“A few things,” I sighed.
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Well. For one, I learned that somehow Mari knows about the money.”
Al looked stunned. “How in the world does she know about that? That’s privileged information!”
“Hell if I know. But she made a comment about me having more money than God. So, someone told her.”
Al groaned. “That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Well, I sure as heck didn’t tell her.”
I nodded. “I know you didn’t, Al.”
“And I know my buddies didn’t tell her either. I swore them all to secrecy,” said Al. “I knew what kind of hassle it would be for you if everyone here knew you had some money. And I didn’t want to see that happen to you.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how she found out. But I also spoke to Gigi Flores. She was the maid Akoni asked to open Pam’s room. She told me that she saw a guy knock on Pam’s door a little before six this morning.” I gestured towards the chair in front of my desk. “Have a seat. I’m gonna go through security footage to see if I can’t track down the guy. Maybe that’s who Pam left with.”
Al put a hand on either side of the chair’s armrests and carefully lowered himself down. “Did Gigi recognize him?”
“Nah, she said she’d never seen him before.” I leaned my chin on my fist as I debated which security camera had the best angle of Pam’s room from the list of options on my screen.
“You know what you’re doing there?”
I didn’t take my eyes off the screen. “Meh, I’m making it up as I go along. Fake it till you make it and all that, you know?” I clicked the camera, and when the footage showed up on my screen, I moved the position slider slowly backwards to the appropriate time marker, so I could see any motion near Pam’s door. As it began to play, a woman exited the room two doors down from Pam’s. Her face wasn’t visible, but I pointed to the screen. “I’d recognize that ass anywhere.” I zoomed into the area. “That’s Gigi’s cart. Looks like I’ve got the right camera.”
Al stood up and dragged his chair around the perimeter of my desk to sit down next to me. “Which one’s Pam’s room?”
I pointed at the screen. “Right there. Now we just wait until this guy shows up and see what happens.”
“So, what else did the maid have to say?”
“Not much. Just that she saw a guy knock on the door. He’s a white guy, about six foot, long black hair in a ponytail, and a big tattoo of a cross on his forearm. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.”
“That’s something.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but she didn’t see if Pam left with him or anything.”
Al pointed at the screen. “Yeah, but we’re about to find out. Look.”
Sure enough, the exact man that Gigi had described approached Pam’s room. I could see Gigi standing in front of the room she’d been cleaning. She watched the man for only a second before carrying on with her business. The angle of the camera obscured the man’s face, but I could clearly make out the tattoo in the picture.
“Recognize him?” asked Al.
I shook my head. “Never seen him before in my life.”
We watched as the man stopped in front of Pam’s door and knocked. Seconds later, Pam appeared in her doorway. There was no volume, so we could only infer what Pam was saying.
“She doesn’t seem to recognize him either,” said Al.
I swished my lips to the side. Reluctantly, I’d have to agree. She didn’t fully open the door and instead kind of poked her head around the corner like one might do when they weren’t expecting someone. “Yeah, maybe. If she’d have known him, you’d think she would have just opened the door up wide.”
The man took a half a step backwards and pointed up the hill towards the circular driveway in front of the lobby. And then Pam smiled and nodded. She held a finger up to him as if to say “just give me a minute.” The man nodded and left her room, heading in the direction he’d just pointed. A minute later, we watched as Pam rolled her suitcase out the door, hoisted the strap of a carry-on bag up on her shoulder and shut the door behind her.
“She’s following him,” said Al.
My heart lurched slightly. Pam wasn’t seriously stupid enough to follow a stranger, was she? “Ugh,” I groaned as she moved off my computer screen. I clicked to the next camera and matched up the times to see her heading towards the lobby. Finally, I selected the loading area camera. It was right in front of the lobby and caught all of our guests coming and going, loading into taxicabs and hotel shuttles. I reversed the time slightly so we could see where the long-haired man had gone.
“There!” Al pointed to the top of the screen.
A white car with no markings on it was parked at the top of the circle driveway. Why Desi hadn’t asked it to move along, I wasn’t sure. It certainly wasn’t a hotel car, and it didn’t have the markings of a cab. We watched as the long-haired man got into the driver’s seat and opened a magazine. He waited patiently until two minutes later, when Pam showed up with her suitcase. The man got out of the car, loaded her suitcase into the trunk, and opened the back door for her, and Pam slid inside.
Less than twenty seconds later, they were gone.
Fuck.
“Who the hell was that guy?” I asked, turning to look at Al.
He lifted his bushy brows but had no response.
I shook my head and lifted my walkie-talkie from my desk, promptly summoning Desi to my office.
14
“I have no idea who that man is, Mr. Drunk,” said Desi, wringing his hands in front of his body.
“You allowed him to sit there and wait,” I said, pointing at the screen.
“We got a shuttle bus in from the airport. I was helping the passengers unload and pointing them in the right direction. He slipped in while I was distracted.”
“How’d he get past the gate security?”
“It is not difficult, I’m afraid. If he told them he was picking up a guest, he only had to know her name and room number.”
Still seated in front of my desk, I let my head fall into my open palms. “Ugh, Desi!”
“I am very sorry, Mr. Drunk. We do have people on the island picking up guests from time to time. It is not unusual by any means.”
“I can’t believe she just rode off with him,” I said.
“Perhaps she knew this man,” said Desi. “Perhaps it was a friend of Ms. Calcara’s.”
I shook my head. “Pam wouldn’t know anyone on the island. And we watched the man knock on her door. Just by her facial expressions, it was obvious she didn’t know him, and she seemed surprised that he was early. It’s my guess that he posed as her ride to the airport and she bought it, hook, line, and sinker.”
“But who would want to kidnap your fiancée, Mr. Drunk?”
I groaned. “Ex-fiancée, Desi. And I have no idea. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” Desi had no idea how much money I was worth. And there was no way I could explain it to him without having my business spread all around the resort. I didn’t feel like talking about the situation any more with Desi present. “Desi, do me
a favor?”
Desi’s head bobbed immediately. I could tell he felt bad, like somehow it had been his fault that Pam had been taken, and he wanted the chance to make it up to me. “Anything, Mr. Drunk. How may I be of service?”
“First of all, once again, keep all of this to yourself,” I said, reminding him of my earlier request.
“Yes, of course. I shall not mention this to a living soul.”
“And second of all, keep your ear to the ground. If anyone mentions Pam or seeing that car or that guy, I wanna know about it. Alright?”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
I stood up and patted Desi on the shoulder. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I felt that perhaps I’d given him the impression that I thought it was. “Thanks, Desi. I appreciate it a lot.”
“Anytime, Mr. Drunk.”
“Alright, you’re welcome to go.”
Desi nodded at me and then at Al and slipped out my office door.
When he was gone, Al inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled it slowly. He scratched the back of his head. “Well, at least we’ve gotten a look at the man and the car. I’m fairly confident that was a Crown Vic.”
“Yeah? Could you tell what year?”
Al shrugged. “It had to be a ninety-eight or newer. Ford quit making the Crown Vic in twenty eleven if I’m not mistaken.”
“So we got a car and we got a guy. That’s a start. But Artie doesn’t want us to go to the police.” I threw my hands up in the air and rocked back on my squeaky office chair. “Then what the hell are we supposed to do? My hands are tied.”
“Now, that’s not entirely true, Drunk. You could pay that guy the money.”
I grimaced. “I’m an American citizen. Americans don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
“But, Drunk—”
“In case I wasn’t clear, Al, that’s not happening.”
My phone rang once again. One glance at the caller ID told me it was likely the guy who claimed to have Pam. I groaned and slumped back against my seat back. “It’s him.”
Al’s eyes widened. “Well, answer it for heaven’s sake!”
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