“Thank God. I thought you were gonna say Skunkbag!”
They all laughed. To Steve it felt good. Sharing an inside joke with this group was some sort of bonding moment, even if they were bonding over death.
“No. It was Snugglebug, ‘cause she always used to sneak into our bed at night and squeeze up between my wife and me to get comfy.”
“And she said that in her message?” asked Abby.
“Yep. And until she rang me on the radio, I hadn’t heard that since she was a little girl . . . probably 15 years ago!”
“Wow,” said Abby. “That’s probably important somehow. Steve, did your wife say anything in the note?”
“Well, no nickname. But I will admit, there is a part in there that is similar. The note quotes some lines from a Sex ‘N Cigs song.”
“Sex ‘N Cigs?” Abby asked.
“Seriously?” asked Steve. “You don’t know who Sex ‘N Cigs is?”
“Ummm, are they a band or something?”
“Yes. Johnny Cigarello? Janine Sexton? ‘Better Together’?” Steve replied. “It was on the charts forever . . . about 10 years ago.”
“Ah,” Abby smiled. “Well I wasn’t listening to a lot of music when I was eight.”
Martin and Veronica laughed aloud. Steve shook his head when he saw that she said it in earnest. He sighed and shook his head, and Veronica reached over to touch his arm. “Getting old is a bitch, eh?” she smiled.
“Anyway,” said Steve, “the note quoted lines from the song. It was kinda our song. And it’s also in the nightmare I keep having about her death.”
“Interesting,” said Abby. She took a notebook out of her pack and began taking notes.
“Hey, question,” she said. “Have any of you guys ever heard of Cozumel?”
“Cozumel, Mexico?” Veronica asked.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Abby shrugged.
“Yes,” responded Veronica. Martin and Steve acknowledged it as well. “Why do you ask?”
“I dunno. It’s weird. I think I dreamed about it last night. I’ve never been there. In fact, I barely even knew it existed. But I feel like I should know about it. I don’t remember anything about the dream itself, except that I was in Cozumel. Have you ever been there?”
“Yes,” said Veronica, “many times. My mother . . . that’s where she died.”
“Oh, my gosh,” said Abby. “I am sorry I brought it up.”
“That’s where I went on my honeymoon,” said Martin. “Actually I am pretty sure that’s where Maggie was conceived.”
“Okay, whoa,” said Abby, putting her hands up. “That’s way TMI Martin, seriously.”
Martin was instantly embarrassed. “Yeah, sorry about that,” he said sheepishly. “Don’t know what made me blurt that out.”
Steve stepped in to save his new friend. “My wife and I had plans to go there this summer — a quick mini vacation of sorts. I’ve never been there before though.”
“Interesting,” Abby said again. She took more notes. “Okay, so where do we go next?”
“Go?” said Steve. “We were just hoping to talk to you, y’know, compare notes.”
“Oh, I want to do that, too! But can’t we head out while we’re doing it?”
“Head out?” said Veronica. “Where is it that you think we should go?”
“Look ya’ll,” said Abby, “you three didn’t know each other a few days ago, and yet now here you are halfway across the country chumming it up with me. Why would we stop now?”
“Because we haven’t figured out what to do next,” replied Martin. “We were the only four on Steve’s list. We were kinda hoping the next idea would come after we got a chance to talk to you.”
“Okay, then, perfect,” said Abby. “Let’s do it!”
“Do what, sweetie?” asked Veronica.
“Head to Cozumel!” said Abby smiling.
“What?” asked Steve. “Seriously? Why?”
“Come on,” replied Abby. “You guys said it yourselves. The trail kinda runs cold here, does it not?”
“Well,” started Steve. “yeah, but—“
“Annnnnd, you just said you wanted to compare notes with me, right?”
“Yes,” Steve replied. “But that doesn’t mean—“
“So, basically,” interrupted Abby, “you were expecting me to have some answers, right?”
“Yes,” Steve admitted. “Something like that.”
“Okay, so, I say we should go to Cozumel.”
“But why?’ asked Martin. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I have no idea,” she shrugged. “Call it a hunch, I guess. Look, it’s Friday. When I left the house this morning, my dad had already gone to work, and my mom was still asleep. I left a note and told them I was spending the weekend at my best friend’s house. She gave me a ride over here and she promised to cover for me. I used to spend the night with her all the time, so I think they’ll be happy about it. The school doesn’t bother to check up on you when one of the ‘good kids.’ And if I call to check in every once in a while with the cell phone, I think I can pretty much do whatever I want.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not in the habit of lying to my parents. But Cozumel just feels right to me right now. Think about this: Veronica, you’ve been there before, with your mother.”
“Well, not with her, exactly,” said Veronica. “But yes, I suppose so in a manner of speaking.”
“And Martin,” Abby continued, “you’ve been there as well with your daughter, in a manner of speaking.”
Martin nodded.
“Steve, you had plans to go there with your wife, and I’ve sort of been there too now, with this dream I had last night. So basically, we’ve all been there. It ties us together.”
“Wow,” said Steve. “We’re gonna travel internationally based on a vague dream? Now that might be just about the biggest stretch I’ve ever heard of.”
“Is it Steve?” asked Veronica crossly. “Do I need to remind you again that we are all here right now, thanks to another big stretch? I mean, why is going to Cozumel any different? This whole trip we’re on is based on a series of coincidences that make Abby’s line of thought seem logical to me. And wasn’t it you who kicked this whole thing off, based on little more than a note and a hunch?”
“Yeah, okay, fine,” he confessed. “I admit what I’ve done, even what we’ve done, hasn’t been by the numbers. But are we seriously going to jaunt to a foreign country because of a dream and a hunch?”
“Wait,” said Abby, “I have an easy way to resolve this. You can’t get into Mexico now without a passport. You can’t get anywhere these days without it. I had to get one a couple of years ago when we took a roadtrip up to Canada. So, how about we make a deal?”
She leaned over and unzipped her backpack.
“If everybody has one, we go. If not, we sit here, compare notes and then go on our merry ways. Deal? I’ve got mine right here — brought it just in case.”
She threw her passport on the table.
“I have mine, too,” said Martin. “Last time I got on a plane trying to use my driver’s license I got a bunch of hassle. The picture on it isn’t very good. I was heavier and had a beard back then, and less gray hair. So I carry this now just to speed up the process.”
He pulled his from his back pocket and tossed it on the table with Abby’s.
Abby and Martin looked at Veronica. She laughed as she pulled hers from her purse and added it to the stack.
“I have mine too,” she said, “but I cannot tell you why. I had no intention of leaving the country with these two jokers, but something told me to pack it when I made plans to leave.”
All three of them turned expectantly, almost hopefully, toward Steve. He was not looking forward to being the one to spoil the fun. “Guys, I am sorry. I have one, just got it renewed in fact. But it didn’t occur to me to bring it. It never crossed my mind that I’d need it.”
“Are you sure?” asked Martin.
“Yeah, ‘fraid so.”
“That’s a pretty big pack you’re carrying around,” said Veronica. “Couldn’t it be in there somewhere?”
“No. Like I said, the passport was just renewed. We were gonna take a cruise of the western Caribbean this summer, so I had it in my nightstand with all the cruise info. I didn’t even think of it when I was packing.”
“Would it hurt to look?” asked Abby, smiling hopefully.
“Sure, why not?” He knew he was delaying the inevitable let down for the entire group, but he nonetheless picked his pack up off the floor and began unzipping pockets. He found things just as he had expected, just as he had packed them—his phone charger, his car keys, his sunglasses, his MP3 player. He unzipped the small front pocket and felt the thin telltale cover. He pulled his hand out, and in it, he held the familiar navy blue booklet with gold lettering.
“I’ll be damned,” he said softly, staring hard at the unused passport.
“No,” said Martin, laughing, “but maybe you will be a little less skeptical!”
Veronica laughed, Abby squealed and clapped, and Steve slammed his passport down on top of the others.
“Cozumel it is!”
Chapter 31
Abby waited in the breakfast bar while the others went upstairs and collected their belongings. They had agreed to get back to the airport and take the next available flight to Cozumel. At 10:00a.m., Steve dropped Martin and Veronica off at the terminal to check the available flights. Abby stayed with him as he returned the rental. They left the SUV in the return lot and unloaded the rest of their belongings.
“Wow, it is egg-frying hot out here,” Steve remarked.
When he had finished with the paperwork at the rental kiosk, they walked backed to the main terminal. Steve slowed several times to allow Abby to catch up. “You coming?” he asked.
She smiled back and continued walking silently. They reached the main crosswalk and waited for the hotel shuttle and taxi traffic to clear long enough to make a break for it. After several seconds, Steve saw an opening in the near-constant bus traffic. “Here we go,” he said, stepping off the curb on to the crosswalk.
“Hey, Steve,” she said, “wait.”
“Yeah?”
He turned around and stepped back up onto the sidewalk next to her. “What’s the matter?”
“Listen, my plan has a flaw.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, unless a ticket to Mexico costs about $28, I am not going to be able to go. I got all excited back there at the hotel, and it kinda slipped my mind, a little bit. And well, my parents won’t let me have a credit card yet. I dunno I guess they think I’d do something stupid with it.”
“Like buy a plane ticket to Mexico?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
She could only manage a meager half smile as she chewed on her bottom lip.
“Okay, well, I assume you’re good for a loan, right?”
She beamed back, “Count on it!”
“Then we’re good.”
He started across the crosswalk. “Come on, coast is clear and I’ve already lost 10 pounds sweating out here!”
“Oh, one more thing,” she said, jogging to keep up as they trotted across the crosswalk.
“Yep?”
“Well, could we keep this between us? All that hype I made back at the hotel, about me being an adult and all. This’d make that a little bit weak, huh?”
“Not a problem. Just make sure your next hunch doesn’t send us jetting off to Europe. My contingency fund for this expedition will only take us so far before I’ll need a loan of my own!”
“Well, I have no idea about these things . . . they just kinda come to me. But yeah, I’ll do my best to keep them on a budget!”
“Fair enough.”
They crossed to the terminal and wove their way through the busy curbside check-in crowd. San Antonio International was in full swing. The Texas sun was already high in the sky. Diesel exhaust from the barrage of hotel shuttle busses and the heat from cars idling curbside made the crowd a hot, sticky mess. Steve was grateful when they passed through the sliding curbside doors and entered the metallic cool air of the airport. Abby spotted Martin and Veronica near the Globalcon counter and flagged them down. They all met in the middle of the terminal.
“Okay,” said Veronica. “Here’s the deal. Globalcon is the only airline with a decent flight out of here. We’d have to make a stopover in Houston, but it leaves in about an hour. Since we’ve only got carry-ons, we should be able to get through, no problem.”
“Only thing is, it isn’t cheap,” Martin said. “It’s about 650 bucks for an open-ended round tripper— kinda steep.”
He looked expectantly at Abby, who appeared oblivious to the reference. She nodded along. “Sounds good to me,” she said and looked at Steve.
“Me too,” said Steve, nodding. “Let’s do it. Why don’t you guys go get yours? Abby and I can go hit that bookstore and see if we can find a travel guide to Cozumel, and then we’ll circle back and grab ours too.”
Abby turned and headed to the bookstore without looking back. Martin looked at him with a questioning look. Steve gestured to Abby with his eyes.
“Ah, okay,” said Martin, with a slight smile. He and Veronica returned to the Globalcon counter and Steve joined Abby on a path across the terminal to the bookstore.
Thirty minutes later, they all had their tickets in hand as they sat at the gate. They still had forty minutes left before they could board their flight. Martin slept upright in the seat next to Steve. His head was back, and he had a folded newspaper covering his face. Across the aisle, next to Veronica, Abby consumed three seats on her own. Once she had spread out her backpack, she sat sideways in the row, scribbling notes. She had her hair pulled back, her sunglasses on, and her feet propped up on her book bag, ankles bouncing in time to the music thumping into the ear buds in her ears. She smacked her gum, and Steve had to laugh when she loudly popped bubbles, oblivious to the occasional chastising stares she got from the other travelers in the gate area.
They had only been with her for a few hours, but already she was a welcome addition to what was becoming a tight-knit group.
Veronica watched Steve watching Abby. “You’re worried about her being here.”
“That obvious, huh?” he asked, turning to face her.
Veronica shrugged. “Yeah, but to be expected, I s’pose. Jack is a big man.”
Steve shook his head. “I am more worried about her mom. She seemed so fragile. And now we’re taking her only other kid to Mexico?”
“No, not taking her, Steve. It wasn’t really your decision to make. We’re just gonna have to accept that she knows herself and her parents better than we do.” Watching the girl move her shoulders in time with her music, Veronica continued, “I like her. Kid’s got spunk. She’s so full of life it makes me wanna reach out and give her a big hug. She makes life seem so simple, huh?”
Steve nodded. “Yeah, she does.”
“And Sleeping Beauty over there is pretty positive, too,” Veronica smiled as she pointed with her chin in Martin’s direction.
Steve chuckled again. “Yes, he has been since the beginning. They are a lot alike, I suppose. Martin seems to believe in the journey and Abby seems to believe in herself. I wish I had as much confidence as they do.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself over that, Steve. I am having the same thoughts as you. Our plan, if you want to call it that, so far has been one step at a time. I prefer the big picture, y’know. . .the endgame?”
Steve nodded.
“Still,” Veronica went on. “Nobody forced us to be here — any of us. Remember that.”
“Well, I am glad we are here, together. Sometimes we gotta go for it, right?”
Veronica smiled.
“Hey Steve,” Abby yelled directly across the aisle from him.
Steve waved at her and motioned for her to take out her ear buds.
; “Oops! My bad, folks!” she announced to those around her. Then she continued in a quieter tone to Steve, “Hey, could I borrow the letter that you got back, the one from your wife? I’d like to take some notes.”
“Sure.”
He pulled it out of his rucksack and handed it to her.
“Thanks! Hey listen, I am sorry to ask, but can you tell me how your wife died?”
On Tenterhooks Page 18