******
Phyl peered out at the landing strip as their sixteen-seater plane made its final descent into the Grand Bahama's International Airport. The plane ride had seemed very quick to her, although, she smiled looking over at Thad, her sweet husband had found the time to take a quick nap, even with the more uneven and bumpy ride in the small plane. She frowned as she replayed parts of her dream the night before in her head as she watched him, feeling somewhat despondent. What on earth would cause her to have such a disturbing dream.
"Thad, wake up." She jiggled his shoulder, and his head jerked up. He turned to her, and smiled apologetically, then rubbed his brow and ran his hand through his dark hair.
"Wow, it seems that all I can do is sleep." He cleared his throat, and looked over out the window beside her. "I hope we can find a hotel pretty quickly."
"I've been looking through the book, and came up with three possibilities in Lucaya. You know, even though the island is more industrial than New Providence, I like the look of the hotels and beaches."
The plane bumped several times as it descended, but they had already been buckled in the entire trip, and they watched as the runway came up rather quickly, and they touched down. In short order, they headed out of the airport, grabbed a taxi, and headed south for Lucaya - down Grand Bahamas Highway, then Mall Drive, then Sunrise Highway toward the hotel they had decided upon - the Sunset Inn - on the water. As the taxi pulled up to the neatly manicured lawn of the inn, with the usual palm trees, Phyl noticed that this place looked much newer than their hotel in Nassau, but still had the pastel shades, this one a pale turquoise blue, that was evident on the other island. Thad paid the driver, and they headed inside the inn, looking around at the beach-themed furnishings in the small lobby. Luckily, there was a vacancy, and within fifteen minutes, they were settled in their room. Phyl pulled the gauzy curtains and looked out at the gorgeous beach and water view from their fourth floor room, then turned to Thad, who was thumbing through the book again.
"I'll call Leah and Scott and let them know we're here." As he nodded, and carried the book out to the balcony, she dialed the desk, and was transferred to the British Colonial Inn in Nassau.
"Could you put me through to Scott Martin's room please?" As she waited patiently, Phyl glanced out onto the balcony, seeing Thad stretched out on a flowered chaise lounge, one hand behind his head, as he looked over the book on the Bahama islands. Hopefully, he was figuring out a plan of some sort.
"Hello?"
"Leah, this is Phyl." She needed to get right to the point. "We checked our messages late last night and had another one from Jonathan." She heard Leah's sharp intake of breath and hurried on. "He said he was in Freeport, which is on Grand Bahama Island, and we decided to catch a plane this morning and head out here. We're in the Sunset Inn in Lucaya, which was the city he mentioned in the message."
"Okay, Phyl, thanks for letting us know. When are you returning?"
"We're staying two nights, and should be back around four Tuesday afternoon. How is it going there?"
"We met with the lawyer again early this morning. Nothing new. No new leads as to Kristin's whereabouts or who would want to kidnap her."
Phyl twirled the cord. "What is the status on Jonathan?"
"Well, this is curious." Leah sounded puzzled. "There are no bulletins out for him, and they just call him a person of interest, so I guess that's a good thing. But, it does seem odd."
"On the other hand, he's running from something or someone." Phyl looked up at the ceiling and rubbed her forehead, then twisted the phone cord. "If it's not from the police, then from whom? The kidnapper?"
"I understand that the Sullivan family is taking it very hard over Kristin's disappearance, not knowing if she's still alive. There's been no call for a ransom, either, from what we've heard." Leah continued. "The lawyer said that Mr. Sullivan is a very rich and influential man. I'll never understand why Jonathan went to work for him when he disliked the man so much."
"I know, Leah." Phyl took a deep breath. "Jonathan complained non-stop about this man, when he was his client with the old law firm. Umm...I agree with you. It doesn't make sense that he chose to work for him, unless Kristin had persuaded him to work for her father."
"Yes, that's the only plausible reason." Leah sounded tired. "Well, the lawyer said that at this point, with Jonathan not considered a suspect in the kidnapping, there was not much for him to do, so we are basically just hanging out here, for some news. However, he could be a witness, so that may be why he's hiding. Let us know if you get in touch with Jonathan there, and we can all figure out the best thing to do. We could all just catch a flight to the states at this point, and it's all over for us."
"That's true. I'll call the minute I have some news, Leah."
"Same here, Phyl. And again, thank you for all you and Thad are doing. It's above and beyond in our opinion, and we are grateful."
"You're welcome, Leah. We want to see this settled and Jonathan home safe as well." They said their good-byes and hung up. Phyl sat for a moment, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, pondering Leah's words. It was obvious now that Jonathan could get home if he wanted to, but was still running from the kidnappers. Had they been following him? Could they be in Lucaya now? She sighed and turned to see that Thad had fallen asleep in the chaise lounge, the pages of the open book across his chest fluttering. She watched his soft breathing, his short hair ruffling in the breeze and smiled. What a good man he was to come and look for Jonathan. Many men would have said that it was his own problem, that he had brought it on himself, but not Thad. As scary as it was to do this, he had been in on it from the first moment she had told him. He knew it was the right thing for them to do, even if it turned out that they could do nothing at all. They had to try, for Scott and Leah's sake. She loved his strength and his kind heart.
Phyl got up and busied herself by unpacking the shoulder bag, smoothing out and hanging up their two outfits, and placing their toiletries in the bathroom. She would let him sleep undisturbed, and then they could figure out together their next step on this new island.
A Pale Paradise Page 14