The two girls were best friends since second grade – and complete opposites in every way. Jasmine was outgoing and impulsive where Brianna was more reserved and thoughtful. Brianna was wavy blonde hair and big blue-eyes while Jasmine had long, straight brown hair and deep, golden-brown eyes.
Brianna let out a loud, exaggerated breath as she whipped her cell phone out of her back pocket. Deader than a doornail. She looked at Jasmine and then down at the cell phone in Jasmine’s hand. She shook her head. “Mine’s dead, too.”
“Ugh!!” Brianna stomped her foot in frustration. “Couldn’t at least one of us thought to charge our phone??”
Before she could answer, a golf cart rounded the corner and pulled up beside them. A handsome, dark-haired security guard leaned forward, his arms coming to rest on the steering wheel. “You two look lost. Let me guess – you can’t find your car!”
Jasmine eyes filled with tears she was so relieved to see security. “We have no idea where we parked.” She held up her phone. “On top of that - our phones are dead!”
He smiled. “Happens all the time. That’s why I’m here – to help beautiful damsels in distress track down their vehicles.”
With that, he waved a hand at the back seat. “Hop in and we’ll go find your chariot.”
The girls were downright giddy. He didn’t need to ask them twice! Before he had a chance to change his mind, they hopped in the back seat of the cart.
He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped when the girls started arguing again about where they thought the car was parked. He shook his head. There was no way he was getting in the middle of that argument.
Without saying a word, he stomped on the pedal and headed in the direction of the Pixie Dust lot.
Minutes later, they were circling the enormous, concrete layers. He glanced back in his mirror. “Start pressing your car alarm so we can figure out if it’s in this area.”
Bri and Jasmine stopped arguing for a moment as they stared at each other. “Why didn’t we think of that??”
It wasn’t long before they heard the alarm go off nearby. Seconds later, their car was in sight.
When the golf cart stopped, Jasmine turned to their handsome rescuer, a huge smile lighting up her face. “We definitely owe you one.” She paused. “Hey! We’re staying at a hotel not far from here. “Maybe we can meet you later – after you get off work and buy you a drink? You know, kind of pay you back for helping us out…”
The young security guard looked at her thoughtfully. “Well, normally I would say no…”
Jasmine’s face fell. She was really hoping he would say yes.
He continued. “But I guess I can make an exception. Just this once. But I don’t get off until 10,” he added.
Brianna quickly spoke up. “Oh, that’s not a problem.”
He looked thoughtfully from one girl to the other. Finally, he nodded. “OK. By the way – I’m Luke.”
Jasmine spoke first as she pointed to herself. “I’m Jasmine and this is my friend Brianna.” Then, before he could change his mind she quickly added, “So where do you want to meet?”
“There’s a little pub, The Yellow Jacket, just down the road on International Drive. I can meet you there around 10:30?”
The girls nodded in unison. As they turned to get in the car, Brianna blurted out, “And you can bring a friend…if you want.” Jasmine turned to her friend, her eyebrows raised. Brianna blushed as she looked at the ground.
Luke didn’t seem to notice. “Sounds good. I’ll find out if my buddy Travis can come. He’s an Orange County EMT. We were supposed to meet up later after I got out of work tonight anyways…” he trailed off.
Jasmine nervously tugged on a long strand of hair. “Yeah, that would be great. We just got here last night so we haven’t really done anything fun yet…Uhhh… except get lost in your parking lot.”
Luke laughed. “Well, I’m glad you did.” He reached down and started the cart. “I better get back to work. See you around 10:30 then?”
After they were inside the car with the door firmly shut, Brianna turned to Jasmine, “I hope his friend is HALF as cute as he is.” It was turning out to be a great first day of their vacation!
They arrived back at the hotel a short time later. The hotel was nice enough. It wasn’t a five-star luxurious resort but the girls thought it was perfect. Mainly because it was right in the middle of all the action. Tons of little shops, restaurants, mini-golf, some tourist attractions, all within walking distance.
As they walked through the hotel lobby, they spied a young couple they recognized from the night before. All four of them had checked in at the same time.
Just as they passed by, the woman abruptly stopped. “Hey, I remember you from check-in last night. Have you guys ever been here before?”
Brianna shook her head. “No, this is our first time. We’re not too familiar with the area,” she confessed. “But I’m pretty sure the front desk can help you out...” Her voice trailed off.
The dark haired lady continued. “We were trying to figure out where to have dinner. You know, not super-expensive and within walking distance. The traffic is crazy so we figured the less driving we have to do, the better.”
Jasmine spoke up. “Someone told us about a restaurant a couple doors down – Mexican Masterpiece. I don’t think it’s very cheap, though. We were thinking of trying it ourselves.”
The man quickly interjected, “Do you mind if we join you? Err, unless…”
The girls glanced at each other. Brianna shrugged. “Sure, we were going to walk over there around 8-ish.”
Taking that as an invitation, the woman turned to Brianna, “That sounds like fun! By the way, my name is Vivian and this is my husband Jimmy.”
“I’m Brianna and this is my friend Jasmine.”
They all agreed to meet in the lobby a little while later. With that, the girls waved good-bye to their new friends and headed up to their room.
After the elevator door closed, Bri turned to Jasmine. “How did that happen? We don’t even know these people. Don’t you think that was kind of weird?” she added.
Jasmine nodded, “Yeah, it did seem a little odd - but it’s not like we’re riding anywhere with them. We should be pretty safe just going around the corner, right?”
By the time they made their way to the Mexican restaurant, it was “hoppin’.” The restaurant was just what they expected - touristy and expensive.
They were quickly seated and the waitress came by for their drink order. After a few minutes of talking, the girls discovered Jimmy and Vivian were from California.
Brianna’s face lit up. “I’ve been thinking of moving to either California or down to this area. Is California as expensive as they say?”
Jimmy answered first. “Unless you have a really good job and make lots of money, renting an apartment in a safe area is really expensive. Of course, it depends on what part of California…”
“I was thinking maybe San Diego?”
Vivian agreed. “Yeah, you need lots of money to live in a decent neighborhood. I’ve heard Florida’s a lot cheaper than Cali.”
Bri looked thoughtful. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought…” she trailed off.
The food finally arrived as the waitress set huge plates of tacos, enchiladas and burritos in front of the girls. Jasmine’s eyes widened. “No way can we eat all of this. The hotel room has a fridge, right?”
After they finished eating and the plates were cleared, Bri looked at her watch. It was 10 p.m. She glanced at Jasmine and then looked over at Jimmy and Vivian. “I’m sorry but we have to go. We’re meeting some friends at a nearby pub. Maybe we can get together again before you leave?” she offered.
Vivian nodded. “That would be great.” She quickly added, “What are you guys doing tomorrow?”
Jasmine spoke up. “We’re not really sure yet. Why don’t you give me your cell number and we’ll call or text you once we’ve had a chance to talk about i
t.”
Jimmy stood up and stretched. “Sounds good.” He changed the subject. “We went to Empire Studios today…”
Brianna cut in. “Wow, that’s where we were at! It was a blast but a little hot…and we lost our car in the parking lot…”
Vivian and Jimmy laughed. “Not hard to do at that place!”
“We were thinking maybe a water park or spending the day at Planet Earth tomorrow.” Vivian continued, “We want to go to the beach, too. I heard Cocoa Beach isn’t too far away.”
A look of surprise crossed Brianna’s face. “Sounds a lot like our plans.”
Before Jimmy and Vivian could invite themselves again, she quickly added, “We’ll talk about it and get back with you guys.”
They waved good-bye to their new friends and headed in the opposite direction of the hotel.
After they were out of earshot, Bri whispered to Jasmine. “I hate to say this, but don’t you think there are a whole lot of odd coincidences - either having done the same things or planning to do the same things we’re going to do?”
Jasmine agreed. “It’s creeping me out just a little - but they seem nice enough...”
Brianna’s voice of reason kicked in. “I’m not saying completely avoid them but we need to be cautious. They are, after all, complete strangers.”
There was no more time to discuss it. They had reached the pub and it was 10:30 on the dot.
They stepped inside and looked around. The place was packed but not so packed that the girls weren’t able to spot Luke. He saw them at the exact same moment and waved them over.
As they started walking towards him, Bri glanced over at the guy sitting next to Luke. She let out a huge sigh of relief. Awesome! He was as cute – if not cuter - than Luke.
She smiled at Jasmine as she whispered under her breath, “Sure am glad we misplaced that car!”
They all hit it off instantly. Bri and Jasmine discovered that Travis was not only an EMT, he was a part-time firefighter. Brianna quickly decided he was one of the most interesting men she had met in years!
Jasmine was just as enchanted with Luke. She found out he was working his way through medical school and starting his residency in the radiology field that fall. Jasmine almost fainted when she found out. Hot guy, smart and on his way to becoming a doctor!
Briana wasted no time explaining to Travis and Luke that she was in Florida scoping out the area and she planned to move down with her mom now that she had finished college.
Travis grinned. “I’ll be happy to show you around, give you some pointers on where to live, tell you what companies are hiring.”
Jasmine glanced at Luke and added, “Yeah, I’m thinking about moving down here, too.”
Bri’s head swung around, her eyebrows raised as she stared at Jasmine. “So you were waiting to surprise me with that news? That’s the first I’ve heard of this!”
Jasmine flashed Bri a sly smile. “I’m beginning to like Orlando more by the minute!”
The evening flew by. Finally, it was time to go. Luke turned to Jasmine, “So what are you plans for tomorrow?”
Bri looked hesitantly at Jasmine and answered. “We haven’t really decided yet. It’s either the beach or another theme park.” She shrugged uncertainly, “I guess it depends on the weather.”
Travis sounded excited. “We’d love to take you to the beach!” He waved his hand in Luke’s direction. “We both have tomorrow off. Cocoa is awesome and I think the weather is going to be perfect.”
The girls glanced at each other warily. Brianna’s mother would not be happy if she found out they got into a car with two guys they barely knew. “We’d like that a lot. If you don’t mind, maybe we can we just follow you in our car?”
Travis instantly realized the reason for their hesitation. “Yes! Absolutely! You can just follow us there.”
With that, they let out a sigh of relief and excitedly nodded their heads in unison. They agreed to meet the next morning in the hotel lobby and then parted ways for the evening.
On the walk back to the hotel, the girls were almost beside themselves. Chattering away at how awesome these guys were and how lucky they were that they lost the car.
Just as they reached the hotel, they remembered Jimmy and Vivian. Bri looked at her watch. “It’s late. Let’s just text them and tell them we can’t meet them tomorrow but maybe another day...” Her voice trailed off.
Since it was late, Bri texted her Mom to let her know they were safely in the hotel for the night and they were going to the beach the next day. She didn’t mention Travis or Luke. No sense in sending up red flags just yet.
Brianna’s mom had become obsessively overprotective with her since her vacation. Her mom briefly mentioned some sort of incident that took place during one of the excursions but Bri didn’t know about the kidnapping or that three of the people from the tour group had been taken and were still missing.
Ever since she came back from the trip, she was constantly calling Brianna, making her check-in and she’d never done that before.
Chapter 9
Sam woke early the next morning. She spent most of the night tossing and turning, worrying about her house and what there was left to salvage.
She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and looked at the screen. Brianna had sent her a text late last night letting her know she and Jasmine were both safe and having a great time so far.
Sam let out a sigh of relief as she texted her back and told her she loved her. She purposely avoided mentioning Michel and being kidnapped. After all, it was over now and she’d just as soon put it behind her.
She had a second text. This one was from Lee. I’m sorry again, for the mess Michel made of your house. Sending someone by around 10 a.m. to help you clean up. See you soon. Love, Lee.
Sam was touched by Lee’s concern. A small smile lit up her face. He really was a great guy.
She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs to grab a taxi since her car was still at work. A short time later she was standing inside her hallway staring around in disbelief. It was worse than she remembered from the night before.
From the looks of the place, there wasn’t one single thing left untouched. Everything that hadn’t been torn apart or dumped on the floor was destroyed.
It was just too much! She put her head in her hands as tears threatened to spill over. Before she could have a complete meltdown right there in the hallway, her doorbell rang.
She grabbed a Kleenex and quickly wiped away her tears, took a deep breath and swung open the front door. Standing in front of her were two big, burly guys in police uniform with solemn faces. Beside them was a petite, smiling, gray-haired lady.
The woman spoke first. “Hello my dear. Lee Windsor sent us over. Heard you had a big mess to clean up. Some moron did a number on your place and we’re here to get it back in ship-shape condition.”
Sam offered a shaky smile. She immediately liked the woman’s no-nonsense attitude. It reminded her of a drill sergeant.
The woman could see Sam was visibly upset and quickly continued. “I’m Lieutenant Barcheski but you can call me Andrea. And these are Officers Jensen and Conrad. But you can call them whatever you want!”
The tone of her voice brought a small smile to Sam’s lips. This lady was a real trip!
She opened the door wide as she let them inside.
Andrea immediately put the two burly officers to work in the kitchen. They brought a clipboard with them and meticulously wrote down everything that was broken or needed to be repaired. Thankfully, the kitchen looked worse than it really was. There were only a few small broken dishes and glasses – none of which held any sentimental value.
Andrea and Sam left Jensen and Conrad in the kitchen as they made their way to the bedroom in the back of the house.
When she got there, Sam paused in the doorway for a moment. She slowly made her way over to the closet door and peered inside. She was scared to look too closely. This is where she stored her meticulously c
ared-for, priceless treasures – heirlooms her Grandmother passed down to her before her death last year. She also had several boxes of irreplaceable drawings, crayon-colored cards, and handmade presents lovingly crafted by daughter, Brianna, when she was little girl.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she carefully sifted through the piles. Only a couple of the small gifts Brianna made for her were damaged beyond repair. Everything else was in good shape.
By noon, they had made good progress and Sam’s stomach began to growl. How rude of me. I should be asking them if they would like to take a break and have some lunch. She left Andrea in the bedroom and made her way to the kitchen.
As she rounded the corner, she heard a loud noise. “Burrrippp!!!!!”
Sam stopped dead in her tracks. Seconds later, “What was that??”
“Uhmm… I don’t know.”
Suddenly there was laughter. “Dude, you ripped your drawers!”
“Really?? What the heck??? Oh no!!!!!”
Sam couldn’t take it anymore. She had to see what on earth the two of them were doing in there. As she stepped over the threshold, she could see Conrad holding the seat of his pants while Jensen was doubled-over, laughing hysterically.
“What’s going on in here?”
Jensen didn’t answer. He just kept laughing as he pointed at Conrad’s pants.
Conrad quickly turned to face her as he clenched the back of his pants, his face fire-engine red. “Uhhh… it looks like I had a little accident. I must’ve caught my pants on the corner of one of the drawers.”
Sam felt bad for the poor guy but she couldn’t keep from grinning. “I won’t ask to see the damage but if you want to take them off in the bedroom, I might be able to sew them up.”
He looked at her skeptically. “It’ll only take a minute,” she assured him.
The red-faced Conrad nodded in embarrassment and followed her to the bedroom. Once inside, he closed the door and locked it. A few seconds later he opened the door a crack – just enough to toss the pants out and then quickly slammed it shut.
Sam quickly surveyed the damaged and hollered through the closed door, “I can fix these up in a jiffy. I’ll be right back.”
Winds of Deception (Samantha Rite Series Book 2) Page 4