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“Oh.” She looked around as though searching for confirmation. “That’s never happened before.”
“Way to stroke a guy’s ego,” he said with a smile.
“Maybe it’s hunger?”
“And there she goes, deflating it all over again.” He started walking towards the water, holding her gently but firmly in his arms. “Let’s get cleaned up and then we’ll see about catching some fish.”
Now that perked her right up. “We need the mosquito net. I think we could use it as a net to catch some. Failing that, I thought one of us could bleed a little and see if we can attract some piranha.”
John stopped dead and glared at her. “That’d better have been a joke.”
Belinda thought it was best not to reply at all. With a grunt, he strode into the lake, taking her along with him.
Chapter 18
Ryan didn’t have long before he needed to be back in the ballroom, coordinating the search party with Elle. But ten minutes was all he needed to see if, by some miracle, Esperanza had set up home in his room and was still waiting for him. Yeah, he didn’t think it was a possibility, but he hoped she’d at least left her phone number behind.
“Hey, wait up,” he called to Dimitri and Megan, who shared the cabana next to his. “I need a ride to my room.”
Megan shifted onto Dimitri’s lap to make space beside them in the back of the golf cart. It would probably have been faster to run the path to his cabana, but he didn’t have the energy. Truth be told, he probably should have stayed an extra night in the hospital. But there was no way he could lie there while his team were looking for Belinda and Beast—and while Esperanza was possibly waiting for him.
Dimitri told the driver to go fast, and they shot off along the perfectly groomed path, complete with eco-friendly woodchip surface and solar lights along the edges.
“You should be in hospital,” Megan said. “Your skin is grey and you look like a breeze could blow you over.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said, before saying to a grinning Dimitri, “You got everything you need for the search?”
“Yeah, you and Harvard did a good job of pulling equipment out of thin air. We’re covered.”
“Kevlar?” Ryan had called in a favour to get some vests for the team, but he wasn’t sure if they’d arrived.
“Yeah. Not too thrilled to wear a bulletproof vest in this heat, though.”
“Better than dying a painful death with a bullet in your back,” Megan told him.
“My wife,” Dimitri said drolly, “always bringing the sunshine.”
The golf cart screeched to a halt outside their cabins, and Dimitri asked the driver to wait. “Ten minutes?” he said to Ryan.
“More than enough time.” Ryan jogged up the two steps to the porch around his tiny cabin.
A surge of hope went through him when he spotted the Do Not Disturb sign hanging from the handle. Maybe she had waited. Maybe. He used his key card to unlock his door and swung it wide—only to be greeted by darkness and silence. He knew before he even stepped inside that the room was empty and she was gone. Of course, she was gone. What woman hung around for days, in the room of a guy she barely knew, waiting for him to come back?
Ryan flicked the light on and strode inside, scanning every surface, looking for a note. His heartbeat sped up when he spotted one on the nightstand. It was written on resort stationery, and he fell on it like a hungry lion with prey.
Dear Ryan,
I am so sorry. I want you to know that I would never have done this if I wasn’t desperate. I will pay you back one day. I promise. Thank you for a wonderful time. It meant the world to me. Love, Essie.
Ryan read the note several times as his blood chilled. His head shot up to see the closet door ajar. He covered the distance in a few short steps and looked inside. The safe was open. And empty. His fist clenched on the note, crumpling it tight. She’d robbed him. Cleaned him out.
His passport, cash, backup phone, gun, ammunition, iPad—all gone.
His head started to swim as black dots appeared in front of his eyes, and he realised he’d stopped breathing. With great effort, he sank onto the edge of his bed and focused on breathing in and out, on calming the hell down, when all he wanted to do was put a fist through the wall.
She’d left him. Stolen from him.
He wasn’t even sure which part made him angriest. This was seriously screwed up. The woman had cleaned him out and he was more upset over her running. He shook his head and went to check the rest of his room. His duffel bag was gone, along with a couple of pairs of jeans and some shirts. A quick look in his bathroom told him she’d helped herself to his toiletries and a couple of hotel towels.
