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“How are you holding up?” he asked her and moved over to wrap his arms around her.
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” She sighed as she held onto him. “How could this happen? Did you look at the footage?” She looked up at him.
He nodded. “You?”
She nodded. “She left to walk on the beach and didn’t come back.” She closed her eyes, remembering seeing the pretty brunette with dimples laughing at her along with the birthday girl, Tiffany.
Until this morning, she hadn’t even known any of the teenagers’ names. Nor had she cared. They were just… guests. Temporary people in her life.
Jade had talked to her parents and told them about the missing girl, but they were on a train heading somewhere and the service hadn’t been great.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Now, the parents contact the local police and go through the proper channels. I can’t be exposed as anything other than a bartender for now,” he added. “We go through the list of people leaving for the beach before and after Megan went missing and compare it to who is checking out today and tomorrow.”
“You think they’re leaving?” she asked. “Oh my god. Do you think Megan’s already off the island?”
“What I think is she was taken off last night.” He nodded. “And whoever took her away is on that video. Leaving and not returning. Which gives us a leg up. My team is—” Just then there was a knock on the door.
Jade felt Wyatt’s arms tighten around her again as Diane stepped into her office.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Diane said as Wyatt made a show of stepping away from Jade. “The police are here to speak with you.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” Wyatt said before leaning down and kissing her softly. “I’ll stop by your place later tonight.”
Jade nodded then told Diane to show the officers in. It wasn’t her first time dealing with the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
The parents were shuffled back into her office and the meeting went on for over an hour. She handed over copies of all the footage from the night before and confirmed that the police could talk to the other guests if needed.
Since the majority of the party guests would be leaving in the morning, she also supplied a list with their contact information.
The entire time, her mind played over what Wyatt had said about the person leaving today or tomorrow. When her office was emptied again, she pulled up a list of guests that had left that day and scanned the faces on the video, trying to match any of them.
Frustrated, she left her office an hour later and slowly walked around the grounds as she searched every face that she passed. What was she looking for? Then she turned and headed to the beach. She wasn’t dressed to walk the sand, but she pulled off her low heels and headed out.
She had only made it about a yard when Wyatt called out her name. She turned and watched him jog across the sand. He was dressed for the beach. His board shorts and resort top were made for the warmer weather and sun.
“Hey,” he said, taking her hand as he searched her eyes. “Out for a walk?”
“Looking,” she said. “I want to help.”
“You are helping. By staying in the office and dealing with the parents and party guests.” He took her other hand. “Let us do the sweaty work. Go back in, make calls, calm people down. It’s what they need.”
She took a deep breath. She wanted movement. Wanted to help search. She hadn’t been able to when Amber had been taken. She’d been too young to join in any of the searches around their property. Now she could and it appeared she was better fit to counsel instead.
“You’re right,” she said as a bead of sweat dripped down her back.
“I’ll keep you posted.” He leaned up and kissed her. “I got Josie to cover my shift tonight. We need to talk. Your place.” He turned and jogged back down the beach to where some of the other employees were meeting.
Jade dusted the sand off her feet and slid her heels back on.
She was passing the lobby when she noticed Tom and Carol arguing, which was a total surprise. The couple never disagreed on anything. Ever.
“Can I help you two?” she asked in a calm voice, getting their attention away from one another.
“No,” Tom said at the same time Carol said, “Yes.”
“How about the pair of you take a break and follow me up to my office where you can have this conversation in private?” she suggested. When Tom shook his head, she added, “That wasn’t a request.”
