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I inhale deeply, doing everything I can not to lash out at him again. “Okay, fine. So what now? What do we do next? Have you checked the guest rooms?”
He gives me a patronizing look that says it’s a ridiculous request. “Sir, with all due respect, we have a duty to protect our guests’ privacy. We don’t have the right to search any individual room unless we have reason to believe she’s in one.”
“But that’s ridiculous! Someone could have her! Someone could’ve taken her!”
“And if we had any reason to believe that, or if we do in the future, I promise you, we’ll search the room—or rooms—in question.” He pauses, heaving a breath. “Honestly, would you be comfortable using a cruise line if there were rumors the staff searched guests’ rooms without permission or cause?”
“Wouldyoube comfortable using a cruise line where a person went missing and they did nothing?” I retort.
He rubs a finger into the space between his eyebrows, kneading it diligently. “Sir, I assure you, we aren’t doing ‘nothing.’”
“Then what are you doing? A search and that’s it? You called her name a few times on the intercom, and now we’re just going to call it a day?” I dust my hands together, going full smart-ass. “She justvanished? Shouldn’t we call the police? There has to be something else we can do!”
“Of course. We’ve notified the local authorities, who are helping us search the area. The Coast Guard has also been notified and is communicating with any vessels traveling in our direct path to keep an eye out for her. They’ll return to the location where we were when we know she was last seen on board—three o’clock this morning—to see if they can locate her. If she doesn’t reboard the ship this evening, it will be escalated to the FBI.”
“This evening?” Florence asks, whispering in horror. “You’re going to make us wait all day?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have a choice, ma’am. We have passengers who have already disembarked, and we cannot leave the port until they are all safely back on the ship. Right now, we are doing all we can by communicating with the Coast Guard and local authorities. Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to locate her.” He opens his mouth, then closes it again.
“What?” I ask. It feels like he’s reciting a script he’s been given.
“I was just going to ask… Can you think of any reason why your wife would’ve wanted to leave the ship without telling you?”
“What do you mean? I’ve already told you I don’t think she would’ve.”
Again, he hesitates but finally says, “Some people look at cruise ships as a means of disappearing, Mr. Barlowe. We just need to know if there’s a possibility that could be what we’re dealing with here.”
“She wouldn’t do that!” I shout.
At the same time, Florence says, “That’s ridiculous.”
The man clearly doesn’t plan to argue with us, so instead, he says, “Okay. I will be in touch as soon as we hear anything. I only ask that you do the same.”
“That’s it?” I demand. “You’re just leaving?”
“I can’t do my job from inside this room, sir. If you want me to help locate your wife, I need to go back to my office and continue to follow our protocols.”
“Okay,” I say finally. “What should I do in the meantime?”
“Continue to try and reach out to her. Let her know we’ve involved the authorities. Update me if you hear from her.” He waves for Jacob to follow him as they head for the door. “Don’t give up, Mr. Barlowe. I run a tight ship and have full faith in my team. You have the best of the best looking for her.”
I can’t bring myself to thank him, which he seems to be waiting for. Finally, he shuts the door, and I turn to look at Florence. “She wouldn’t have disappeared.” I just need to say the words out loud. Just need someone else to confirm what I already know.
She shakes her head, her eyes somber. “No. She wouldn’t have.”
“She knows what this would do to us. How much we’d worry. She’d never go off on her own, even if she wasn’t trying to disappear. She knows how dangerous that would be.”
“They don’t know Mae like we do. They’re just covering their bases.” She rubs my arm. “Someone on this ship has to know what happened to her. They had to have seen or heard something. Someone knows where she is.”
“And we’re going to find them,” I say.
She nods, tucking her phone into her pocket. “And we’re going to find them.”
CHAPTERNINE
FLORENCE
I’ve never felt so helpless.
