AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We spend the early afternoon searching the ship, walking the same paths the crew must’ve taken just this morning in their attempts to locate her. But did they look as hard as I would have? They don’t know all I do about her. They don’t know the way she speaks kindly and softly to me, even after a hard day. Or how she will always choose salty over sweet but sour over everything. They don’t know the way her eyes light up when we discuss music or movies. Or that she tosses her hair up as soon as she needs to concentrate on anything at all. They don’t know her like I do, and if anyone will find her, it will be me.
It has to be me.
When the search of the ship turns up nothing, I suggest to Blake that we disembark and spend the next few hours of our time in Cozumel looking for her on land. He’s hesitant at first. He doesn’t want to leave the ship, doesn’t want to feel like we’re giving up, but I can be insistent. She’s not in the dining room, in any of the theaters, in the pool, in the arcade or casino. We haven’t found her in any of the bars. She’s still not answering our texts. She’s going to turn up. I know she is. I just have to figure out what’s going on.
Where she is.
Why she’s not here.
No part of my mind can comprehend or accept the idea that there could be any other outcome here.
It’s impossible.
At this point, I can see why the crew thinks she might’ve gotten off the ship and, as much as I hate to admit it, I have to wonder if they could be right.
Maybe she’s struggling more than we realized and just needed a minute alone.
Maybe she got bad news about her mom.
The thought of her sitting alone crying in a foreign country is enough to break my heart.
So, with that image in mind, the three of us exit the ship through the gangway and make the long trek down the concrete path into the city port. The area is filled with smiling tourists waiting in line to get their passports stamped. Others are carrying their purchased items in giant, colorful bags or grinning in front of the multicolored Cozumel sign that welcomes us to this new place. None of them seem to realize what has happened. No one sees the devastation on our faces.
Every time I catch a glimpse of brown hair, of bright-red lips, I hold my breath. I search for her in every face, in every laugh.
She has to be here.
It just doesn’t feel real.
When I check behind me, I realize Patton is staring at his phone again.
“Everything okay?” I ask him, not bothering to hide the frustration in my tone. We stop walking as Blake turns around to see what’s happening.
Patton looks up at me distractedly, turning his attention back to his phone at once. “Yeah, sorry. I was supposed to do a call this morning, and one of the new software programs we’re developing is… There’s a glitch that we’re trying to work out, but…” He trails off, typing out a message. “Sorry. I know this is, like, the worst time.”
“Do you need to go take care of it?” I ask, but I’m not really asking. If he cared about me at all, he’d see that. He’d realize I need him here. Need him to put his phone away and understand how badly I’m hurting. How scary this is.
“I…” He sighs, tucking his phone into his pocket as he licks his lips and squints his eyes, looking everywhere but at me. “I’m really sorry, Florence. I may need to catch a plane and fly home.”
His words slam into my chest like a brick wall. “What? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m sorry.” He takes a half step back from me as if bracing for a punch to the gut. “I didn’t plan for it to happen this way, but I need to get this sorted out. No days off for the boss, you know?”
“I’m sorry my friend going missing has happened at an inconvenient time for you,” I say with an angry scoff, tears burning my eyes.
His shoulders tense and then relax slowly. “Shit.” He scrubs the back of his neck with his hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Forget I said anything. I’m here. It’s fine.” He reaches for me, but I pull away.
“No, if you need to go, just go.”
“I don’t need to. They’ll figure it out.” Even as he says it, I know he’s lying.
I turn back to Blake, and we continue on our walk. I’m not even sure where we’re going, only that I need to keep moving. I can’t stand still. I need to know that I’m doing something. That I’m trying.
It isn’t until I feel Patton’s hand slip into mine that I realize he’s coming with us. For that, I feel a small sense of appreciation bloom in my chest.
“Where should we go?” Blake asks. “If she got off the ship, where would she go?”
“I don’t know,” I say softly, chewing my lip. At this point, it’s been over an hour since they ended the search of the ship. Four hours since we realized she might be missing. It’s starting to sink in that something might actually be wrong. I’m trying to think in terms of what feels safe to tell him and what my intuition is actually telling me. Telling him what I know seems like a betrayal, but if it means finding her, it will be worth it.
