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“Yeah, but she didn’t see him either. I’d completely forgotten about it until now.”
“Could you find that footage?” Blake asks Diego. “From Monday?”
“We can look into it, yes, but I don’t think it will tell us anything we don’t already know. Whoever this man is, he clearly knows your wife. Though, from the video, she doesn’t seem afraid of him.”
Blake turns back to the computer, a vein bulging in his temple. “What do you mean? What happened between them?”
“Nothing of note. They drank together for the next hour and a half. Then, they lefttogetheraround four thirty,” Diego says simply. “We lost her after that.”
I hate the way the statement feels against my skin. He means we lost her on camera, but we all know we lost her in another way, too. We can’t lose her. We must find her.
“They left together?” Blake asks, his voice powerless. He’s so pale his skin is nearly translucent. I’m worried he may pass out.
Diego nods. “Do you recognize the man at all?” Diego asks again. “Did he seem familiar to you when you saw him in the dining room? Or to Mae?”
“No,” Blake says, “I’d never seen him before. Mae claimed she hadn’t either.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I’m not sure what to believe.” He hangs his head forward, massaging the space between his eyebrows.
“Right.” Diego clears his throat, scooting back from his desk. “Well, I’m afraid, for now, those are the only updates I have for you. We’re trying to locate the man in the video at this time, and once we do, I’m hopeful we’ll get some answers for you.”
Blake lifts his head. “You mean he didn’t order drinks either? You said they were drinking together. You can’t trace his key card?”
“He didn’t order drinks during his time at the bar with your wife, no. They both had water, for which there was no charge. We’re checking with Benny right now, the bartender who waited on them before they left, hoping he might’ve overheard something helpful—a name or a clue to how they knew each other, or a plan as to what they were going to do would be even better. We should have those answers soon, and I’ll keep you posted, of course. In the meantime, I need to ask you, Mr. Barlowe, were there problems with your marriage?”
Blake bristles. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but we are spending time and resources on locating your wife, which are meant to be utilized on all of the guests. I need to know if there are problems your wife might’ve been trying to escape. If you have any reason to believe she might’ve been having an affair.”
“Of course not!” he cries, and the disbelief in his voice breaks my heart. “She’s my wife. I love her. We’re happy. She wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t cheat on me. Whoever this man is…this isn’t that.” Even as he says it, I can hear the doubt, see the indignance waning. I’m not sure he believes what he’s saying. Seconds ago, I would’ve argued the same thing. Now, I don’t know what to think.
Diego taps his fingers on the desk rhythmically, one after the other. “I see.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe what I can see, Mr. Barlowe. What I can see is a woman who lied to her husband and best friend about where she was. A woman who snuck off with another man. Who left the bar with that man. A woman who has now disappeared.”
“Exactly! So regardless of what she’s done, we need to track this man down. He’ll know what happened to her. He’s the missing piece! He probably took her to his room. She wouldn’t have gone willingly.”
“She left with him willingly,” he points out.
“She wouldn’t… It’s him. We need to find him. He knows where she is.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Blake screeches.
Diego leans forward, lowering his voice. “I hope we find your wife for you, sir. I truly do. But as of right now, we have found no signs of foul play. No reason to suspect anything bad happened to her. We have no witnesses. No one heard anything. For all we know, your wife and this man walked off the ship together this morning willingly, and they aren’t planning to return.”
Blake crumples inwardly. “You don’t know her. She would never do that. She would never…” Then, as if he’s just thought of something, he straightens. “She didn’t take any of her stuff. Her luggage. Her clothes. She wouldn’t have disappeared with nothing, would she?”
“Did she take her purse with her? Her phone? You didn’t mention it being left behind, and she had those things in the video.” Diego picks up a pen, preparing to jot down a note.
Blake’s expression falls. “No. It wasn’t… I haven’t seen her purse.”
Diego doesn’t need to say what’s on his mind. It’s written all over his face. He believes she ran off. He believes we’re wasting his time.
