Page 125 of The Newcomer
The world was asleep. She tiptoed toward the palm tree. As she drew closer, Maya could hear soft mewing noises. She got down onher hands and knees and crawled the last few inches until her nose was inches from the circle of shrubbery.
The sawtoothed leaves scratched at her face, but she inched forward. She saw something black and furry curled up in a nest of pine needles. Kittens! There were two kittens. They mewed and wriggled. Midnight had left the kittens all alone. Maya reached out and touched one on its little pink nose. A tiny pink tongue darted out and licked her hand. She giggled with delight. She scratched the kitten’s soft black ears and it mewed again.
Her hand was closing on the kitten when she heard footsteps crunching in the wet grass. An arm wrapped itself around her waist and abruptly jerked her up and away. Just before a hand clamped over her mouth she saw the man. It was the man from the store. He had scary blue eyes and a black baseball cap. He smiled. “Good morning, Maya.”
Joeawoke with a start, and for a moment, he couldn’t figure out where he was. The room was still dark. He yawned and stretched, then remembered. This was Letty’s place. He’d fallen dead asleep on the sofa. He stood up and switched on the lamp on the end table and looked around the room and smiled briefly at the memory of what had happened earlier on this very same sofa.
He checked his phone. Nearly seven. He needed to pee, but didn’t dare walk into the bedroom for fear of waking Letty and Maya. He went over to the sliding glass door and frowned when he saw that it was slightly ajar. Had Letty left it open the night before? They’d been out on the patio, and then things had gotten intense and they’d come back inside.
Dammit, he’d have to remind her again about keeping everything locked up. He slid the door open wider, went out to the patio, and looked out at the horizon. The morning sky looked clear, the water calm. Joe hoped it was a good omen for the day ahead.
He hadn’t wanted to worry Letty, but this whole scheme withWingfield could go very wrong, very fast, with just the slightest misstep from any of them. He scowled, considering all the terrifying possibilities, but forced himself to put aside his worries. Vikki Hill was a seasoned federal agent. She would have backup, and he would have backup. And finally, Letty would be freed from the cloud that had been hanging over her head.
Joe yawned again, opened the gate, walked outside, and after making sure he couldn’t be seen by any early-morning beach walkers, relieved himself behind a dune.
When he went back inside he locked the slider and went in search of coffee. He found a box of tea bags in the cabinet, but no sign of coffee. Letty’s room key was on the end table. He let himself out of the unit, saw that the lights were on in the office, and smiled. If the lights were on at his mother’s place, he knew the coffee would be hot. He locked the door behind him and went in search of caffeine.
“You’reup early,” Ava observed. She was standing behind the reception desk, rummaging through a pile of room keys. They were the old-school variety, with large diamond-shaped plastic tags bearing the Murmuring Surf logo and room numbers.
“You too.”
He went to the coffee maker and poured himself a mug, dumping in two packets of sugar. “What are you looking for?”
“The master key. Chuck had one, but I made him give it back when I kicked him out. Or, I thought I did.”
Joe scowled at the memory of Ava’s relationship with the late Chuck Sheppard. “He could have easily had another key made, you know. Doesn’t matter now. He’s dead. Anyway…”
The office door flew open. Letty was barefoot and wild-eyed. “Is Maya here with you? Is she upstairs?”
“No,” Ava said. “She’s not here. I haven’t seen her this morning.”
“She’s gone!” Letty wailed. “I just woke up, and she wasn’t in her bed or the pillow fort, and she wasn’t anywhere in the apartment.…”
“The sliding glass door was ajar when I got up,” Joe said, setting his coffee mug down. “I assumed we’d left it open last night.”
“No, I locked it,” Letty insisted. “And I double-checked last night. She must have gotten up while we were still sleeping.”
“What’s going on?” Vikki Hill emerged from the stairwell. “What’s this about Maya?”
“She’s gone!” Letty cried. “Oh my God. The pool. What if she wandered over there and fell in?”
“I’ll check the pool,” Joe said quickly.
“I’ll go down to the beach to look,” the FBI agent volunteered. “Maybe she’s playing mermaid in the sand.”
“Mom, can you and Letty check the rec room and the rest of the property? You might have to start knocking on doors. Maybe one of the guests spotted her.”
“Rooney. What if Rooney took her?” Letty clamped both hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.
Joe touched her shoulder. “We’re gonna find her. Okay? We’ll find her. If I have to tear this place apart, if I have to tear him apart, we’ll find her.”
Letty nodded. “I believe you.”
Letty’sheart pounded in her chest as she ran toward the rec room, and she repeated the only prayer she knew, the one she’d learned during a brief foray to a long-ago Sunday school class.
Our Father, who art in Heaven…
Please let Maya be safe…
