Page 72 of Terminal Voyage

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "You picked up a magazine and read an article online. That's it. She didn't reach out to you."

I shook my head. "Yes, she did.”

"From beyond the grave," she mocked in a spooky voice.

Irked, I said, "This isn't funny!”

"You're right. It's not.” Vanessa paused. "So what's your plan?”

I frowned and shrugged. "I don't have a plan. But we’re in Corazón Bay for a reason.”

"Not everything happens for a reason."

"I'd like to think everything happens for a reason. Otherwise, what's the point of existence?”

Vanessa sighed. "Look, why don't you come ashore with Declan and me? He's going to take me shopping. Believe me, that's an adventure you’ll want to be part of. With everything you've done for us, I think he wants to do something nice for you. I'm pretty sure Luciano is going to go through with the deal. Who knew you were going to help close a multibillion-dollar deal?" she said with a smile. "You could use some retail therapy.”

"Okay," I said with an exhale. “Count me in.”

"I promise we’re going to have fun today.”

"That's what you said yesterday.”

"Well, we got a hell of a story out of it.”

"A story we can't tell anybody.”

Vanessa frowned. "True.”

I returned to my stateroom, gathered my things, and rejoined Vanessa and Declan on the aft deck. We crossed the passerelle and strolled to the parking lot. A cab drove us to a touristy area with boutiques and restaurants. The Promenade bustled with activity. There were street vendors and buskers. Boutique shops with all kinds of knick-knacks, T-shirts, stickers, and other keepsakes. The smell of grilled food wafted.

Declan said, "You ladies have fun. Get whatever you want. The sky's the limit.”

Declan could probably buy everything on the Promenade and still not put a dent in his net worth.

Kyle and Silas always lingered nearby, yet stayed unobtrusive. We already found out the hard way they weren’t much use against armed thugs. But I figured we were relatively safe on the Promenade. There were so many people, and policemen in khaki uniforms walked the strip.

The place had gotten so much bad press lately that tourism was way down. They would have to clean up this town to bring it back.

Silas and Kyle served another useful function—they carried all the bags. After we'd hit a few shops and bought several cute dresses and other items, they had their hands full. Declan couldn’t thank me enough for all I had done for him. It felt a little odd because I still had my suspicions.

We grabbed lunch at a restaurant on the Promenade and sampled the local fare. I went with the stewed chicken with coconut rice and beans. It did not disappoint.

It wasn't long after lunch when Vanessa took ill with a stomach cramp. She started feeling nauseous and worried that she might have gotten food poisoning.

Maybe the jerk shrimp tacos weren’t a good choice.

I worried that I might be next, but I felt great, all things considered.

Declan took her back to the boat. I said I would catch up with them later. I wanted to do some exploring.

The local police station wasn’t too far from the Promenade. I didn’t want to walk, so I rented a scooter. E-bike terminals around the island let you rent scooters and return them at convenient kiosks. Maybe the police had additional insight into the disappearance of Kate Moreau. But I wasn't sure how much they would share with me.

36

The police station was little more than a yellow shack with one black pickup truck in the parking lot, with the wordpolicewritten on the door. I'm sure they had other patrol cars that were out keeping the city safe.

Inside, the place wasn’t much to speak of. Beyond the front desk were a few other desks. On the far wall, a row of jail cells with iron bars. It looked like something out of the Old West. There were a few other sub-stations around town, but this was HQ.