“But you love him and it’s been almost a week. You did the right thing, Harper.”
She relaxed at his words. “I won’t stop worrying until we find him.”
“Which we will. Come on.” He reached down and took hold of her hand, and a tingle raced up her arm. Chase must have felt it, too, because he let go.
“Michael’s a single man, and he came here to enjoy the island,” Chase said. “We’ll start at the hotel, show his photo around.”
He pulled out a picture she recognized as the one on Michael’s Facebook page. He was standing on the deck of his sailboat in a swimsuit, holding a red plastic cup and laughing. Seeing him so happy made her heart hurt.
“There are a couple of bars in the hotel—”
“Michael doesn’t drink.”
“Doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy meeting people and relaxing. It’s the closest place to the marina to get a soda or something to eat.”
She shook her head, mad at herself for overreacting. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been defending him for so long it’s gotten to be a habit.”
Chase caught her shoulders. “Michael was always a good person. He just took a wrong turn. You don’t have to keep defending him to me. I’m more than willing to forgive whatever transgressions he might have committed. We all make mistakes. At any rate, the person he hurt most was himself.”
She nodded, though that wasn’t completely true. Michael’s addiction had hurt everyone who had cared about him.
“Michael would be happy to hear you say that. He missed your friendship terribly. After he got himself straightened out, he wanted to call you. He just couldn’t work up the nerve.”
Chase made no reply, but something shifted in his features.
Dusk had settled in by the time they headed back to the hotel, and Chase led her to an outside bar that overlooked the ocean, now just a shiny dark mirror disappearing in the distance.
“I’d appreciate if you’d follow my lead on this,” Chase said as they walked into a circular, thatch-roofed, open-air structure that looked out over the water. “Getting people to talk, no matter the subject, isn’t always easy.”
“Of course.”
She let him help her up onto a bamboo stool in a row in front of a long counter. Around them, people chatted at tables scattered across the floor. A black Aruban man in a short white jacket flashed a silver-toothed smile as he walked up behind the bar to greet them.
“Welcome to Papagayo’s.” He mopped the counter in front of them with a white terry dish towel. “I am Kosmo. It is my pleasure to serve you. The special of the day is a pineapple piña colada. Would you like to try one?”
Kosmo had the deepest voice Harper had ever heard. “No, I don’t think—”
“That sounds great,” Chase said. “We’d love one. We just got in from the States. Long day of flying, you know.”
“Where in the US are you from?” Kosmo set two piña colada glasses in front of him and began to concoct the drinks with obvious expertise.
“We’re from Texas,” Chase said.
“A very long way,” said Kosmo. “I hate air-o-planes.”
Chase smiled. “Who doesn’t?” He took a breath, making a point of filling his lungs with fresh ocean air. The sound of a steel drum drifted over the hotel grounds. “Sometimes it’s worth it.”
Kosmo smiled. “Oh, yes, that is true.”
Though Harper was eager to question the man, Chase waited patiently for the bartender to finish making their drinks and set them on the bar in front of them. The delicious aroma of pineapple and coconut made her stomach rumble, reminding her how long it had been since she had eaten.
“We’re looking for a friend,” Chase said casually, toying with the straw protruding from his drink. “An American named Michael Winston. He’s the lady’s brother. Anything you could tell us about him would be helpful.”
Kosmo hesitated, continued to mop the bar as he sized the up the two of them.
“He was here last week,” Harper added, sipping her drink, which tasted delicious. She began to relax as she hadn’t all day. “He was staying in the marina on a boat calledBUZZ Word.”
Chase slid a folded-up twenty across the bar and drew Michael’s photo out of his shirt pocket. Harper had one in her purse and several more in her suitcase back in the hotel room.
