He hesitated just long enough for her to know he didn’t want to tell her.
“Please. I really want to know.”
“Could be some kind of piracy. Curaçao’s just off the coast of Venezuela. People there live well below the poverty level. Some will do anything for money. The boat Michael owns is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Chase didn’t say more, and Harper was glad. She’d been worried about pirates from the start. It was the worst possible scenario.
“It could be something else, Harper,” Chase said gently. “We know they made it as far as the marina in Curaçao, but we don’t know what happened after they got there. I checked the hospitals last night before I went to bed. Nothing. But they could have had an accident in one of the ports they visited after they left the marina. They could have had boat trouble and gotten stranded somewhere. Maybe they haven’t had a way to communicate.”
She just nodded. Chase was trying to stay positive. She appreciated that more than he could know. Whatever had happened, she prayed Michael was alive and safe.
Chase returned upstairs to give the captain a break and coordinate their arrival at the destination Tabitha Love had given him.
Now that he was gone, Harper could finally breathe. She didn’t want him to sense the attraction she felt for him, which only seemed to grow stronger the more she was around him. Chase was clearly a professional, capable and in control of the situation, a take-charge guy she felt she could rely on. He was honorable and determined. Add to that, the man was flat-out hot.
She was so tuned in to him she knew where he was without looking. Knew when he was watching her, though most of the time he ignored her.
Which, she told herself, was good. She was there to find her brother, not indulge in a brief affair with a man who barely knew she existed.
She glanced up as he came back down the ladder sometime later—wearing his shirt, thank God.
“Won’t be much longer.”
She followed his gaze out over the ocean, and spotted the island rising out of the sea like a mushroom cap, growing larger and larger as the boat drew near. Curaçao had a dry desert climate like Aruba, with more cacti than palm trees. A warm trade wind blew across the deck from the east.
Soon the harbor appeared ahead, tall masts swaying in the breeze, sailboats and powerboats lining each side of the inlet, which was several miles from the capital city of Willemstad. Captain Lupete cut the engines as the boat entered the Zee Winden Marina. Ocean swells shoved the boat forward, closer to shore, and Harper’s anxiety grew.
Where are you, Mikey?
But as another day slid past without word, she was more and more afraid to find out.
Chapter Nine
Chase helped Captain Lupete secure the lines, then he and Harper left the boat to start their search, beginning at the marina office. Tabby had given them the exact location of Michael’s phone before the battery had gone dead or the phone had been destroyed. Putting the coordinates into the GPS app on his cell, Chase tracked it to an open area in the center of the marina—underwater.
Pia’s phone was in a spot not far away. If Chase had any more doubt that something was seriously wrong, he didn’t now.
Harper stood beside him, her eyes fixed on the ocean where the phones had disappeared. Worry lines creased her forehead. “What could have happened?”
“They were purposely tossed into the water. Unless Michael and Pia didn’t want to be found, someone took their phones and disposed of them so they couldn’t be tracked.”
Her features paled. Chase took Harper’s arm and turned her toward the office. “Come on. Let’s go see what we can find out.” A faint tremor ran through her and Chase forced himself to ignore it. Silently he cursed, wishing again he could have left her in Dallas.
In the office, a heavyset, gray-haired woman sitting behind the counter checked marina records.
“Here it is...BUZZ Word.Arrived October 3, owner Michael Winston. The yacht was assigned slip A-6.”
“Did you talk to Michael or the girl who was with him when the boat arrived?” Chase asked.
“I signed them in so, yes, I talked to them. They were a good-looking couple, such a handsome young man, and the girl—beautiful long brown hair and so pretty. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other. They seemed to be having a wonderful time.”
“Did either of them mention what they planned to do while they were here?”
“They asked me for a casino recommendation and I said the Trade Winds was a nice place and close to the marina. The girl asked if there was dancing, and I told her there was a band there every evening.”
“Anything else you can think of?” Chase asked.
“Just that they paid the fee for two days, but they must have changed their minds because the boat was gone when I got to work the following morning.”
