Twenty
“Is it ringing?” I asked.
Greyson set her phone on the table. “Yes, but it keeps ringing and ringing and ringing. It doesn’t even go to voice mail now.”
“And there wasn’t anything on their social media accounts?” I asked.
Greyson shook her head.
“And you’re sure they didn’t mention where they were staying?” Alex said.
“All they said was they were leaving. They didn’t tell me anything.”
“You’re sure?”
Greyson slumped in her chair. “Yes, Dad, I’m sure. I think I’d remember if Mia and Kitty had told me the name of the hotel they were staying at.” Alex raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t remember thename, but I’d remember if they’d told me a name, and they didn’t. They didn’t even tell me they were staying at a hotel.”
Nina leaned against the kitchen island, crumbs falling onto her shirt as she ate a slice of Alex’s lemon cake. “Don’t you teens use location-tracking on Snapchat? I do. That’s how I always know where my enemies are.”
“Dad won’t let me have Snapchat.” Greyson said.
“That’s not true. I said you could have it as long as you were my friend, and I believe you said,Then what’s the point?” He turned to me and Nina. “Which I found quite offensive. I think my snapchats would be very interesting.”
Greyson rolled her eyes. “Snaps, not snapchats. And they’d probably all be of food or you singing or both.” She shuddered. “And besides, TikTok is cooler than Snapchat now.”
“Oh God,” Nina said, covering her face in her hands. “Am I getting old?”
As entertaining as it was to mull over Alex’s potential Snapchat habits and Nina’s aging crisis, I had more-pressing concerns. I’d hoped the girls would’ve said something to Greyson by now. Or that she’d have come up with a way to locate them. But both turned out to be dead ends. “Did you try texting them again?”
Greyson stared at her phone on the table. “They haven’t responded to any of my texts, but I know they’ve read them. Mia has her read receipts on. She says she likes people to know when she’s ignoring them.” Greyson frowned. “Not that I think she’s doing it to me to be mean. She probably just forgot to turn it off.”
I buried my face in my arms. My grand gesture was going nowhere fast. “I guess I’ll just have to call them when they get home.”
“Would they have used your laptop to book a hotel or buy their flights?” Alex asked.
“I doubt it. Those two are glued to their phones.” And then I remembered Beth saying she didn’t know how they’d done it. Which meant she hadn’t paid for the hotel or flights. I had all the cash she’d sent down with the girls, which wasn’t much at this point. I couldn’t imagine either of them had enough money for a hotel and two tickets back home.
I jolted upright, remembering the notification from my credit card company I’d ignored the day before. I hadn’t thought anything of it because I’d set up alerts for any purchase over ten dollars after a thiefnabbed my credit card in Nassau years ago. Could the girls have used my card? I’d sent Mia the info on the day they arrived. I’d told them to use it yesterday. They knew I kept it in the desk drawer in case they needed it for an emergency. It would explain how they’d done it, and I bet I could figure out where they were staying if they had. I only hoped I wouldn’t be too late.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, ignoring the confused looks of the others as I raced out the door to my condo.
I tossed my towel onto the couch and grabbed my phone from where I’d left it on the table. Scrolling through my messages I found two texts from my credit card company. The first, from yesterday, was to notify me of a purchase from an airline. The second, sent that morning, was a charge from a hotel. I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my purse and keys, and raced back to Alex’s condo.
“I know where they are,” I said as soon as I stepped inside. “But I can’t stay. I’ve got to—”
The look on Alex’s and Nina’s faces stopped me.
“What? What is it?”
“You, uh, want something to wear?” Alex said.
I looked down and realized I was still in my bathing suit. In my excitement over the texts from the credit card company, I’d forgotten to toss on some clothes.
“I know I have some bold fashion choices, but wearing that into a hotel lobby is next level,” Nina said.
“I can just—” I pointed across the parking lot, but stopped when Alex, who’d changed out of his pajamas, slipped on his shoes and grabbed the keys to his van. “You don’t have to come with me.”
“Are you kidding?” He knotted his laces and stood from the couch. “One second.”
