Chapter 35
The headline read: Missing model feared dead.
The article went on to detail Kate’s last known contact with anyone. According to cellular records, the last text she sent was to her agent in Miami. I desperately wanted to know the contents of that text.
Corazón Bay was a beautiful port city with luxury hotels and fine dining, but also high crime. Kate wouldn’t have been the first American to vanish in the city. It was easy for people to write off her disappearance as misfortune. Just another victim of the bad element in a corrupt Caribbean city.
According to the article, Kate had been missing for over a month.
I shook my head. It didn't make sense. I'd seen her just a few days ago.
Didn't I?
I began to put all the pieces together. I was so drunk that night. Was it that I hallucinated my encounter with Kate? Or did her spirit pay me a visit?
Was Kate already dead when I first spoke to her?
Perhaps I was so far gone that the veil between this world and the next was thin. Maybe with all my inhibitions removed, I accessed my gift. It was always something I resisted.
I knew in my gut that Kate wasn’t missing. She was dead. She had been on this boat and never left.
I was going to prove it.
Too amped up to sleep, my mind raced, trying to put all the pieces together. I tossed and turned all night and finally pulled myself out of bed around 7 o'clock for breakfast.
I joined the others on the bridge deck aft. The usual spread was available—pancakes, waffles, French toast, omelettes, you name it. I could get used to this.
I kept my new discovery to myself for the moment. But I was bursting at the seams to tell someone. I figured Vanessa would be my only confidant.
Yesterday was gone. Everyone continued on as if it didn't happen. Just another stop in a long tour of the Caribbean. I didn’t plan on going back to Puerto Maya anytime soon.
We had escaped Mexican waters and were tied up in a marina in Corazón Bay.
The Universe had conspired to put me here, and I felt closer than ever to discovering the truth.
After breakfast, I pulled Vanessa aside and showed her the magazine.
“Oooh, I love that dress!”
"No, not the dress! The model."
"What about the model?”
"That's her. That's Kate!”
"Kate, Kate? Your ghost?"
I told her all the information I had found.
She looked at me, dumbfounded. "You're serious?”
I nodded.
"Well, that explains everything," Vanessa said.
"What do you mean?”
"You’re not crazy after all.”
"I know that.”
"I mean, you're crazy, but clearly, you were flipping through the magazine, and she got into your subconscious. You must have read an article online about her disappearance. Then you put it all together, and it came out as a wild story when you had too much to drink.”
I shook my head. "No. I never read the magazine. I never read any articles online about her before last night.”
"That you're aware of,” she said. “Maybe you picked it up while you were drunk and don't remember. I'm sure there's a lot about that night you don't remember."
I frowned and hung my head, ashamed. Then I shook it off. "It doesn't matter. What matters now is finding out what happened to Kate. She's been missing for a month.”
"Why make it your issue? You’ve got other things to worry about, don't you?”
"Yes, but she reached out to me for a reason.”
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.