The Siren's Call (Last Chance Motel Book 3) (10 page)

“The sky is so dark over there,” complained one guest.

“But it’s still miles away from us. These kinds of storms are quite common in the summer,” advised Eva.

“Shoot, this is nothing compared to the tornados we get in Kentucky. I’m going back to the pool,” quipped one guest after listening to Eva. “When I see lightning, I’ll get out. Just common sense.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Eva, nodding. “I’ll be in the office if anyone should want an update on the weather.”

As she headed back, Jenny grabbed her hand. Eva assured her, “There’s nothing to worry about, Jenny.”

“What about Daddy and Grandma?”

“I talked to your father moments ago. He’s going to keep working at the apartment, but his cell is on. Your daddy is fine and your grandmother is not at home.”

Seeing Jenny’s crestfallen face, Eva tried to comfort her. “Your grandmother has been living through these storms since before you were born. She’ll be okay.”

“But she’s old now!” insisted Jenny, looking fearfully at the sky.

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Eva teased. “I’ll keep trying to reach her. Would that make you feel better?”

Jenny nodded.

“She probably just turned her phone off.”

“Can we go to her house?”

Eva shook her head. “No, baby. I’ve got to stay here until Lillian gets off work from Aussie Jack’s. There’s no one else to watch the front desk.”

Jennie looked anxiously at the sky again. “Do you think Snowball will be safe?”

“Yes. She’s in the house.”

“Can we check on her?”

“Not at this time, honey” replied Eva, chewing on her lip.

“What about Mr. Egan?”

Eva tried not to show it, but she was getting frustrated with Jenny’s fear of storms. The child was simply wearing her out with her clinging and need for constant reassurance. She wished Mike would come for Jenny, but understood his need to finish his work at the apartment building. She gave Jenny a hug and said, “Jenny, Mr. Egan is fine, I’m sure. You don’t need to worry.”

“Can we call him?”

“I don’t have his phone number, and I’m not sure he has a phone yet.”

“Then how will he know about the storm?”

“He will look at the sky. Jenny, please! Everyone is safe. This is just a tiny tropical storm. It’s not a hurricane.”

Eva continued walking toward the office. “Are you coming?”

Jenny hung back. “I–I’m going to tie up the kayaks first.”

Eva smiled. “That’s the spirit. Yes, please tie up the kayaks so they won’t float away. Good thinking, Jenny. Come to the office when you’re finished, okay?”

“I will,” Jenny replied.

But Jenny had no intention of going back to the office. Snowball was her responsibility, and she was going to make sure her kitten was okay. Jenny had to check on Snowball. She simply had to!

W
hen Jenny didn’t return to the office, Eva checked her watch. It had been ten minutes. Where was that kid?

Eva opened the office door and peered out. There were still guests swimming in the pool, even with the increasing wind. Mildly irritated with Jenny for not promptly returning to the office, Eva locked the office and strode over to the pool, expecting to find Jenny swimming with several other children squealing in the water, but none of them were Jenny. Eva began to feel uneasy.

“Hi. Have any of you seen my daughter, Jenny?” asked Eva.

One teenage boy spoke up. “Yeah. She was tying up the kayaks, and then she got in the last one and took off.”

Eva felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of her. “When?”

“I don’t know. Maybe fifteen minutes ago. It’s hard to tell.”

“Which way did she go?”

“Umm, that way,” he replied, pointing west.

Eva smiled unevenly. She didn’t want the guests to know she was upset. “Thanks for the info. Enjoy your swim.”

Hurrying back to the office, Eva unlocked the door and swung it open. Grabbing her cell phone, she frantically called Mike. He didn’t answer.

Eva then called Mary, who answered the phone laughing. She heard Mary say something to someone, “See. You’re being a baby. Uh, hello?”

“Mary, this is Eva.”

“Hello, Eva.”

“Mary, I can’t find Jenny. A guest just told me she took one of the kayaks and headed west. I’m stuck here until Lillian arrives. Is she still working? I need her to come right over, so I can look for Jenny.”

“Eva, calm down. I’m here with River at Jack’s. We’ll be right over. Don’t worry.”

“What is wrong with that kid? She has done nothing but defy me since I married Mike.”

“We’re leaving right now. Have you gotten ahold of Mike?”

“He’s not answering his phone.”

“Okay, we’ll figure this out. We’re on our way.” Mary hung up.

“What’s wrong?” asked River. He was holding a large chunk of lobster dripping with butter on his fork. “Jenny took one of the kayaks out and Eva can’t find her.”

“In this storm? A wee lass like her!”

Mary tossed her keys to River. “Can you run out and get the car for me? I’ve got to get Lillian. Just wait at the front door.”

“Sure thing,” assured River rising from the table and reaching for his wallet. He threw some bills on the table while motioning to the waiter. “Hey, thanks Joe, but we gotta scoot.”

Mary found Aussie Jack behind the bar and told him what had happened.

“Lillian’s probably in the kitchen,” Aussie Jack told Mary. “I’ll get someone to cover her. You guys get going.”

After nodding thanks, Mary hurried past the swinging kitchen doors. She stopped at the salad area. “Lillian!” she called out.

“Over here,” replied Lillian in the stockroom collecting condiments the tables needed. She looked up in surprise when she saw Mary coming toward her. “What’s up?”

Mary hurriedly told Lillian what had happened.

Lillian pulled off her kitchen apron, and grabbing her purse, she went off with Mary to meet River at the front door of the restaurant. Within minutes, they pulled up in front of the office of the Pink Flamingo Motel, aka the Last Chance Motel.

“I
still can’t get in touch with Mike,” fretted Eva, her eyes tearing up.

Mary could see Eva was rattled. “Why don’t we search for her first before calling Mike? If we find Jenny, we might not have to bother him. Let’s split up. Lillian will take charge of the office, so Eva, you take the boat and search for her on the water. I’ll go to my house and see if she’s there.”

Lillian put her car keys on the office counter. “Mr. Egan can take my car and check his trailer.”

“She
was
worried about you,” confirmed Eva.

River picked up the keys. “Thanks. I’ll go to my place. If she’s not there, I’ll go to Mary’s.” The need to be of help had made River forget all about his own anxiety over the storm.

“Now, we’ll each check in with Lillian, and Lillian will call and let you know if we have found her or not. And the same with you,” suggested Mary.

Eva nodded. She felt better.

“Now, Eva, if River and I don’t find her, I will take my boat out and go around the island until I meet you. Okay?”

Eva wrung her hands in frustration. “I really think I need to call Mike. Maybe she is with him.”

Mary gave Eva a reassuring hug. “If we haven’t found her by the time you and I meet up with the boats, then we’ll call him. River, you come back to the motel instead of my house and stand by with the car, in case we need to make an emergency docking. We might want the transportation.”

River looked at Mary with renewed admiration. “What a keen mind you have, Mary Bishop. I’ll do whatever you say.”

He patted Eva’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear. We’ll find her. Won’t she’ll be in a world of trouble then! You can give Jenny a big hug of relief, and then tell her she’s grounded ’til she’s a teenager.”

Eva returned a faint smile.

“Everyone have their cell phones on?” asked Mary.

River looked sheepish. “Don’t have one. Sorry.”

“Here, take mine,” said Lillian, shoving it toward River. “Just call the motel’s number.”

River grabbed the phone and put it in his shirt pocket.

Mary continued, “Got keys?”

Everyone held up their keys.

“Okay. Let’s go,” commanded Mary as she tore through the office door.

Fierce wind was blowing over pool furniture and faint splats of rain hit them. The palm trees swayed as boats docked at the pier bobbed furiously. All the guests had taken refuge in their bungalows and lowered the hurricane shutters.

Mary looked at the dark sky. “I guess it’s not going to blow itself out.” Regretting having said that, she glanced at Eva, whose face had turned white. She gave her daughter-in-law a reassuring smile before heading to her car. Mary was thoroughly irritated with Jenny.

She was out of her mind with worry, but also thoroughly exasperated. If Eva didn’t wring Jenny’s neck, she certainly was going to.

M
ary rushed home and was disappointed not to find Jenny waiting for her.

Lillian called only to report that Eva hadn’t found Jenny or the kayak, and was heading around the island. River had also reported in and found no one at his trailer.

Mary told Lillian that she had changed her mind about River and instructed Lillian to call him back, telling him to wait at the dock at his trailer park. She would pick him up.

Lillian agreed and said she had also called her boyfriend, Jim Masterson, and he was in his patrol car looking for Jenny on the highway.

Mary hated that Lillian had involved the police, but concluded it was better to be safe than sorry. Hanging up, she hurried to her Sea Ray and untied the ropes before jumping on. It took her only minutes to get to River’s trailer park’s dock.

River was waiting for her and jumped on board, not even waiting for the boat to stop. “Let’s go,” he urged. With a pair of binoculars, River scanned the coastline while Mary looked out at the sea while the rain poured down upon them. They saw brave or foolhardy souls, depending on your point of view, boating and kayaking in the turbulent ocean, but none of them were Jenny.

“Do you think someone might have picked her up?” asked Mary, who was now imagining all sorts of unpleasant things.

“Don’t be daft, woman!” exclaimed River. “Your mind will run away with you if you start down that path.”

“Well, those things do happen,” spat out Mary, trying not to think the worst.

“Be quiet now. Eva’s coming,” cautioned River as he spotted Eva’s boat round the bend.

River could see Eva’s expression was crestfallen when she spied Mary’s boat without Jenny aboard.

Eva pulled up alongside. “Nothing?”

Mary shook her head as she tossed Eva a line to secure both boats together.

River looked between both women, feeling utterly helpless.

Eva’s phone rang. She looked at the number. “Oh gawwd! It’s Mike.” Eva looked startled.

“You’ll have to tell him sometime,” reminded River. “Better to do it now while we’re with you.”

Eva nodded and answered, “Mike.”

“Hey, babe. Just calling in to see what you want to do for dinner. Jenny wants to get some pizza. This storm will probably blow out before long. How about it?”

Eva hissed, “Jenny wants to what?”

“We want to go out for pizza.”

“You mean Jenny is with you?”

“Yeah. Is there a problem? I got home and found her sleeping in bed with Snowball. I was going to talk to you about leaving her alone at the house. I think she’s still too young to be left by herself, but we can talk about that later.”

Eva’s face flushed an unhealthy red. “Oh, you better believe we’re going to talk about it. I’m coming home right now.” She hung up.

“Is Jenny all right?” asked Mary, trying to figure out the conversation.

“She’s at home with Mike. Apparently she went home to take care of Snowball and they were curled up asleep when he got home. He’s not aware of the panic, except he thinks I left Jenny alone at the house,” Eva fumed.

“Well, there now. That settles it. Everything turned out well, didn’t it?” cheered River. “Time for a nice drinkypoo to celebrate.”

Both women turned and glared at him.

“Or not,” he replied, slinking back to the stern of Mary’s boat.

“What am I going to do with that kid?” demanded Eva.

“I don’t know, but I’m too old to have many more stressful days like this. Something’s got to be done,” agreed Mary.

“But what?”

Mary leaned over and pulled Eva’s boat closer as she jumped into Eva’s. “River, take my boat back to your place and tie it up. I’ll pick it up later.”

“Goodbye, my sweet captain. Rest assured that your ship is in the capable hands of your first mate. I’ll take good care of it.”

“Boat. Boat. It’s a boat,” insisted Mary. “Aww, the hell with it. Let’s take off for your house, Eva.”

Glad that she was not going to face Jenny and Mike alone, Eva turned the boat around and headed for Plantation Key.

I
t took a few days, but things finally calmed down at the house.

After Mike learned what Jenny put everyone through, he called a family meeting at which he exploded. Both Jenny and Eva burst into tears while Mary tried to referee the situation.

When Mike finished his tirade, Jenny fled to her room, Eva went outside to be by herself, and Mike went to his office, slamming the door.

Mary stood in the kitchen by herself. “That certainly did not go well,” she murmured. She knew if something didn’t change with Jenny, Mike and Eva’s happiness might be in danger.

She went over to Jenny’s room and gently knocked on the door. She could hear Jenny sobbing. Slowly opening the door, she found Jenny clutching a picture of her mother while folded up on the bed. Snowball was sitting next to her looking confused.

Mary went over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Jenny, listen sweetheart, I want to talk with you.”

“I made everyone mad at me!” sobbed Jenny. “I just wanted to see if Snowball was okay.”

“You left the motel without permission and you didn’t tell anyone where you were going. You disobeyed Eva, and caused everyone a terrible fright. If you were worried about Snowball, think how terribly concerned we were about you.”