Land Sharks - A Swindle in Sumatra: A Cozy Mystery Adventure (Land Sharks Cozy Mystery Adventures Book 1) by Nancy Raven Smith

Author:Nancy Raven Smith [Raven Smith, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Whimsey Wylde
Published: 2018-01-17T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

I skip the public rooms in my search for Karista. They’re not a logical place to hold a hostage. I refuse to believe she’s dead, but I can’t shake the possibility out of my heart. Am I to blame? I should have spoken to her directly and not been put off by Javier’s interference or Nate’s arrest.

My hunt takes me into the food preparation areas. The kitchen staff pays me no mind. Not even when I check in the storeroom and peek into the walk-in freezer. I can imagine them muttering, “Crazy foreigners.” I pass out of the kitchen and open all the doors I come across.

The first one is a wine and alcohol room. Next, steam pours from the laundry room. Baskets of dirty linen line the walls outside its door. I dig through the biggest ones, afraid to admit to myself that I’m searching for a body. Thank goodness I find nothing but sheets and towels.

I come across more closets filled with hotel supplies and cleaning equipment and a break room with lockers for employees, but no place private enough to hide Karista or her body.

Since there’s no basement, I head outside to the workmen’s compound. I find all the utilities are there, concentrated in two structures: a shed for the grounds men—trash bins with empty wine and liquor bottles nearby—and a large ramshackle garage for auto and equipment repairs. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the questioning glances I get from a couple gardeners. Yet I have the creepiest feeling that someone’s watching me.

I pause at the gate on the far side of the compound. To my right, the bay looks quiet in the afternoon sun. From here, the dark, dense jungle is only about three hundred feet away in front of me and it curves around the hotel in a U-shape with only a break for the road. If Karista or her body is in the jungle or in the bay, we may never find her.

I should have moved quicker. At least she would have known there were friends nearby. Twenty-four hours ago she looked so happy. I’ve never been responsible for protecting someone before. And I’ve totally failed. Poor Karista.

Remorse overwhelms me. I sink onto a bench.

Someone slides onto the seat beside me. I don’t have to look to know who it is. Andre enfolds me into his arms and holds me tight.

His presence is soothing. He places an arm around me and pulls me close. We sit in silence.

“I should have let him fire me,” I say.

“Your boss at the bank?”

“How do you know I work for a bank?” Oh right, Howard. “Did Howard tell you why we’re here?”

“Only that you were checking up on some girl. I take it she’s the one with Javier.”

He doesn’t miss much. I had better take my own advice and not say anything to him.

“Is she why you’ve been wandering around the hotel?”

“Yes.”

“Where haven’t you looked?”

I indicate the jungle and the bay. “There.”

“Let’s hope not,” Andre says.

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