The Price of Jade by Liz Hastings

Author:Liz Hastings
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense;Guatemala;Tikal;family;vacation;tragedy;kidnapping;jungle;danger;trust
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2018-05-01T20:21:09+00:00

Chapter 28

Cathy was still asleep, wearing the clothes she’d been wearing the day before, when the phone rang in her room. She rolled onto her side and sat up with a start. Where was Matt? Her chest constricted as she turned on the light and walked to where she could see into the darkened bathroom. Frantically, she spun around, taking in the entire room. A sob caught in her throat. He wasn’t there. The phone rang again. She stared at it, and when it rang a third time, snatched it up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Cathy Miller?”

“Who is this? What have you done with my husband?”

“Cathy, this is Nick Slade.”

Cathy sank onto the bed. “I’m sorry. I thought you were—”

“It’s okay. I’ve been worrying about you guys ever since I listened to Matt’s voicemail the other day. I thought I’d call to make sure everything was okay.”

“It isn’t.” Her voice broke.

“Cathy, what’s going on?”

“Melissa’s missing and now Matt—”

“Then she hasn’t been found. I was hoping when I didn’t hear from you again that she had been. I’m so sorry, Cathy.”

Cathy squeezed her eyes shut. The sympathy in his voice was going to be her undoing.

“But I interrupted you. You were saying something about Matt?”

“He’s gone,” Cathy said. “He left last night and hasn’t come back.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“No, I don’t. He was supposed to—I’m sorry, I can’t think.”

“It’s okay. When did Matt leave?”

Cathy took a deep breath. Nick’s calm voice was helping her focus. “He was supposed to meet a man at midnight, so a little before that, I guess. I thought he’d be back by now.”

“And you don’t know where he was going? Do you know why he was meeting the man? Was it about Melissa?”

“Yes, and that’s all I know.”

“Have you contacted the authorities?”

“No,” Cathy said. “I guess I should do that, but . . .”

“But?”

“We were told not to talk to anyone. I shouldn’t be talking to you. And who would I call?”

“How about the embassy?”

“We tried to talk to someone there before, and he totally blew us off.”

“Okay, listen, Cathy. You just hang tight. I’m going to come, and I’m going to help you figure all this out. And I promise you, nobody’s going to be blowing me off.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t. But I want to come. Matt’s not only a valued employee, but I consider him to be a good friend.” Nick paused before continuing. “I’m not a man who sits around and waits for things to happen. I make things happen. And Cathy”—his voice softened—“I don’t know how else to say this, except to say it, but it’s not safe for you to be there alone. Under the best of circumstances, it’s not safe, and now, with all this going on, it’s really not safe. I’m going to come, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

* * *

Vernon paced the floor in the Guatemala City airport. The flight out of Flores had taken forever to get off the ground.

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