“Those are all very common first names here on the island. They are likely aliases. Anything else?”
“They had Jamaican accents. The individual named Mark did most of the talking. One of them, not Mark, was bald. All very good-looking, well muscled. Mark was about six-two, two hundred pounds. The bald one was a little shorter, maybe five-eleven or six feet, one hundred and eighty pounds. The third one was the same size as Mark.”
The officer turned to Ryan. “Can you add to any of what Ms. Lee said?”
“I don’t remember their names, but I’m sure Ruby is correct. She has a mind for facts.”
“Can you describe them?”
“Not any more than she did. I agree with her description. The one named Mark seemed to do most of the talking. He wasn’t the bald one.”
The officer nodded, made some notes, and then addressed me again. “Can you tell me what they said?”
“They walked up to us just as the girls said they were looking for some fun. Mark invited them to get on their Jet Skis. They said they were locals and could show them some great sights.” I frowned. “I told them not to go. I really tried to stop them.”
“Yes, Ms. Thomas corroborates that. You have good intuition, Ms. Lee.”
“I’m a police detective myself.” I didn’t have to tell them where my intuition really came from.
“Thank you for trying. Unfortunately, sometimes young women just don’t sense the danger they might be in. This resort is usually quite safe.”
“They said they had day passes,” I said.
“The resort doesn’t offer day passes,” the officer said. “But there was no reason for you to know that.”
My heart sank. I had suspected that. I should have called security. I should have, should have, should have… “I wish I had been more successful stopping them.”
“So do we, ma’am, but don’t blame yourself.”
“Is Ms. Thomas still on the property?” I asked.
“Yes. She has a flight leaving today. A shuttle will be picking her up in an hour or so.”
“Do you think I might be able to talk to her?”
“That’s up to her, ma’am,” the officer said. “She’s really distraught right now.”
I nodded. “I can imagine that she is. I won’t do anything to disturb her further, I assure you.”
“It’s still up to her.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Probably in her room. We kept security stationed there since she was unable to leave the resort yesterday. I can’t tell you what room she’s in, but I can have the front desk operator connect you. Then it’s her decision.”
“That would be fine. I don’t want to bother her. If she doesn’t want to talk to me, I’ll respect that. But I have to try.”
The officer made a quick call to the front desk and then turned to me. “I’ve set it up. All you need to do is go to the front desk, show your ID, and the operator will connect you to her room. You can use one of the phones behind the desk. If she wants to come out to meet with you, she is certainly welcome to do that.”
“Thank you so much. I appreciate it.” I turned to Ryan. “I guess I’m headed to the front desk.”
“You want me to come along?”
“That’s up to you.”
“Then I’d like to. Besides”—he smiled—“they might have some ibuprofen at the front desk.”
* * *