"She said it was an emergency. She will be back at her station tomorrow morning," he said. I thanked him and handed the phone back to the desk girl. I walked away, up towards my suite.
Emergency. She had had an emergency. What did that even mean? Where the hell would she go? Something in me hoped that when I opened my suite, she'd be up there. That she'd have gotten one of the people from housekeeping or something to let her in and wanted to surprise me.
Would she really lie like that to get out of work just to see me? It seemed a little unlikely, that wasn't her, even if I sort of wished that was something that she would have done. She loved her work. I got to my suite and threw the door open, walking straight to the bedroom. It was empty. Spotless, but empty. I checked the other rooms, even the deck, looking for her. She wasn't there.
Stay calm, man. Everything is fine. I was probably just looking in the wrong place. I nee
ded to check her house before I started jumping to conclusions. I went back down the stairs and started down the trail Keno and I had used to get to her house the night before. This was the first place I should have come looking for her, I thought. She was there taking care of whatever her emergency was.
I got down to the beach and walked up to her back porch, climbing the short flight of stairs. I banged on the door, knocking.
"Abby?" I called. Nothing. I knocked again, calling her name louder. Still nothing. I couldn't even hear anything inside. I walked around the house and tried the door on the other side. Same thing. Nothing.
Shit. She was a grown woman and this was where she lived, but now I was getting worried. Where the hell was she? I started back up towards the hotel. Her boss had said that she had an emergency, but if that was what it was, why had Makani been gone, too? What was going on?
I didn't want to freak out and then find she had just gone to the store or something. Where was Makani? She was her best friend, she had to know something. Keno was her friend, too; maybe he knew something. He was at the bar. I took a detour, heading for the bar instead of the hotel building. I spotted Keno where he usually was. With him was Makani, strangely. She was sitting at the bar across from him.
"Nate," Keno said, noticing me. Makani stopped talking and watched me as I approached, smiling when she saw me.
"Looks like Abby and I weren't the only ones who made up last night,” I said walking over to them. I saw Makani blush while Keno laughed.
"Your girl knows how to put together a good night," he said. Good night? Yup, he had definitely gotten lucky, I thought.
"Looks like everyone got what they wanted," I said.
"You were down at the beach?" Makani asked.
"No, well, yeah. I actually went to check on Abby."
"Is she all right?" Makani asked. I blinked.
"You don't know?"
"Know what? She left earlier. She told me she needed a little time. Was she all right when you talked to her?"
"I didn't. She wasn't there. I wanted to ask you whether you knew where she could be." Makani and Keno exchanged glances.
"Can't help you, brother; I haven't seen her since last night," said Keno.
"Just wait for her. She should be back before nightfall."
"What happened?" I asked her. She bit her lip, looking down for a second.
"There was a little…incident in the morning when we were working."
"What?"
"It isn't my place to tell you. She will if she feels like she should. She isn't in trouble. She's a strong girl, Nate. Don't worry about her. Just wait. Let her come back when she's had time to think."
"Are you serious?" I spat.
"Nate, come on. Relax," Keno said.
"How can you two just stand there when Abby's missing?" I demanded.
"She isn't missing. She just needs a little time alone. We know her. She'll come back when she's ready." I ran my hands through my hair.
"Just tell me if you see her, okay?" I said. They both agreed that they would. I walked back to the hotel. She wasn't there, I had already checked. Where was I going? My suite? Sure. Why not? I'd be spending the afternoon alone anyway. Might as well play or try to write.