Cassidy headed for the door, trying her best not to show the officer her back. When she and Benita were outside, she breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
“My haircut wasn’t until next week,” they heard the officer bark to the woman in Spanish.
“Lo siento,” she said.
Cassidy and Benita moved down the street at a brisk pace. “Did you get it?” Benita asked under her breath.
“Yep,” Cassidy said, tapping the back waistband of her shorts.
“Any idea how to unlock it?” she asked.
“No,” Cassidy moaned. She hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“Don’t worry, there are ways we can get into it.”
Cassidy looked warily at her friend. “You’re scary, you know that?”
Benita laughed.
Twelve
“Ugh,” Cassidy moaned from her perch at the poolside bar. “This is impossible!”
After returning from the police station, she and Benita had changed into swimsuits—Benita wrapping her tiny frame in a gauzy pareo—and headed for the poolside bar. Libby had loaned Cassidy her phone charger, which she plugged into the wall under the thatched roof bar where she and Benita were huddled. Taylor and Libby were seated at the edge of the tranquil blue water, beers in hand, while Marissa had a massage. Jillian was in a heated discussion on her phone in the shade at the far end of the pool deck. Earlier, Cassidy learned that Jillian had discovered that her husband was sleeping with their au pair.
Benita took another sip of her mojito. “Does Reeve have any hobbies?”
“Besides surfing, girls, and getting high?” Cassidy asked.
Benita waited.
“Sorry,” she said. “Okay,” she continued, more to herself than to Benita. She tried to think.
“What are the things that are really important to him?” Benita said.
Cassidy held the phone, waiting for her minute of lockout to end. They had tried everything: Reeve’s birthday, his high school graduation date, and easy ones like “1-2-3-4” and “5-5-5-5” and the numerical code for his name. But none of these had worked. Cassidy had been at it for almost two hours.
“Did he have any pets growing up?”
“No,” Cassidy said. “His mom is allergic.”
Benita thought about this. “How about later, when he was on his own?”
Cassidy shook her head. “Not that I know of.” Reeve could barely take care of himself, let alone a pet. “He used to be a big college basketball fan,” Cassidy said, feeling like she was grasping at straws.
“Okay, which team?”
“University of Washington.”
“Hmm, let’s see if we can find some numbers.” She picked up her phone and started typing.
“Favorite player?”
Cassidy thought about this but had no idea. Reeve had attended University of Washington for a few years. Maybe there was a player he liked while he was a student? She typed a message to Rebecca, and her reply came almost immediately: Isaiah Thomas. She showed her phone to Benita, who went back to work researching. Her eyes scanned several pages of text.
“Try 0-2-2-8,” Benita finally said.
“What’s that?” Cassidy said.
“His jersey number, which was two, and his all-time high score.”
Cassidy typed it. “Nope.”
“Okay. Try 2-7-8-9. That’s his birthday.”
Cassidy typed the numbers and bingo! Cassidy whooped. “You’re a freaking genius,” she said. Then, the wave of relief ebbed, followed by dread. This was Reeve’s life she was barging into. His private life would be exposed. “What should I look for?” she asked Benita with a sigh.
“Go to his photos,” she said, leaning over her shoulder.
Cassidy opened the photo album. The last picture taken showed the same pose as his screen lock. He stood on a beach with his arm around a beautiful young woman with coffee-colored skin. Her thick, wavy hair fell past her shoulders, her shining, almond-shaped eyes set off by long lashes. Her smile stretched her young lips into a soft curve.
“Who’s that?” Benita asked, sucking on a piece of ice.
“No idea.”
“His girlfriend?” Benita gave her a look.
Cassidy stared at the photo, which had been taken in the pale light of dawn. Reeve looked not happy, exactly, but calm, his smile bigger than his signature sideways grin. The beach they were standing on seemed familiar. “This is in San Juan,” she said slowly. “Look at the statue in the background.”
“You’re right,” Benita said, pointing to the tiny white pillar just visible in the background, high on a hillside. “I remember seeing that when we came into the bay.”
“Is there a date?” Benita said.
Cassidy’s heart did a little flip as she read the top: November 4, 6:32 a.m. “It fits,” she said.
“Check his messages,” Benita said.
Cassidy opened his WhatsApp. His chat history was full of messages from people with names like Wilfredo, Leo, and Carlos. She read a note he had sent to Rebecca on October 22nd, but it was short and to the point: Everything’s beaut, sis! Pura Vida! He had placed a phone call that lasted five seconds to a number on the same date that he disappeared: November 4.
“It’s going to take me some time to go through this. See if I can figure out if it means anything.”
“If what means anything?” Bruce said.
Cassidy jumped. “Holy moly, where did you come from?” she said.
Bruce grinned. “Did you think I’d miss the chance to enjoy a little R and R with you lovely people?” The bartender appeared, and Bruce ordered a beer. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to crash your party. I just wanted to drop off your flash drives with all the photos.” He pulled out the tiny devices and handed Cassidy and Benita theirs. “I also wanted to remind you of your sunset tour of Mirador del Cristo, including the turtle release at La Flor.”
“What turtle release?” Benita asked.
“There’s a sea turtle refuge just south of town. Taylor set it up.”
Benita rolled her eyes. “They better serve cocktails.”
Bruce nodded at the phone in Cassidy’s hands. “You having trouble?”
“No,” Cassidy replied with a sigh. “This is Reeve’s phone.”
Bruce’s eyebrows arched up. “How did you get your hands on that?”
Cassidy and Benita exchanged a look.
“Seems we weighed on the conscience of one of the officers. They picked up Reeve’s
