"Hello," she says cheerfully when she sees me.
"Hi," I say, then point at my room. "You're taking care of my room today?"
"Yes, Miss Griffin. I'm Noelle."
"Where is Graciela?" I ask.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. Mr. Ordoñez assigned me your room this morning."
"Mr. Ordoñez— Alonso?" I ask.
"Yes. When I came to work today, he let me know I would be taking care of this block of rooms. I'm happy to help you with anything you need."
"Thank you," I say and step into my room. I'm about to shut the door when I stop. "Noelle, what rooms have you been taking care of?"
"I was assigned to the pool area. But I've been on leave for the last week, so I've been reassigned."
"On leave?"
"Yes," she says. "I was visiting my grandmother."
"That's nice," I tell her.
"Yes. She's been ill for some time, so it was good to see her. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."
Noelle leaves, and I shut the door. Opening my computer, I pull up the emails I sent myself from Catherine’s computer. Scanning over them, I take note of a few things, check the time, and send a message to Bellamy and Eric telling them to meet me in my room in two hours.
When I get out to the marina, the boat I rented is already waiting for me. A man who embodies everything that comes to mind when you think of an island skipper stands with one foot on the boat and the other on the docks, his hands on his hips as he peers at me through mirrored sunglasses.
“Miss Griffin?” he asks.
“Yes,” I tell him.
“Perfect. Captain Alvin Ellison. This is your boat. Do you need any instruction?”
“No, I think I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?” he asks. “I'd be happy to go out with you and give you a couple of lessons.”
“No, thank you. I can do it.”
Ellison nods and steps out of the way so I can get down into the boat. He hands a life jacket down to me, and I put it on, pulling the hooks snugly. After my night bobbing around in the waterfall, I'd prefer to have a leg up on the water should I end up in it. The captain starts the engine, and I take hold of the steering wheel. I've only controlled a watercraft like this a few times, but I feel confident enough to handle the brief trip I have in mind.
I head out into the water, purposely moving at an angle toward the cliffs I visited. I move further out into the ocean until I can glance over my shoulder and no longer see Ellison standing on the dock. Then I turn the boat and head in a large arc for the rocky outcropping.
I'm within a few yards of it when I notice what looks like plastic fencing marking off a section of the water surrounding the front of the rocks. It looks like the type of barrier used to mark off coral regrowth areas. A sign posted on a buoy a few feet away marks the area as a protected sanctuary and warns that boats are not permitted.
I notice something on the slope of rocks on one side leading down into the water, so I carefully ease just slightly closer. From that vantage point, I can see it's an oxygen tank, like the kind used in scuba diving. But I don’t see a boat. Nothing’s there.
I've been here long enough, so I turn away and drive the boat far out into the water so I can curve around and come back to the dock from the other direction. I stop it at the end of the dock, and the captain walks toward me with a quizzical expression.
“You're already finished?” he asks. “I thought you would be out there for a while longer.”
“It's been a while since I've been on a boat,” I confess. “I need a little more time to get my sea legs.”
He laughs.
“Well, you know where to find me if you want to try again during your stay. You’re always welcome.”
“Thank you, Captain. You just may be seeing me again,” I tell him.
I head back into the hotel and ride the elevator to Emmanuel's floor again. This time there's a Do Not Disturb sign hanging from his doorknob.
When I get back to my room, I'm hoping for another note from him, but there's nothing. I take a shower and change my clothes. I'm just coming out of my bedroom when Bellamy uses the extra key I gave her to open the door. She and Eric come inside, and she immediately comes over to me for a hug.
“Where were you today?” she asks. “I thought you'd be trying to recover from last night, but then I got your message.”
“I can't just lie around,” I tell her. “But since I don't have a phone right now, the best I could do is email you and let you know I'd be back later.”
“Why couldn't you tell me where you were going?” she asks.
“Because I didn't want anybody to happen to see it or hear you talking about it,” I tell her. “I spoke to Catherine this morning about last night. Apparently, the waterfall where I fell is one of the most dangerous places on the island, and they don't recommend guests go there at all. It's not on the guide map.”
“But didn't you say Alonso told you to ask Joshua for instructions on how to get there?” Bellamy asks.
“Yes,” I nod. “And evidently he does sometimes guide people there. But it's for really experienced hikers. I have a feeling a lot of those accidents on that report are from that area. I'm thinking maybe Alonso wanted to add me to it.”
“Where did you go today?” Eric asks.
“I went to talk to Catherine about the boat
