"It seems like they could have done something better to make it look like an accident than put her in the pool. Even making it look like she fell on the rocks would have been less blatant and not call as much attention," she muses.
"But I think the attention is what they wanted. This wasn't an accidental killing that they suddenly had to figure out how to cover up. Whoever killed her wanted to make a statement. They put her in the pool so people would see her. That was the point of it. They were sending a message. She didn't do what she was supposed to do, and they wanted to make sure the other girls knew what happened if they did that."
"Do you think it was Emmanuel Vargas?" Eric asks.
"I don't know. If he killed her, why would he stay on the island? And why would he try to talk to me? I need to go see him and find out why he hasn't said anything to the police and what he was trying to tell me."
We get out of the staff village without being seen, and I leave Eric and Bellamy at the lobby while I go to the guest building. They're under instruction to request a phone for me and see if they can find out more about Graciela. I don't know what Emmanuel has to say yet, but just in case it could be valuable to Rosa's case or the rest of the girls, I don't want to spook him by showing up with two other people.
When I get up to Emmanuel's room, I notice the Do Not Disturb sign is still hanging on his doorknob. Ignoring it, I knock a few times and call in to him. The door of the room beside his opens, and a man sticks his head out.
"He's not going to answer," he says. "A couple of other people have come up, and he didn't answer them, either. I think he's sick. There was a terrible ruckus in his bathroom. For such an expensive place, the walls can be pretty thin."
"Thank you," I tell him.
Back in my room, I call Bellamy.
"Ask Constance about Emmanuel," I instruct. "Tell her I was supposed to talk with him today but haven't been able to get in touch with him.”
I hear Bellamy ask and the musical response of Constance's voice in the background.
“She says he's sick,” Bellamy tells me. “He called early this afternoon to ask for some medicine to be sent up to him. I asked who sent it to him, but Constance said Catherine told her only Paul was allowed to deliver to that room. That room is strictly off-limits to everyone else.”
“Who’s Paul?”
“One of the porters, I think,” Bellamy shrugs.
“How about Graciela? Did she know anything?”
"She says she's not listed as being on leave. She just has a substitute listed beside her name."
"Okay. Tell her I say thank you."
At least I have that. Knowing Graciela is safe relieves some of the stress, but I still have those other women hanging over me.
Bellamy and Eric come into the room a few minutes later.
"They will have a new phone delivered to you by tomorrow," Eric tells me.
"Good," I say.
"What is it?" Bellamy asks.
"I can't stop thinking about that conversation we overheard at the dorm when we were behind the van. One of those voices said they had five, and the other said it was too many, that it would be noticed."
"But the other one said it was what the guests wanted," she continues.
"They were talking about the women they were taking," I say. "They are holding five women and teaching them to be sex slaves, and I have no idea where they are."
Eric looks into my eyes. “You have to take the lead on this one as a private citizen, Emma. I’ll help in any way I can, but I can’t get involved.”
“I know,” I tell him.
"What are you going to do?"
"Wait until dark and talk to the person who knows more than we do.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
An hour later, it's dark enough.
Emmanuel specifically asked me to go to his room today to talk to him, and I haven't been able to get his attention. I don't buy his being sick enough to be unable to open the door. Whatever was important enough for him to need to talk to me isn’t going to go away because he isn’t feeling well. Something feels wrong. If he's not going to let me into the room, I have to find my own way in.
“Are you sure about this?” Bellamy asks as I step out onto my balcony.
“I can't think about it enough to decide if I am or not,” I admit. “It just has to be fine.”
I glance down to make sure there aren't a lot of people around. There is much of the same type of movement as every night, but the people are paying attention to each other rather than the building. I just have to hope they don't look up.
Going to the edge of the balcony, I lean back over the railing to count out rooms. When I've identified the balcony outside of Emmanuel's room, I climb up onto the railing. An unusual feature of the guest building is not working in my favor. The first time I saw the building, I noticed the balconies aren't lined up exactly like they are in most hotels. Instead, they are staggered, creating a less stark and generic appearance. Somehow the balconies not being an exact line makes the building blend in with the island environment
