The noise level in the room swelled as she stepped down from the chair. “I better go get my bag,” Kara said.
I nodded. “Me too. See you on the ferry.”
Felicity appeared at my side, proffering a blueberry bagel stuffed with cream cheese. “I know you don’t do carbs, but this was the only thing that would travel.”
I devoured the bagel as we hurried with the rest of the crowd down the stairs, across the windswept beach, and back to our bungalow. “I don’t know that a golf cart’s gonna happen now,” Felicity said as she pushed open the door. “But I can help with your bags. I only have the one.”
Our luggage was packed and waiting for us in the entryway, but Mary Elizabeth was not. Odd. She usually slept on the chair just inside the door until I returned. I whistled. “Mary Elizabeth!” Nothing. “Mimi!”
Felicity and I split up to sweep the bungalow, calling out as we moved from room to room. I pulled back the fluffy white duvet on my bed, then looked beneath it, checked the laundry basket, the giant bathtub—but they were all empty, and all the doors to the outside were firmly shut. My heart sank when we met back in the kitchen and I saw Felicity was as empty-handed as I was. “Maybe she got stuck in a closet or something,” Felicity suggested.
We checked every closet and cabinet. Nothing. I was beginning to panic. I got down on my knees and looked beneath the couch, the chairs. But no sign of my little darling. Fear coursed through my veins. Where could she be?
A knock at the door. I rushed to open it, hoping she’d gotten out and it was someone bringing her back. But it was only Jackson, his roller bag in hand. “You guys ready?” he asked. “I can help with the suitcases.”
“We can’t find Mary Elizabeth,” Felicity said.
“Shit. When did you see her last?” he asked.
“She was here when we went to breakfast,” I replied, my heart racing.
Jackson dropped his bag and stepped inside. “You check the deck?”
He slid open the sliding glass doors, and the wind whipped around us as we followed him outside. The deck was slick with moisture, and whitecaps dotted the sea. My gaze immediately went to the pool. The cover was shut, but what if she’d somehow gotten in? “Where’s the switch to the pool cover?” I asked.
Jackson flipped a lever on a panel next to the door, and I imagined her floating facedown as the pool cover slid open painstakingly slowly. I released a sigh of relief when she wasn’t there. “We have to go, or we’re gonna miss the ferry,” Jackson said as the pool cover slid shut.
My hair lashed my face as I choked back a sob. “I can’t leave her!”
Felicity put an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s do another sweep of the bungalow, and we can check the beach and surrounding area on our way to the shuttle.”
I blinked at her. Had she not understood? “I’m not leaving her.”
“But we can’t miss the ferry,” she said. “It’s not safe.”
“She’s right,” Jackson chimed in. “It’s not safe here.”
The wheels in my mind spun. There were days I would have killed myself if it hadn’t been for Mary Elizabeth. She was the only living creature that had stood by me through all my dark days, and I wasn’t about to abandon her now, in her hour of need. “Cole said the wine cellar is safe,” I asserted. “I’m staying.”
“Stella,” Jackson looked me in the eye, his countenance serious. “I hate to say this, but if she’s not in the bungalow, she’s probably in the ocean. Look around.” He gestured to the turbulent sea, the strong wind. “She weighs nothing. She could easily get swept away in this weather.”
“No! She was in the house!”
I tore into the house and ran from room to room, nearly blinded by the panic of losing her. “Mimi! Mimi!! Where are you?” I cried.
“She’s not here,” Felicity said, exchanging a glance with Jackson she must’ve thought I couldn’t see. “Let’s take the bags and go to the beach. Maybe she’s there.”
I ran out the door like a madwoman, yelling her name into the wind. A light rain was coming down now, whipped in every direction by the wind. I ran to the sea end of the pier, looking in every doorway, asking every passerby if they’d seen her. But no one had. Just as I reached Cole’s bungalow at the far end, Madison emerged, dragging her suitcase behind her.
I stepped back, surprised. “Have you seen Mary Elizabeth?” I asked.
“Oh.” She wrinkled her brow. “Yeah. I saw her down on the beach on the way back from breakfast. I wondered what she was doing out there, but figured you’d let her out to pee or something.”
I stared at the bitch, all innocent, her hair as flawless as ever. “You didn’t think maybe you should grab her?” I screeched.
“Sorry, no.” She shrugged. “She’s kinda not my responsibility.”
“Fuck you!” I screamed over my shoulder as I sprinted down the pier, past Jackson and Felicity, who stood in front of our bungalow looking concerned, all the way to the beach. “Mary Elizabeth!”
By the time I reached the rain-pocked sand, Jackson and Felicity weren’t far behind me. “What happened?” Felicity asked when she caught up.
“Madison saw her down here not long ago,” I returned, jogging toward the tree line.
“You believe Madison?” Felicity asked.
“She’s not drowned,” I insisted, ignoring her jab. “She’s here, probably scared out of her mind and looking for me. And I’m staying until I find her.”
“The last shuttle is leaving now,” Jackson said. “I’m so sorry, but we need to go.”
“Then go,” I yelled over the wind. “Both of
