For the next day or two, Wyatt ignored her even more. Since they had a few larger parties, he remained too busy to spend any time with her.
Even Josie was too busy to hang out.
She started finding it harder to focus on her job.
Several days later, she caught herself just staring at her computer screen. Wyatt was busy in the main bar area, but thankfully Josie had some free time and she headed out there to eat lunch instead.
Her friend tried everything she could to take her mind off… well, everything, but after lunch, her distraction was even worse. She talked to Amber on the phone for a while, and that really helped, especially after seeing her niece’s face fill the screen, though it was for only a moment since the little girl was running around playing with Brock.
After she’d been back in her office for an hour, Diane came in and told her that Megan’s parents had decided to head back to the States.
Since she wanted to meet with them again, she rushed out and made her way down to the lobby area to talk to them once more. They were just loading up into a cab when she spotted them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Evans,” she said, getting their attention. The couple turned towards her. “I had thought that you would be staying with us a little longer. Has something come up with your daughter’s case?”
“No.” The couple looked at one another. “The FBI thought it would be best if we returned to the States. They believe that Megan is no longer on the island.”
“Right.” She nodded. “Please keep me posted. We’re all praying for your daughter’s safe return.”
“Thank you,” they said at the same time.
She watched them go but didn’t head back inside. She figured that the fresh air would help clear her mind. She hardly ever walked towards the front of the building since the pools and the beach were all out back. There wasn’t much to the property out front, just a long road that separated the resort from the rest of the island and that led to the rest of the town and the airport.
She walked to the edge of the property and turned and looked back. This place, as odd as it might seem to others, was home to her. She couldn’t remember ever feeling safer or more welcomed than she did at the Emerald.
She turned around and took a selfie in front of the massive building. Normally, she didn’t take pictures of just her. Hell, there were millions of her and Josie over the years, but none of just herself.
She sent a copy off to Amber and got an instant reply with an image of her and Emma making funny faces. Smiling, she headed back towards the resort.
As she walked, she realized that she didn’t even have a picture of her and Wyatt. Once he was gone from her life, she wouldn’t even have a photo to remember their time together.
She walked back to the resort, bypassing the main entrance and ducking around the side instead. The dock doors were normally busy first thing in the morning with deliveries, but in the afternoon, the place was empty and quiet. Even the small employee smoke area was vacant.
She was just turning the corner, heading through the thick bushes on the pathway to the children’s pool, when she heard someone step out of a side door.
Thinking it was an employee on break, she continued walking, but upon hearing a young girl’s voice, she stilled.
“Are you sure we’re allowed to be out here?” the young girl asked.
Jade turned slightly and saw a girl of around fourteen standing in the smoking area, holding a beer bottle. She had dark hair cut in a very stylish hairstyle. She wore teal shorts and a white tank top with a swimsuit underneath.
“Sure, we are. I’m allowed to go anywhere I want. You wanted that beer, right?”
Jade heard the reply and suddenly knew exactly who had lured the teenagers away from the resort.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Wyatt had been expecting the call to leave any day now. It was the reason he had started to pull away from Jade, if not physically then emotionally. With each call from Jamerson, he knew they were one step closer to solving the case.
The Reeds had lawyered up, but there was a sliver of hope when Carol continued to turn on her husband. The moment she hired her own lawyer, Tom came forward and turned on his wife.
Wyatt had watched and rewatched the footage from both of the meetings. Every time they answered a question, their lawyers would backpedal as hard as they could.
What information they did get from the pair was that they had only taken one kid from the resort. It was prior to their wedding, and they were paid twenty thousand dollars to smuggle baby William from the hotel to a boat docked by the Shoreline Club.
They both swore they didn’t see who took the kid from there. They had just left the sleeping kid in a boat.
He was watching Carol’s recording one more time during his break before heading back to work inside that evening.