Page 3

Chapter 2

“Why was Emersyn so grumpy today?” Juliette asked me in my room the next evening as we got ready for the beach party.

I fingered through the beach waves in my caramel hair before pinning a purple flower clip over one ear. “She didn’t get any sleep. Mady brought some dude back to the room, and he apparently made rhinoceros noises while fucking.”

My friend burst into laughter while matching my hairstyle with a light-blue flower in her blonde hair. “I can see where that would be distracting.”

“She called me about three in the morning and asked if she could come sleep in my room. I told her of course.”

The Papadopoulos twins shared a double room on the sixth floor, Juli and Arya’s was on the third, and Holly and I both had single rooms on the seventh. I wouldn’t have minded sharing with Holly, but I think she’d wanted her privacy. Probably so she could bring her own rhino man to her room without disturbing me. Very thoughtful of her, in my opinion.

“That was nice of you,” Juli said, straightening the cups of her sky-blue bikini top. “These sarongs and swimsuits are hot as hell. Tell your dad thank you.”

“He said to send pics of us wearing them for the company’s Facebook page. Bouvier has only recently started making swimwear, and they’re marketing them toward people our age.”

“Well, let’s get pics before we get all glassy-eyed. Wouldn’t be good for Paul Bouvier’s daughter to look like she’s snockered in the posts.”

“Agreed. Because I plan to drink all the margaritas tonight.”

“This one or this one?” I asked Juliette, handing her my phone.

“The first one,” she replied with a firm nod of her head. “Mady’s eyes are half closed in the second one. Also, your phone looks like something out of The Jetsons . I can’t believe how clear these photos are.”

“It’s called an iPhone,” I informed her. “It’s made by Apple.”

“I’ve heard of them, but they’re way out of my price range. And you can just send that pic to your dad with your phone?” Her voice was incredulous.

“Yep, by email or text message.”

I smiled at the picture of the six of us. We looked like a rainbow. Juli and I were in the middle with our lilac and sky-blue bikinis with matching sarongs. The twins were to the right of me in red and orange, and Arya and Holly sported yellow and lime-green on the other side of Juliette. The sun had already set, but our faces were lit by the flames of the big bonfire on the sandy beach.

I was the shortest of the group, a fact that was even more apparent when I stood next to my best friend, who was statuesque. Arya was the same height as Juli, but she had smaller boobs and hips. The Papadopoulos sisters, on the other hand, had enviable curves for days, while Holly looked like a badass motorcycle chick with her spiky hair and tight muscles beneath her dark skin.

After shooting off the picture to my dad, I stuck my phone in my bikini top and joined the ongoing party.

The deejay began playing “Hips Don't Lie ” by Shakira, and our little group hit the dance floor, which was actually just a flat area of sand set about thirty feet from the shoreline. There was much bouncing and booty shaking as one song bled into another.

“I’m parched,” Arya yelled over the music five songs later. “Let’s get some drinks.”

The half dozen of us skirted around the deejay booth that was on a raised platform near the stairway leading to the resort.

“Hey, you ladies need some drinks?” a man asked. He was holding a tray of plastic cups and held it out to us.

“Oooh, I want the pink one,” Juliette said, reaching for the beverage, but I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“No thanks. We’re going to the bar,” I told the guy. He was short and stocky with sandy-brown hair, and his lips turned down when we strolled past him.

“Why are we going all the way to the bar when he had drinks right there? ” my best friend asked, peeking over her shoulder as I dragged her away.

“He could have put something in them,” Emersyn informed her.

“Right, and he was wearing a yellow polo like the staff here, but it didn’t have the resort’s logo on it,” I added. “That seemed shady to me.”

“You mean, like, he may have put drugs in the drinks or something?” Juli asked, her guileless aqua eyes rounding. “I didn’t know that was really a thing.”

“Definitely a thing. Don’t ever take a drink from anyone except a bartender.” I was going to have to keep an eye on my sweet friend. She’d grown up in a small town in Texas, while I’d grown up partying in New York City, so I was aware of the dangers. I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.

“What can I get you ladies?” the cute bartender asked as we approached the tiki hut that was strung with chili-pepper lights.

I leaned over the bar. “First of all, there’s a guy on the other side of the deejay booth trying to give drinks to girls as they pass. He’s not wearing the staff shirt with the logo we were told to watch for.”

The man squinted into the distance before pulling a walkie-talkie from his hip and speaking into it. “I’ve alerted security,” he told me, hooking the device back on his hip. “Thanks for letting us know.”

“No prob. Can we get a round of margaritas?”

We were having so much fun. We’d each had three frosty margaritas, and our entire group had let loose on the makeshift dance floor. The normally reserved Arya had her sarong tied around her head like a scarf, moving her body sinuously as we danced to a cool mashup of “Promiscuous” by Nelly Furtado and “SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake.

A pair of warm hands encircled my waist, and I spun to find a dark-haired guy with a sexy grin and no shirt. “Hey, gorgeous. What’s your name?” he asked with a slight Spanish accent. He had a snake tattoo winding down one bicep.

“Evie,” I told him, draping my forearms over his shoulders.

“Evie what?”

“Business.”

His dark eyebrows rose. “Your name is Evie Business?”

“Yep. My middle name is Nunya.”

The man threw back his head and laughed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Evie Nunya Business. I’m Felipe.”

We danced to the rest of the song, and then I backed away, throwing him a friendly wave as I made my way over to my friends. Everyone was covered with a fine sheen of sweat from the heat of the night and the nearby fire, and Mady was holding her mass of dark locks on top of her head.

“That guy was cute,” she commented.

“Yeah, he was,” I told her. “I’m going to the bar to get a bottle of water. Anyone else want one?”

Everyone raised their hands, and Holly decided to walk with me. “You having fun?” she asked me once we passed the stacks of speakers and the noise level subsided a bit.

“A blast. How about you?”

“Amazing trip. I’ve seen so much wildlife here. I was hoping to see some turtles nesting though.”

“Turtles don’t nest here till May, and it usually runs through October,” I said, and she shook her head.

“I’m the one majoring in wildlife & fisheries. How the hell do you know more about turtle nesting than I do?” she questioned and then waved her hand. “Never mind. I forgot you’re the trivia queen of our group.”

“I’m full of useless facts,” I agreed with a laugh. “Not to mention, I’m a little obsessed with animals, especially turtles. Plus, you’re just a freshman. I’m sure you’ll be able to blow my knowledge out of the water once you get into your higher-level classes. I think it’s really cool that you want to be a game warden. I don’t think I’ve ever met a female game warden.”

“There are quite a few women that work for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Most of them are biologists and/or conservationists though.”

“And you’re double majoring, right?”

“Yep, also doing criminal justice. That’s what my dad did.”

“I’m kinda following in my father’s footsteps too, though I want to be more on the marketing side of our family’s business.”

We approached the bar, and a different bartender slid down to wait on us. “Six bottled waters, please,” Holly told him and he placed them in a small bag so we could more easily carry them.

Once Holly and I returned to our group, we all downed our waters before joining the dancing crowd once again. I giggled my way through a not-so-great salsa with a guy named Billy, who had the most adorable British accent, and then joined Juliette and Emersyn for a head-banging rendition of an old Ratt song.

“One more margarita before the bar closes!” Madalynn announced, and five minutes later, I was guzzling the tangy beverage to soothe my dry throat. I had never yelled and laughed so much in my life.

“I can’t wait for karaoke tomorrow night,” Juliette said, licking some grainy salt from the rim of her plastic cup.

“I can’t sing worth a shit, but horrible karaoke is the best,” I replied with a laugh.

“Eviiiiiiiie!” I turned at my name to find Felipe jogging toward me with a big grin on his face. “Hey, girl. You’re mine for the last dance,” he insisted, and I drained the rest of my glass, tossing it into a trash can as he grabbed my free hand and dragged me toward the dance area.

The booming beat faded away and morphed into a slower song, “Be Without You” by Mary J. Blige, and Felipe pulled me against his hard body. He really was handsome.

“This has been so much fun. They should do beach parties every night,” I proclaimed.

He nodded his agreement, moving our bodies together to the sultry music. “They should. You’re American?”

“Yes, what about you?”

“I’m Mexican. I’ve been to Texas a few times though. Is that where you’re from?”

While I was gloriously tipsy, I wasn’t drunk enough to give away too much information. “I’ve been there too,” was all I allowed.

Felipe brushed his lips across my cheek before whispering in my ear. “You are so beautiful, Evie.”

“Thank you,” I replied as our bodies swayed to the music.

“I’d love to spend more time with you. Can I come back to your room?”

I internally startled at his bold question, but I guessed it wasn’t that bizarre. People hooked up all the time at these vacation resorts, though that wasn’t me.

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. I have a roommate,” I lied.

“Maybe I could come back tomorrow night and we could take a moonlight swim. Or are you leaving tomorrow?”

“No, we’ll be here till Sunday.”

He nuzzled at my ear again. “Hmmm, that gives us two more nights together then.”

Felipe was being awfully presumptuous. He was cute though. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to hang out with a good-looking guy for a couple nights.

“We could meet up tomorrow night after karaoke. My friends may already have plans for Saturday though,” I told him, not wanting to overcommit. I’d see how things went tomorrow.

“I look forward to it,” he said, his accent thick in my ear. Then he spun me under his arm before pulling me back against him. His body was warm and firm, the muscles bunching beneath darkly tanned skin. “I’ll meet you by the staircase leading to the beach at ten.”

“Sounds good,” I told him, pressing a kiss to his cheek as the song ended. “See you then, Felipe.”

“Well, someone was getting cozy with the hunk,” Madalynn teased as we entered the elevator at the resort.

“Yeah, he seemed nice,” I said.

The elevator stopped on the third floor, and Juliette and Arya disembarked, calling that they would see us at breakfast. More passengers got off on the fourth and fifth floor and the Papadopoulos twins on the sixth, leaving only me and Holly to ride to the seventh.

“I hate that we’re not all on the same floor,” I lamented as we walked down the hallway toward our rooms.

“I know. Arya requested it, but the resort said they were already almost fully booked. I guess when you get free rooms, you take what they have left.”

Arya had won the vacation package from some radio call-in contest, and it included airfare and three rooms. Since Holly had wanted her own room, she’d paid extra for it.

“I’m going to grab my ice bucket and have a big glass of water before bed,” I said when we neared Holly’s room.

She paused in the act of inserting her card in the little slot. “Want me to walk with you?”

“No, silly. I’m just right there,” I told her, pointing to my room on the opposite side of the corridor and three doors down. “And the ice machine is across the hall from me.”

“Okay,” she agreed, quickly hugging me before opening her door. “I feel gross, so I think I’ll take a shower before hitting the sack.”

“See you at breakfast. I’m looking forward to the fruit bar again. That pineapple was so sweet this morning.”

“Me too. Bye, Evie.”

“Bye,” I said, skipping backward down the hallway until her door closed. When I reached my room, I pulled the key card from my bikini top and froze. “Shit, where’s my phone?”

I frisked myself like an idiot, though it obviously wasn’t in the tiny bit of clothing I was wearing. “Noooo, my dad is going to kill me,” I groaned, slumping against the wall. That phone had cost around six hundred dollars, and while that wasn’t a lot to someone with as much money as Paul Bouvier had, he was not a man who appreciated wastefulness.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I grumbled, pushing away from the wall and opening the stairwell door. I’d just go look for it, and if I didn’t find it, I would buy another one myself. I had money now, thanks to the trust fund I’d gotten from my grandparents when I turned eighteen last year.

Still, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep my same number on a replacement phone, and then I’d have to admit to my dad that I’d lost mine. I really needed to find it. Jogging down the stairs, I pushed open the door at the bottom, trying to get my bearings. This door didn’t lead to the well-lit lobby, instead exiting onto a darkened concrete patio.

Pausing for a moment, I inhaled a deep breath and shook my head. “You’re fine, Evie. You’re almost nineteen years old. No need to be afraid of the dark.”

I skirted around the corner, relieved when I saw the path leading to the beach a few feet away. It had been lit with tiki torches ten minutes ago, but they had all been extinguished, leaving me only the light of the moon to navigate by. No one else seemed to be around.

My eyes scanned the ground as I retraced our steps. Maybe the phone had fallen out while we were dancing. As I passed a copse of palm trees on my right, I noticed the bonfire was burning low down on the beach. That would probably give me enough light to search when I got down there.

Trotting down the stairs, I let out a little shriek when a dark figure appeared in front of me. “Evie?”

“Oh my god,” I breathed, patting my chest over my rapidly beating heart. “Felipe, you scared me to death.”

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, taking my hand and squeezing it.

“I lost my phone, so I came back to look for it.”

“What does it look like?”

“Um…” I held up my hand in the approximate size of the device. “About this big, silver and black.”

Felipe’s hand reached into his shorts and pulled out an iPhone, his dark brows rising. “Is this it?”

“Yes!” I squealed, reaching for it when he held it out. “Where did you find it?”

“Near the bar. I was about to take it to the front desk.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I gushed, giving him a hug. “I was so worried.”

“No problemo,” he said easily. “I’m glad I found it. It gave me an excuse to see you again.” Felipe took my hand and linked his fingers with mine as he guided me back up the stairs.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking you back to the resort to make sure you get there safely.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I assured him, but in reality, I was glad for the company. It was super dark out here.

When we reached the main walkway, Felipe pulled me to a stop beside the palm trees. “I want to. I like you a lot, Evie.”

“I like you too, but I really need to get to—” I stopped when his brown eyes flashed to something behind me. “What are you—”

Something else halted my words that time. A damp rag over my mouth and nose.

“No!” I screamed, but the sound was muffled, and in the next instant, a large arm wrapped around my waist from behind, binding me to a big, flabby body. My eyes met Felipe’s, begging him to do something, to punch whoever was holding me, to save me.

But he didn’t.

A slow smile crept across his lips, and the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. Fuck , I thought as I inhaled the sickly sweet scent of what I assumed was chloroform on the rag. My mind went crazy, knowing I needed to get out of this before I lost consciousness. Managing to lift both my legs and kick out, I felt a sense of satisfaction when one of my bare feet made contact with Felipe’s crotch.

“Chingados!” he cursed, doubling over as I flailed my entire body in an attempt to get loose.

The man holding me chuckled. “Ella es una salvaje. Agarra sus piernas.”

I’d taken several languages in junior high and high school. My French was excellent, my Italian good, and my Spanish passable. But I knew he’d just called me a wild one and told Felipe to grab my legs.

A wild one? Buddy, you have no fucking idea.

One of my arms was pinned by his thick arm, but he couldn’t quite reach the other one, so I used it, reaching up to punch and scratch every inch of his head I could manage. Meanwhile, my legs continued to kick as Felipe—if that was even his name—struggled to grab them.

Both men cursed and grunted, working to contain my wriggling body and one thrashing arm. I kept screaming, hoping someone— anyone —would hear me, but all that was audible was a series of muted squawks. I tried elbowing flabby boy in the gut, but it didn’t seem to faze him, so I reached up and gathered his hair in my hand, feeling a chunk of coarse strands pull free when I yanked with all my might.

“Puta de mierda,” he spit out, tightening his arm around my middle until I was afraid he’d crack my ribs.

After Felipe received a kick to the face—courtesy of my left foot—he finally managed to wrangle my ankles beneath his arms, holding them so tightly against his body it hurt. Despite my fighting, the hand over my mouth and nose was unyielding, and all I could smell was the chemical on that rag.

This is not good. Not good at all.

My body was weakening, but my resolve wasn’t, and I knew I needed to try and stay awake to fight them off. I was in another country, and god only knew what their plans were. I needed to get away, to get help, to…

I attempted to jerk my head back and headbutt the man holding me, but my neck felt like it was made of marshmallows, soft and squishy, so the movement was more of a sluggish loll. Darkness began to settle over my struggling body and frantic mind, weighing me down even as I began floating.

The words the two men spoke sounded soupy and thick to my ears, but I made out Felipe’s directive. “Lleva a la perra al barco.” Get the bitch to the boat .

No. Dear god, please. No.

If they took me away from here, no one would know how to find me. Images flickered through the sludge of my brain… Juliette… my other friends… Auburn… Dad… Monty.

Someone please help me. Don’t let them take me.

That was my final thought before the darkness swallowed me whole.