Page 116 of Off Plan

Kono Cuddins and her husband were sitting at one table. Marius Wynott sat alone at another. Lorenna McKetcham and her granddaughter were at a third. Pete Blumenthal and his girlfriend, Marlie Coblet, at a fourth. Dale Jennings and Omar Abadi at a fifth. Juju Irvine was sitting on a stool beside Gerry Twomey, leaning back against the bar, and her brother Bubba sat on her other side. Lety was behind the counter cooking something, as usual.

No Big Rafe. No Beale…

Most importantly (and disappointingly), no Mason.

“Hey,” Rafe said. “Have any of you guys seen my dad or Beale?”

“Or Dr. Bloom?” I added.

“Saw Rafe this morning at the Bean!” Marlie said. “Said to let anyone know if they needed help with storm preparations. He could be helping out!”

Right. That made sense.

“And I saw Dr. Bloom earlier today!” Marius Wynott volunteered. “Came by my shop with yourBeale.” Mr. Wynott looked vaguely disapproving. “Had a bit of a kerfuffle, alas.”

“Beale and Mason? What happened?” I demanded.

Mr. Wynott sniffed. “I’m not sure I should say.”

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward, but Rafe put a restraining hand on my arm.

“Marius, you answer Fenn’s question,” Lety ordered, and Mr. Wynott pursed his lips and rolled his eyes, but complied.

“Well. I was about to help Dr. Bloom select a new book to read when I got called away momentarily. When I came back, I heard him speaking quiteheatedlywith young Mr. Goodman. Dr. Bloom was on the phone and said he was going to ‘take the job.’ He toldmehe couldn’t stay. And then he told Beale he required a ride off the island.” He sighed. “I wonder if this means he won’t be able to take care of Topaz while I’m gone in July?”

“Yeah, that’s really the most important concern here,” Maddie McKetcham muttered before her grandmother shot her a quelling look.

“That’s ridiculous,” I informed Marius. “Mason’s not leaving yet. He’s still looking for a job.” And he wouldn’t be leaving at all, if I could convince him to stay.

Juju exchanged a dubious glance with Maddie. “Last I heard, Big Rafe already found someone to replace Doc Bloom.”

“What?” I scowled. “No. Not a chance—”

“Yep. That’s what I heard, too,” Bubba said worriedly. “Told Mason about it the other day. And Gloria saidBigRafesaid he had amillionjob offers. She’s shocked he hasn’t taken one. So it’s only a matter of time before he leaves, I’m afraid.”

“Does this mean there’s trouble in paradise?” Gerry asked slyly. “If you need a friend in your hour of need, Fenn—”

“Not now, Gerry,” Lorenna said.

I ran a hand through my hair, remembering I hadn’t gone inside Mason’s room at all. I’dassumedhe was at the clinic…

“Maybe Mason’s at work!” I almost smacked my forehead at this obvious explanation. “I’ll go check—”

“I doubt it,” Kono piped up. “Taffy called me half an hour ago and said Mason told her to close up at lunch ’cause they had no appointments. She ended up staying until Orry could pick her up, and Mason never came back from lunch. She figured he was caught in the rain and went home.”

This got weirder and weirder. And I was really fucking annoyed that I couldn’t make a damn phone call.

There wasnochance that Mason had left this island for good.None. Not without saying goodbye to everyone. Worst-case scenario, he’d gone for an interview off island.

No, I reminded myself, worst case, he’d actually taken a job off island.

But I wasn’t going to give up. I’d done that too many times already.

“I’m gonna miss him a lot,” Juju said with a sniff. “Mason, I mean.”

Lorenna nodded sadly. “I wasthiscloseto getting him to join the Mahjong Society.”

“He was a trustworthy guy,” Bubba said.