Page 13 of Serving my Dragon (The Dragocracy Chronicles #2)

Chapter Nine

Juan waited for us outside the hotel. I parked in a spot as he strolled over to meet us.

“So, the front clerk hasn’t been helpful,” he said in English for Kayleigh’s benefit. “Confidentiality and all that.”

“You didn’t bribe him?” I asked.

“I tried.” Juan grimaced. “Was told to get out or he’d call security.”

An honest worker. How rare.

Kayleigh glanced at the hotel and then my uncle. “I wonder if he’ll talk to me.”

“He won’t tell you nothing. Man is too straight,” a disgruntled Juan muttered.

“That’s what I’m counting on.” Kayleigh undid a button on her blouse and then untucked it from her shorts before tying it in a knot at her midriff.

I arched a brow. “Going to use your feminine wiles?”

Her dimple appeared. “Going to try. Here’s to hoping he likes curves.”

I sure as heck did. I stared at the sway of her round bottom as she went inside and Juan whistled.

“You’ve found yourself a fine one.”

“Agreed, but it won’t go anywhere.”

“Why not?”

“She’s going back to America soon as she can figure out how.”

Although, she’d not been trying very hard. I’d offered to arrange transportation to the embassy, but she’d declined saying she didn’t want to waste her time.

“Sounds as if she likes it here.”

“She does, but her life is in the USA.”

“People move.”

“Says the man living only blocks from where he grew up.”

“Some people relocate. I had everything I ever needed right here.”

“Her friends are in Ohio.”

“There are these revolutionary things called phones and email and planes, you know, for keeping in touch and visiting.”

I glanced at my uncle. “Since when do you matchmake?”

“Me? Never,” he huffed. “But I’d hate to see you miss out like I did.” A low reminder that he’d been in love once when he was a young man with a woman who’d come here to work for a few months as a nanny. He’d always regretted not asking her to stay or even making an attempt to visit.

“We’ve not known each other long enough to make that kind of decision,” I muttered.

“Cobarde.”

“I am not a coward,” I huffed. “And my love life is none of your business.”

“Fine, we will change the subject. There is something very odd about Kayleigh’s situation. Did you know the police have no record of you calling?”

“Impossible. I called several times.”

“And yet none of those calls appear in their system.”

“How would you know?”

My sly uncle shrugged. “I have friends who poked around for me.”

“Maybe they didn’t bother logging my inquiries because there was no crime.”

“You know they’re supposed to keep a record of everything,” he chided. “Seems to me someone greased a palm or two.”

“Why would anyone pay to have them wipe my attempts to report a missing tourist?”

“That is a good question. Why indeed? And who? Because I’ll wager the same person ensured the embassy didn’t return your call.”

The dropped tidbit had me stiffening and turning my gaze from the hotel entrance. “Wait, what? How do you know that?”

“Someone from the embassy should have contacted you or Kayleigh. When I heard you hadn’t heard from them, I called a friend of mine who works there. She says while they’ve received several requests to help with lost passports, Kayleigh isn’t among them.”

“Someone’s trying to ensure she’s not found,” I murmured.

“And that she can’t go home,” Juan added.

“Why, though?”

“She is very pretty, and you know trafficking is at an all-time high.”

“Agreed, but she’s also older than those usually taken by the gangs.” They preferred younger and more malleable victims.

“Perhaps she’s an heiress and they want to ransom her location to her family.”

“She’s a kindergarten teacher and her parents are dead.”

“And? Maybe she came into a plump inheritance.”

“She’s not rich.” I’d have staked my life on it.

“Doesn’t leave many reasons why someone wouldn’t want her to be found or go home. Unless…” Juan lowered his voice. “She witnessed a crime.”

“This is real life, not a telenovela,” I snapped, even as Juan’s theory made a perverse sort of sense.

“Look at the facts. You found her roughed up with no memory. How did she get injured? What if someone tried to kill her and assumed they’d succeeded?”

“You’re being crazy. She probably fell. The canyon can be treacherous.”

“You think she went hiking by herself? No,” Juan answered before I could. “Meaning she would have been in a group. If she’d been injured, or tumbled or anything, someone would have given her aid or sent for help.”

He made a good point, one that had been niggling. Tourists didn’t wander the wilds on their own. And what of her friend?

“Who would want to kill a schoolteacher from Ohio?”

“I don’t know. Did she have anything on her when you found her? Drugs? Money? Jewels?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.” The only person who came out of the canyon with anything of value that day was me. Which was when it hit me. Pollita had mentioned people with cages near the volcano. People intent on capturing a dragon.

“You thought of something,” Juan stated.

“I found something while I was out there.”

“Treasure?”

I snorted. “No. A lizard.”

“That’s not unusual.”

“This one is.” I hesitated before blurting, “I found a dragon.” Yeah, I let it slip after chiding my mother about wanting to tell the family. But this was Tío Juan. I knew I could trust him.

If he believed me.

My uncle laughed so hard he almost cried.

“I’m serious,” I hissed. “I didn’t know what Pollita was until I brought her home and she talked to me.”

“Talked?” Juan sounded incredulous.

I nodded. “When I found Polly, she chattered but I didn’t think it was words. After watching television, she learned Spanish and English. Says she’s a dragon, recently hatched, but here’s the important part. She claims there were people trying to capture her but she escaped.”

Juan took on a pensive expression. “Animals in the canyon are protected, which means if Kayleigh came across poachers, they most definitely wouldn’t want witnesses.” He paused before asking, “Where is this supposed dragon now?”

“With Mama.”

He arched a brow. “She hates lizards.”

“Lizards, yes, but apparently dragons are acceptable. She’s offered to care for Polly when I’m busy.”

“That might not be safe. If there are people seeking this creature, then who knows what they’ll do? I mean, look at how they made sure Kayleigh can’t get any help in leaving Peru or finding her friend. They could decide to come for this lizard and not be gentle about it.”

The more Juan spoke, the deeper it seemed the conspiracy spread. It led to me shaking my head. “This is ridiculous. If Pollita were in danger, we’d have seen some sign by now.”

“Only if they knew where to find the creature.”

I poked a hole in his theory. “If someone did intentionally wipe my calls to the police and embassy then they have my address. Surely, they’d have done something by now.”

“Could be they’re waiting for the right moment.”

My lips pinched as my uncle infected me with his paranoid worm. I turned from him and glared at the hotel. “What’s taking so long?”

“Relax. She’s only been gone a few minutes.”

It felt like a lot longer. “Maybe I should check on her.”

“I’m surprised you let her go in alone.” My uncle didn’t even try to assuage my anxiety.

Nope, he decided to make it worse. “You know, it’s possible these poachers don’t realize you have the lizard in custody, which would explain why they’ve not visited you yet.

But if they do start looking because of your lady friend, they’ll soon notice the lizard too. ”

“Way to reassure,” I muttered.

“Don’t be whining because I’m giving it to you straight. My advice? You should think about relocating for a short time.”

“I can’t, my work?—”

“Will be there when you return.”

“Where would I go?”

“I know some places.”

Of course my uncle did.

“She’s coming back.” I couldn’t help the elation that filled me at the sight of Kayleigh sashaying in our direction. When she got close enough, I asked, “How’d it go?”

Her nose wrinkled. “Good and not good. The clerk actually recognized me and asked if I’d changed my mind and wanted my room back.”

“He confirmed you were staying there?”

“I was, along with Sally and some other people.”

“What people?”

“The clerk didn’t know. His English wasn’t the greatest but he seemed to think they might have been animal biologists. He said they had a bunch of equipment and a cage.”

I waited for my uncle to gloat that his theory of poachers might be right. Instead, he asked, “Did the clerk give you any of their names?”

Kayleigh shook her head. “No names, but he did recognize Sally when I described her. As for the other people we were with—several men, apparently—they cleared the rooms out a few days ago.”

“Around the time I found you wandering the canyon,” I replied.

Her head bobbed. “I asked the guy if he knew where they went but he didn’t have a clue. He did let me see the room, though, after I explained I’d been in an accident and didn’t remember anything.”

“Did you remember anything?”

“No.” She sighed. “I’d really hoped it would jog something loose.”

“When they cleared the rooms was Sally with them?”

Kayleigh bobbed her head. “She was and the clerk said it looked like she’d been crying. Makes me wonder if I was out hiking with them and had an accident where they thought I died. And then instead of sticking around, they decided to go home.”

I hated to remind her, but… “Or they had something to hide, hence why they’ve been faking posts on social media.”

“Sally wouldn’t hurt me,” Kayleigh huffed.

“Sally might not, but the group you were with might have. Maybe they threatened her and she’s the one who’s been posting to make it seem like you’re alive. At least until they’re out of the country and away from the reach of the authorities.”

Kayleigh chewed her thumb. “I guess that’s possible.” She blew out a breath. “I really wish Sally wouldn’t keep blowing off our messages. She could probably shed a light on why I’m here and what happened. If only I could call and speak to her in person.”

Honestly, seemed to me this Sally might not be the great friend Kayleigh remembered.

From Sally ignoring messages, to posting fake images, those weren’t the actions of someone grieving the loss of her bestie.

Then there was the fact Sally was associated with this group in the first place, which led to me trying to ignore the fact Kayleigh might have been just as involved.

Juan cleared his throat and asked, “Did the hotel by any chance have you fill out an emergency contact?”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness, you’re brilliant.” She went on tiptoe to buss his cheek before dashing back into the hotel.

Juan glowed a ruddy color as he growled, “We’ve got to keep her safe.”

“We don’t know for sure she’s in trouble.” But even I had to admit that mounting evidence appeared to indicate otherwise.

Kayleigh returned skipping, waving a sheet of paper. “I used Sally as my emergency contact and he gave me her phone number.”

I held out my phone. “Want to call her now?”

“Yes, please.” She dialed the number and when it was answered said, “Hey, Sally, it’s me, Kayleigh.

Please call me back at this number as soon as possible.

I’m in Peru and I don’t remember how I got here on account of having an accident and losing my memories.

I really could use— Drat! Stupid voicemail cut me off. ”

“Want to try calling back?””

She bit her lower lip. “I don’t know if there’s any point. I know for a fact she’s got her phone set to not even ring for unknown callers. We both do, to avoid spam calls. Same with texts.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Juan stated. “Give me your number and let me see what I can do about having it show the next time you call.”

Kayleigh gave him the info and we parted ways. We started the journey back to my house only Tío Santiago, Tía Carmelita’s husband, texted me to say I might want to avoid my house and to meet him at their place.

I called and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong? Why shouldn’t I go home?”

“Because the police came by looking for your guest.”