Page 50 of Dark Horizon New Dawn

"I wish." Mia sighed. "I should call Lynda again and ask her to cut her outing short. I need to tell her what Margo told me about Jasmine and her scumbag boyfriend. Maybe that will get her worried enough to get back to the hotel."

Mia wasn't sure it would because Lynda was as selfish as they came, but she had promised Rob to watch over his sister, so there was that. At the very least, it was worth a try.

35

KIAN

Less than an hour later, Mia's phone rang.

"Oh, God." She lifted her shaking hand to her lips. "Did you check the pool bar? Maybe she's there?"

Kian tried to listen to what was being said on the other side, but the music was playing, and it was too loud to hear. Still, the expressions on Mia's face were enough for him to guess what she was being told.

Mia put the phone on the table with a shaking hand. "Margo is not in her room, and she's not in any of the resort's public places either. Lynda called hotel security, and they are searching for her." She trained a pair of teary eyes on Kian. "What do we do now?"

Amanda leaned over the table. "Is there a chance she found a guy to hook up with for the night?"

Mia shook her head. "Margo does not do hookups. She barely even dates. Besides, she was on a mission to save her new friend. She wouldn't have abandoned her to be with some guy. There is no way in hell she would do that."

"We need to send a search party," Toven said. "Perhaps Turner knows a private operator that works in the area. Whatever the costs, I'll cover them."

Kian considered his options.

If Margo was right, and her new friend's boyfriend was indeed a trafficker, and she had somehow got caught in the snare, they couldn't just abandon her to her fate. Mia would never forgive him, and the same went for Toven and Frankie.

The bottom line was that he had no choice but to get involved, which was a real pain in the rear, given that Doomers were lurking in the hotel, waiting for Guardians to show up.

Perhaps it hadn't been the boyfriend but Doomers that had taken Margo?

It was possible that she had talked about joining a cruise, and they had found out about it after interrogating some of the staff and guests.

Talk about a shit storm. That would also reveal that they were arriving by ship. Would the Doomers make the connection? There must be other guests in the hotel who were joining friends on a trip.

Right. That was just wishful thinking.

Kian's philosophy was to always prepare for the worst rather than hope for the best.

"I guess I'm not going to sleep tonight." He leveled his gaze at Toven. "And neither are you. We need to have another emergency meeting with Turner and Onegus and devise a strategy. Given that we suspect the hotel is crawling with Doomers, it's not as simple as sending a search party."

Toven nodded. "Of course. Whatever you need from me is yours."

"Do you need me to attend?" Dalhu asked. "I'll be happy to offer my assistance in any way I can."

The guy sounded excited about getting some action again. Evidently, disposing of the Doomers in Acapulco had just whetted his appetite for more.

"You are welcome to join." Kian pushed to his feet and offered Syssi a hand up. "So are you, but you can also stay and enjoy the rest of the festivities."

Syssi never joined the strategic meetings unless she had something to add, either an insight or a vision, but he needed to offer her the option to make it clear that he valued her opinions even though she was not a strategist.

"I'll stay," she said. "I guess you will be commandeering the suite again."

Kian nodded. "I'm sorry."

"You can use ours," Toven offered. "I'm part of the meeting, and Mia won't be able to sleep anyway."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Kian was grateful for the offer so Syssi and Allegra could sleep undisturbed.

He leaned and kissed Syssi's cheek. "Are you going to be okay here by yourself?"

---