Page 102 of Pleasure Island

I brushed the thought aside. If she was asleep, I’d join her, and we’d finish this talk tomorrow.

But the door to the bedroom hung open, and as I approached, I saw light spilling out into the hallway.

And it was quiet – the whole bungalow was quiet.

My stomach went tight as I processed that. “Mila?” I called out.

There wasn’t an answer.

I shoved into the bedroom and found the bed empty. The bathroom door stood open, the lights off. I swore and spun around, hurriedly checking the rest of the bungalow. It was empty.

I yanked open the door to the terrace, but she wasn’t out there.

Turning on my heel, I ran through the bungalow and shoved the door open. “She’s gone,” I said, the words coming out in a growl. “I think she went out through the terrace, but she’s not there now.”

Immediately, the older security guard grabbed his radio from his belt.

I pointed at the younger one. “Call Millie. Let her know. See if there’s any place she thinks Mila might have gone.”

I turned on my heel and went right back through the bungalow, into the bedroom and out the terrace door. Following the stone path to the gate that led out of the terraced area, I moved to stand in one of the many pathways that connected one part of the resort to another. I stood there and listened.

I didn’t hear anything.

Turning my head, I spied one of the discreet signs etched into a post set along the pathway.

One arrow pointed toward the main lodge.

Another pointed toward the grotto and swimming pool.

Another still pointed away from the lodge itself…toward the beach.

I followed that path, my ears pricked, eyes searching everything.

* * *

I didn’t runinto anybody on my way down to the beach.

That, in and of itself, was odd.

The entire island seemed to be a hotbed of activity no matter what the hour, and here it was, early Friday evening and nobody was heading back to the resort from the beach.

The cool wind whipping through the air probably had something to do with that, but I ignored it as I trudged along the path, my eyes scanning everything, everywhere.

I caught the first, faint sound when I was still too far away to make out much of anything beyond the circles of light cast down by the carefully spaced out street lights.

I paused, head cocked as I listened for it to come again.

Shouting.

I took off running, heading in the direction of the shout – toward the beach.

My heart lunged up into my throat as I rounded the final bend in the path.

The electric lights that lit most of the pathways stopped here. They didn’t extend down to the beach front, and I was light-blinded by them as I first moved off the path. I squinted my eyes to better see what I was looking at.

I heard nothing but my heart pounding in my ears.

A scream exploded into the night, and adrenaline surged through me as I ran toward the sound.

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