Page 111 of Love Overboard
“Too iffy,” Gerry said. “What if he’s somewhere he can’t hear the announcement?”
Emily paced in a small circle beside the group. “I pumped the captain for information before we left. He was the one who arranged ground transportation for them. He told me Mr. McMillan was visiting the cruise office on the way to the airport. He’s still in Cozumel.”
Lacey lifted her cell and tried calling again. It went to voicemail, and she barely kept herself from chucking the phone across the street. “No answer.”
Daisy dabbed the hollow of her neck with her handkerchief. “All this fuss would be unnecessary if the man picked up his phone.”
“Says the woman who doesn’t own one,” Gerry deadpanned.
A shiny black sedan with tinted windows drove by and stopped at a special entrance about a hundred feet away. A man in a gray uniform exited the guard hut, raised the yellow-and-white-striped barrier arm, and waved the vehicle through.
“There.” Emily pointed. “That car has the Monarch Cruises decal on the window. It must be him.”
Lacey ran to the security checkpoint. A thin metal pole and a young man in his twenties were the only things blocking her from Jon. He tugged his cap on his forehead as she approached.
“Excuse me.” She pointed in the direction of the black sedan. “Please let me talk to the man who just drove through.”
“Do you have the correct pass?” He held a clipboard with a list of names and pointed to it.
“No.” She watched the sedan disappear around the corner of an airplane hangar. “But it’s an emergency.”
He dropped the board on a shelf by the guard’s station and rested his hands on his belt. “I am sorry. It is against the rules. You must go in the main terminal and talk to them.”
The Shippers arrived in a noisy, panting herd.
“Young man”—Emily slapped the pole separating them from where the private planes parked—“let us through!”
The guard pulled out his walkie-talkie and motioned at her hand with the antenna. “Please move this. You cannot come back here. If you do not leave, I will call the police to escort you.”
Gerry appeared on Emily’s right. “Then could you deliver a message for us? We need to contact Jonathan McMillan.”
He shook his head. “We cannot disturb our VIPs.”
Daisy joined them. “You seem a nice fellow. I promise Mr. McMillan will be very happy. In fact, he’ll be a tad put out if you don’t admit us. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”
His face twitched.
Althea shoved to the front. “What’s your name, baby?”
“Ed-Eduardo.” The guard rubbed his free hand against his pants leg.
“Listen, Eddie.” She leaned over the pole and sweetened her tone. “You remind me of my grandson. Both hard workers. Doing your job. But this is a matter of love or death.”
“Love or death?” He bent closer.
Althea put her arm around Lacey and urged her into their huddle. “This poor girl might spend the rest of her life with a broken heart if you don’t allow her through. Let her talk to the man she loves.”
Eduardo’s jaw firmed. “This is not a movie. There are regulations. I cannot let her in because she fought with her boyfriend. She can call him.”
“He’s not answering his phone.” Daisy flicked her handkerchief in the air. “That’s the trouble.”
“Then she calls him tomorrow.”
Lacey clasped her hands together. “Please, Eduardo. Just five minutes.”
His gaze wavered, but he shook his head. “No. It is a matter of security.” He dropped his walkie-talkie in its holster and did an about-face.
“Oh!” Althea grabbed her side. “Oh, my gallbladder.” She crumpled into a heap underneath the barrier arm. A breeze whipped her polka-dot scarf over her mouth, and she blew it off. “Pffft. Call the hospital, Eddie!”
