Page 67 of Moonlit Hideaway
“Check social media,” Mabel wailed. “Oh, Hank, we have to find her. She couldn’t have left the island. The first ferry doesn’t start until eight.”
Hank held up his hand to quiet them as he listened to Ruth. His expression was grim. “What do you mean the yacht’s gone?”
“The yacht?” Cold dread settled in Sierra’s chest. She’d felt the sinister premonition but had attributed it to paranoia.
“Okay, on my way,” Hank said, hanging up. When he turned his dark gray eyes on her, it was like looking into the eyes of a dead man. “Ruth is sending deputies to the ferry terminals, and we’re going to search the island, call Emma’s friends. The harbormaster told Ruth that the two writers got on the yacht last night.”
“Was Emma with them?” Ice sluiced Sierra’s veins at the thought that she should have warned Hank about the yacht.
“She doesn’t know. She was relieved to hear they got on the yacht because she thought they were leaving the island.” Hank swiped his hand through his hair.
“But what if Emma’s with them?” Mabel shrieked. “Then what?”
“I shouldn’t have been so hard on Emma yesterday.” Hank’s voice was little more than a moan, filled with guilt.
“It’s not your fault.” Sierra placed a calming hand on his back. “What’s important is finding her. Do you have a tracker on her phone?”
“Yes, but she’s not answering. I think she turned it off.” Hank tapped his phone in frustration. “That kid knows a lot about computer security. She mentioned VPNs.”
“She won’t be easy to track if she’s trying to run,” Sierra admitted. “But let me contact her through social media.”
“Wouldn’t that expose you?” Hank shot her a concerned look. “The FBI said to stay off all your accounts.”
“Doesn’t matter. All I care about is Emma.” Sierra logged into her social media account as Hank rushed to his room and grabbed his truck keys. “I’m off to see the sheriff.”
“Wait for me,” she said, trying to pull on her jeans, but he was gone, and only Mabel remained, wringing her hands and weeping.
“We’ll find her, I promise,” Sierra said, looking through her feed for posts from Emma. “She hasn’t posted anything yet, but I’ll send her a direct message telling her to come home.”
“I shouldn’t have let her talk to Russ and Linc,” Mabel said. “But they seemed to be such nice young men. So courteous and polite. They said they were missionaries writing a book.”
Sierra hurriedly dressed, not caring that Mabel was in the room. “I’m sorry I showed up on this island and messed up life for you and your family.”
“Oh, dear child, how could you have known?” Mabel blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “When trouble comes, we Hattokwans stick together. You’re one of us, and how can we blame you? Although I do worry about Hank. He’s had to shoulder so much. Taking care of me when I was an alcoholic on the streets. I feel such shame when I think about all I put him through and now this. My precious Emma. Oh, God, I pray you’ll bring her back safe.”
Sierra’s FBI-provided phone dinged with an incoming message from Emma’s account.
Sierra, I’m going to be a star. The boss loves me. He wants you to tour with me. Don’t show this to anyone else or you’ll be left behind. #NewStarRising #OfferICantRefuse.
Her head felt light as she read the post. The phone slipped from her shaking hands, cracking the screen on the floor.
“What is it?” Mabel cried. “Jane, what’s happened?”
Sierra swallowed bile at the lie she was about to tell, but that last hashtag told her everything she needed to know. Marco was behind Emma’s disappearance.
“It’s nothing.” She picked up the phone and stuffed it into her pocket. “I have to go, but you can’t say anything to anyone.”
“Is it about Emma?” Mabel gripped Sierra’s trembling shoulder. “She’s with those men from the yacht, isn’t she?”
Before she could say more, her phone rang.
Heart stuttering, Sierra answered it and slowly brought the phone to her ear.
She knew the voice before he spoke, and in some sense, she knew it was inevitable.
“You’ve been a bad girl, my darling, going to the Feds…” Marco’s polished baritone slithered through her eardrums. “But I’m a generous man, and I give you my condolences for the loss of your dad.”
“Who is it?” Mabel hissed, but Sierra gave her a hand sign to stay quiet.
