Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(15)

The waiter insisted that everyone try their world-famous pi?a coladas. After some hesitation they all nodded and decided to go along. Klaus alone demurred in favor of a Coke.

Everyone ordered fish, and twenty minutes later they unanimously raved that it was very good. The waiter came over and without being asked began refilling the pi?a colada glasses. Gina held her hand over her glass and asked for an iced tea. The newlyweds looked at each other, shrugged, and accepted their second cocktails. “In for a penny, in for a pound,” Richie said as he watched the creamy white liquid inch up inside his glass.

Gina asked Klaus, “Do they always reserve this table for the Jet Ski tour?”

“Whenever we have six people on the tour, which is almost always, they save this table for us,” he replied.



* * *



After lunch Klaus led them back to Paradise Rentals. “We stayed a little overtime at lunch,” he announced. “You can ride on your own now. Please have the skis back in forty-five minutes.”

The four newlyweds took off in a race to the open ocean. Gina decided to head in. She wanted time by herself. She was relieved when, after hesitating, Richie gunned his ski in the opposite direction from the others. If he had been hoping she would follow his lead, he was sorely disappointed.





17





The atmosphere was quiet on the jitney ride back to the hotel. A long day in the hot sun and the two pi?a coladas had taken their toll on both sets of newlyweds. Although it was only a ten-minute ride, they appeared to be dozing. The couple from Minnesota was in the seat in front of Gina. His head leaned against the window while her head rested against his shoulder. A bright red sunburn was apparent on the back of his neck and upper back. He should have used a little more sunblock on that Viking skin, Gina decided.

Back in her room she set her iPhone alarm to wake her at 4:30. Within minutes she was fast asleep.

She was out on the water heading for the open sea. The Jet Ski was skimming quickly and effortlessly across the glassy calm water. To the right of her was Klaus, his blond hair trailing behind him. He waved and she smiled back at him. To her left and slightly behind her was Ted. She looked back at him and his face was anguished. He was shouting something, but she couldn’t make out what he was yelling. “Out” was all she heard. She turned her head forward and Klaus was no longer to her right. Directly in front of her, barely twenty yards away, was a small yacht. She was going to crash into it. She thought of trying to jump off the ski, but there was not enough time. Her heart racing, her mouth open wide, she began to scream.

Gina opened her eyes. Both hands were clenched in fists, gripping her pillow. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just completed a run around Central Park. Small beads of sweat were on her forehead. She lay still for a minute, thankful for the safety of her hotel room. She wished Ted was in the room with her. Or her father. Someone to hold and to be held by.

Her iPhone began to chime its wake-up tone.





18





The concierge spotted Gina walking across the lobby. “I see you’re headed out. Would you like a taxi?”

“No thanks,” Gina said. “Just to be sure. I’m meeting a friend for a drink at the Silly Parrot. I can walk there in about fifteen minutes. Correct?”

“Yes. Ten to fifteen minutes,” he said, pointing out and to his right. “You can walk along the road, but it’s a nicer walk along the beach.”

“The beach it is,” Gina said as she put on her sunglasses and headed outside.

The concierge waited until Gina was out of sight and then disappeared into his small office beyond the luggage room. Removing the piece of paper from his wallet, he began dialing the number for the second time that day.

The phone was answered after one ring. The greeting was the same as this morning. “Talk to me.”

“Gina Kane asked the waitresses at breakfast about Cathy Ryan—”

“We already discussed that,” the voice interrupted. “Tell me what I don’t know.”

“All right. Miss Kane went on the Jet Ski tour this afternoon. She’s now going to meet somebody at a nearby bar, the Silly Parrot.”

“Keep me informed” was the response before the connection was ended.

The concierge smiled as he slipped the paper with the phone number back into his wallet. It was easy to tolerate the rude American on the other end of the phone as he thought about how he would spend the $2,000 that would be wired to his bank account.





19





Gina was lost in thought as she walked, beach bag in hand, across the smooth white sand. She was crossing what appeared to be a public beach. Parents had dropped their towels and staked their umbrellas close to the water where they could keep a close eye on their young children. Two boys who she guessed to be about thirteen were skillfully tossing a Frisbee back and forth. A group of young couples, two on each side, were enjoying a game of beach volleyball.

She thought about her parents. High school sweethearts. He had gone to the all-boys Catholic high school in Oradell, New Jersey. Her mother went to the all-girls sister school. They would hold dances, “mixers,” her mom and dad called them, which were supervised by parents who got roped into being chaperones.

Gina never tired of her father telling the story. “I’m sixteen years old, a junior, and I’m standing with a group of my friends from the track team. I look across the gym and I see this beautiful girl talking to her girlfriends. We made eye contact for just a second. But she smiled at me and went back to talking. To this day I don’t know where I found the courage to go over and introduce myself.” He would always add with a laugh, “I really would have felt like a fool if she was smiling at the guy behind me, but luckily the thought never occurred to me.”