Randy White - Gone

She said it because I had pulled her closer to an aluminum storage shed so we could watch Ricky without being noticed. “I’ve never seen him before,” I replied. “Just that picture I showed you.” For some reason, my chest had tightened. It felt harder to breathe.

Hands on hips, Gabrielle studied me for a moment. “ Chica , tell me the truth. He scares the hell out of you-it’s on your face.”

“Not really-not for myself, anyway,” I replied, which wasn’t true, and Gabby knew it.

“That son of a bitch! He hurt you somehow, didn’t he? You weren’t snooping because he owes a friend of yours money. Ricky did something to you. What? Don’t lie to me anymore, Hannah. We can’t be friends if you lie.”

My eyes were fixed on Meeks, thirty yards away, as he banged the truck door closed, flicked his cigar aside after a last puff, then used the side mirror to comb his hair. The smoke reached us seconds later and caused me to flinch-not just the stink, but because it had come from Ricky’s mouth.

“Some of what I said was true,” I replied, “but you’re right. Mostly, I lied.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t sure I could trust you. Even if I was sure, I probably would’ve lied anyway. Just to be on the safe side.”

“Safe side, hah! You intentionally fed me a line of bullshit.”

“Sorry. I don’t blame you for being mad.”

“Don’t blame me, why… you two-faced little chinga !” Gabby sputtered but kept her voice down. “I saved your ass, erasing that security tape before Robert saw it. You’ve had a dozen chances to tell me the truth, all the times we’ve talked on the phone. Hey ”-she began backing away-“you are a cop, aren’t you? Hannah, if you’re trying to trap me into some kind of shitty sting operation, I’ll… I’ll…”

The girl shrugged my arm away when I tried to wrap it around her shoulder, but calmed a bit when I took her hand and pressed it between my hands. “This is serious, Gabrielle. I need your help. Please? At least let me explain.”

Gabby glanced over her shoulder toward Sybarite , heaved a sigh of frustration, then steered me behind the storage shed. “This better be good, sister! If I lose my job because of you-”

Ricky Meeks was walking toward the dock, straightening the collar of his gray dress shirt, checking the buttons of a navy blazer, as I interrupted, saying, “I’m not a cop. That man kidnapped the niece of a friend of mine. Probably raped her, then kept her drugged somehow. So drugged up, she might be waiting for him on your boat right now.”

Gabby shot back, “Aboard Sybarite ? A private party… a party that friends of mine are hosting?” Her tone accused You’ve got to be kidding .

“You said yourself the guy’s trash. That’s the only way he can get aboard-if some rich woman invites him. Do you remember a passenger named Olivia Seasons?”

Gabby was muttering, “This is insanity,” not wanting to believe it but still listening.

“Olivia’s a tall, thin girl about our age. She’s worth millions, and her uncle is”-I hesitated, reluctant to tell this smart woman another lie-“he’s my employer. And he’s a friend, too. Olivia is either aboard your boat, or Ricky Meeks has come here looking for me. That’s why I asked if someone called about the guest list.”

Gabby’s expression changed. “He knows you’re looking for… what’s her name? Olivia?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

The girl stood taller to get a better look at Meeks, who was sliding through people to get to the boarding ramp. “No wonder you’re afraid. That guy’s a sicko, you ask me. Olivia’s tall and thin, you said? What color’s her hair?”

As I did my best to describe the missing heiress, Gabby was shaking her head. “I haven’t seen her. But I got here a little late, so maybe she’s somewhere on the boat and I missed her. I doubt it, though.”

“I have to find out for sure,” I said. “If she’s here, I need time alone so we can talk. I think the guy’s screwed up her mind so much, it’s like she’s under a spell. She’s in bad trouble, Gabrielle. Will you help?”

Gabby thought for a moment. “There’s another possibility, honey. Because of the party, Robert’s so short on crew, maybe he’s paying the guy to handle lines and stuff at the dock. As a sort of first mate. That would explain his ugly damn blazer. Or… could be one of Ricky’s other teaser pony ladies wants him around. My friends sure as hell didn’t invite that bastard-you’re right about that.”

I was watching Meeks move toward the boat’s sleek, wide stern, astonished at how smoothly guests snubbed him without making a show, turning their backs at just the right moment or staring past him as if he were invisible. Their behavior validated my loathing for a man I’d never met but also made me apprehensive. I, too, was an outsider. Would they treat me as coldly?

Gabby threaded her arm through mine, a serious look on her face as she gave a pull, then walked me toward Sybarite . “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll look after you. But don’t lie to me ever again. That’s what my last girl did-plus she was screwing my boyfriend behind my back. Now we don’t even talk anymore. See what happens when best friends don’t trust each other?”

I replied, “If Olivia’s not on the boat, I need your help even more. I’m so nervous, maybe we should talk about it now so we don’t get confused later.” My mind was flipping through options, gauging the minutes until sunset, while my eyes moved from Eugene Schneider’s old truck… to Sybarite… then to my fast boat only a hundred yards away. If Olivia wasn’t here, waiting for Meeks, he might have left her alone on his Skipjack cruiser somewhere in the Ten Thousand Islands.

“That’s what worries me,” Gabby said. “Let’s go straight to the crew lounge and smoke a joint. You’re way, way too uptight, honey. Once we’re away from the dock, how will you handle it if Ricky tries to make small talk? I don’t want you freaking out on me. Or he starts hitting on you?”

That’s when I shared with Gabby a decision I’d just made. If we didn’t find Olivia, I was getting off the boat before Sybarite left the dock and headed for open water.

“Without him noticing,” I added, meaning Ricky Meeks. “Can you help me do that?”

“You’ll miss the party!” she said.

“If it were you, Gabrielle, in real trouble, would you want me to stay here having fun? Or expect a friend to do something?”

“And if Olivia is aboard?”

“Keep Ricky busy while I take her somewhere private to talk. I’ll keep it all real quiet even if she agrees to go home with me. We’ll sneak her off somehow-you know, figure it out later. I won’t embarrass you, though. Promise.”

I liked the look on my friend’s face and her fierce reaction. “¡Es tan sencillo, cariño!” she nodded, then offered a loose translation. “Honey, you just leave that white trash loser to me.”

A LITTLE WHILE LATER, I WAS FOLLOWING THE PLAN-but I was a mess.

In my imagination, I could feel Ricky Meeks’s black eyes drilling a hole in my back as I idled my skiff away from Fishermans Wharf and Sybarite , which was just leaving the dock. The yacht’s upper deck was loud with reggae music and the crowded laughter of a party amping up for sunset, eager for the freedom of open water.

Ricky was up there somewhere. Maybe he actually was watching, startled to see I’d left the yacht. Hopefully, though, Gabby was keeping him occupied or he was busy helping Robert get under way as he was being paid to do. I couldn’t risk turning to look, of course. So I sat hunched at the wheel, trying to will my body to stop shaking. I’d been shaking ever since finally meeting Meeks, face-to-face. The man had caused me to behave like a helpless fool and I was still suffering the effects.