16

  JAKE

  The first real day of this corporate retreat was about as boring as I expected it to be, just long days of meetings in a conference center that overlooks the ocean. At least the view was nice. I have to admit, the food was also good.

  I’m not exactly sure what we talked about the entire day. My mind was preoccupied with the gifts that I’ve received since I’ve been on this island. They seem harmless, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s some deeper meaning to them that I don’t understand. Why would somebody be giving me gifts? It just doesn’t make any sense.

  I tried to broach the topic briefly with my boss, but he seemed to have no idea what I was talking about, so I don’t think they’re from him.

  After several hours of meetings, the day is finally over. I glance at my watch. It’s mid-afternoon, still a few more hours before the sun goes down. I think I need to clear my head. I find that when I get exercise, I tend to think better. Maybe taking a walk will give me clarity and help me figure it out.

  I walk out of the conference center and head towards my building. Suddenly, I hear footsteps behind me. My chest constricts and my breath is caught in my throat. What if whoever is sending those gifts is now running up on me? I turn around quickly, only to see Tim. I breathe a sigh of relief. “You scared me!”

  “Hey, sorry man. Didn’t mean to. Wasn’t that awesome?” He asks.

  “Yeah, awesome,” I say, not even sure what he’s talking about.

  “I learned so much today from those meetings. How to go and be the best salesperson that I can be. So many things I can take back to the job,” he continues.

  I just smile and nod at him; he clearly got way more out of this than me.

  “What are you about to do before dinner, man?” He asks.

  “I think I’m just gonna go for a walk.”

  “A walk sounds nice. Do you mind if I join you?”

  “Hey, Tim,” I reply, “I know that you had a great time today, but it was a lot for me. I think I just need some time to myself.”

  I can see the hurt cross his face, but I don’t back down.

  “Oh, yeah. Okay. See you later then?” He asks.

  I feel a slight twinge of guilt. He looks like a lost puppy, just looking for a best friend. I just don’t know if I can be that for him, at least not right now. Just being around him sometimes makes me tired.

  I watch as he jogs away and start to second-guess myself. Maybe I should have let him come with me? No, you did the right thing, I convince myself. I really need to clear my head and be alone.

  I change my clothes and head to the beach. It’s probably the hottest part of the day. The sun is in the middle of the sky. There are no clouds, so I feel the full strength of it on my back. The beach is relatively empty. Most of the people have gone inside to avoid the heat. They will return once the sun starts to go down. For now, it’s peaceful and I don’t mind being hot.

  I walk down the beach, feeling the sand squish between my toes. I approach the water and put my feet in. It’s not like the water back in Seattle; the ocean water there is bitterly cold, even in the summer. This is warm and comforting. I take a deep breath. I can’t help but wish that Stacia was here with me. We’ve never really been able to go on a vacation together. We’re planning a honeymoon in the Bahamas, but that will be the first time we’ve been able to experience something like this together. It’s unfortunate that she’s not here with me now.

  There’s a shack on the beach. It’s a little cabana with a red roof. It looks like one side holds surfing gear and the other side is a bar. I could use a drink right now.

  I approach the bar and a pretty bartender stands and sets down her book, leaving the pages cracked open to save her place.

  “What are you reading?” I ask.

  “Oh, it’s a domestic thriller. One of my favorite genres.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before.”

  “It’s like a psychological thriller, but the scary thing happens within a family or a close relationship. So, it makes it more personal.”

  “Sounds interesting. I’ll have to look into that.”

  She smiles at me. “What can I get you?” She asks me, clearly wanting to change the subject.

  “I think I want a piña colada.” It’s not my usual type of drink, but I miss Stacia so much. I thought I’d order something I know she would enjoy.

  “Coming right up,” the bartender says.

  A few minutes later, she hands me a tall drink with an umbrella and a pineapple sticking out of the top. I take a sip. It’s delicious. I should be brave enough to order these things more often, I think to myself.

  “Thanks again for the book recommendation,” I say to the bartender. She looks at me and nods, her nose already buried deep in the book.

  I continue walking down the beach. At the end of the sand, there’s a tall rock that blocks my view of what’s around the corner. I make my way around it and a natural cove comes into view.

  The cove is surrounded by rocks and there’s an inlet at the very end of it, allowing water to flow in and out. The moment I see the cove, my heart stops. I’ve been here before. My mind races back years to when I was probably seven or eight years old.

  “Come on, Jake! Come in the water!” a little girl says to me. She’s standing in the water, waving at me, trying to convince me to join her.

  “I don’t know. I’m a little scared,” I reply.

  “Don’t be scared. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Our teacher’s going to keep us safe.”

  I look past her and a tall, sandy-blonde-haired, surfer-looking guy waves at me encouragingly. “Come on, Jake. I got you,” he says.

  My heart beats rapidly. I want to be brave, but I’m uncertain. Glancing back up the beach, I see my dad sitting on a beach towel, engrossed in a book. He looks up at me and waves encouragingly. “Go on, Jake. I’m right here. You don’t have to worry,” he says.

  I take a deep breath and nod my head. I want nothing more than to make him proud of me. I slowly approach the water.

  The girl dashes out and takes my hand. “Come on. Just follow me. I promise it’s not scary. I’ve done this before. It’s so cool. You’re going to love it.”

  Together, we wade into the water and swim towards the instructor. The girl swims beside me. Reaching the instructor, I realize he’s still standing even though the water looks several feet deep. Feeling the ground with my feet, I stand. There’s a rock shelf by the edge of the cove that allows us to stand, even though just a few feet away, the water is above my head.

  “Okay, guys.” the instructor begins. “Now all we have to do is stay here and wait. They usually come into the cove about this time. They’re friendly, I promise.”

  The little girl and I stand there silently, watching the inlet as waves roll in and out. Suddenly, a fin emerges from the water. Then several more fins appear, all coming towards us.

  The first fin rises out of the water and I realize it’s a dolphin.

  “This pod of dolphins visits this cove every day at this time,” the instructor says. “I’ve developed a relationship with them.”

  The pod approaches the instructor and slows down. The instructor reaches out and touches the leader’s head. “See, they’re gentle and kind. Give me your hand,” he tells me.

  Hesitantly, I reach out to touch the dolphin’s nose. The dolphin blows air through its blowhole, startling me and I take a step back.

  “Don’t be scared. It’s not going to hurt you,” the little girl reassures me. She extends her hand and touches the dolphin’s head. “See? They’re nice. Aren’t they beautiful?”

  Behind the lead dolphin, the others begin to swim back and forth across the cove, playing in the water, jumping and diving. I watch in amazement. I’ve never seen dolphins up close like this before, only in pictures.

  We stand there for what feels like hours until the lead dolphin heads back toward the inlet. The rest follow behind him. They exit as quietly as they came.

  “Whoa,” I utter.

  “I know, right?” the little girl responds.

  Suddenly, the memory fades and I find myself back on the beach as an adult, staring at the cove.

  I’ve been here before. I’ve seen dolphins here before. Whoever has been sending me these gifts knows this about me. They either worked here or were visiting here when I was a child. Initially, I considered these gifts a mere nuisance, but now I feel the need to find out who is sending them and why.

  17

  CHLOE

  “Look at this.” I hand the photograph to Tawni and point to the figure reflected in the sunglasses. “Do you see that person standing behind the camera? The camera covers his body, but if you look close enough, you can see his face.”

  Tawni squints. “Barely.”

  “I promise I’ve seen this guy before.”

  “Who is he? I can barely see him,” she says, taking off her sunglasses and bringing the photo closer to her face.

  “Trust me. When I got up close to it, I recognized him.”

  “Where from?” Tawni asks.

  “He’s the maintenance guy that was in our room earlier. The one I was telling you about.”

  Tawni crosses her arms and looks at me skeptically.

  “Don’t you see? He’s probably the one stalking me and leaving the gifts.”

  “You don’t know that. He’s just probably worked here his entire life. You’re reading too much into this.”

  “I swear I’m not. Why was he taking a picture of me as a kid?”

  “I have no idea, but you didn’t come here with your dad? If he’s worked here his entire life, maybe one of his jobs was taking pictures at one point. Who knows? You don’t have any proof that he left those gifts.”

  “It’s just really suspicious that he would be the one taking the picture that someone left in that red box.”

  “Actually, Chloe, that makes him less of a suspect. Why would he out himself like that?”

  “I don’t know, maybe he didn’t realize he was in the reflection.”

  “Well, regardless, you can’t go accusing somebody of stalking you and leaving you presents without proof. This is his livelihood, Chloe. This may be the only job he’s ever had. And if you take that away from him, who knows what’ll happen.”

  I cross my arms and listen to her voice of reason. “Fine. I promise I won’t say anything about him leaving the gifts until I find more proof. I don’t want to ruin some guy’s life if he’s not the one actually doing it. But deep in my gut, I know he is.”

  “Just promise me you will do a thorough job looking into it before you make that accusation.”

  “I promise,” I say.

  “Also, promise me that you won’t start the investigation until tomorrow. You and I need to go have some fun.”

  Anxiety immediately grips my chest. The last thing I want to do is set this aside. What if another box gets dropped off overnight while she and I are out? I look at Tawni and she’s giving me her puppy dog eyes and I begrudgingly agree.

  “Fine. Let’s go have a good time. But first thing in the morning, we’re going to look into this. Deal?”

  She sticks out her hand for me to shake. I take it and shake it firmly, looking into her eyes.

  “You’re too much,” she says, pulling her hand out of my grasp, “too intense sometimes.”

  “It’s probably why we’re friends,” I say. “I push you and you force me to relax.”

  She loops her arm through mine and starts to skip towards our hotel room. “Come on, Chloe, let’s go change for tonight.”

  “What are we doing?” I ask.

  “We’re going to the club.”

  I sigh and roll my eyes. “This is going to be a long night.”

  Several hours later, we exit our room dressed in cocktail dresses and high heels. Tawni is convinced that we’re going to meet a plethora of men at this club tonight. I’m not so sure. She’s chatty and bubbly and hardly realizes that I’m saying almost nothing as we walk towards the club. I can’t help but think about the gifts and the maintenance man, wondering what the connection is between the two. Did he leave the gifts himself, or was it just a coincidence that he was in that photograph? I have to find out.

  We can hear the music from the club before we even see it. The bass is pounding loudly. As soon as it comes into view, I can see it’s filled with people. People are laughing and dancing, both inside and outside of the club. The sides of the club are open and offer a direct view of the beach and the water.

  “Oh my gosh, this is going to be amazing,” Tawni says.

  I nod, convincing myself that I need to at least try to have a good time. “All right, let’s do this, Tawni. First, we must get drinks.”

  We head into the club and straight to the bar. Tawni snaps her fingers, trying to get the bartender’s attention. In doing so, she elbows me in the shoulder and I back into someone sitting on a stool at the bar.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say, turning around.

  The man from the luau the first night, the one that hit on me, is sitting there, a closed-off expression on his face. “Oh my gosh, it’s you. I’m so sorry,” I say again. “I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

  “It’s whatever,” he says, returning to his drink.

  “Hey, I want to apologize for the other night at the luau. I was rude. I was in a really bad mood and I took it out on you.”

  “Yeah, you were quite rude,” he replies.

  “Please, let me make it up to you,” I beg. I look at his almost empty glass. ”Can I buy you another drink?”

  He glances at his drink, then nods.

  The bartender approaches. “What can I get you?”

  “I’ll have a gin and tonic and another one of whatever he’s having,” I reply. The bartender nods and immediately begins preparing our drinks.

  The guy gestures to the seat next to him. “Would you like to sit?”

  I glance back at Tawni, who’s sporting a silly grin. I raise an eyebrow at her.

  “Um, I forgot I need to go back to the room to get my hat,” Tawni says hastily.

  “Your hat?” I question, laughing.

  “Yeah, my hat. Um, I’ll be right back. You enjoy yourself.”

  She rushes off into the crowd. I shake my head and smile as I take the offered seat.

  “Your friend really needs a hat for this indoor party?” He comments, amused.

  “No,” I laugh. “She was just trying to give us some time alone. She’s probably not even heading back to the room. I’m Chloe, by the way.”

  He chuckles. “Stephan.”

  I reach my hand out to shake his. “Lovely to meet you properly,” I say.

  He nods. “So, what brings you to this resort?” He asks, a hint of hesitancy in his voice.

  I take a moment, deciding how much to share, but then decide to just be honest. “My dad passed away recently. Tawni has been trying for months to pull me out of my grief. This was her idea, a sort of reset.”

  “I’m so sorry,” he says sincerely. “I didn’t know.”

  “Of course you didn’t. Still, it doesn’t excuse the way I treated you the other night.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I forgive you,” he assures me with a warm smile.

  “Thanks. You’re cute, by the way. What brings you here to this remote, isolated location?”

  His dark skin looks like there’s a tinge of pink in the cheeks. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” I comment quickly.

  “No, I’m not embarrassed,” he deflects. “Um, I’m here for work. My company is having a retreat and I’m the tech guy. So, it’s not really a retreat for me. I’m always on duty, making sure everything’s functioning. The sound, computers, internet. It’s all on me.”

  “Wow, that sounds stressful.”

  “You have no idea.” His demeanor shifts a bit as a he contemplates all his responsibilities.

  Suddenly, it hits me. “Oh my gosh, maybe you can help me.”

  His guard instantly returns and he looks at me warily. “Help you with what?”

  There have been some weird things happening to me ever since I arrived on this island. Someone has been leaving strange, personal gifts in my room. These gifts indicate that they know more about my life than most of my friends do.

  “Wow, that’s pretty creepy,” he comments.

  “I know,” I admit. “But someone has to be physically dropping them off. I thought maybe if I could access the surveillance cameras, I could identify the person who seems to be stalking me.”

  “How do you expect to access the cameras?”

  “That’s where you come in. Have you ever hacked into something before?”

  “You make it sound so easy,” he chuckles.

  “Well, I don’t know much about it. But you said you’re a tech guy, so I thought maybe...”

  “I could hack into the cameras for you to see who’s been leaving these gifts?” He interrupts.

  “Exactly. Is that a dumb idea?”

  “I’m not sure I really trust you. If I get caught, I’ll not only lose my job, but I’ll be blacklisted in the industry. And, to be frank, you weren’t exactly pleasant when we first met.”

  “I know and I’m so sorry. That’s not usually like me. I promise I won’t tell anyone. Trust me, I can keep a secret.”

  “I don’t know. I’ll need to think about it,” he says. “Maybe if I have some time at the end of my workday, I can look into it.”

  Grateful, I put my hand on his hand. As soon as our hands touch, I feel a surprising flutter in my chest. I look up into his eyes and sense he feels it too.

  “Thank you,” I murmur, meeting his eyes. “Anything you can do would be amazing.”

  He quickly withdraws his hand and clears his throat. “I should probably go,” he says, looking flustered. “I’m sure I’ll see you around and I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

  “Thanks so much,” I reply as he walks away. Now, my mind is preoccupied with three things. Two little red gifts and a handsome stranger.