The Daddy P.I. Casefiles: The First Collection by Frost, J (great novels .txt) π
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His phone rings six time before it goes to voicemail.
No, Daddy wouldnβt ignore me. Not when heβs late. Even if he was super busy.
Unless heβs hurt.
Thatβs silly thinking. Loganβs a big, strong man. He was in the military. He can take care of himself.
Heβs seventeen minutes late. Nineteen minutes now.
I call him again. Six rings and voicemail.
Daddy, where are you?
This is all wrong. I can feel it. I donβt always trust my gut-feelings. I was wrong about Ashley. For freaking years. But I can feel this in my tummy. All the way down to my bones, actually. Somethingβs wrong. I know it.
Clutching my phone, I run the few steps to the dresser and throw on the first clothes I lay my hands on.
Once Iβm dressed, I do something I should never do. Daddy wouldnβt do it to me. Iβm going to be so embarrassed if heβs in his room and occupied with something important. Heβs going to punish me, really punish me. I shiver with indecision before I stiffen my spine. Iβll take it. Somethingβs wrong. Daddyβs in trouble. I open my phone, thumb to my apps and open the phone tracking app I bought when my mother developed dementia. She left the house several times without telling anyone where she was going, got confused, and couldnβt find her way home. But she always took her phone with her.
I key in Loganβs number. The app cycles. And cycles. And cycles. Maybe it doesnβt work outside the U.S.? I never checked if the app was international. Oh, sweet Lord, how will I find him if itβs not?
I knock on the adjoining door again while the blue whizzy thing goes round and round. No answer. My knuckles sting from all the knocking.
Twenty-two minutes. Somethingβs so wrong. Am I being stupid? Am I overreacting? My hateful internal voice hisses that I am. Logan doesnβt have to account to me for his every minute.
A drop falls and splats on my phone screen. I wipe the tear away and GPS coordinates pop up under my thumb.
I have no idea what they mean. How do GPS coordinates translate into a location on a ship? At home, the app gave me a street address. Dear God, how do I find him?
I grab my room key, shove my feet into Keds, and run out the door.
I donβt know where Iβm going. I donβt know how to find Chief Licence or the captain. She said if I needed anything, I should come to her, but how do I find her?
No one is where they should be. The lounges are all full of passengers watching the storm lash the windows but no crew. Where are they?
I finally remember the desk at the far end of the Lido restaurant. Thereβs always been a white-uniformed purser standing there while weβve been eating. Will someone be there now? I hope so. Itβs the only place I can think of.
Getting to the Lido restaurant is its own challenge, since theyβve closed the pool deck, but I finally stand in front of the uniformed man, pleading, tears dripping off my chin. Whatever pathetic picture I make, it gets everyoneβs attention. Within a minute, a nice lady in a Pink Pearl polo shirt has her arm around me and is telling me everything will be okay. Sheβs trying to get me to drink from a bottle of water, when Chief Licence appears at a run.
He takes me away from the nice lady and holds my shoulders while he listens to my barely-coherent explanation. He nods briskly and escorts me away from the purserβs station, through a maze of corridors, to a door Iβm not allowed to go through, where he leaves me with strict instructions not to panic.
While I wait, I call Daddy, text him. Each time the call goes to voicemail, each time the text shows as delivered but not read, it gets harder for me to breathe.
The door opens and Captain Lopez steps out. She puts her hand under my chin. When she holds my eyes for a long moment, I feel the warm tide of her power. More like Gabrielaβs than Loganβs, but it has the same strong current as Daddyβs. It backs my panic up a step. Allows a little more air into my lungs.
She takes my phone from my hand and tucks it into her pocket before she puts her thumb on my wrist and rubs. I stare at her in surprise.
βI saw Logan doing this with you,β she says. βI want you to breathe slowly, Emily, in and out, for five breaths.β
βBu-bu-but,β I blubber.
βI will help you find Logan, Emily. First, we need to get you squared away. Five breaths. In and out.β
When Iβve taken the five breaths, and the high humming in my ears thatβs telling me Iβm about to pass out drops to a hiss, I blurt out why Iβm so frightened. Captain Lopezβs dark eyesβas dark as Loganβs and with no emotion in them, oh, Lordy, what if she doesnβt believe me?βflick over my face.
βI understand,β she says. βLogan seems very reliable and youβre right to be worried that heβs so late. Carey said you had a way to find his phone. Letβs find his phone, and with any luck, weβll find the man himself. Keep breathing, in and out. Do you want me to keep hold of your wrist?β
I shake my head. Only Logan should touch me, although I am very grateful to her for halting my panic.
βStay relaxed, Emily,β she tells me. βYouβve done the right thing. Letβs find him.β
I nod and show her how to use the app on my phone. She doesnβt take me into the control room. I guess passengers arenβt allowed. But after another minuteβand why is everything taking so long?!βshe returns with the two officers and a very
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