Book 1 - Chapter 9 (1/2)
”Home,” Grace sighed as she tossed her keys and purse on the small table beside her front door. She padded to her bedroom, the sound of honking cars filling her ears. Sunlight burst directly into her line of vision from the open blinds, too bright, too cheery.
She was not in a good mood.
She'd spent the past week with the Argonauts. While they had been perfectly solicitous of her, they had failed to find any clue as to her brother's whereabouts. Neither had she. Every day she'd called his cell phone. Every day she'd called his apartment. He never answered. She'd had no luck tracking down what flight he'd taken out of Brazil.
She finally caught the red-eye and here she was, though she didn't know what she was going to do. File a missing person's report? Hire a P.I.? Uttering another sigh, she picked up the cordless phone perched on the edge of her desk. Three new voice mails, all of them from her mom. Grace dialed her brother's number. One ring, two. Three, four, five. No answer.
She called his cell. No answer there, either.
She hung up and punched in her mother's number.
”h.e.l.lo,” her mom answered.
”Hey, Mom.”
”Grace Elizabeth Carlyle. My caller ID says you're calling from home.” Accusation layered her voice.
Grace pictured her sitting at the kitchen counter, one hand on her hip while she glared at the red checkered curtains hanging over the window.
”I flew home last night.”
”I didn't realize Brazil had yet to embrace modern technology.”
”What are you talking about?”
”Phones, Grace. I didn't realize there were no phones in Brazil.”
She rolled her eyes. ”The rumor that you heard, the one that says there are pay phones on every tree in the jungle. Well, it's false.”
Ignoring her, her mom said, ”Not one call did I receive from my only daughter. Not one. You know how your aunt worries.”
”Is that Gracie?” a second female said in the background. Her ”worried” aunt Sophie was probably standing over her mom's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
The two sisters had lived together for the last five years. They were polar opposites, but managed to complement each other in a strange sort of way. Her mom was schedule-oriented and thrived on fixing other people's problems. Sophie was a free spirit who caused problems.
”Yes, it's Grace,” her mom said. ”She's calling to tell us she's alive and well and not dead in the jungle like you feared.”
”Like I feared?” Sophie laughed. ”Ha!”
”How are you feeling, Mom?” Her mom's health had been dismal lately. Weight loss. Fatigue. They didn't know exactly what the cause was.
”Fine. Just fine.”
”Let me talk to her,” Sophie said. Slight pause, crackling static, then, ”Did you get lucky?”
”I don't want to hear this,” her mom groaned in the background.
Automatically Grace opened her mouth to say yes, she'd made out with a s.e.xy, tattooed warrior and had nearly given him everything a woman could possibly give a man. Then she clamped her mouth closed. Dreams, or mirages, or whatever Darius had been, did not count in Sophie's estimation.
Over the past week, she'd mulled over her experience in Atlantis. She always came back to the same conclusion. None of it had been real. Couldn't possibly have been real.
”No,” she said, careful to keep the disappointment from her voice. ”I didn't.”
”Did you wear the outfit I bought for you?”
The leopard-print spandex skirt with matching low-cut, too tight s.h.i.+rt? ”I didn't have a chance.”
”Men go crazy for that sort of thing, Gracie honey. They're like fish. You have to hook them with the proper bait, then reel them in.”
Her mom reclaimed the phone with a muttered, ”I will not allow you to give my daughter lessons on seduction.” Then to Grace she said, ”How's Alex doing? Is he eating enough? He never eats enough when he goes on these expeditions of his.”
With each word, dread uncurled inside of Grace. ”So you haven't talked to him?” she asked, hoping her fear and uncertainty were masked. ”He hasn't called you?”
”Well, no,” her mother said. ”Is he back? He's back, isn't he, and just didn't call?”
”No, I just-” Just what? Don't know if he's eating enough because no one's heard from him in several weeks?
”What's going on, Grace?” Worry tinged her mom's tone. ”You took tins trip specifically to see your brother. Why don't you know how he is?”
”Does this have anything to do with the man who called us?” Sophie asked, her voice clear enough that Grace knew she was still standing over her mom's shoulder.
”What man?” she demanded. ”When?”
”Someone called for Alex about a week ago,” her mom said. ”Asked if we'd heard from him, if we knew where he was. Grace, what's going on? You're worrying me.”
To tell the truth, or not tell the truth... She loved her mom and hated to cause her any worry. Yet, as Alex's mother, Gretchen had a right to know that her son was missing. The worry might make her sicker, though. She'd tell her, Grace decided then, but not now, and not over the phone. She'd wait a few days and see if she learned anything new. No reason to cause her mom anxiety until absolutely necessary.
”You know how Alex likes those doughnuts,” she said, evading. And not lying. ”I can say with one hundred percent surety that he's not eating right.” He never did.
”So he's okay?” her mom asked, relieved.
”I'd tell you if anything was wrong, wouldn't I?” Again, evading and not lying, since she'd posed the words as a question.
”You've always told the truth,” her mom said proudly, then tsked under her tongue. ”I swear, your brother is a walking advertis.e.m.e.nt for heart disease. Maybe I'll send him some soy m.u.f.fins. I can FedEx them. Does FedEx deliver to Brazil?”
”Not in the heart of the jungle.”
”I'll send him a Cindy Crawford workout DVD ,” Sophie called.
”I doubt his tent has an electrical outlet.”
”He has to go to his hotel room sometime,” her mom said.
Grace rubbed her temple. ”I hate to do this, but I've got to let you go.”
”What! Why? You haven't told me about your trip. Did you do any shopping? Did you visit with the natives? I hear they walk around... ” She paused and uttered a scandalized gasp, ”Naked.”
”Unfortunately I didn't see them. Which is too bad, since I'd promised to take pictures for Aunt Sophie.”
”Speaking of Sophie, she's wondering if you brought her a souvenir.”
”I was not,” her aunt said.
”I'll come by in a few days and give you all the details. Promise.”
”But-”
”Bye. Love you.” Grace gently placed the receiver in its cradle and cringed. Oh, she was going to be punished for that one. A never-ending lecture, followed by a reminder every time her mother needed a favor. ”Do you remember the time you hung up on me? I cried for days.”
Rolling her eyes, Grace punched in one last number. Her friend Meg was head of reservations for a major airline, so she had Meg check all databases for Alex's name. He wasn't listed, but that didn't mean anything. He could have flown private.