Page 57 of Paradise & Vodka
I felt as though I already knew the group of friends given the stories Nick had told me on the way here, and just like Nick, I hugged each one, thankful they had come for us. "It's nice to meet you all. Nick has told me so much about you."
"It's good to meet you too," Paul replied. "Let's get you kids out of here."
Nick and I were driven to the other side of the island that wasn't impacted by the tsunami. The entire drive, he held my hand as I replayed everything over in my head. Was it good luck how everything had turned out, or bad luck? Or did it have nothing to do with luck at all, and it was Douglas's doing somehow? We still needed to figure out where my family was and if Douglas and his father were behind the kidnapping in some way.
"What happens now?" Nick asked.
Gabe was driving with Brad in the passenger seat of a black Suburban. Paul, Joss, and Seth were in another one, and there was another vehicle with four men—a private team Joss knew and had hired to come rescue us.
"We go home," Gabe replied.
I sucked in a quick breath. I wanted nothing more than to go home, but I couldn't leave. "What about my family?"
"We can find out when we're home safe," Nick answered, squeezing my hand.
"No." I shook my head. "I can't leave until I know."
"Where were they when the tsunami hit?" Brad asked.
I shrugged. "We don't know."
"What has the news said about the tsunami?" Nick questioned.
"That it hit, and the authorities are still searching for survivors," Gabe answered.
"Any deaths?" Nick inquired further.
"The last we heard, no," Gabe confirmed.
I blew out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
"See?" Nick pulled me closer to him. "Everything is going to be okay."
I thought for a moment. "Yeah, but I can't leave without seeing them."
"What if they already left?" Nick questioned.
"You think … You think they would without knowing if I was okay?"
He smiled tightly and looked at me as though I should know the answer. "Baby …"
Nick was right. My family probably would leave without knowing if I had survived even though I thought we’d had a breakthrough, but that wasn't me. I loved my family—even my sister—and I wasn't going to leave without at least knowing they were alive. "I know, but I can't leave."
He closed his eyes briefly and nodded slowly. "Okay, then we won't leave."
Gabe and Brad shared a look, both of them grinning at each other as though they knew some sort of secret.
Nick leaned forward and squeezed Gabe's shoulder. "Can you drive us to a hotel?"
"Yeah, after we meet at the airport and go over the plan."
The airport Gabe drove us to wasn't the one we had flown into when we’d arrived. That one had been damaged by the tsunami. Brad had given me his phone while Gabe drove so I could try to find my family, but I didn't know any phone numbers to call because all the numbers were saved in my missing phone. I logged onto social media, and once again struck out. Everleigh, my mother, and Douglas hadn't posted since the night of the wedding. My father didn't have a page.
I stayed in the car while everyone, including Nick, got out. We were still waiting for the other vehicle to arrive, and I knew there was nothing I could do while they came up with a new plan.
The passenger door opened. It was Joss. "Nick said you're staying."
"Just until I find out what happened to my family." I didn't even know where we would sleep, and I wanted a shower so badly.
