Saving Grace (17 page)

Zach reached for the phone, to call the front desk, but it rang without avail.  He slammed it back in the cradle, and spun around.

“Sheesh.  This place sucks.”  Zach smirked, and stared to the ceiling.  “I bet you’re laughing where ever you are – aren’t you Dad?”

He looked around the room, sure that his dad was taunting him with every action he took.  Most recently he swore he heard his father’s crazy laughter after one of his repeated failed attempts to find Grace.

If Zach didn’t know any better he swore he was going crazy, but he quickly shook the thought off.  After all Grace was the reason he was in this mess.  He lifted himself off the bed, finished the rest of his beer, and left his room for the front desk.

The front desk clerk saw him coming and grinned to her manager. 

“Look, it’s that crazy tourist again.  The one who talks to himself.”

“He’s da’kine … loco.”  Her manager, Alana, grimaced, swirling her finger by her head.  “Lehua, call security up here in case we need em.”

Lehua quickly spoke into her walkie-talkie for assistance, just as Zach walked into their lobby.

Alani stepped up to give Lehua the space she needed to alert security.

“And how can we help you?”  Alani smiled, but felt very repulsed by her guest.  It looked like he hadn’t shaved or showered in a couple days, and he reeked of cheap alcohol.

“You can start by answering the phones!”  He barked.  “What kind of place do you run here?” 

“I’m sorry.  I can assure you if we didn’t answer it was because we were on the phone helping someone else.”  Alani gritted her teeth.

Lehua stepped up behind her manager with a nod, and whispered, “Brock is on his way.”

Zach saw the whispers and knew it had to be about him.  They all whispered about him.

“I know you’re talking about me.” He glared at the women behind the counter. 

Lehua shook her head.  “No, sir.  I was just sharing some hotel information about our security officer.  He’s on his way up to the lobby now.”

Lehua didn’t see any point in keeping the information from him.  In fact, it might deter any more odd behavior from their unwanted guest.

Brock, only five foot eight, stepped through the doors and could instantly see why the girls called him.  He’d seen this haole, or white guy, on the property earlier and got the distinct feeling he was trouble.

Brock, as wide as a tree trunk, was Samoan in ancestry, and it gave him the solid frame he needed to do his job.  One look at him, and most people became very tame.

Zach saw him step through the doors, and shuffled.  He didn’t want any trouble.

“Look, I’m just trying to find out where the nearest mall is.  I need to find someone.  I mean, something.”  Zach mumbled.

Brock’s eyes narrowed.  “There’s a few in town.  Two of them off the top of my head - one in Pearl City, and one downtown.”

“Which location are you interested in?” Lehua asked politely.

“All of them. Can you give me a map?” Zach’s eyes narrowed at the girls behind the front desk.

Lehua nodded and pointed to the wall next to their front doors.  “There are all the maps you’ll ever need.”

Zach brushed past Brock and grabbed almost every map they had, before rushing out of the lobby.

The women watched him leave and shuddered.

“He gives me the creeps.  If he cleaned up he could be handsome, but there’s something off about his eyes.”  Alana surmised.

Lehua drew in her shoulders and shuddered. 

“What do you think he meant about trying to find someone?”

Brock pulled out his cell and scrolled through his contacts. 

“I don’t know, but I’m going to call a couple of my buddies, who work security at the malls, and give them description.  Just in case.”

Brock nodded and put the phone up to his ear before walking out the door.

Zach’s strategy had been to hit the smaller retail stores first, within the mall, before the larger anchor stores.  He knew this wouldn’t alert any unwanted attention, as larger stores had their own security staff and cameras.  The lower profile he could keep, the better.

After three frustrating days of checking from store to store, he had no leads, and was resigned to make his way to Neiman Marcus.  After leaving Nine West, with his final failed attempt at finding anything, he was even more ready to punish her.

When I find you …
he steamed.  Spending this much time at the mall was not on his bucket list.

He silently cursed himself for not paying more attention to Grace’s spending habits when she used to drag him shopping.  So far he’d struck out at every woman’s clothing store at Ala Moana.

As he walked down the corridor, a display of bright handbags adorning a handful of fashionable mannequins caught his eye.  He saw the pops of color from the window and hoped this place might exactly where Grace would shop.

I may not know much about her brands, but if there is one thing I learned … she loves bags. 
He looked up to the storefront with a gleam in his eye. 

Zach walked in to sounds of pulsating music and watched as young women sorted through the racks, and envisioned Grace, as she delighted in what color suited her best.

Casually, he strode up to the first employee he found, and turned on the charm.

“Excuse me?”  He tilted his head and sent her a warm expression.  “I was hoping you’d help me?

The young lady placed the last pair of jeans on the shelf and turned to greet him. “Yes?  What brings you in today, sir?”

“Well.”  Zach paused before lying.  “My sister is missing.”  He pulled Grace’s photo out from his pocket. “And I was hoping you could tell me if you’d seen her?”

Zach searched the associate’s eyes for any glimmer of recognition.

She took one glance and said excitedly, “Do you know who that looks like?  Grace Aundine!”

“Yeah, our family gets that a lot.  She’s a dead ringer, but no.” He smirked.

She studied the picture closer, trying to place her.

His hopes fell when she shook her head, and looked up to him with a blank expression.

“We get so many people in here, but I would remember someone who looked like her,” she said sadly.

“What’s your name?” Zach mirrored her sad smile.

“Lilly,” she said softly.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen her,” he asked.  “Here, take another look please.  She loves handbags and bold colors, and I think she might have been in here … as this place seems like her style.”

Lilly’s eyes dropped back down to the picture.  He could tell she was trying to recall anything from the last few weeks.

She shook her head once more.  At that moment another associate walked up, curious to see what was going on in her store.

“Is everything okay here?” 

“Yes, this man is looking for his sister.  And, I was just telling him that we get so many people in here.  I can’t remember if I’ve seen her or not.”  Lilly spoke to her co-worker.

“I’m Jackie, the store manager.  Can I take a look?”  She reached for the photo. 

“Sure … please.”  Zach handed the picture over.

The manager nodded slowly.  “We did have a young lady in here a few weeks ago.  This could be her … but I’m not sure.  If it was - she was looking at our newest handbag, but we didn’t have the color that she wanted.  I remember because I asked one of my employees to go check our inventory in the stockroom.”  She paused, and added, “I remember she had a black eye, and I wondered how such a pretty and classy lady got such a shiner.”

Lilly’s eyes lit up with hope from her manager’s words.  “Maybe it’s her then?”

The manager shook her head.  “It could be, but I’m not sure from this picture.  Like Lilly said – we get so many ladies in here.  Sorry we’ve not been much help.”

Zach’s insides hummed. He’d found one simple clue … one crumb.  Now he just had to follow it to see where it led him.

“Thanks so much.”  Zach took his picture back. “Do you remember anything else she might have said or done?”

The store manager shrugged, and winced, trying to remember.  “If it was her - she was with a big guy.  He was one good looking dude too.”

“Really?”  He grimaced, and made mental note to make Grace suffer a bit more.  “Do you know where they went after they left here?”

“Um, not really.  I remember she mentioned something about the food court.  You might try there?”

Zach’s mouth twisted, but he managed to turn his scowl into a grin before the girls realized it.  “Thank you.  You’ve been so helpful.”

“I hope you find your sister.”  Lilly’s puppy dog eyes searched his face, with empathy.

Zach nodded and turned to leave.  He turned back and watched Lilly wave at him.  He half-heartedly waved over his shoulder, before facing the crowds at the mall. 

He stood in place just under the doorway, as his mind walked through the conversation that just took place. 

She had someone with her?  Of course.

Infuriated, his eyes bore down on each mall walker as they passed him by.  Instantly the buzzing started once more in his head, and at any moment he felt like he could pop.  The thought of Grace ditching him at the airport only to find someone else was unspeakable betrayal.

With each person that or group that passed, his paranoia flared by the second.  What would appear to anyone as a normal crowd at the mall became a wild crowd passing judgment on him.  It appeared as if they were laughing at him for chasing after a girl, who had obviously played him like a fool.

Zach sneered at a group of teenaged girls, who left the store behind him, laughing.

How dare they make fun of me!

With each heartbeat, their laughs seemed to echo through his head, causing the buzzing sounds to amp up with intensity. 

He doubled over, and grabbed his temples as if in pain, and yelled, “Stop it!  Stop!”

The handful of teenagers turned to laugh at him, this time for real, and then scurried away.

Zach stood back up and zeroed in on the girls, who’d started him on his downward spiral.  They were quickly merging in with mall traffic, and soon disappeared.

He breathed in and slowly reached beneath his windbreaker, touching the handle of a small revolver. 

He saw their heads bobble through the busy crowd at the mall, and contemplated taking care of them.

Although he still had a grip on his gun, Zach did nothing drastic.  After all - this wasn’t his plan, and now wasn’t the time.  These people weren’t the target … Grace was.

The store manager’s head popped up from the counter, at the sound of Zach’s yells. Even with the loud music that played within her store, it wasn’t hard to hear his angry tirade.

As a manager, her concern is the safety of her store, so at first her thoughts were of him, hoping he wasn’t in trouble.  However, she quickly saw what everyone else did within the vicinity.  He was yelling at no one … only himself.

She called Lilly over to cover the counter, and picked up the phone to call security.  Something didn’t sit right with her, and she hoped she didn’t lead a mad man toward finding a girl, who was trying to stay lost.

The food court was another bust as far as anyone’s recollection.  No one had seen Grace, and no one cared to talk to him.  They were too concerned with their busy crowd, and he was getting tired.  So he purchased an Orange Julius, and took a seat at the nearest table, to contemplate his next step.

With in seconds, he saw a mall security guard making his way through the court, his eyes intently scanning the crowd.

Zach ducked his head, and quickly slid out of his chair and stepped out, unnoticed, through the automatic doors to the parking garage.

              He quickly jogged to his rental car, and unlocked his door when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

              Behind a car a couple rows over, the top of someone’s head protruded, like they were crouched between cars.  To him, it looked like that person was laying in wait, ready to pounce at any minute. 

              Zach locked his door back, bounded across the parking lot, and snuck up behind the young man without his knowledge.  He quietly looked down the young man’s line of sight, and saw his target.

              About 20 feet away, a young girl, bound by multiple packages, was struggling to get everything in her car.  He looked behind the would-be purse-snatcher to see his accomplice a few cars away, who was hiding behind a pillar and waiting for the hand off. 

              Zach stared down the accomplice, who turned in a different direction, trying to play if cool, like he was oblivious to the whole situation. 

Zach then walked up close enough behind the young man, who was crouched down between cars, and whispered, “So what’s your plan, dude?  Snatch and run?”

Startled, the kid spun around, bumping back into the car closest to him. 

“What the?  You crazy?  I’m not doing anything!  I lost something down under the car!”