“You take that side, and I’ll take this one,” she told Hailey.
In short order they had their baskets delivered. The last room was next to her family’s former apartment, which Torie had occupied when she was Hailey’s age. Her gaze lingered on the door. The note she’d found in the safe had rocked her world.
Hadn’t her mother thought about what her death would do to her daughter? Until reading that note, she would have sworn her mother never harbored any thoughts of suicide. Was she wrong about everything?
“Want to see where I lived when I was your age?” she asked Hailey.
Hailey nodded vigorously. “You lived here in the hotel?”
“Right here.” Before she could change her mind, Torie unlocked the door and pushed it open. “This is a two-bedroom apartment.”
Light spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding door to the balcony. The light scent of Clive Christian No. 1 lingered in the air just like when she’d been here with her dad. Had someone been in Mom’s bedroom?
She moved across the white carpet to the master bedroom. The blue silk bedspread held wrinkles as though someone had been sitting there recently. Her mom’s cologne sat on the gleaming marble surface of the dressing table.
Her gaze went to the closet, which stood open. She’d closed it when she was here five days ago, hadn’t she? Her throat closed at the thought of stepping into the closet. She shook her head and backed away. Wild horses couldn’t drag her into that space.
Hailey’s voice broke through her fear. “This was your room?”
“N-No. It was my parents’ room. My room is on the other side of the living room.” Which she hadn’t even gone into when she’d been here with her dad. She exited the room at a near run and walked quickly past the white sofa and gold chairs to her bedroom door. It was closed, and her hand fumbled at the knob. Memories flooded in of playing with Lisbeth here and board games with her parents. Of warm summer days and splashing in the pool and the ocean.
Torie had an idyllic childhood until that awful day her mom plummeted off the roof.
She twisted the doorknob and pushed into the room. It was the same size as the other bedroom, but it held two twin beds covered in pink silk Little Mermaid spreads.
Hailey rushed to throw herself on the closest bed. “You liked The Little Mermaid!”
Torie touched the fine silk. “My mom had these custom made for me.”
She looked around at the original movie posters on the walls. She had a clear memory of herself in this bedroom reading in the fuzzy white lounge in the corner. She moved to the bookcase beside it and saw the complete collection of Little House on the Prairie books beside an assortment of picture books and early readers. She nearly gasped when she saw her old notebooks on the bottom shelf.
She pulled one out and opened it to see her childish block letters as she practiced her printing. Her mother’s smiling face was more vivid than she could ever remember since she’d left this island. Her mom had spent a lot of time here with her. They’d played games at the table beside the white cabinet. If she opened the doors to the cabinet, she’d find every children’s game available on the shelves.
There were some loose pages. She shook them out and gathered them up, then stopped when she recognized Lisbeth’s handwriting. The missing journal pages!
Hailey slid off the bed and came to her side to take her hand. “You look like you’re going to cry. Are you sad?”
Torie squeezed the little girl’s hand. “I haven’t been in this room since I was ten, and I was remembering my mom. I miss her.” Best not to mention the pages. She couldn’t wait to read them.
Hailey’s green eyes filled with tears, and she nodded. “I still miss Mommy, and it makes me sad that I can’t remember her voice. Do you remember your mom’s voice?”
“Yes, but I was ten when she died, and you were only five. Maybe your dad has some videos of her you can watch so you can hear her again.”
“He does. I watch them sometimes, and I remember better for a little while, then it goes away.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Maybe this hadn’t been a good idea to bring her in here. Torie hadn’t expected to be so emotional. “Let’s go see if there’s anything else we need to do to prepare the rooms.”
When she led Hailey back to the living room, she smelled her mom’s perfume again, even stronger this time. She frowned and looked around. A glimmer on the carpet caught her eyes—a glass bottle lay broken. Moving closer, she recognized her mom’s perfume bottle. The one that had been on the dressing table just minutes ago.
She pushed Hailey to the door. “Run!”
The hair stood on the back of her neck as she followed Hailey through the door and pulled it shut behind them. She took Hailey’s hand and ran for the elevator.
Chapter 31
“We have no idea who that hostile diver Simon caught nearly a week ago was.” Commander Chen seemed his normal, unperturbed self behind his large desk except for the way he pursed his lips.
Joe stood in Chen’s office and waited for more questions. He’d asked Joe to stop by to discuss the bombing incident last Friday morning that had taken out Joe’s boat. It was the second time in a week he’d been in front of Chen, and he could go a long time without being called on the carpet again. None of this had been his fault, but it felt like he’d failed in some way.
Joe stared at Chen. “Was there any clear information about the bomb’s origins or the materials the guy had? Or of his identity? Or even what his intent was?”
The commander shrugged. “The materials were common and easily obtained. And while we don’t have any clear evidence, I suspect he wanted to incapacitate the sub and breach the defenses to get aboard and steal top-secret details once it sank.”
“And the diver? American or foreign?” The question had been burning through Joe ever since he found the swimmer.
“Hard to say. No ID on the guy, no clear ethnic appearance—not that it would have told us much since we’re so diverse. We’re running his prints, but it will take some time to figure this out.”
“You think this attack had anything to do with my boat being blown up? Was I specifically targeted?”
Chen steepled his fingers. “I don’t much believe in coincidence, so yeah. While we can’t figure out how they’re connected yet, it can’t be accidental. It would make sense whoever is behind this wanted to take out the mammal guardians. The best way to do that would be to destroy the people who train them.”
“Are you ordering extra sea mammal patrols?”
The commander nodded. “And extra patrol boats. Good work out there during the war games, by the way.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’d like you to take charge of all the sea lions for us and get them out in the water, pronto. Your expertise might be crucial in the next few days. I’ll arrange for a place for you to stay. And I want to take possession of the three sea lions today. We’ve already paid for them, and we need them.”
“I’ll leave the sea lions with you, but I’m sorry, Commander, I can’t take over the Navy’s work with them right now. I need to get back home. My daughter was kidnapped on Saturday.” Joe told Chen about the incident, and the man listened with an impassive expression. “I don’t trust anyone else to guard her but me. This is a true hardship. While I’d like to be part of the protection along the coast this week, my daughter is my primary responsibility.”