So phone in hand, I did my best.
Finally, I was close enough that she should be just around the bend.
Only the trail I was on didn’t curve; it remained straight and steady right past where the app said Kelsey should be.
I stopped, puzzled.
Maybe a different trail would circle around to where she was.
I trekked back to the last path I’d been on and took the next turn toward Kelsey, sure that that path would lead me to her.
It didn’t.
Once again, I found the trail I walked curving away from where my phone said my target was.
Sighing, I cast my eyes around to make sure there was no one else around, and then stepped off the path and into a wooded area that I hoped wasn’t off limits. Twigs crunched beneath my boots; and even though I was doing something that could potentially get me kicked out, I felt at ease.
I’d always been more at home in the wilderness. You’d think growing up in Texas that I would have had my fill of it, but not in my family. Golfing was about as close to nature as my father got.
I shrugged off my thoughts and worries and sank into the sounds of nature. I focused on the GPS and enjoyed the steady rhythm of my steps through the woods.
I slowed when I neared the area where Kelsey was supposed to be, so that I didn’t give myself away. Stepping carefully, I moved quietly between the trees. I kept expecting to peek around a trunk and see her, but she wasn’t there.
Not even when I was right on top of the signal.
That’s when I saw her backpack, tossed into the dirt beside a bush, a water bottle, some lipstick, and a passport spilling out of its open top.
My heart thudded once, and then picked up, double time.
Adrenaline sharpened my vision. Careful to keep an eye on my surroundings, I stole past my hiding spot and knelt beside the backpack. I flipped open the passport, and there she was. God, even her passport picture was gorgeous. Long tousled blond hair and vivid green eyes.
I closed the little book, squeezing it between my fingers, then scanned my surroundings again.
Maybe my original inclination to panic hadn’t been so far off.
I made myself slow down and consider the facts.
She’d not made any phone calls upon arrival, unless she’d made them in the restroom at the airport. That was the only time she was out of my sight. I’d followed her on the metro and through the streets to her hostel. I’d watched her check in, and everything had seemed normal.
Assuming she would take a little bit to get settled, I’d snuck off around the corner to the inn we’d passed by on the way to her hostel.
I tried to recall her and the guy she’d gone off with on the moped.
Her cheek had rested against his back, so he was taller. She was fairly tall herself, so I guessed that would put him at maybe six foot three. My height, or close to it. He’d worn a helmet, so I had no idea what he looked like, only that he was bigger, enough to overpower her, if that’s what he wanted.
Her hands had gripped his jacket, not his waist. What did that mean? If he were a boyfriend, surely she would have held on to him instead of his clothes.
Something in me relaxed at that notion, but at the same time more anxiety flooded my already aching head.
If he wasn’t a boyfriend, that meant she’d gone off with a complete stranger. But why?
Just when I was about to give up hope of my stealthy role and start yelling her name, I heard laughter behind me.
I edged around the bush, and saw two legs stretching out behind a tree. Dark jeans and boots, not the short-shorts and strappy shoes that Kelsey had been wearing.
I retreated back behind another line of trees, and then carefully maneuvered my way closer.
A white shirt hung, snagged on a branch, swaying in the floral breeze. That should have given me a clue. But my mind was still in mission mode, so I continued my slow, silent steps until I saw Kelsey—shirtless . . . straddling who I guessed was her moped driver.
I mouthed a curse word, but I didn’t look away.
Her skin was smooth and tan, and I was fascinated by the trail of her spine, the way it deepened like an empty riverbed when she arched forward. The tips of her hair danced across her back, swaying with her movements. Her bra was emerald green, almost like her eyes; and my mouth went dry when she leaned back—and I got a full view of her. I could almost ignore the guy who was with her and the way he trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone. I could almost pretend that this wasn’t a billion different kinds of wrong.
Almost.
I was stuck, frozen in place, helpless to do anything but stare at her, at the complete abandon written across her face.
Who knows how long I would have stayed there if the guy hadn’t looked up and met my eyes.
I mouthed a few four-letter words and spun away, pressing my back against the tree.
He said something, and I got ready to run.
“What?” Kelsey asked, her voice so breathy and sensuous that it brought the image of her back into my mind with such perfection that I would have believed I was seeing it for real.
Damn it. This is a mission. Focus.
The guy repeated himself, louder this time, in another language.
“That sounds gorgeous, but I don’t know what you’re saying.”
Slow and unsure, the guy said, “Man.”
“Yes, that’s you,” Kelsey replied with a laugh.
“No. Man.”
Behind me, there was shuffling, and I heard Kelsey scoff, “Hey.”
I noted that as my cue to leave, and I took off, careful to dart behind trees until I was far enough away that I could make an all-out run for it. I didn’t stop when I hit the trail, but kept on going until I was back to the more populated areas of the garden, where I could blend in around other people. I found a spot on the steps and picked up a newspaper when someone else abandoned it. I couldn’t read the printed words, but I welcomed the sanctuary as I hid behind the thin sheets of paper.