Holding On

Fourty-Nine

Em tensed as they returned to the sandy south beach, darting her eyes around for any specimen called Zain Chadwick. Away in the zoo, she'd been able to maintain her good mood and savour all the fun the vacation was truly supposed to bring, and she wanted to end the day on that note.

Entrusting their daughter into the hands of the friendly, chatty beach escort who offered to take her along with other children to the mid-beach, they changed into something more swim-worthy. The sun was still quite shining for the time of the day, and the salty waters was a welcome feel against her skin.

As they swam a bit deeper into the sea, they splashed water at each other, raced, disappeared under the water to kiss a few times, reveling in the happiness that their marriage offered; a happiness which now lay threatened, teetering on the edge.

The revelation of her lies would either help it to stand or make it fall and shatter. Em shook off the bad feeling that accompanied the realization, and decided she was going to enjoy the rest of the vacation and not let these fearful speculation dampen her joy.

They swam until the sun had set and the sky begun to darken, and then realized that perhaps Miss Leigh, the escort, could have other agendas which they not having recovered Amy would prevent her from doing.

The woman however countered their fears and assured them that Amy was a darling. Besides, she wasn't quite done with her duties with the other children yet. Amy was regaling the other children about all the animals she'd seen at the Zoo Miami, the several birds at the wings of aviary, the scary but exciting Everglades, even though she didn't remember the names of the places.

The kids who'd been there before interjected where Amy would allow them, and those who still hadn't marveled at the little girl's exaggerated tellings.

The day had been smooth, full of fun sans any impediments, until they were returning to their hotel. The three of them were laughing, discussing their day when they met Zain and Love. Love trotted towards them while Zain followed behind, a hard, sort of determined gleam in his eyes that had a chill racing down her spine.

She found herself swallowing hard. And was it just her or George actually glanced briefly at her, as if gauging a reaction?

So much for wanting to end the day on a good note.

“Hey, where have you guys been all day?” Love asked as she strolled closer, wrapping her arms around Georg's arm. George seemed to tense immediately.

“Oh nothing really.” Em chuckled a bit, not wanting to sound rude even though she didn't like Love's new clingy pose. “Just doing what vacationers do.”

“Of course.” The other woman muttered, her smile faltering a little. “But you guys know Miami has the wildest nightlife. I'm sure you guys haven't explored enough. I know it's a family thing, but you can take advantage when the kid sleeps for some really wild night out.”

“Of course, that would be great.” George agreed, looking at Em for consent. “Would you like to?”

She nodded with as much of smile as she could manage, her gaze meeting Zain's, causing a knot of dread to begin gnarling in her stomach. And if she wasn't being pessimistic, she had a gut deep feeling that the night wasn't going to end well.