The Lost Daughter (Denali #2)

Chapter 6

I flop my head back against the puffy leather of my first class seat. I stare at the little buttons encouraging me to turn on a reading light or call a flight attendant.

“You must be tired,” the Captain says. He’s frowning at his phone.

“Yeah.” I turn to look out the window.

“Are you too tired to see?” the Captain asks, but not in his usual smooth way. When I turn around, the creases in his forehead are cavernous. He’s rubbing his chin and stretching his jaw.

“Why?” I ask. He looks over the seats at Carissa and Cherry sitting behind us.

They seem lost in a discussion about why Cherry shouldn’t have a caffeinated drink. “You’ll be in a strange place tonight, how are you going to sleep if you’re all hyped up on soda?”

He turns back to me and talks low. “I need you to view for me.”

“Right now?” I curl my fingers around the armrest.

He nods and clicks a few things on his phone. He brings up the Bellagio’s website. Yeah, the hotel in Vegas. He clicks this link, then that link and soon we’re looking at a floor map. He wipes his face. “According to Ray’s tracker, he’s in this corner of the hotel. But the hotel has 36 stories. He could be on any floor.”

My heart thuds in my chest. “And he isn’t picking up?”

The Captain stares at me. Yeah, of course. Why would the Captain be asking for this favor if Ray was answering and saying everything was just dandy.

“So, he’s in trouble?” My voice squeaks as I imagine him being attacked by some Vegas mob. They would probably all wear black. The leader would punch his hand a lot as he frowned at Ray. Maybe he’d be held by two large men. They’d bring him to a room below the casino with a shark and stingray tank. They’d try to intimidate him, but Ray would keep his stiff, stern exterior up. He’s good at that. So, Ray is probably fine. Ray has to be fine.

“Denali,” the Captain says. The feathery feeling descend along my shoulders.

“Don’t, I…” What is it? I feel guilty relaxing when Ray could be in trouble.  

“I need you to relax so you can help him, okay?” He says. “Can you start on the lower floor and quickly move up?

“I can try.” There’s something salty stuck in my throat. I rub my eyes and try to get all the images of lethal aquariums out of my brain. I breathe in deeply and flop my head back again. I zoom about the casino on the first floor. I do a quick but clean swipe. Nothing but slot machines, waiters, and gamblers.

I move to the second floor. An empty reception hall. Finally, on the third floor, I get to a hotel room. The first five are empty. The next has a guy watching the news. Another three are empty. And then…

Ray.

He’s upright and intact and, by the way he’s clenching his arms and standing tall, he seems rather virile and lively. Thank god. In fact, he’s downright emphatic as he talks to a girl about my age with blonde hair. Her face is ruddy, like she’s been crying. She just keeps shaking her head and looking at the floor while she alternates holding her elbows. The left elbow, then a shutter as she shifts to holding the right elbow. Then the left again.

Ray isn’t yelling at her, but it’s close. He strains his neck, he goes on and on about something. He’s imploring.

What does he want from her? She turns around and walks to the window. He sighs and puts his hands behind his head as he stares at the ceiling. The move he does to calm himself. Then he walks over to her. He reaches for her shoulder, slowly. He gently rests his hand on her. Jealousy squirms in my chest. Who is she? Whoever she is, she doesn’t react the way I would when Ray touches me like that. In fact, she doesn’t react at all. Frozen. He removes his hand and stares blankly out the window too.

I peer over their shoulders. They look at the fountain, with its spurts of water dancing in the light. I shift around, my view swivels so I’m outside the window. Her forehead presses to the glass. She murmurs something.

He says something short, quick, in response.

She pulls back and nods. She turns to him. I can’t say for sure, I’m not a lip reader, although I really should try to learn, but I think she says, “I’ll do it.”

His cheeks swell and he gives her one of his best smiles. She doesn’t even see it. She’s still looking out the window. He walks to the desk. He picks up his phone.

The girl presses her palms against the glass, almost as though she’s trying to break free.

My shoulder hurts. My mind zooms away and something shakes me into the present. The Captain. He points to his phone. “That’s fantastic, Ray. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Excuse me sir.” A flight attendant comes by. “We need you to turn off all electronic devices.”

“Yes, of course,” the Captain says. He turns back to the phone. “Ray, we’ll talk when you get back.”

He hangs up the phone. “Thanks, Denali. I might have overreacted there, but someone kept sending my calls to voicemail. It’s not like Ray, but, apparently, he felt he needed to show LV that he was willing to hear her out without any distractions.”

“LV?” I ask. The girl trying to burst out of the glass?

He looks at me. “She’s a new recruit. We’ve been watching her for a while. You’ll meet her soon enough.” He gives me a coy smile before asking the flight attendant for a scotch. Just like that, back to his old, murky self.

Ray was fine. My mom was fine. Why does the Captain keep thinking people who are completely fine aren’t fine?

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