Page 45 of Dancing With Doubt

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Roxie

“Alright, this is what we know so far,” Roxie said to the gathering of women in Lincoln’s kitchen. She pointed out different things that she’d taped to the wall. One had a list of marinas, on another sheet of paper she’d printed out listed places they could get money from.

Her friends were gathered around the table in the late evening, even her new friend Keily was there with Emily, Kitty, and River. Tanya and Mandy were there too, both studying the pages taped to the wall.

“It’s going to be hard to get that much money together, Roxie, even from the hotel,” Emily spoke up, studying the list of places to get money. “We mainly deal in credit card transactions, we rarely see cash.”

“And the banks are going to start asking questions if we go in and ask for loads of cash.” Kitty pointed out. “I think there’s a limit on how much we can withdraw from the ATMs, too.”

“I’ve thought about all of that. I don’t know how we might get it though.” Roxie looked at Emily, the one out of all of them that grew up in a wealthy family and had dealt with cash flow.

Okay, Roxie grew up in a wealthy family, but she’d had a credit card, rarely cash. She had no idea how rich people gained access to large sums of money when they needed it. Emily would know, wouldn’t she?

“We can do it, I know we can.” Keily piped in. “Logan’s already working on that for you. It’ll just take time we may not have.”

“I’m amazed by all of you, really.” Roxie looked around at the faces she’d come to love, feeling that love grow as each contributed in some way to helping her get Lincoln back. Kai was in one of the rooms upstairs, doing fuck knows what. Not looking for Lincoln, not that she could tell. Which was why she’d called all her friends over to come up with their own plan.

“Alright, that brings me to our next problem. My dumbass ex told me to meet him at the marina with the money. He didn’t say which of these dozens of marinas he meant.” Roxie pointed at the page with the list and then looked back at her friends. “How can I figure out which one it is, or trace his number so I can call him back?”

“Marinas are fairly secure places.” River said, her eyes on the list. “Boat people are protective of their boats and those of the people around them. I’ve been to a few parties at marinas, if you aren’t supposed to be there someone will know.”

“Okay, so we’re looking for a place that isn’t so big on security then. Do you know which of these it could be?” Roxie asked and River got up, as did Kitty.

It was Emily that had a possible answer though, surprising them all. “Jetty’s is the worst. I know that because I had to dock one of my dad’s boats there when it came loose during a hurricane. It was the nearest and, believe me, most lax marina I’ve ever seen.”

“You docked a boat during a hurricane?” Roxie asked, impressed.

“Yeah, all of my brothers were in Europe and Dad was who knows where. I was left to take care of it.” Emily shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I love boats, so it was a challenge for me. And as it turns out, could be an answer to the problem.”

Roxie circled the name of the marina with a red pen and stepped back. “Okay, any others?”

“White’s is pretty shitty too.” River pointed at one at the bottom of the list. “I have a friend whose boat was lost because the dock collapsed one day out of the blue. The lines snapped after a while and the boat just floated off without anyone contacting him for a week.”

“That’s terrible.” Roxie sighed but traced a red circle around that one too. “Any others?”

“Not that I can think of.” River answered and looked at the other women.

“I’m new here so I have no idea,” Keily said with a sad look. “Sorry.”

“I hate boats,” Mandy said with a shudder.

“I’m new here too,” Tanya answered, staring at the other page on the wall. “What’s that Roxie?”

“It’s a list of places I think Nathan might have Lincoln in. He’s cracked out of his mind, but I’m guessing he realizes he has to keep Lincoln somewhere quiet, out of the way, with no way to escape. I could be wrong, he might be so far gone he’s got Lincoln in a hotel somewhere, but I’ve narrowed it down to storage facilities and empty buildings. That made making a list hard because I don’t know all of the empty buildings in the area. I don’t know if he has a car either. I’ve assumed he must so that he can transport Lincoln, at least. So, let’s say he borrowed a car, he’ll keep Lincoln near him, so he doesn’t have to walk far because he’ll have to give the car back at some point.”

“You’ve looked for storage facilities near marinas, right?” Kitty asked and Roxie nodded.

“Yep, I have. This one is near White’s, I know.” Roxie pointed at one of the places she’d listed. “And this one is near Murphy’s, but that place has a lot of security. I’ve been there.”

“So, we think that might be where Lincoln is then? That storage place?” Keily asked, her eyes narrowed as she picked up her phone. “Should I call Logan and let him know to go over there?”

It occurred to Roxie then that none of the women had mentioned the police or using the security outside to get Lincoln back. She gave a brief rueful smile before she shook her head to Keily’s question. “Not yet. I’m going to drag Kai out of his room at some point and make him pay attention, if I have to tie him to a chair.”

“I don’t think Nathan will hurt Lincoln, no matter what he might have said. He wants money, hurting Lincoln would be pointless. We can work with that, even if it means doing nothing more than stalling him.” Emily spoke up, as if she’d been chewing over the thoughts. “If Kai really isn’t doing anything, which I doubt, he’s probably just trying to keep you out of the way, then we can fix this, Roxie. Don’t you worry.”

“I know we can, and I’m so grateful to all of you.” Roxie smiled but Tanya caught her eye. “What’s up?”