Fortunately for all of us, that didn’t happen.
We got back to the room and showered. We decided to stay in and have dinner on the balcony where no one could disturb us. Our food came just as the sun was beginning to set. The sky looked as though it had been swiped with a giant paintbrush dipped in hues of red and orange, and the air was still warm and fragrant with the scent of lemon blossoms.
Bailey sat down and unfolded her napkin. “Talk about no good deed.”
“Right?” Toni said. “What a sterling collection of jackasses. They all deserve each other.”
“Well, at least Erica won’t have to wrangle Tammy Susie anymore,” I said. I’d hoped Erica would quit the show after the shabby way she’d been treated, but jobs are scarce in television, and jobs on hit shows are harder to find than a born-again Christian at a Ricky Gervais concert. Erica had called shortly after we got back to our suite to tell us that Kraft had shown a sliver of decency and decided not to fire her. She intended to stay until she could either get promoted or find another show. But it was time to put work behind us… finally. Toni poured the wine and raised her glass. “Want to try again?”
“To our vacation!” Bailey said, also raising her glass.
We clinked and drank.
But as Bailey and Toni rehashed the events of the day-the relief of a happy ending allowed us to laugh about it now-my thoughts turned to what Madam Junaida had said to me privately when we’d gone back to see her.
After she eventually broke down and admitted she’d known about the kidnapping scam and decided to help us in order to thwart it, Junaida had asked to speak to me privately. Bailey and Toni smirked but obligingly left us alone and went out to call a taxi. I figured the little con artist was finally going to ask for money, and as far as I was concerned, she’d earned it. I pulled my wallet out of my purse, but she waved me off.
“No,” she said. “I helped you for my own reasons. It would be bad luck to take your money. I asked to speak to you alone because I see something that I must tell you.”
Oh, brother. Here we go. I could barely refrain from rolling my eyes. “Okay.”
She pulled me into the parlor. “There is a man in your life. He is in a position of power.” She took hold of my arm and looked me in the eye. “With his help you will find her.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. A man in my life-no big deal. Anyone could take that shot and have a fifty-fifty chance at getting it right. And even saying that the man was in a position of power-which did happen to fit Graden to a T-could have been a lucky guess.
