Chapter 4 - Paradise Without Responsibilities
While I was flying toward Nassau, Austin and Monica were ordering breakfast in bed.
I learned the details later from the photographs recovered from Monica’s phone and from statements given by cruise employees.
Their morning began at eight.
Austin complained that his lobster dinner reservation had been moved from eleven thirty to noon. Monica complained that a crew member had asked whether they were celebrating an anniversary.
“We are celebrating freedom,” she had answered.
Freedom.
That was what they called leaving Mia behind.
Austin had first suggested bringing his daughter on the cruise. A child’s ticket would have cost far less than the suite upgrade Monica wanted.
Monica objected.
She said Mia complained too much, asked too many questions, and would ruin their photographs.
Austin suggested asking me to keep her.
Monica objected again.
She knew I would ask why they were spending twenty thousand dollars after borrowing money.
She also feared Mia would tell me about being left alone before.
So Monica proposed what she called “a maturity test.”
Mia would stay home.
There were frozen meals.
The doors would remain locked.
They would return before anyone noticed.
Austin knew it was wrong.
His internet history later showed searches for the legal age at which children could be left alone in their state. He had read an article warning that an eight-year-old should not be unsupervised overnight.
He went anyway.
The day before departure, he disconnected the home security service because the payment was overdue. He told Mia the blinking alarm light still worked and would frighten strangers away.
Monica unplugged the garage freezer while connecting a hair dryer nearby. She forgot to reconnect it.
Neither of them checked.
When Mia asked for a phone charger, Monica placed it in her suitcase and accused her of being dramatic.
Before leaving, Austin knelt in front of his daughter.
“You’re going to prove you’re old enough to stop needing attention,” he said.
Mia began to cry.
Monica rolled her eyes.
“If you cry, your father will miss the ship.”
That was how they persuaded her to remain silent.
Not with confidence.
With guilt.
At 9:15 Saturday morning, Austin finally saw the missed calls.
There were eleven from me.
Three from an unknown number belonging to the police department.
One voicemail from Detective Grant.
Austin listened to it on the balcony.
Monica watched his face change.
“What is it?”
He replayed the message.
The detective requested that he make immediate contact regarding his daughter.
Monica grabbed the phone.
“Don’t call back.”
“They know.”
“They don’t know anything.”
“My dad must have found her.”
“Good. Then she isn’t alone anymore.”
Austin stared at her.
“That doesn’t fix what we did.”
Monica handed the phone back.
“Nothing happened.”
“Someone tried the door.”
“You don’t know that.”
“The detective said there were signs of attempted entry.”
Monica walked inside and closed the balcony door.
“Listen to me. We say your father agreed to watch her and forgot. He’s old. His memory is unreliable.”
Austin looked at her through the glass.
“My father’s memory is fine.”
“Then we say Mia misunderstood. Children misunderstand things.”
The plan formed between them in less than ten minutes.
They would blame me.
They would portray Mia as confused.
They would delete the social-media posts showing the trip had been planned in advance.
But deleting photographs did not remove the copies already saved by the police.
At 10:30, the ship’s security director called their cabin.
Austin did not answer.
At 10:42, a printed notice appeared beneath the door, instructing them to report to guest services.
Monica tore it in half.
At 11:05, the ship docked in Nassau.
Austin stood on the balcony, staring at two uniformed officers waiting near the gangway.
“They can’t arrest us here,” Monica said.
Austin turned toward her.
“How do you know?”
“Because this is another country.”
She sounded confident, but her hands shook as she adjusted her bracelet.
“Let’s go to lunch,” she said. “Act normal.”
And so they dressed for the restaurant.
Austin wore a green tropical shirt.
Monica chose a short white dress.
They sat beside the windows overlooking the sea and ordered the most expensive items on the menu.
At 11:58, Austin raised his fork.
May you like
At noon, I reached his table.
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