Trouble in Paradise - [4]

But the sarcasm was lost on Erica, who was practically wringing her hands by now.

“When you went back to check on her, she was gone,” I said.

Erica nodded.

“Isn’t it possible that Tammy Susie just got lost?” Bailey asked.

Erica nodded. “Yeah. But she hasn’t called. And, believe me, she knows my number.”

“And I take it she didn’t answer when you called her,” I said. Erica shook her head.

Bailey shrugged. “Maybe she took off on purpose. Wanted to get away, have some kid time.”

Erica shook her head. “Not Tammy Susie. She lives for this show. That girl sucks up attention like a dry sponge.”

But even as she uttered the words, Erica turned away and swiped at her cheek. This wasn’t just about losing a job. She really cared about the little girl. By the looks on Bailey’s and Toni’s faces, I saw that those tears had undone all of us. We exchanged glances, and Bailey gave me a look that said, Why not? I saw her point. Given Tammy Susie’s access to limos and her history of wandering away, the police were unlikely to take action this soon. And at this point, there was nothing the police could do that we couldn’t. In fact, unencumbered by paperwork and procedure, we’d be able to do it a hell of a lot faster.

Toni put down her drink and looked Erica in the eye. “Okay, listen up. We’ll help you. But you have to calm down because we need you to be able to think. And I’m telling you right now that if we don’t find Tammy Susie pretty damn quick, we’re going straight to the police.”

“Thank you! Oh, thank you!” Erica swallowed her remaining tears. “You’re saving my life.”

“You have a picture of Tammy Susie?” I asked.

“Seriously? You’ve never seen the show?” We all shook our heads. Erica looked at us as though we’d just stepped out of a spaceship from Mars. “It’s only, like, the biggest reality hit since Survivor.” She scrolled through her cell phone and then passed it to us. The face of a chubby little girl with a cupid’s bow of a mouth and blonde ringlets grinned back at me mischievously.

“So if someone recognized her, they’d know she was worth a lot of money,” Toni said.

“Which is what has you worried,” Bailey said.

Erica blanched visibly and wrapped her arms around her torso. “I’m just hoping she kept the scarf on. She had a red-and-pink scarf tied around her head, Gypsy-style. We were shopping for one of those long, wide skirts to match.”

Toni frowned. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to buy the skirt and then look for a scarf?”

Erica sighed. “Welcome to my world. Tammy Susie wasn’t about to let go of that scarf.” She described what the girl had been wearing. Other than the scarf, Tammy Susie was dressed unremarkably in a pair of cutoff jeans, a blue T-shirt with pink daisies, and white sandals. We told Erica we’d meet her in the lobby and went back to the room to change into kid-hunting attire. For Toni, that meant wedge sneakers that coordinated with her matching shorts and tank top. For Bailey and me, that meant running shoes and track pants. Bailey managed to make that look elegant. Me… not so much.

When we got to the lobby, Erica was nowhere to be found. We walked out to the front of the hotel-didn’t see her there either. But then we heard her hiss from behind a large bush just outside the lobby door. “Get us a cab,” she whispered. “Tell him to take us to the Royal Plaza.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “What are you doing in that tree? And by the way, I’m not sick of limos, so why don’t we use one?”

“The limos work for the show. If I call one, everyone’ll know I’m out here without Tammy Susie.”

I flagged down a cab while Toni muttered under her breath about white girls and their silly TV shows.

Erica’s description of the Royal Plaza Mall as Disneyland on crack wasn’t too far off. Actually, it reminded me of Oz. Or the top tier of a wedding cake. You could probably see it from space. Ornately carved spires of bright pink lined the rooftop, and turquoise canopies suspended like eyelids over white balconies stretched across the front of the building. A huge gold dome sat at the center of the plaza. I’ve seen bigger malls, but none that were brighter. And it was situated on the waterfront, just a stone’s throw from the port. I didn’t blame Tammy Susie for liking the place.

With Erica in the lead, we headed for the shop where Tammy Susie disappeared. I looked into the stores we passed and noticed that they were largely stocked with merchandise from high-end designers. If there was a casual skirt under two hundred dollars, I sure didn’t see it.

“A nine-year-old shops here?” Bailey said.

“For an outfit she’ll never wear again?” Toni added.

“Money’s not an issue,” Erica said. “The whole family’s stinkin’ rich. Now.”

As we wound our way through the mall, it occurred to me that it would be relatively easy for a kidnapper to blend into the crowd with Tammy Susie. Because Aruba had once been the property of the Netherlands-and before that had been conquered by Spain-there was a rich mix of ethnicities everywhere you looked. From tall and blonde, like Diederik, to short and black, there was every racial permutation in abundance here. A little blonde girl like Tammy Susie wouldn’t attract any notice, regardless of who was with her-unless you recognized her famous face.