Rhona and Greg reached the beach house that was rented by Carrie and Stacey as evening began to paint the ocean red and orange. " Nice place" Rhona commented, " their stuff gone?"
" Nothing we could see" said Greg, " but we didn't know what was there to start with."
They climbed out and walked up the steps to the porch that wrapped all the way around the beach house. " In the morning when the tides come in the house is almost isolated" said Greg.
Rhona unlocked the front door and went inside. This place was nice, really nice. There was Scuba Gear neatly arranged in the hall closet, Rhona was a diver herself, well it was part of her spy training but Rhona found she really liked it. She had been saving up to take a vacation to Bermuda or the Florida Keyes to go diving off the wrecks down there but had yet managed to safe up enough to make the trip worth her while. She was already pondering the idea of making a little diving part of her mission to find the girls.
Rhona and Greg walked into the living room, there were signs of habitation, a few articles of clothing were laying around, empty soda cans and empty beer bottles sat in clumps on the ends of tables and in a paper sack by the front door. There was the slightest scent of marijuana in the air but it being legal on St Lucian wasn't that important. Rhona decided to go straight for the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, it was all but empty, a box of baking soda and a couple of water bottles. If there was actual food or beer she would have thought they were taken against their will but the refrigerator being empty gave credence to them just taking off.
She walked down the hall into the bedroom. The bed was a mess, two open suitcases were draped in bikinis and shorts. Rhona turned her attention to the bathroom and slowly wandered in. Two wetsuits hung over the shower rail, they were completely bone dry so they hadn't been in the water in some time. Their toothbrushes and toothpaste were still laying next to the sink. She walked back into the bedroom and stopped to look about. There was no evidence of foul play, no blood, no signs of a struggle, the place was messy but no more than Rhona's flat. Everything just pointed to the girls running off some place with a couple of cute guys.

Greg watched as Rhona surveyed the room. He had gone over the room twice himself and doubted if she would find anything but let her look then they could move on to other things. He still wasn't sure they needed outside help to investigate this crime. The only thing that brought her here was because they were looking for two young attractive white Americans. Calling in outside help made him and other police officers look inept. They weren't inept they just needed time but the president in her youthful zeal decided too quickly that they couldn't find her without professional help. Some professional, she was probably two days older than him, but at least she was hot, Greg half expected some old dried up snobby Brit who would down his long dignified nose at them. Greg just wanted to find these girls as soon as possible, it would get the pressure off and let him take her out for a date before he packed her up to leave his islands.

Rhona was about to give up when something caught her eye. It wasn't much but enough to catch her attention. She walked over to the desk and knelt down. She fished around until she picked a cord up. It was a USB cord, the kind that you found on digital camera. " Where is the computer?" she asked.
" We didn't find a computer anywhere in the house" said Greg.
" You leave your toothbrush but take your laptop?" asked Rhona, " I have run off for long weekends with guys before I always bring my toothbrush and clean underwear judging by the room the only thing they took was a laptop and a digital camera."
" We have more than a few thieves on this island whose entire business comes from ripping off tourists" said Greg, " I'll have my officers start looking for laptops among the various local fences."
" Okay" said Rhona, " but it may..."
Rhona's sentence was cut short and she carefully drew her Walter from his pocket. Greg saw the gun and looked around to see what set Rhona off.
Rhona pointed to the front door, she had just heard one of the floor boards on the ramp leading to the house creek.
They slipped out of the bedroom and Rhona motioned to the front door. Greg took his Beretta 92 out. They got on either side of the door and listened as somebody on the other side fumbled with a large set of keys judging by the loud clanging and some grumbling. Finally the key slipped in and clicked open.
Rhona and Greg both watched as a heavy man in a blue polo shirt decorated with heavy sweat stains and khaki shorts entered. Both moved forward and pressed their guns on opposite temples. The man froze, the large ring of keys dropping from his hands with a large crash. " Shit, please don't shoot me" he said, " shit I don't live here, I just watch over it for the owners. I am broke, don't fucking kill me."
" Its okay" said Greg, " we're the police."
The man exhaled slowly as the guns were removed from his head. " Did the girls return their keys?" asked Rhona.
" No... no they haven't" he said, " but we have a family from Nebraska coming here in a week. This place runs 5 grand a day and they only paid for a week."
" This is still a police investigation" said Greg, " we will release the house when we say so and no family from Nebraska can change that."
" Were they murdered?" he asked, " did they leave a bloody mess behind?"
" No they just have gone missing" said Greg.
" Missing huh, I'll bet you where they went missing" he said, " okay I'll wait but we both know who my boss is and I don't want him to get his panties in a bunch if the next guests cancel. If he does I'm sending him straight to you, I don't need any more stress from him."
He bent over and picked his keys up, " Renting to college kids is the worst idea in the world. They live like total pigs and always get into trouble" he said shaking his head before leaving the house.
Rhona and Greg watched him leave, " You're really fluid with that gun" said Greg, " you use it a lot in your work?"
" So far not yet" said Rhona, " I've been pretty lucky so far."
Greg holstered his pistol, " So what was he talking about knowing where the girls went?" asked Rhona.
" It's nothing" said Greg, " the locals can be rather superstitious, they still believe in ghosts and ghouls."
" Where do the ghost and ghouls reside?" asked Rhona.
" Depends on who you ask" said Greg, shaking his head, " but one of the more popular places is Hunters Island. It is just a little privately owned island, the owner is an old recluse made millions in the stock market. People around here have all sorts of crazy ideas about him."
" Hm, interesting" said Rhona, " you ever meet him?"
" No, he never leaves the island and he doesn't allow visitors" he said, " but his taxes are paid every year so we let him be as crazy as he wants to be."
Rhona shrugged, " I'm going to head back to my house and get a night's rest" she said, " hopefully I can look at this problem with a less tired set of eyes."
" Good idea" said Greg.
Greg drove Rhona back to her beach house, she bid him good night and watched him drive off. She shook her head, he was so cute.

Rhona walked into the beach house and found fresh groceries waiting for her. This was nice, Rhona knew living as a spy would have come definite perks. She took out some clean clothes and went into the bathroom to take a long hot shower.
Rhona stood in the shower running possibilities through her mind, the laptop kept coming back to bother her. She ran her hands through her red hair as she formulated the most likely theory. They took pictures of something, something they were supposed to and were made to disappear, that is the only thing that would make sense.
Rhona turned the shower off and quickly dried herself off. She hurried out of the bathroom tugging her panties up. She scooped her cell phone up, she had an idea that she really wanted to run by her boss.

It was well nine o'clock in the evening in London when Rhona called. Malcolm had been waiting for the call at his home. He always took great concern with his hand picked protégés. They were the best of the best in his opinion, and he had been in the business so long he knew the best when he saw it. He still worried about Emma, her broken ankle had given him more than enough worries. He was just happy neither of his daughters followed their father's career path, he had enough to worry about.
" So how is St Lucian?" asked Malcolm.
" A tropical getaway, a real paradise" said Rhona, " but there is something not right about it."
" In what way?" asked Malcolm.
" Everybody seems afraid of these islands" said Rhona, " like the islands can just swallow you whole."
" The sea is still a mysterious place and mariners are a very superstitious lot" Malcolm noted, " did you get to the girls' beach house?"
" I did" said Rhona, " and I found something out of the ordinary. Now it is only a hunch but I was wondering if you could spare an agent to go to Florida State to check out the girl's dorm room? I think we'll find something they e-mailed to themselves."
" What do you mean?" asked Malcolm.
" When I went through the beach house the only things I could figure out that were missing were a laptop computer and a digital camera" said Rhona, " now why would they leave everything else except a bulky laptop and a digital camera."
" True" said Malcolm impressed by her attention to detail.
" I am starting to think these girls may have taken a picture of something they shouldn't have and when they were abducted the suspects took the computer and the camera to make sure nobody else saw what the girls saw" she said.
" I will get an agent on the next plane" said Malcolm, " excellent job Rhona. So far you have proved yourself quiet an intelligent field agent. Now get some rest I will have the agent contact you when they reach Tallahassee."
" Certainly" said Rhona, " and good night sir."
She hung up and Malcolm reached over and hit 1 on his speed dial. " This is Blackheath" said Emma on the other end.
" Emma, I need you to scare up somebody who can travel to Florida and look into a pair of computers for possible information regarding the disappearance of the two girls in St Lucian" he said.
" We are a little short handed at the moment" Emma reminded him, " we sent Rhona for that reason."
" I know, find somebody in one of the computer related divisions, we shant be sending them into the jaws of death" said Malcolm, " we just need somebody that can operate a computer and can blend into a university crowd."
" I will see who I can find" said Emma, " it is rather late."
" See what you can do, if not scare up somebody working in the Miami office" said Malcolm, " tell them I will appreciate it."
" No problem" said Emma, " get some rest sir."
Malcolm hung up and decided to take their advice. He got up and headed upstairs to go to bed early, he had a strange feeling he wouldn't be sleeping well soon.

Rhona poured the boiling water into a cup she found in the cupboard. She impatiently waited the five minutes it took for her tea, which she had brought with her, to steep properly in the cup. She slipped a tank top on and made her way out to the porch that looked out at the water.
Outside all she heard was the rhythmic crashing of the waves. It was peaceful, but yet it was a little unnerving. Rhona was use to the great host of sounds; the London Traffic, the wannabe DJ who also was her upstairs neighbor who never shut his music off, her neighbor across the hall that if she wasn't fighting with her boyfriend they were having sex, the comings and goings up and down the old steps that would creak and groan, her cat who would meow when she wanted attention, and her own TV or stereo.
Now it was all gone, it was just her thoughts and the gently crashing waves. Rhona held the cup in her hands as she slowly let the waves slowly hypnotize her. Her mind slowly filled with thick puffy clouds, and for the first time since she was given this mission she stopped thinking.

It didn't last, Rhona came around after only a few minutes and drank her half warm tea. This place was very seductive, here you could believe there were no cares in the world. But she knew there were two girls somewhere out there that had fallen victim to that seduction and now they were missing. Rhona was becoming more and more convinced they were no longer among the living and here buried out there somewhere. It was her job to find them and find those who were responsible for it.

Rhona finished her tea and went into the bedroom. She peeled the sheets back and climbed into bed. She found the bed was incredibly soft and her body easily sank into it. The sheets were light as air and gently kissed her as she pulled them close. Rhona went to sleep with a big smile on her face before her head completely sank into the pillow.

Rhona had strange dreams, she kept seeing shadowy figures lurking around her in the dark bedroom. They weren't human but shadowy hunched over creatures with long arms that dragged on the ground. They just kept circling and circling, Rhona wanted them to attack just to get it over with but they refused to leave the shadows and come after her. Rhona watched as they slowly circled closer and closer but they would not attack. Rhona finally ran towards them but they vanished like she was running into the fog on a chilly London morning.
Rhona opened her eyes, she heard a tap, tap, tap on the window across the bedroom. She didn't bolt up, she knew not to make any sudden moves. She had that powerful feeling she was being watched. She carefully let her arm slowly snaked out of the bed and slowly drop into her suitcase that she had just pushed off the bed before going to sleep.
Her Barracuda was just inside the zipper. She slowly wrapped her fingers around the cool wooden grip, her finger gently tracing the safety before she clicked it off. The revolver was gently raised up and brought into the bed. Rhona laid still and listened. She heard the waves rolling in and out, for long moments it was the only sound that join the pumping of her blood in her ears but then she would hear it again. Tap, tap, tap it almost sounded like Morse Code and it would be answered with tap, tap, tap at a different end of the beach house.
Rhona decided whoever this was were up to no good and she would have to do something about it. Rhona gently slid from the bed, her bare feet touching the cool wooden floor. She gently slid across the bedroom to the doorway leading to the living room.
Rhona gently slid her hand along the wall hoping to find the light switch. Her confidence was boosted when her hand found the plastic of the light switch. She looked at her Barracuda, she'd never actually used this against a living creature yet but knew it was part of the life she had chosen. She pulled the hammer back and listened to the click of the cylinder.
Rhona flipped the switch. The entire living room was illuminated by the lights. Rhona watched as someone vaulted over the railing of the porch and make a run for it. She restrained every urge to rush across the living room to pursue this mysterious visitor. She cooly followed her training and edged across the living room, making absolutely sure to check all her corners. Her blood was pumping fast as she came to the sliding glass door that led to the porch.
Rhona flipped on the porch lights and watched as the beach before was bathed in yellow light. She gently flipped the latch off the door and slid it back. She was greeted with humid night air. She carefully checked the corners before stepping out onto the porch. She saw two sets of boot prints leading up the steps and parting off in two directions. She had company, two men in boots who came up from the beach and circled the house. Rhona was about to go back in the house when something caught her eye.
Sparkling on the top railing of the porch were four arcane symbols that Rhona had never seen before written in what she hoped was red paint. Those four little symbols put more fear into Rhona than the prospect of having a gun fight with two thugs. Those symbols meant she was up against something else, something that wasn't normal.
Rhona heard her little voice warning her they were still out there. Rhona locked the sliding glass door and made sure to push the two extra locks into the frame. She pulled the shade and went into the kitchen. She found a bottle of brandy above the sink and had herself a small glass to dull the edge. She would have to get pictures tomorrow morning, hopefully somebody back at the office would know what it said. There was something very sinister about those four symbols, something that told Rhona trouble was coming for with and it was going to come hard.