Stranded by Dani Pettrey Page A

something better back on land, don’t care much for their family and are looking to escape them, or most often don’t have family period.”
    â€œNo family? How sad.”
    â€œDepends on the person and the family, I suppose.”
    â€œSo you think that’s why Abby left so suddenly? Because she decided cruising wasn’t for her?” she asked, though she knew better.
    â€œWho knows why she left? And honestly . . . not to be rude, but who cares?”
    She stopped. “No one cares that she left suddenly?”
    â€œLike I said, I wasn’t trying to be rude but—”
    As he came around the corner, Clint almost barreled into them. “Are you forgetting your manners again, Ted?” he asked with an apologetic smile at Darcy. “You have to forgive Ted. He doesn’t always have a filter between his thoughts and his mouth.”
    Why didn’t anyone seem to care that Abby had seemingly just up and left midcruise? And why on earth wasn’t that considered unusual?

    Darcy returned to her cabin thoroughly frustrated. She’d spent all day speaking with crew members, digging for answers under the guise of wanting the inside scoop of the Bering ’s new adventure angle, but found only a general lack of concern for her friend’s absence. While Ted and Clint had proved to be the most talkative, neither appeared to have any concern about Abby’s sudden departure.
    When she shifted from the adventure focus to a simple question about Abby’s disappearance, every single crew member shrugged it off as no big deal. All she had managed to getwas irritation and indifference—not leads. And to top it off, she’d lost track of time and missed Gage’s excursion meeting. Now she’d have even more annoyance and irritation to deal with on his end.
    She shrugged off the navy Bering sweater she’d been given by Mullins upon arrival, replacing it with her cobalt-and-black-striped American Eagle one. It was soft and cozy, and allowed her a small touch of home. She also swapped out the white slacks she’d been wearing and pulled on her favorite pair of faded jeans. If everything around her was going to feel foreign, at least she could be in comfortable clothes during her time off.
    She ran a brush through her hair, touched up her makeup, and moved to grab her lip gloss from her purse. Opening the closet where she’d left her purse hanging next to Abby’s, she froze. Only hers remained. Her gaze dropped to the floor, thinking perhaps the purse had, too, but it wasn’t there—only her own neatly lined-up shoes.
    She sifted through her hanging clothes, thinking maybe Abby’s purse had somehow gotten tangled in the garments, but still nothing. Grabbing hers off the hook, she riffled through it, panic setting in. Everything appeared to be in place, but she couldn’t shake the feeling something was very off.
    She set her purse on the bed and began searching the room. Everything was where she’d left it—only Abby’s purse was missing.
    Taking a deep breath, Darcy studied the room. The bed was neatly made, fresh towels hung on the rack in the bathroom—housekeeping had been by. Had one of them taken Abby’s purse? But why not hers? Who else would have access to her room?
    The question was, how did she proceed without drawing even more attention to herself and her interest in Abby? How could she possibly explain that she’d taken Abby’s purse in the first place? And, worst of all, had she missed something of significance when she’d searched it?

9
    Nervousness wracking her, Darcy smoothed her hair for the third time since leaving her cabin en route to Gage’s. Who had taken Abby’s purse and why? How would Gage react to her absence at his meeting? She’d been investigating—he’d have to understand. But, this was Gage. . . .
    She sighed. How crucial could the