Plague

Chapter Five

"This is the life!" Elizabeth Talbot exclaimed as she raised her Mai Tai glass. "Jamaica, Mon!"

On either side of her, two bikini-clad women perched on barstools. Middle-aged, they retained a youthful appearance. Glanced at from afar, they fooled many a roaming eye. Smiling happily, they tapped their glasses in agreement.

"No worries, Mon," Gayle Murray responded with a giggle. She had accompanied Liz on many previous jaunts. Adventurous by nature, she followed her friend into mischief.

Allyson Michaels buried her laughter by pressing her napkin over her mouth and nose. When she began to snort, she felt her nostrils fill. Fearfully, she imagined snot blowing across the bamboo-decorated pool bar. Dutifully, her mother taught her never to spread her germs in public places. Her instinct set in. Containing her the mucus, she glanced timidly at her friends. Already three sheets to the wind, neither noticed her swift movements.

"Where did Karsyn get off to?" Liz asked, referring to Karsyn Crane.

The fourth and youngest member of their little party had not appeared.

"Beats me," Allyson responded, rolling her shoulders in a shrug. Swaying on the barstool, she raised her glass in the bartender's direction.

Understanding her request, the bartender nodded. Swiftly, he prepared three fresh rounds.

Allyson could not resist the opportunity to wink. Flirting with the widely smiling Jamaican came naturally.

Muttering a tune to himself, Davy cheerfully replenished their drinks. He had a proposition for Allyson if he caught the little sweetie on her own. Nevertheless, he hardly cared which one he singled out—he would proposition any of them. In the past, many young women crossed his path. He invited several to his lodgings. They were putty in his hands when he tipped something special into their drinks. As long as he succeeded, he continued to do it. No one complained, at least not yet.

"Karsyn said she had a headache this morning. She intended to stay in bed for a while. When she feels better, she'll meet us later this afternoon," Allyson informed the group.

Allyson shared a hotel bungalow with Karsyn Crane. Next door, Liz and Gayle occupied a similar one.

"When we woke up, she looked like death warmed over," Allyson continued. Casually, she sipped her cocktail. "We were all pretty drunk last night. When we rolled in from that last disco, Karsyn complained. She said she felt woozy."

"We're still pretty drunk," Liz exclaimed. Lifting her third Mai Tai to her lips, she gulped it down. Slamming the empty glass on the bar, she ordered another one.

"I sh...sh...sheckoned that," Allyson slurred, swaying in her seat. Her companion had a habit of suddenly falling off her barstool. Gayle caught her arm.

"Think I should check up on her?" Gayle wondered. Immediately she became conscientious about her friend.

"Nah, Karsyn's all right," Liz responded with a lackadaisical shrug. "She'll find us when she's ready." Raising her glass toward the bartender, she indicated yet another round.

"Shuttin' down, ladies," Davy Robinson exclaimed, rushing toward the intoxicated women. A big white grin lightened up his dark face. Swiftly, he reached up to roll down the bar's security screen.

"What's the meaning of this?" Liz imperiously demanded. At the abruptness of the bar closure, she instantly sobered up. "No one, and I mean no one, closes down this early in the afternoon. Not in Jamaica, not anywhere."