Sofia showed me the screen of her phone, revealing a list of resorts classified in the way I asked her to. "Thanks," I grabbed it. There are nine of them. And each one is far from the other. We might need a tank of diesel for this.
"Where in these nine could he conceivably be?" I showed it to Taylor and she leaned in closer to take a deeper look at it. "I think Sunset Canyon, Marus Royalty, and Vista del Mar are the only ones he's familiar with. I'm not sure though but I've seen him researching Marus Royalty on his laptop once. But that was way too long ago. And when we were talking about beaches as a family like... four or five days before he was gone, he suggested Vista del Mar."
I nodded. "That means we only have two choices. Vista del Mar is out of our options now. He wouldn't suggest it and get y'all familiarized with it if he'll be there-" I cut Sofia's words off.
"Hold up, he told you about Vista del Mar on what day?" I asked Taylor.
"It was a Saturday morning,"
"If he left SRY on Friday, that means he went to Vista del Mar on Saturday."
"How can you be so sure it's Vista del Mar?" Sofia crossed her arms. Acting like a villain in a movie. If only my head had not been conquered by Ven, I might have slapped her already.
"He probably suggested it to his family because he wants them to know he'll be there. In my observations, since all of these things happened, Ven began leaving clues randomly,"
"Let me suggest Marus Royalty. It's the least expensive one." Taylor said, keeping her eyes on Sofia's phone. "At this rate, Ven might try his best to save some money." I nodded at her statement. She has a point. "Then let's proceed to Vista del Mar. And if he's not there, then we'll be heading to Sunset Canyon." We all agreed to Taylor's idea.
It only took us half an hour before we made it to Marus Royalty. Because it was a beach resort, we had to leave the car behind and take the five-minute walk to the gate we saw from where we stopped. While walking, we praised the tall trees around us and the grass on the ground considering that this is actually a beach. We didn't notice that we reached the opening already.
But my smile vanished when I read the large cardboard hanging on the gate saying, Sorry- we're closed. Under maintenance. Since when did Marus Royalty go on an upkeep? I guess just today.
"Alright, next destination." Sofia led the way back. We hopped in and Taylor started the car. "Uh-oh, little buddy needs a refill, but we can make it."
"There's a gasoline station three or four minutes away." Taylor nodded.
"We might end up pushing it halfway through but, let's go," she supposed as Sofia directed her since I was too busy thinking of a quicker and an easy way to find Ven.
Luckily, without pushing the car through, we made it. She talked to the worker and paid the price. I somehow heard Taylor insisting but Sofia won. Then, she found me staring at the road and the wagons passing by. She came towards me, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, was just thinking of..." I couldn't continue my sentence so she did. "Ven?" I nodded. Her lips formed into an empathetic smile, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find him soon."
It was another four-hour drive to Vista dal Mar since it was actually at the endpoint of Australia, near the pier. In the meantime, they both let me get some rest. Sofia was the one who instructed Taylor.
The day hasn't come to an end yet, but I already feel a little tired mentally, emotionally, and physically. But I know this will all be worth it soon.
"We're here," Sofia woke me up.
"It's okay, just keep sleeping. I'll go get it." She smiled at me and I lay back down. I sighed. I'm the kind of person who can't sleep anymore once someone wakes me up.
"Should we go back to Jax's after this?" I asked Taylor.
"I'm fine with sleeping in a car. Are you?" I nodded.
"If ever we don't find Ven here, it's okay to call it a day already. You should rest." A smile appeared on her face.
"We'll proceed tomorrow," I added.
Then we saw Sofia walking back to us. "Is he there?" Was the first thing I asked her, showing how excited I was.
"I need your help." She closed the door and sighed, looking so insulted. "The old man did not let me see their guest list. He was trying to explain some privacy policy thing. I tried my best, even made up a story but he was too smart to believe." She rolled her eyes.
"Same thing that happened to me in SRY. Good thing the intern was kind enough to let me see it when I faked a scenario too,"
"What will we do now?" Sofia frustratedly asked.
"I got an idea," Taylor stated. "But I'm not sure if you two will like it. We need some stamina for this."
We both looked at her, then she continued. "One of us will act like she would like to check-in. Of course, it wouldn't be you, Sofia because that man will suspect you already. I volunteer so. Then, of course, he'll give me the list and ask me to write my name and sign it. If Ven's name is on the current page and it shows there that he already checked out, I'll make an excuse, saying that I changed my mind. But if it's not on that page, then I'll run away with that folder for us to check it out."
"Great, but I don't think it should be you either. Maybe I should do it. You need to get this car ready so that when the guards chase me, I'll hop in and then we'll leave."
Sofia sarcastically clapped her hands out of Taylor and I's plan. "Alright," she agreed.
I stepped out of the car. "Open the door when you see me running back.