Bait & Hook

31. Where's Roxy?

I stared at Roxy's avatar, marvelling at how well she had captured her essence with it. Not yet a day since we met, but the time so wondrously filled. So intense.

More than an hour late – not like her. Early at the restaurant, and she had messaged that she'd be late to the boat. Need to send her a note – show concern. When I had composed it, I read it over and clicked Post.

        Hi, Roxy:
        I was expecting you a while ago. Did I hear wrong?
        Or is something amiss?
        Xander

Then I looked at it again, shaking my head. Darn, my corporate tone has seeped in. How could I have softened this? Perhaps I've scared her off with my seriousness. My formality. My intensity, as Gillian called it.

But what if she's unexpectedly delayed? Maybe had an accident? Oh, God!

She'd contact me here – as she had done this morning. Besides, she has my name and address, and my number's in the phone book.

What if she can't? How do I contact her – other than on ship.us?

Possibly find her through her Sapa Inca lineage. How many can there be in Vancouver? And with a fruit and vegetable stand in the Granville Island Market? When would that have been? Ten when she moved here. How old is she? Timeless face – late twenties, thirties, maybe even early forties. But such exquisite beauty.

How do I begin? The old phonebooks archive. If she's descended by moiety, there's only a handful of surnames, and she'd have one of them. And Peru follows the Spanish naming tradition – two surnames, father's first surname first, then mother's first surname, so one of them should be among these.

Which is the Peruvian? Her father or her mother? And what if they've adopted the Canadian tradition and use only one surname? A project for one of my mentees.

But far more complex than needed. Simpler is her boat. How many MH-31s can there be in this area? Particularly with solar panels and a Hydrovane. Search the marinas – but there are dozens of them.

Ah, but she narrowed that down with her moorage cost. Should be easy. Create a scenario for both mentees. Fast turnaround, client's time limited. Identify the Vancouver area marina or marinas that charge a monthly fee of $452 for a thirty-one-foot slip.

Yeah, assign them that tonight – give them a break from all the Brexit analysis projects.

Likely only one with those parameters, so take the tender to it and look for solar and Hydrovane. Simple to get her details from the boat's name if it's registered. A tad more complex if it's only licensed.

Would this be considered stalking?

Yes, it could be. It's for personal reasons, not for business.

But it's for her safety. I've no way to report her missing.

Lives alone. Maybe she's had a heart attack – oh, God!

I could send the police to check on her. That's not stalking; it's safety.

But immediately, check the Transit site for stoppages. Monitor the all-news channels for accidents. I blew a deep breath. Check Emergency admissions.