Chapter Eleven
Ava took out her cell phone and found the photo of the suspect. The young man's profile was identical to the guy on the lounge chair. Slowly, she walked around to the side of the chair to see the man's face. When she saw him, she didn't recognize him, but turned around and opened her camera on her cell phone. She pretended to be taking a selfie, but she aimed the camera at the young man's face and snapped his photo.
Quickly, Ava found Kacey, who was in the deep end.
"Come here! Quick!" Ava called her.
Kacey swam over to the side of the pool. Ava showed her the photo of the young man she had just photographed.
"Does this guy look familiar?" she asked Kacey.
Kacey took the phone and studied the man's face.
"Yeah, but... I can't remember where I saw him or who he is. But he does look really familiar."
"I know! I'm sure we've met him somewhere--"Ava began.
"Wait!" Kacey interrupted, "Wasn't he one of the guys at Juan's table the night we had dinner at the hotel? Remember, Juan came over to us and asked us to join him and his friends?"
"Yeah! That's where I saw him!" Ava agreed, and lowered her voice.
"Don't look now, but he's here at the pool, sitting over by the towel cart, next to the girl in the yellow swim suit. Just kinda look casual, like you're glancing around."
Kacey did a slow, casual glance in the young man's direction, and turned back to Ava.
"Yeah, so what about it? He's probably a guest here staying with Juan and the other guy."
Ava's eyes burned with excitement, "Yeah, but when I went past him to get a towel, I recognized his profile from the security photo. He's the mystery man who entered our room! I'm positive!"
"You mean the guy who robbed our stuff?" Kacey whispered hoarsely, "But he was wearing a waiter's uniform in the security photo. What's he doing here at the pool?"
"Either he is a waiter, or he pretended to be one so he could get into our room!"
"But how? Where did he get a key card to unlock the door?" Kacey asked.
"I haven't figured that out yet. But I will!" Ava assured her.
"Should we call Security?" Kacey asked.
Ava looked over at the young man and replied, "We don't have any real proof yet. If the security photo had shown his full face, then we might have something more than my personal hunch."
"What can we do?" Kacey asked.
"We can keep an eye on him...follow him, and see what he does."
Kacey nodded and went back into the water while Ava took a seat on a lounge chair opposite the chair where her suspect was sitting. She pretended to be interested in her cell phone, but she kept her eyes on him every moment.
After twenty minutes, the suspect and his girlfriend got up and started putting on their sandals.
Ava stood up and did the same. She told Rick that she needed to go back to her room for a little while, but would be back soon.
Ava watched the couple exit the pool area and go into the hotel then she followed.
The couple stepped into a waiting elevator. Just as it was about to close, Ava stepped inside. She glanced at the buttons and noticed the one for the second floor was lit. She reached over and punched number three.
The doors closed quietly and the three people stood in the elevator in silence. The young couple was still holding hands, and the young man leaned over to kiss his girlfriend's cheek. She smiled back at him. Neither of them paid any attention to Ava, who stood in the corner.
The doors slid open on the second floor and they exited the elevator.
Ava stuck her foot into the elevator track so she could watch the couple as they walked down the hallway. Peering out the door, she saw them turn left at the corner, heading down a hallway.
As soon as they were out of sight, Ava stepped out of the elevator and walked quietly to the corner where the couple had disappeared.
The couple was halfway down the hall when they stopped at a door on their right. Ava counted the number of doors on the hallway to where they stood. As they turned to enter the room, Ava pulled back and out of their sight. When she heard the door close, she walked down the hallway, counting the doors, to their door and leaned close to it.
Through the doorway she could hear a young man and a girl talking in Spanish. She understood a little of what they had said, but heard the girl say that she would be back in a minute. Ava noted the room number, and then hurried down the hallway toward the corner. She heard a door close, but it was not the door to their room. It must have been the bathroom door inside their room. Ava turned around to take one last look down the deserted hallway, and then returned to the pool.
When she saw her friends, she told them that the couple had gone into room 241.
"That's good to know, Ava," said Rick, "But we still don't have any proof that he's your thief."
With a frown, she nodded, "I know."
"Well, maybe we'll think of something. Let's dry off and go get something to drink," Kacey suggested.
The next morning, the girls picked up the guys from their hotel and drove them to Cocoa Beach. The girls pointed out the hamburger stand where they rescued the turtle. They parked in a lot near the Cocoa Beach Pier, and headed to a shack where they could rent surf boards.
Emma found a spot to lie out on the sand and watch the surfers.
"I'll be the official judge," she told them, "Remember, the first person who rides the waves all the way to the shore is the winner."
"How do you know we can trust you?" Rick teased her.
"You'll just have to rely on my good character," Emma replied, "I promise to be totally fair."
The guys laughed and made comments that it would just be a contest between the two of them. Kacey warned, "You two haven't had any lessons. We have, so just watch out."
Josh and Rick laughed.
"Just watch us and try to keep up!" Josh yelled as he ran toward the beach with his board.
The others followed and were soon splashing in the shallow waves curling toward the shore. The wind was up and the waves out near the end of the pier were nearly six feet. The foursome paddled out to the end of the pier where other surfers were just getting up on their boards.
Kacey shouted over the wind to Josh, "Do you know how to get up on the board?"
"Hey!" Ava yelled back, "No helping the guys! This is a contest, remember?"
Kacey laughed, "Okay!"
Kacey found her wave and remembered how to get up on the board. She took her time and did each step carefully. To her surprise, she was surfing on her first try.
She looked over at the others. Ava was up on her board, too, looking confident. Rick was kneeling on his board, trying to stand. He slipped off and fell in as his board bobbed up into the air. Josh kept falling off his board whenever he tried to stand. Kacey and Ava laughed and then focused on their surfing.
A huge wave came from Kacey's left side and tilted her off balance. She fell off the board and landed with a splash. Ava kept on going.
Another surfer suddenly steered into Ava. He tried to turn away at the last moment, but he fell off his board and pushed Ava off balance. She fell and dived under the water. As she came up through the wave, the other surfer was grabbing his board.
"Sorry!" he yelled. Ava noted he was no more than fourteen, so she just nodded and swam to retrieve her board.
She and Kacey paddled back out toward the end of the pier.
"Look! Rick is up on his board!" Ava cried.
Kacey watched as Rick tried to balance himself on the crest of the wave, but lost his balance and fell. The girls both laughed in fun. Josh was still trying to catch a wave and get on his board.
"Come on!" Ava cried, "Let's beat these guys first, then we'll teach them how to surf."
"Okay!" Kacey responded enthusiastically.
The two girls were able to find good waves and get up on their boards again. This time they both rode in together, waving at the guys as they surfed past. Both Rick and Josh
stopped to watch them.
Kacey crouched to keep her balance and so far she was keeping up with Ava, who was surfing like a pro. As they neared the shore, it became more crowded with surfers and swimmers, and the girls had to steer around them. Kacey veered right to avoid hitting someone and lost her balance. She fell in just as Ava was nearing the the shore, but she too fell off her board just a short distance away.